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The
Year in Review
It's been a bit more than a year since George Ayres and Jake Baker formed their own recording studio and record label, Sleepsound Records. After releasing CDs by local bands Armored Frog, Testface and The Fast Computers in 2005, Baker and Ayres, who both play in Armored Frog and occasionally in Testface, declared it time to converge those bands on one stage at one time. "We wanted to do a one-year Sleepsound thing, like, 'This is how far we've come,'" Ayres said. "The three [bands] intermix a lot, but we didn't do anything where all three of us played together." Ayres and Baker appreciate incorporating the old and the new into their technological approach. With Armored Frog's new release a month from completion, the label plans a vinyl release with an option to download the whole recording, with CD formatting also available. "We did a whole year where we all just did CD releases and this next year I'm hoping to take it somewhere else," he said. They're also scouting for new bands to sign to the Sleepsound roster in the coming year, possibly doing a 10-inch with multi-instrumentalist and Corvallis resident Eric Nordby. "We don't want to sign a lot of artists because of the financial burden, but if there's things happening that are unique or interesting," they'll consider it, he explained.
Now, about the music. The Fast Computers is a co-ed trio, too smart for their own good. Nostalgic for a future that has yet to pass, they make synthesizer pop for the love of flying cars, robots and space ladders to the moon. Their release is called SP; it's essentially a demo CD with a title that plays on the concept of LP. Armored Frog has three releases since their formation in 2000. With reverbs, sax, synths, singing, trumpet and Jew's harp, the band crafts sparse, quiet music that punctuates itself with outbursts of digital noise. Testface crafts fragile, folky music born out of an isolationist searching the darkness for other isolationists. A Testface song is a musical and lyrical puzzle box with no key except your own imagination. Sleepsound Records Showcase. 9 pm • Thur. 3/9. Sam Bond's. $5 • 431-6603.
Irish
Fest Without the Mess For parents, St. Patrick's Day can be a holiday worth ignoring. The drunken revelry that has become March 17 for most of us will come and go for many of our child-raising brothers and sisters. But for all you concerned parents and responsible citizens out there, the third annual Eugene Irish Cultural Festival has you covered. The event, which takes place Saturday, March 11 at Sheldon High School, will offer an educated and spirited celebration of Irish culture – and they won't serve booze. The event website explains the moral reasoning for keeping the celebration clean. "The stereotype of drunken Irishmen has followed Irish immigrants throughout the world including here in Lane County," it says. "We really wanted to go a lot deeper in terms of teaching people about Irish music and Irish history," says festival coordinator Peggy Hinsman. "Our goal is to have a fun educational experience for people of all ages." Irish music will be performed from 11 am until 11 pm Hinsman says. There will be lessons in Irish language, music, history and even a genealogy tracker for those who want to trace their roots back to the other side of the pond. A book about Irish fairies will be available to explain some of the more playful Irish superstitions. "They're not like Tinkerbell," Hinsman says. "Irish fairies are very mischievous." One well-known Irish fairy, named Grogoch (pronounced as Grow-gok), is known as a very helpful fairy to humans. But he despises laziness. Supposedly if you sleep in on a Sunday he'll jump on your bed and smack your head around. Similarly, if he catches you taking too many breaks in the field he'll poke you with things. "He's very helpful as far as getting things done for humans," Hinsman says. The event is associated with the Lane County Community Partnership, which started First Night, and supports family-oriented alcohol-free events. More than an exercise in prohibition, the Eugene Irish Cultural Festival is about a less superficial celebration of Irish culture. "That doesn't mean that we don't think that people can drink responsibly," Hinsman says. Instrument workshops for players of the fiddle, penny whistle and Irish influenced percussion will take place for those who bring their own instruments. Craft vendors and authentic Irish cuisine will be available. Part of the event's proceeds will go to the Sheldon High School music and drama programs. Doors open at 10:30 am and the price for all-day admission is $20 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. Separate admission will be available to the daytime festival for $7/ $4 and to the evening concert for $15/ $10.
Death
Metal's Yin and Yang Have you guys been to Eugene before? I don't think so. We played Portland a couple times and our managers probably want to go somewhere else. It'll be fun though.
Were you surprised by the media buzz when your new album, Ghost Reveries, was released? That's really just in terms of what Roadrunner Records can do with the album. When we finished the recording, I feel I'm done and the promotion is very secondary. I know there's a lot more work for us now, but as far as the popularity, I think we've always delivered good material. Something I've wanted to ask you about your vocals — what made you decide to do two different vocal styles? Eh, you don't have to be a genius to do the growling. I've been singing since I was a kid. We were rehearsing a lot in the old days and I was doing a song on our old album, Orchid, called "Twilight Is My Robe." We were playing an acoustic break and I wanted to try out some clean vocals, and it worked. We're already fucked up in that we're not pure death metal, so I figured some singing wouldn't hurt. Off the new album, what's "Ghost of Perdition" about? "Ghost of Perdition" was meant to be the initial song on the record on this big-ass concept piece so I wanted it to be something special. These lyrics are very fictional — it's a character I made up along with a story I made up. I want to have a little of my own personality in the lyrics, regardless of whether or not it's real or fictional. What band or album really inspired you to become a singer/songwriter? Back then, I loved great guitar solos. I grew up on a diet of classic heavy metal, Deep Purple especially. Black Sabbath as well, and I think I love them more than most people. It's the first band I got into when I was really young, and I still feel like I have the need to listen to them over anything else. Led Zeppelin and Rainbow too. And what's your opinion on the metal scene right now? Everything always sounds the same. I'm irritated; the whole metal scene makes me mad. I'm sure people love that hardcore kind of stuff but I'm done with it. Even on Sounds of the Underground last year, besides Clutch it was a lot of bands with three-word names and the same chords in each song. I remember you asking at the Portland show back in October who bought Ghost Reveries and who downloaded it. I don't like the whole downloading phenomenon. To download a CD and burn it and put it in your collection is just less to me. I could never put a copied CD in my collection. We're also concerned financially, being that downloading damages sales. But on the other hand, it spreads the word and we get more people to our live shows. I guess you can't download a live experience. I know it's a bit early to ask, but is there something you want to try for a future song you might write that's kind of crazy? Maybe a Bon Jovi voice box … nahhh, I'm just kidding. Hey, I was just throwing it out there. Well sure, why not. Might be worth a try. Opeth plays with Dark Tranquility, Devildriver and Northwest Royale at 7 pm Saturday, Mar. 11 at the WOW Hall. $19 adv./$21 dos.
Neo-classical, Absurdist Cabaret
From the far-flung exotic reaches of Portland, Vagabond Opera brings a musical goulash of styles wherever they pitch their tents for the night. Specializing in Bohemian eclecticism, the troupe borrows liberally from musical styles all over the world and runs it through their own special filter: part demented klezmer band, part Kurt Weill cabaret decadence. Their repertoire ranges from gut-bucket swing, Arabic belly dance and tangos to Ukrainian folk-punk ballads, St. Louis Jjazz and rags and a special tip of the fedora to Marlene Dietrich. Led by Eric Stern, an operatic tenor, accordionist, pianist and composer, the band is rounded out by Robin Jackson on tenor saxophone, Jason Flores on upright bass, cellist Skip VonKuske, percussionist Mark Burdon and Leslie Kernochan, an operatic soprano and alto saxophone player. A frequent performer throughout the Northwest, Vagabond Opera opened for Air America's Al Franken in his recent trip to Portland and has appeared with the Oregon Symphony. They've also performed at the Oregon Country Fair, the Willamette Valley Folk Festival and headlined on Oregon Public Radio's Live Wire Broadcast. Vagabond Opera caravans into town at 9:30 pm Saturday, March 11 at Jo Federigo's. $5. — John Ginn
Undistorted Simplicity
Good For America planned to be making a name for itself in Portland right about now. The band says that "a series of unfortunate circumstances" (which included an eviction after one roommate lost his job) caused the band to relocate to Eugene after giving good ol' Gresham a try. "We were doing pretty good," said guitarist Brandon Christensen. "We recorded our demo and played a lot of coffee shops and drunken parties." Christensen, fellow guitarist Kawika Hunter and lead vocalist Mike Johnson offer a mellow rock, coffee shop sound. They don't currently have a bass player or use drums but say that they've considered adding members to the band. "We've had trouble getting people who mesh with our style," Christensen says. The consequent lack of depth to their music will probably keep the band performing at more sociable venues. The simplicity of the two undistorted guitars offers a quaint sound that, however simple, might be fitting to the band's serious messages. "We want to get people thinking about everything," Christensen said. "We don't want people to be satisfied with mediocrity." Part Dave Matthews, part Stone Temple Pilots, Good For America has some work before it will offer the rebirth of something "a little more original," as Christensen says. But the band, which has been together for less than two years, has a decent start and at least the band members give a shit about the relevance of its product. Good For America performs at Black Forest at 9:30 pm Mar. 14. Admission is, as always, free. — Danny Cross
You Need Oneida
After eight years and as many records, Oneida should be a household name. The fact that they're not speaks less about the band than about the general intellectual climate in the United States. When a greater percentage of the population can name all the members of a television cartoon family but can't correctly identify the freedoms granted by the First Ammendment, I don't hold a lot of hope for bands like Oneida. Covering so much musical ground, as Oneida tends to do, can be confusing to the average listener. If you consider yourself better than average, discover for yourself Oneida's unique brand of shock rock. Utilizing kraut rock jams, spaced-out synthesizers and a backbone of fuzzy garage-rock, Oneida camps out in the nether regions of rock music, much like Red Crayola. For their most recent full-length, The Wedding, on Jagjaguwar Records, Oneida added a string quartet of violin, viola, cello and double bass to lush up their sound. The album's opener, The "Eiger" is about a Swiss mountaineer and a German girl. "Spirits" is vaguely Eastern European sounding. "Did I Die" is the pot-smokin'est rock song Syd Barrett would have written had he laid off the acid long enough. The only drawback to Oneida's songs is that they are so tangibly experimental that they almost seem stillborn. Sometimes it seems they take the songs just far enough to show you what they could do if they wanted to, but without a structural skeleton the songs collapse. For The Wedding, Oneida built a huge music box out of plywood, saw blades, industrial motors and salvaged marine pilings. Nails and spikes were hammered into the pilings and rotated across the tensioned saw blades, creating a hellish, medieval cacophony of sound. That gives you some idea of the lengths this band will go to. In September, Oneida released a split 12-inch with Plastic Crimewave Sound, on Jagjaguwar. Oneida plays with openers Parchman Farm and The Mood 8 pm Wed., March 15 at the WOW Hall. $8 stu./$10 gen. — Vanessa Salvia
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