The Portland Mercury might be the dopest alt-weekly Oregon has to offer, but inaccuracies in 94/7 FM’s recent ads may have caused some confusion. Beach House and Vampire Weekend will indeed showcase their immense talents in the great state of Oregon at Eugene’s McDonald Theater on September 1st; one night after their ‘Only Oregon Show’ at the Edgefield Amphitheater in Portland.
Contra, Vampire Weekend’s most recent album,peaked at number one on the pop charts and the NYC quartet is celebrating with a world tour which kicked off on August 27th in Vancouver, B.C. and runs through December 6, when they play the second of back-to-back shows in Dublin.
Their Sept. 1 show will be V.W.’s second in Eugene, the first being in 2007, at a venue drummer Chris Tomson described as ‘tiny.’ Tomson couldn’t divulge what the Eugene audience can expect to hear. Just to be prepared to hear a schmorgasboard of tracks from the bands four year history.
Fresh off their third album, Teen Dream, the Dream Pop duo Beach House, which we featured on the OV Blog here, opens for V.W on their entire 6-week American tour. They’re tight. (maybe even more worthy of the $35 price tag than the band they’re opening for.)
The calendar — and the clouds, goddamn it — might read September, but show them both what’s up and enjoy another summer night in Eugene courtesy of Beach House and Vampire Weekend: Wednesday, September 1st at the McDonald Theater. Doors: 7; Show: 8.Tickets: $35 advance, $40 door.
I usually unsubscribe from email lists as soon as I sign up. It’s hard enough to sift through all my bank statements and messages from my mom. The last thing I need is an inbox flooded with TicketsWest ads and OSPIRG petitions. There is one email list, however, that I don’t regret joining: the RCRD LBL newsletter. You give them your email address, and they send you free and legal MP3 downloads from artists of varying genres and celebrity. This shit is daily, so beware; it’s easy to get backed up. But if you’re fixing to receive a steady stream of new, and for the most part good, music, it’s well worth it.
Sharon Jones, the middle-aged ex-prison guard with incredible soul-singing chops, is commonly dubbed “a female James Brown.” Hailing from Brown’s hometown, expounding upon the funky, soulful sound that Brown helped pioneer, the two doubtless share much in common. On Tuesday night, with the support of her eight-piece band, the Dap Kings, Jones proved to a sold-out Crystal Ballroom just how accurate the comparison is. Her excited whoops, shrieks, and hollers; her sassy, salty jive talk; her vintage dance moves (e.g., the Augusta boogaloo); and her intense, unwavering energy all underscored her role as Godmother of Soul.
This year, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings released their fourth record, I Learned the Hard Way, another masterpiece of classic soul songwriting, genius instrument arrangements, and stunning vocal performance. Swimming against the currents of the digital age, the Dap Kings record their real (that is, non-synthesized) instruments on analogue equipment only, producing the subtle sound quality of old soul vinyl. Who cares about musical innovation? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. And there ain’t nothing broke about Motown-era soul and funk.
At their Portland appearance, Jones and her band—a trumpeter, two sax-wielders, two guitarists, a bass player, two percussionists, and two harmonizing backup divas—played a mix of new hits and old standbys. Sharon’s showwomanship was jaw-dropping; by the show’s close, she was sweat drenched and hoarse. As for the Dap Kings, a virtuoso chanteuse like Jones couldn’t ask for better accompaniment; unlike most bands of such scale, they played as one, no one member outshining another. They were an evenly stretched, well-primed canvas upon which Sharon Jones, soul’s badass godmother, applied her vibrant vocal color.
Phantogram’s haunting, post-electronic dream pop oozes a certain amount of intoxication, and the epic performance by the New York duo at Eugene’s Willamette Valley Music Festival last Saturday was comparable to watching globules in a lava lamp. I pity any one who wasn’t in attendance. It really was a seductive—if not spellbinding—show.
I recently had the chance to interview Josh Carter of the group. Here is what he had to say on the West Coast, the music industry and the future of Phantogram.
Fond memories from your last visit to Eugene?
Indeed! We had a great time playing the Willamette Valley Fest. Thecrowd was awesome!
Any thoughts on the West Cost vs. your native East?
So far, we have enjoyed playing the West Coast very much. We’ve hadawesome response to our music on both coasts – the Midwest is great too!We haven’t really gotten to play a lot of shows in the South yet. We arelooking forward to getting down there soon.There are nice people and jerky people everywhere we go… We prefermeeting friendly, sincere people.
We definitely miss home on the East Coast right now, because we’ve beenon tour for a month and will continue to tour for a while.
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it?
Beat-heavy pop, with spacey synths, swirling guitars, chopped upsamples, honest, emotional lyrics, and a lot of texture.
What are major influences to the band, musically and otherwise?
Musically- everything from Debussy to Talking Heads, Curtis Mayfield toSlowdive, The Beatles to J Dilla…. We like all kinds of music. We draw a lot of inspiration from film and movies, too. Some of ourfavorite directors are David Lynch, Terry Gilliam, Michel Gondry…
And what’s your favorite thing about music and the industry today?
My favorite thing about music is that it is as close as you can get tospirituality or the heart and soul of an individual. Music can touchpeople in ways that most other things can’t. It gets under your skin.
What’s the meaning behind the word ‘phantogram’?
A phantogram is a two-dimensional optical illusion that appears in threedimensions. We thought that ‘Phantogram’ would be a good name for our bandas we are a two-piece that creates a stereophonic sound – a sound muchlarger than you would expect from two people.
Any acts you would like to collaborate with?
We would’ve liked to collaborate with Sparklehorse. RIP Mark Linkous. Itwould be cool to do scores for films too.
What are your three must have songs on a dance party mix?
EMF’s “Unbelievable”, Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind”, and “I Would Die For You” by Prince.
Besides a wealth of tour dates, what does the future have in store forPhantogram?
Andre Nickatina, formerly known as Dre Dog, brought some Bay Area rap to WOW Hall on Friday April 16th. The after party was held at the strip club that Nickatina himself just opened in our very own Springfield. They announced this before Nickatina came out while throwing dollar bills out into the audience; it was classy. The audience was similar to a frat party, a lot of drunk grinding, but Andre Nickatina was on his game. I had been nervous because I heard that you either get a really good show or a really bad show from Nickatina, depending on how drugged out he is prior to his performance. Luckily I got a good one, so either he took it easy this time or he’s just mastered the art of rapping while under the influence.
He played Conversation with the Devil early on which was a relief, because it’s one of his best songs. Killa Whale was a hit as the whale calls echoed through the room. He also did Dice of Life (Cuz all my homies love the bottle, like Tyson loves Cus D’amatooo) which is great mainly because it’s over an Irish, medieval melody created by what sounds like a mandolin. He had the crowd enthusiastically spell C-O-C-A-I-N-E (several times) prior to “ayo for yayo, walk around with yayo, all in my nasal, I must have been craze yo”. Around the middle of the show he yelled to the smokey audience, “Let’s give it up for drugs and alcohol, without them I wouldn’t be here today.” I think we all can learn something from this San Franciscan Pisces’ lyrics: “So on the days you feelin’ real bad, think of the best week that you’ve ever had.”
Portugal. The Man is playing WOW Hall tonight with Hello Electric. Doors open at 7:30, music starts at 8. The band shares the hometown of Wasilla, Alaska with Sarah Palin, but relocated to Portland, Oregon. (I wonder why…) They play bluesy, folk, indie rock that sometimes is a little psychedelic. Basically they got it all covered. Some of their popular albums include Censored Colors and The Satanic Satanist. There newest album was released March 2nd this year and is called American Ghetto. You need to listen to the music to really get it, so I’m just going to leave you with this…
All the low is still low
And all the high still get high
How I wish we could dance
Tonight, the McDonald Theater welcomes Austin, Texas based band SPOON, playing at 8:00pm with special guest Explode Into Colors. Spoon has been playing their indie hits since 1993, but really broke into the spotlight with their 2002 album Kill The Moonlight (which saw one of their songs gain popularity through the popular teen-drama “The O.C.”). Since then, their songs have been featured in tv shows and movies alike for the past 5 years. More recently, the song “The Underdog” has been used in movies like Cloverfield, 17 Again, and I Love You, Man.
Their style is funky fresh, and they have almost a British-feel to their music that speaks to the indie crowds. If you’re in the area and wanna check out some awesomeness, stop by the McDonald Theater to check out Spoon. At least I know I’ll be there!
Blue Scholars are playing the WOW Hall tonight Friday, April 2 along with Macklemore with Ryan Lewis, Bambu, and DJ Phatrick. Doors open at 8 pm. The Blue Scholars are Geologic (Geo) on the mic and Sabizi on the beats. The Northwest hip-hop duo (originating in Seattle) is known for expressing their political beliefs through their rhymes. With all the tickets sold out and having just released a new CD inspired by Hawaii, you can bet these guys will put on a great show, seeing as they played a free University of Oregon ASUO-sponsored show last year attended by over 4000 students and fans.
As a an extra, Macklemore is another politically conscious rapper, who just started getting recognized with his new album with Ryan Lewis, they creatively work samples from other songs, including ones form artists like Beirut and Red Hot Chili Peppers into their beats. All in all it should be good. If you got tickets, see you tonight. Bring your Northwest pride.
Because I am still in Eugene for spring break, I get the pleasure of discovering what our local musicians are producing and performing. Good Friday, The Horribalistics, Tullis, Drebin and a Vision in Gray who are all from around the area got to strut their stuff for a short set at WOW hall.
I arrived out the WOW Hall and the band Good Friday was playing and praising Jesus while playing acoustic guitars. Their music was decent, but I was not expecting to hear Christian camp songs so I ran outside and waited for the next band.
The next band, the Horribalistics, true to their name, certainly didn’t put on a great show. They’re another generic punk band. They played loud, fast and simple, but lacked the raw energy and anger that style of music requires to create a great show. They were unable to draw in the crowd, but they were following a Christian band. Any fans of the previous band were probably now offended and left.
The bands that stood out were Drebin and Tullis. Tullis put on a great show except that they sound too much like Floater without enough variation to create their own style. Unlike putting a punk band after a Christian band, Tullis was a good way to get the crowd ready for the next band: Drebin.
Drebin also sounds similar to Floater, but Drebin distances themselves from a Floater clone because their sound is funkier because of their loud, funky and aggressive slap bass style thanks to the bass playing of Derik Sibert although they are a bass-driven band like Floater. Matching the bass styling is the drummer, Ian Samhammer, with his excellently timed, loud and aggressive style of drumming. Samhammer’s creative drumming is the best part of Drebin.
Samhammer met Drebin through mutual friends when they had a different drummer before Samhammer joined the band. They have been playing for a few years together. Each song of Drebin’s, while they are similar in style, does not fall into the trap that so many bands do: not all of their songs sound exactly alike.
“The band is fun and interesting and not all the songs sound the same,” said Samhammer.
Sibert led Drebin and the crowd confidently onstage with their bass-driven sound that nicely complements his low-pitched vocal stylings. The only weakness of Drebin is the the guitarist, Kurt Schreiner, seems to get lost in what to play onstage and lacks the confidence of his counterparts, which hurts his playing. It is hard to play guitar well in a highly bass-driven band, but strong guitar playing is what lacks in Drebin. Also, Schreiner lacks the chemistry that Samhammer and Sibert have onstage together.
Drebin, unfortunately, were not given their fair share of their time slot and they had the audience at their fingertips when the plug was literally pulled out of their amp forcing them to stop playing. Because Drebin was sharing their equipment with Tullis, they were not given any set up time even though it took them ten minutes to tune their instruments and they were only given a 20 minute set that should have been 30 minutes. The crowd was cheering loudly for them when their set was stopped abruptly.
The WOW hall was rented out by the promotion company Nemesis Entertainment and they could not have ran the show any worse. The band that clearly had the most fans had the shortest time slot. As A Vision in Gray, after Drebin, started playing the audience diminished and they played for twice as long as Drebin.
A Vision in Gray was a mix of Emo and Metal and they just couldn’t pull of the mix of styles all that well. Not that I am really a fan of Emo anyway. There was a keyboard in their band that was out of place.
I am glad I live in Eugene where I can always catch a show of local talent, but I hope that I never have to suffer through Nemesis Entertainment organizing a show again.
For most individuals at colleges under the Oregon University System umbrella, March 29th simply marks the beginning of spring-term classes. But more importantly, to those in the know, March 29th marks the long-awaited Portland debut of band Animal Collective and director Danny Perez’s visual album, ODDSAC, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Together they aim to resurrect the lost construction of visual albums championed by bands like the Beatles, DEVO, The Residents and Daft Punk. Oddly enough, Portland is one of only six fortuitous U.S. cites hosting the current round of screenings.
The 53-minute feature-film collaboration between the Collective and Perez is a strange brew of audio and visual elements that create a visceral and engrossing experience catering more to connoisseurs of experimental film rather than to casual listeners of Animal Collective. It’s likely ODDSAC will be considered especially harsh for those fans who think “My Girls” is the band’s best song; but those who cherish the band’s entire discography will likely understand and respect the work of art.
At times there are walls of sound that drown out any wandering thought you may have in your head, causing your rapt imagination to question whether the visual and audio elements provide any linear narrative, which when done a foolish endeavor – they don’t. There are times when you will wish you were witnessing the simple optical illusion of Merriweather Post Pavilion cover art, rather than the ocular raping the intense yet delicate combinations of colors and video layers produce. And at other times, you may be asked by your cohort, “Are you also frightened?” when you uncontrollably open up your throat and gasp after one of the film’s darker, more exhilarating moments. And by film’s end you’ll question many elements: family camping and traditional marshmallow roasts; vampires and flesh canoes; artistic intentions and undulating emotions; and lastly, what it all means. And while it may lack a definite linear narrative, it is a cohesive structure with closing scenes echoing opening sequences and repeating images reappearing when they seemingly should – but it’s definition avant-garde, too.
Danny Perez and Animal Collective (Minus Noah Lennox AKA Panda Bear) will accompany ODDSAC as it makes two final U.S. stops in Portland and Seattle before the DVD release on June 29th. Each date, March 29th and March 30th respectively, will feature two screenings, a 7PM and 9PM, and a subsequent Q & A session with the creators. For more information or to buy tickets, visit here. Tickets are $15.
Oregon Voice Magazine is paid for and produced by students at the University of Oregon. Our weekly meeting is on Wednesday at 6pm in Century Room E. Contributors are welcome.
