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Dark
Side of Life
With the portrait of a skeletal, decaying clown on their demo cover and a popular song that describes a date with Satan himself in erotic detail, it's obvious Vexium represents all that is nasty in metal. They blast your ears with a gritty bass-heavy sound that would make an arena quake, then rip out scathing, screaming vocals. The group brings together a trio of ex-con rockers and influences from across the rock and metal spectrum. Guitarist and vocalist Brian the Bastard prefers old-school thrash such as Destruction, Slayer, Exodus and Motörhead, while drummer Sickboy Rick jams out to newer bands like Lamb of God. And then there's vocalist and bassist Pippi Paula, who prefers the laid-back, evil grooves of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. "It's awesome because we come from three different musical backgrounds," she says, "so it really brings together our sound." Lyrically, the band vents satirical humor, frustration and anger based on life experiences and the struggles each member has experienced. "Metal is a way for me to get the anger and annoyance out," says Brian. "Our lyrics are derived from things that happened when we were arrested and things going on in our lives at the time." "I was a heroin addict for 15 years," Paula says. "My lyrics talk about the pain of that, and what it all entailed. I'm not ashamed of it. It's not a big deal for me to tell people about it." The band just recently dropped their first demo, and they're heading to the studio to create a full-length album. With the rough patches of their lives hopefully in the past, Vexium isn't ready to let anything bring them down again.
Come
On and Hear Five-year-old immigrant arrives in strange country with his destitute family, drops out of school at age 14, declaring his intention to live by his music, teaches himself to play piano — but only on the black keys. First gig: accompanying a blind street singer. After a spell of couch surfing, he scores a breakthrough mega-hit, loosely based on African-American rhythms largely unfamiliar to white folks. A year later, however, when he's 24, his 21-year-old wife succumbs to typhoid fever contracted on their Cuban honeymoon.
Over the six decades after his wife's death in 1912, the star of that up-from-the-street tale, Irving Berlin, continued to churn out songs (about 800), movie scores (18) and musicals (19). The Siberian cantor's son was one of the first to put American music on the world stage. His music dominated the American soundtrack of the first half of the 20th century, but the music was soon surpassed in sophistication and ambition by Cole Porter, Harold Arlen and George Gershwin, his lyrics by Larry Hart and Ira Gershwin, and his aesthetic by the rise of rock, R&B and soul. More than other pioneering Tin Pan Alley songwriters, Berlin was shoved aside by the stylistic evolution of the great American popular music explosion that he ignited in 1911 with that first hit, the still-irresistable "Alexander's Ragtime Band." We seldom hear any but Berlin's most prominent creations. That makes his music ripe for revival, and this year, tributes to Berlin are happening at Lincoln Center and the Library of Congress, at museums in Pennsylvania, San Francisco and New York — and at this summer's Oregon Festival of American Music Aug. 1-12 at the Shedd and the Hult Center. Although Berlin could compose only in one key, he established the formula for composing catchy songs: "Easy to sing, easy to say, easy to remember and applicable to everyday events." He regarded songwriting as a craft, helped create a profitable and lucrative business model for creators and even codified nine rules for writing pop songs. But Berlin's greatest legacy lies in the incontestably immortal tunes ("Let's Face the Music and Dance," "Blue Skies," "Change Partners" and more) that will be wafting through cabarets and clubs as long as people crave memorable melodies. Children may not listen for sleighbells in the snow anymore, but their parents still hear "White Christmas" every December. Unfortunately, we too often hear his songs in soggy lounge lizard versions, stultifying medleys and oversimplified reharmonizations. So it's welcome to see OFAM bring its thoughtful, historically informed appraisal to Berlin's music. In performances, lectures, films and other presentations, OFAM will try to rescue Berlin from neglect and shoddy interpretations. This year's festival includes a trio of bona fide Irvingologists: author Robert Kimbell, singer/author Ian Whitcomb and acclaimed standards interpreter Maude Maggart. Music director Dick Hyman, who knows the American songbook as well as any performer alive, has again called on his coterie of New York musical veterans (like the great clarinetist Ken Peplowski), some of Eugene's finest musicians and OFAM regular Maria Jette to render Berlin's songs with the respect they deserve. The opening night sampler at the Hult Aug. 3 is a good way to get a sense of what's in store. Jazz fans will appreciate the afternoon small-combo show Aug. 4, while everyone should enjoy that evening's musical display, with music composed by a remarkable group of immigrants. Commendably, OFAM has programmed a concert of Berlin rarities on Aug. 11. Maggart's Aug. 10 concert presents some of Berlin's finest early songs, including the waltz ballad he wrote in the wake of his young wife's death, "When I Lost You." The annual musical is Berlin's classic Annie Get Your Gun, based on the 1999 Broadway revival, an affectionate send up of showbiz glitz whose bootstrapping heroine resembles the composer. The closing concert at the Hult on Aug. 12, presenting Berlin's music as a reflection of the 20th century's most compelling moments, crystallizes the case for his significance. No matter how cornball some of his songs may seem to us now, history judges an artist by the extent to which he reflects his times and elucidates them for later generations. When you see Fred Astaire dancing and singing Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek" in Woody Allen's poignant film The Purple Rose of Cairo or hear him sing "There may be trouble ahead" as World War II looms, you understand how Berlin's music gave Depression-era America hope. In that sense Irving Berlin will always be the music man of early 20th century America.
Turning
Heads
Brash and raucous, The Rubberneckers are preparing to export their whiskey-soaked blend of country and punk from their home in Blue Lake, Calif. to Eugene and beyond. While the two genres that meld to create "cow punk" might seem an unlikely combination, singer and rhythm guitarist Clay Smith explains that there are more similarities between country and punk than you might expect. "They're really not that much different," Smith says. "Those two crowds of people don't necessarily mix — country fans and punk fans — but the music in its simplest form is based on three- and four-chord progressions, and the songs are typically about being drunk or being broken up with or heartache in general. So they are pretty similar in the construction and subject matter of the music." The Rubberneckers' uptempo, headbanging incarnation of country, with the slight drawl of a singer who (as the song suggests) may have been "Drunk by Four," is hardly anything new. According to Smith, "cow punk" is a style that is seeing increasing popularity in underground circles, where lines between genres are constantly blurred. On tour to promote their most recent recording, Live from the Farmhouse, the follow-up to their first album, This is the Whiskey Rebellion, the Rubberneckers will appeal to heavy drinkers, Ramones fans and "anyone who wants to hear upbeat, catchy, hooky music," Smith adds. — Martha Calhoon
Drums
and Spirits In Buddhist and Shinto tradition, the annual Obon festival is one of the most important times of the year. In Japan the annual three-day observance can bring much daily activity to a halt as people pray that the souls of their ancestors are at peace. In Eugene, as in Japan, another aspect of the festival is pure celebration. Not only are the ancestor spirits assumed to be at rest, but they might even be persuaded to come for a visit. "During Obon, we dance and invite the spirits of our ancestors to dance with us," Seiko Kikuta said. An expert in Japanese dance forms, Kikuta is now in her 17th year as dance coordinator for Eugene's annual Japanese-American Obon and Taiko Drumming Festival. For several weeks, she has been rehearsing a troupe of dancers for the festival, but come performance time, she hopes the audience won't just stand by watching the results of all her work. "Audience participation is strongly encouraged," Kikuta said. "The steps are very simple and repetitive. It shouldn't take long for people to get the basics down, and even if they don't get it exactly right, dancing is more important than the steps. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to join in." Participants can dance in memory of their own ancestors or just for fun. For those fearful of treading clumsily on a religious rite, Kikuta said, "In Japan, this is a religious observance, but in Eugene we do this to help new generations and others to understand Japanese culture." While dancing is encouraged, it is certainly not mandatory, and the festival offers other attractions. There will be games for children, arts and craft booths, food booths and performances of Taiko drumming. For some practitioners, Taiko drumming itself is almost a religious act. The drum is thought to be imbued with a spirit, and the part of the drummer is to become one with the drum and express and free its spirit. It's an inherently dramatic and complex art form built out of percussive beats and telling silences. Between the drumming and the dancing, the atmosphere is right for an evening of family entertainment. And while the origins of the festival might be religious, surely all people could benefit by taking time to consider the family members who have come before. JAPANESE AMERICAN OBON AND TAIKO DRUMMING FESTIVAL. 5-9 pm • Sat. July 29. Alton Baker Park • FREE
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