Arts: Page 362

STRFKR S CMNG BCK

Music

Some folks might expect to find Starfucker under glass in Portland’s electro-pop history museum these days, but the band is still bopping along as though that whole Pyramiddd thing (their old moniker) never happened. Four albums after their eponymous debut’s single, “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second,” skyrocketed them to indie stardom, Portland’s biggest contemporary act — because, let’s face it, The Decemberists are pretty donezo these days — still knows how to kick down a good record. Continue reading →

Short Complete Thoughts

Music

Molly Hamilton and her songwriting partner Robert Earl Thomas of Widowspeak spent a lot of time on the road after releasing the critically acclaimed Almanac earlier this year. “We were stuck in a car a lot,” Hamilton says. “I was mostly writing down lyrics and ideas for new things, just to get them out of my system.” Continue reading →

The Business of Laughter

Very Little Theatre inspires with Laughter on the 23rd Floor

Theater

“Even if he was a communist, why would he have cards printed up?” the writer asks, hearing that General George Marshall has just been accused by Joseph McCarthy of being a card-carrying communist. It’s just another day at the office — the crazy, neurotic, hysterical office for Lucus (Zachary Twardowski) as he tries to make it as a comedy writer for a major comedian against the pressures of lowering network standards and Cold War propaganda. Continue reading →

The Gravity of the Situation

Film

Every once in a while, we are allowed the laughter of the gods. It is a pure laughter, sprung from joy rather than bitterness or irony. It is not schadenfreude. It has no victim. Rather, such laughter revels in creation the way a child revels in play — with pure mind and a freedom beyond the shackles of doubt. It is a thankful laughter, a barometer registering sheer gratitude. Continue reading →

Back Beat

Music

Eugene experienced a devastating loss in the music community this month: Bill Finneran, beloved founder of the Eugene Record Convention (the largest in the PNW), passed away from cancer Oct. 1 at the age of 62. EW last caught up with Finneran in February before the convention’s 25th anniversary when he expressed his eternal love of vinyl. Friend Marc Time, who calls Finneran “a shining light,” says the future of the convention is unsure at this time.   Continue reading →

Caving In

Music

Consider for a moment the acoustics of a cave: vast and echoing but also claustrophobic and airless — a small drip of water reverberating to the ceiling and from the walls. Now, consider the acoustics of the band Cave and you have the latter. The Chicago-based, frequently instrumental group is celebrating the release of Threace, out Oct. 15 on uber-hip record label Drag City.  Continue reading →