Eugene Weekly

Colorado producer, DJ and electronic musician Michal Menert is called “the Godfather of Electro-Soul.”  “It’s a title the fans have given me,” Menert tells EW via email. He says his work with trendsetting artist Pretty Lights put him at the forefront of the white-hot EDM (electronic dance music) scene.  “It’s a flattering name that got placed on me, and I wear it with a smile,” Menert says. “I never refer to myself as that, but will gladly take it.” Continue reading →

There’s a new sound in the underground and it’s taking foothold in Eugene. The sound is called electro swing, or e-swing, a blending of modern techno, bass and house music with vintage jazz and swing music of the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s. For Eugene’s plentiful, dance-hungry audiences, this combo is a no-brainer. Continue reading →

“People won’t commit to your music if you don’t commit to it first,” says Sam Wartenbee, Eugene rapper and Crushkill Recordings artist. If you’ve paid attention to local music for any length of time, chances are you recognize Wartenbee (aka Sammy Warm Hands), whether from hardcore punk band This Day’s End or local hip-hop act The ILLusionists.  Ten years ago, Wartenbee started his own recording studio and record label, Take 92 Music.  Continue reading →

With a gender twist on the Adam and Eve story, Montreal’s experimental techno musician Marie Davidson offers us the apple of temptation.  This time, the apple is minimalist electronic beats and soundscapes that evoke danger, sexuality and darkness. And, frequently, her sound has an undeniably killer groove — like on the track “Excès de Vitesse” from Davidson’s upcoming release Un Autre Voyage (out April 15 on Holodeck Records). Continue reading →

Pop quiz: What do Joseph Campbell, Blade Runner and Trent Reznor have in common?  Answer: The L.A. synth-pop quartet LEX.  “A lot of our inspiration comes from movies such as Blade Runner, The Neverending Story and Labyrinth,” bandmember Leah Chrisholm tells EW via email. Chrisholm grew up in Eugene. LEX is touring in support of their debut self-titled release produced by Peter Franco, who also worked on the last two Daft Punk records. The band describes its sound as “fantasy synth.” Continue reading →

Geographer exists somewhere between the emotive synth pop arias of Depeche Mode and the earnest coffeehouse-meets-arena-rock of fellow Bay Area acts Train and Counting Crows.  With echoes of The Killers, Geographer’s latest release, Ghost Modern (out now on Roll Call Records) tries to sound big — U2 big, the kind of watershed record that burns up the charts while soundtracking a generation. Continue reading →

“University cities are the best places to play,” says Jay Bentley, bassist for legendary Southern California punk band Bad Religion. “They’re full of students,” he continues, “and students are the best people.” Bad Religion has been busting establishment chops since 1979. The band returns to Eugene in support of 2013’s studio record True North. Bentley says in addition to touring, Bad Religion has started writing a new record. Continue reading →

Jeff Tweedy was an integral member of Uncle Tupelo and is now the frontman of Wilco — putting him at the forefront of two of the most acclaimed American rock bands of the past 25 years.  In 2012, Tweedy produced the Mavis Staples record One True Vine. Tweedy asked his teenaged son Spencer to play drums in the studio, and from these recordings came the father-son project Tweedy.  Continue reading →

New York rapper Michael Quattlebaum Jr., aka Mykki Blanco, is as much a performance artist as a musician.  A published poet and art school dropout, Quattlebaum’s alter ego Blanco is inspired by teenage girls and drag queens — mixing the right-now youth culture of Rihanna, the decadent gutter of the New York art world, queercore and Riot Grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna.  Continue reading →