Now that the hippie gawking at the Oregon Country Fair has concluded, its time to turn our attention back to festivals that actually carry some musical merit. With Portland’s Pickathon not until next month and Music Fest Northwest nearly two months away, we need a booze filled event to take up our lax summer weekends. Seattle’s most notoriously trendy neighborhood, Capitol Hill, is throwing a block party just for you, July 23rd-25th. This justly named festival, Capitol Hill Block Party is thirteen years in the making, but has just stretched its celebration to three days. It’s only a five-hour drive north and 60 bucks for a full weekend of independent music in the Emerald City (the real one, sorry Eugene). This year its headlining huge names like MGMT, Yeasayer, Atmosphere and the Dead Weather, along with indie greats like the Bear in Heaven, Fruit Bats, Holy Fuck, Dutchess and the Duke and the legendary dance phenomena !!!. The Block Party’s long held tradition of local, independent music holds fast with local bands like infamous hipster favorites Mad Rad and Truckasaurus, along with hip-hop Fresh Espresso, and a plethora of upcoming musical collectives that bolster a variety of sounds. Don’t spend another weekned in your rundown, air conditioning free Eugene apartment and caravan up to Seattle. Why not.
Capitol Hill Block Party: July 23rd, 24th, 25th in Seattle
23$/Day, 60$/weekend
http://www.capitolhillblockparty.com/schedule.html
Emerging from the sleepy backwoods of rural Pennsylvania, Black Moth Super Rainbow’s musical genius, Tobacco, has broken solo and ventured into a new urban terrain. Leaving behind a heaven of synthesizer daydreams and a host of angelic murmurs, the man behind the vocoder began to explore the gritty beat of the city.
Starting off in pure noise music, he shifted through the lo-fi realm, experimenting with outdated electronic musical instruments. Through various personas and projects Tobacco began to gain his uniquely pop sound we have all grown to love in BMSR. “I try to label what I do as pop music, but it’s really whatever you want it to be.” Tobacco said Thursday. “It’s the circumstance, it’s what you feel.”
After teaming with BMSR for four records, Tobacco has proven to be even heartier on his own. With his 2007 release, Fucked Up Friends, the drums hit a bit harder, the snyths swell a little longer and the vocals dig deeper. “I just want it to be memorable,” he said. “Stuff that hooks into your brain.” Tobacco focuses more on his aggressive beats, and a little more on his dark side. His sound remains focused on analog synths, drum machines, and (of course) vocoders, but a tad rawer with a little more static. His 2007 release featured Aesop Rock, which was rumored to have inspired more hip hop collaborations in his upcoming productions.
Fresh off SXSW, Tobacco glad to be back on the road and ready to hit the West Coast for the second half of his short tour. A fan of the Northwest, he’s gladly playing WOW Hall this Sunday, March 28th. “It’s been a few years but I remember Eugene, I liked it!” Tobacco said. He will be showcasing some surprising material from his upcoming album Manic Meat. Not only does Tobacco reign over us with a supremely unique style, he provides all the band art too, pretty impressive. No doubt the live show will be lit up with his own eccentric video creations-eye candy while the conjurer does his craft.
March came in like a lion- let’s send it out like one. Spring break’s not over till Monday morning, so come dance to the hipster mash-ups of Hood Internet and the eclectic styling of Tobacco with the Oregon Voice. This is a show not to be missed.
And you know how we like to get down.
Dan deacon gave the kids of Eugene a taste of the East of Coast’s ‘wham city’ last night with his beautifully absurd performance at the Wow Hall. Despite false rumors of a fourteen-piece ensemble accompanying Mr. Deacon, the morale of fellow observers was higher than I anticipated. In the furry of week four I found myself almost studying through the show, but decided to drop everything and let myself get a little sweaty.
As a relative newbie to the Dan Deacon legacy, and a virgin to his live performances, the show dominated my expectations. I was comforted with Deacon’s familiar staples of oversized eyeglasses, grainy backdrop videos and that glowing green skull as I nestled into the crowd. From the start he had us on our knees smacking kisses onto each other’s foreheads, making us countdown to fifty before the music came. Set up on ground level he led our newly founded dance community with his digitally synthesized orchestra. Fidgeting with his light fixtures just as much as his switchboards, Deacon’s symphony of sound and light consumed the lower floor of the venue. The high pitched hum of his voice rang through the modulators along side the electronica waves. By his instruction we all partook in a tag-team dance contest, formed a synchronized interpretive dance and made a human tunnel that wrapped around Wow Hall. His social experiment/dance party glory left us all a little lighter.
