After their performance with Built to Spill and Disco Doom at the WOW Hall back in November, our friends Finn Riggins took the time to say hello to us from the depths of the women’s bathroom. Why? We don’t know… it just made sense at the time.
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Starting off in pure noise music, he shifted through the lo-fi realm, experimenting with outdated electronic musical instruments.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.
It seems 2009 is the year of hip-hop in Eugene… validated by an appearance of Ghostface Killah at the WOW Hall. The Voice was there…
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.
Forgive the late notice. We’re sorry.
But.
Swede Jens Lekman performs tonight at the WOW Hall starting at 8 p.m. Lekman, formerly known as Rocky Dennis, is a singer-songwriter who blends melodic guitar with digital samples (think Andrew Bird) to produce a sound that can be experienced here. Heavily influenced by Modern Lovers front-man Jonathan Richmond and the Scottish rockers Belle & Sebastian, Lekman is now on Secretly Canadian and is on tour in support of his epic 2007 album Night Falls Over Kortadela. His performances often take different shapes ranging from just him and his guitar to a cappella to a full choir and string quartet. While I have no insider information to what he’ll pull from his bag tonight (Save for comedian and actress Tig Notaro as an opening act), I’m sure it will be well worth the $15 inside the WOW Hall tonight. If you’re not engulfed in course work, check it.
Nasal singing, check. Emo crowd, check. Feeling the music in your black heart check. The Mountain Goats at the WOW Hall was a relaxing evening for a warm Wednesday night. John Darnielle opened the set with a solo performance. As he ran up to the stage I hear a young boy in the crowd say “Here he comes!” I noticed this young man was also drawing with crayons the whole time to the music. The lyrics seemed to call the crowd to a stand still, literally.
“I’d like to ask my band to join me,” Danielle proclaimed. As the show continued, the crowd roared out requests, “ONIONS! COTTON! FREE BIRD!” Someone screamed, “Haven’t you heard of a set list!” The basest commented on the crowds requests including, “I want to have your babies.” His sweet banter and demur in his three piece suite reflected his tall and slim geeky persona.
If the Audience were all sitting, like many were, I think the narrative of The Mountain Goats lyrics would have seemed like an old age fable. My 10% Emo really felt like I was personally being sang to with songs like, “I’ll miss you when your gone.” The show seemed short, but sweet for that warm Wednesday night. The encore was by far the most enthusiastic performance. “This Year” was seventeen years young singing to all those angst high school kids and the nostalgic college students like me.
