Eugene Weekly

At first listen, Portland’s Ages and Ages seem to provide the perfect indie-pop soundtrack to a lazy afternoon spent in careless sun-soaked abandon. But, an underlying darkness looms. Much like the joyous gloom-tinged rock of Denmark’s Alcoholic Faith Mission, frontman Tim Perry and company craft songs that are harmonious, lush and joyous while heavily colored with angst, strife and the difficulty of remaining a decent human being. This is particularly so on their 2014 sophomore release, Divisionary.  Continue reading →

Would you like a gin and tonic with that guitar riff? How about a rum and Coke with that rhyme? “In Eugene, you’ll see a bartender onstage everywhere you go. We all play music,” says Casey Lynch, Level Up Arcade manager and bartender. Lynch is a prime example. Known to most as KI Design (emcee and ringleader of local hip-hop crew, The Architex), he has played countless shows, including a weekly residency — “Private Stock” at Luckey’s Club — going on four years now.  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 →

No one has a voice quite like Iris DeMent — an aching, soulful twang reminiscent of a bygone era. “She’s the best singer I’ve ever heard,” Merle Haggard has said of the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter. DeMent has done timeless duets with John Prine and Emmylou Harris, and her songs have graced both the silver and small screens (2010’s True Grit and Northern Exposure). Via email, EW caught up with DeMent, who plays March 29 at Cozmic, to chat about music collaborations,  her music roots and her latest project. Continue reading →

String quartets might be the most common classical music chamber ensemble, but it’s hard to find a quartet that performs regularly hereabouts and thereby develops the kind of chemistry that can really make the music sing. That hole in Eugene’s musical tapestry will be repaired at 7:30 pm Tuesday, April 7, at United Lutheran Church (2230 Washington), when the new Eugene-based Delgani String Quartet takes it opening bow. Continue reading →