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.
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.
With just one day before Gorillaz’s new CD Plastic Beach hits stores nationwide, I’ve been going back and reminiscing on this band’s wonderfully crafted music (and videos). We all know “Clint Eastwood” (I ain’t happy/I’m feelin’ glad/I’ve got sunshine/in a bag…) and “Feel Good Inc.” (Windmill, Windmill for the land/turn forever hand in hand…). But Gorillaz is not just a band… it is, in my opinion, one of the most creatively genius works of art in the history of music.
Created by former lead singer of Blur Damon Albarn and “Tank Girl” creator Jamie Hewlett, the band is composed of cartoon characters (2D, Murdoc, Russel, and Noodle), each with back stories and interesting facts. In 2001, their first CD (self-titled Gorillaz) rocked the charts as a combination of hip-hop, rap, and electronic, with hits like the aforementioned “Clint Eastwood” (featuring Del The Funky Homosapien, who plays a minor character in the band’s back story), slow, urban track “Tomorrow Comes Today,” and feeling-good pop song “19-2000.” The second CD, Demon Days (2005), was a major success for the band, bringing in many celebrity guests to rap, sing, and even read for the tracks (De La Soul, Bootie Brown, MF Doom, Shaun Ryder, Dennis Hopper, and Danger Mouse, who helped produce the CD). “Feel Good Inc.” hit the charts and quickly rated higher than any of their other hits, soon followed by children-anthem “Dirty Harry,” solemn “El Mañana,” and dance-worthy “DARE.” Now, 5 years later, Gorillaz has collaborated once again with Plastic Beach. Unfortunately, the only songs I’ve heard (so far) are “Stylo,” which is the first single off the new CD, featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack, and “Superfast Jellyfish,” featuring De La Soul once more.
The music is really original in that it mixes different genres together to create a new type of sound. From “19-2000,” which uses techno, hip-hop, and reggae to sound like a bubblegum pop song, to “Don’t Get Lost In Heaven” paired with “Demon Days,” which uses a full string orchestra, choir, hip-hop, and reggae to sound epic and gorgeous, the band reinvents the world of urban music.
However, what makes them so interesting is the story behind the band, how they advertise themselves, and their use of advanced technology to create a fully-animated band.
Back in 2006, the “band” put out an autobiography called Rise of the Ogre, which not only chronicled the band’s successful music career but also the band members’ lives and personalities in and out of the band. For example, we find out that 2D has black eyes because Murdoc ran him over in a car, which dented one of his eyes, and was catapulted out of the dashboard window, causing his other eye to be pushed in as well. We learn the truth about Noodle, that she is really a secret Japanese government weapon, triggered by the words “ocean bacon.” We find out that the ghost of Del The Funky Homosapien was contained inside of Russel, and Russel had it exorcised out of his body before working on “Demon Days.” We learn about Murdoc’s obsession with being a Satanist and how he nearly killed a member of the band in one of the videos.
I mean, sure, this may not sound like a lot. But considering that this is all made up to coincide with a few CDs, that’s pretty incredible!
But that’s not all… to create this image of a fully-animated band, high tech equipment have made it possible for people to really feel like the members of Gorillaz are actually real. For the 2006 Grammys, the band performed a mash up of “Feel Good Inc.” and Madonna’s hit for the year “Hung Up” live. But, because of the band’s animated appearances, a holographic projection unit was set up on stage, allowing for the band members to look as if they were standing on stage in real life. Madonna was also holographically projected for the first part of her act, as she moves around the characters to interact with them. This is one of the first, and greatest, technical feats ever for a band to make.
Also, because of their animations, the band RARELY plays live shows (in fact, the only one they have lined up so far for their new CD is Coachella 2010). So, of course, each of their live shows out-does the other. The Demon Days tour included panels of changing colors, hiding the live band from the public, while the “guests” were on stage in front, brightly lit. On a large screen in the middle, pictures and video played to help visually attract the audience. Simplistic, but incredibly creative.
Personally my favorite part of the band’s creativity is what they put into their website. To help promote their band and to get their fans psyched about the band itself, they launched an interactive game on their website to explore the confines of their home Kong Studios. With the coming of each CD and hit came an update to the website… and as the lives and appearance of each character changed, the studio reflected it. For example, in the video for “El Mañana,” Noodle supposedly died at the end of the video (it was later revealed that she had not died, but was instead dragged into hell). After the video landed, Noodle’s room in the virtual world was stripped and began to fall apart every month. As the truth came out that she was actually trapped in hell, the basement of the website’s virtual Kong had a transmission of Noodle in a room, exclaiming that she needed help. Soon after the announcement of Plastic Beach, Kong was in ruins, with none of the rooms available. Thus, Plastic Beach was born: the newest interactive online game allows you to tour Plastic Beach, with new rooms opening pretty much every month. The website has won Webby awards for its creativity, and it keeps people interested and attached to the “secret” lives of the band. If you’re interested, go to the website!
So yes, Gorillaz has great music, but it goes beyond that. I mean think of it this way: 2 guys created a FAKE band with FAKE names and FAKE backgrounds… they used incredible technical equipment to make these FAKE characters REAL, and even set up strange situations for said FAKE characters (as in their Plastic Beach website). Gorillaz is no ordinary band. It is a work of creative genius. And, as Plastic Beach approaches, to quote one of my favorite Gorillaz songs, “Yeah, yeah, yeah I’ll pay/When tomorrow/Tomorrow comes today!”
Ethos has officially accepted our challenge to partake in a dance-off of epic proportions!!!!! KWVA will be DJing the event, and while the date has not been set, it is certain that this will be a dance-off you don’t wanna miss! Until then, here’s a little preview of some OV Funk that I captured on a Saturday night at a birthday celebration of a certain staffer… hope you’re as pumped as we are.
We’ve started to include a sports section. Here are some excerpts from our current issue.
words Tyler Pell
“Mo Money Mo Problems” The Antoine Walker story:
The former Celtics Forward earned over $110 in his twelve year NBA career. Unfortunately, Walker’s career took a nose dive when a self professed love of fried chicken got the best of his slowing metabolism. Now 33, an overweight and unemployed Walker owes numerous Las Vegas Hotels sums upward of $4 million. Still not clear sure if they are gambling debts or unpaid buffet tabs, either way consider this movie a juxtaposition of the MC Hammer and Kirstie Alley stories.
“Undisputed”TheRock‘EmSock‘EmRobots story:
This classic rivalry seems to have spanned generations. But what goes on behind the scenes — when the Blue Guy and the Red Guy aren’t fighting? Is there any real animosity between them, or is it contrived? Is there a Don King of the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em circuit? Do they go out for a beer after fights? Which fighters did they look up to growing up? Did they really start the Crips/Bloods feud?
“Ellis D” The Dock Ellis story:
Consider Ellis the Hunter S. Thompson of the sports world. His most famous exploits involve a two day acid binge during which he was informed by his girlfriend that he was scheduled to pitch for the Pirates later that afternoon. Dock responded, pitching just the 174th no-hitter of all time; likely the only one pitched under the influence of a Schedule I hallucinogenic. YouTube “Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No” for a psychedelic animated re-telling narrative of the historic event.
“Pushin’ Weight” The Nate Newton story:
Newton was one of the NFL’s premier offensive linemen during the 1990s. He won three Super Bowls and made six pro-bowls appearances as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. While in the NFL, his 370 pound frame earned him the nickname “The Kitchen.” After retiring, ungodly weights continued to define Newton. In one 5 week stretch in 2001, Newton was busted with trying to move over 390 pounds of pot. After serving jail time, Newton has given up marijuana and took up Christianity. Maybe pot is a gateway drug.
After a cane-yielding Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey exited the Super Bowl stage with two other guys claiming to be members of The Who, one thing seemed evident: Janet Jackson’s nipple has forever altered the halftime show experience. Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and somehow, Prince have all performed since Jackson’s nipple made an unexpected appearance at Super Bowl XXXVIII. Now I wouldn’t consider any pre-or-post nipple performances “good” by any measure, but these recent halftime performers look like they would be a lot more comfortable in a Buick than anywhere near a stage.
The stories are legendary. For example: “One time he came on stage in a space suit with a bucket of KFC and started throwing chicken at the crowd.” Another fable went, “He’s a pimp. No, literally he’s a pimp.” Last Tuesday in the Wow Hall basement between openers I heard a new myth, a first person account of a Kool Keith sighting at a Costco in LA, where he, Xzibit, and several hookers purchased some bulk goods. So no one really knew what to expect of Keith’s Eugene appearance, the first stop of his brief Cascadia tour with Foreign Objects.
For those unacquainted with him, Kool Keith is a man of many aliases. His better-known titles include Kool Keith, Dr. Octagon, Dr. Doom, and Black Elvis; his website lists more than fifty in all, though most were used only once or twice on isolated singles throughout his thirty year career.
He began in ’88 as a member of the New York old school crew Ultramagnetic MCs. He gradually established himself as a solo act, and in 1996 he released Dr. Octagonecologist, a psychedelic, futuristic collaboration with Dan the Automator; it was an instant hip-hop classic. A clever lyricist, Keith stands out starkly from the banal background of mainstream unoriginality. But don’t be mistaken; Kool Keith is not another politically poignant underground rapper who parades a vocabulary of multisyllabic words. His message is more often disturbingly raunchy than profound. He is difficult to pin down, a schizophrenic entertainer with as many personalities as monikers.
He mounted the Wow Hall’s modest stage wearing a sequins headscarf and wielding his microphone. His DJ cued a record from the Ultramagnetic MCs years, and Keith began to rattle off rhymes in a funky old-school pentameter.
In essence, the show was a chronological recap of the many chapters of Kool Keith’s career. After a five-minute spree of uninterrupted free styles (which bested the average written rap), Keith and his hype-men moved on to songs from the Dr. Octagon era. The crowd erupted with excitement for “Blue Flowers” and “Earth People,” two better-known singles off of Dr. Octagonecologist.
With his albums, the listener is able to turn a blind eye to Kool Keith’s less wholesome (i.e., degrading) lyrics. But when confronted with his living presence, one is forced to see the sheer crudity of his words. Aside from a few outliers, Kool Keith’s raps are only about sex. It is sometimes suggested that he means to satirize the misogyny of the mainstream. If so, then he’s doing a great job. Between songs, he asked, “How many ladies here like hotels?” The audience laughed nervously, unsure whether it was creepy or hilarious. He went on: “Who here is a freak? Are there any secret freaks? Ok, who here is a conservative freak? We’re looking for secret conservative confined freaks.” He eventually dropped the issue to play more raunchy songs released under his Dr. Doom alias.
After a satisfying survey of Kool Keith’s contributions to hip-hop, the show took a turn for the worse. For the last twenty minutes or so, Keith and his posse performed half-minute song segments, abruptly ending one and moving on to the next. They were attempting to cram the show’s tail end with as many songs as possible: it was quantity not quality. And it was annoying. Just when you settled into the groove of a beat, the record flipped, the tempo changed, and you had to readjust.
Despite ending on such an irritating note, the overall concert experience was a fascinating and enjoyable glimpse at who Kool Keith really is: a very strange man.
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.
