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First impressions can be deceptive. Take, for instance, Joel and Ethan Coen, whose movies seem distinctly built to not be watched but re-watched. Usually, for me, the initial pass through a Coen brothers film proves a strangely tepid affair — The Big Lebowski and Brother, Where Art Thou? felt flat and disjointed the first time around — and it’s not until I return for a second and third look that things start to resonate and deepen. Continue reading
Some newsworthy concert announcements this week: On May 25, popular electro-dance act Disclosure launches Cuthbert Amphitheatre’s outdoor concert season. Let’s hope this means more relevant music comes through that beautiful venue this spring and summer. Tickets on sale now. Continue reading
Badi Assad comes from a distinguished Brazilian musical family, but she’s blazed new trails, not just as a guitarist (like her brothers Sergio and Odair) but also as a vocalist and body-and-vocal percussionist. Her musical vision broadened to embrace jazz, pop and world music, including collaborations with jazz giants John Abercrombie and Larry Coryell, as well as covers of U2, Bjork, Tori Amos and more. Continue reading
[Editor's note: This article has been updated to show the new time for the Heart of Eugene festival, which has been moved from Feb. 14 to Feb. 15] Continue reading
STRFKR frontman Josh Hodges thinks a good bit about living without a home — an intentional, rent-free kind of unhoused lifestyle: van dwellers, guys living out of old school buses. “There’s some baseball player who lives in his van,” Hodges explains. “It’s not even about a money thing; it just fits his lifestyle.” Continue reading
DanceAbility International will be featured on OPB’s Oregon Art Beat and the community is welcome to an open house and viewing party 6:30 to 8:30 pm Thursday, Feb. 4, at 576 Olive St., Suite 208, with the segment airing on TV at 8 pm. Continue reading
From a documentary on the emerging queer hip-hop movement to the avant-garde Blue, the 1993 experimental film from Derek Jarman released just months before his death from AIDS complications, the 24th annual Eugene Queer Film Festival offers an array of films expressing the dynamic and diverse queer experience. The fest, which runs Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 4-6, will screen international submissions, art films and queer classics. Continue reading
My press email about this year’s crop of Oscar shorts notes that all the animated shorts are rated approximately PG, except “Prologue,” which is described as “not suitable for children.” I would go a step further and say it’s not suitable to be a nominee; it’s more of a five-minute demo reel for someone who clearly has talent but little to say. Continue reading
The Annual Freshman Class Cypher put out by XXL Magazine is something like a rap world debutante ball — a chance for the genre’s most promising hopefuls to prove their mettle in rap’s oldest battle tradition. When the little-known Logic made XXL’s class of 2013, the response was mostly indignation. Who the hell is this guy? And why did he make the cut over, say, Chief Keef? Continue reading
What is the sound of Northwest rock? Some might answer Bikini Kill, Nirvana, The Wipers or even The Kingsmen. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I posit it’s Boise’s Built to Spill. The evidence? The music of Built to Spill is like a day that’s ended up rainy when you expected sun. Doug Martsch’s nasally tenor sounds like damp basements, guitars, drums and bass intertwined in a woozy haze, fueled equally by beer, weed and disappointment. Also the band’s longevity: Built to Spill have been at it since ’92, and in that time they’ve remained remarkably consistent. Continue reading