Eugene Weekly

Classical music is often rightly accused of ignoring the here and now. Fortunately, many younger composers are using classical and postclassical forms to help us understand the sometimes-unpleasant realities of the world we live in. UO grad student and award-winning composer Ethan Gans-Morse directs the Ambrosia Ensemble, which will perform the world premiere of his new opera-oratorio, The Canticle of the Black Madonna, at the University of Oregon’s Beall Concert Hall in a free performance Feb. 16. Continue reading →

Valentine’s Day (or Forced Romance Day, Singles Awareness Day — whatever you prefer) and the proceeding weekend are packed with excellent shows, so grab your schmoopy or your sweet self and paint the town red. Kick off Feb. 14 with the Shook Twins ($13 adv., $15 door) and From Cole: With Love: A Valentine’s Day Cabaret (Feb. 14-17, $12) at Corvallis’ The Majestic Theatre and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony at WOW Hall (see music shorts).  Continue reading →

Eugene is about to swallow a whole lot of Austin, Tex., grunge-rock vigor; The Blind Pets are inspired by a DIY attitude and a complete lack of concern or sympathy for bullshit rock ’n’ roll.  “Rock and roll on a bigger level is taking a dump,” says guitarist and vocalist Joshua Logan, referencing prog rock bands like Muse as the enemy to true rock. “People think of Muse as rock and it’s just not.”  Continue reading →

Sometimes it really is all in a name: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Since the early ’90s Bone Thugs have blended straight-up thuggery with some sweet Temptations-style harmonies, creating one of the most distinctive rap/soul hybrids of the hip-hop era; all the while maintaining a street edge separating them from other ’90s neo doo-woppers like Boyz II Men.  Continue reading →

It makes sense Dead Prez are in town for the UO “Social Justice, Real Justice Conference.” The New York-based hip-hop group has long taken on politics in its work; themes of socialism and social justice, protest of corporate control of the media (particularly hip-hop record labels) and pan-Africanism have been threads running through the group since they began in the late ’90s.  Continue reading →

Many musicians are coy when it comes to the meaning behind their songs, but not the refreshingly candid Lindsay Rachel Rilko, lead singer for Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys. “There’s a song I wrote, ‘Mercy.’ It’s about a bankrobber and the bankrobber is my aunt,” Rilko says, while driving south from Olympia, Wash. Rilko was studying abroad in Ecuador when her mom sent her a message from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that her aunt had robbed a bank and hid the money in their backyard, forcing her mom to call the police. Continue reading →

If you’re bored this week and feel like swingin’ — I mean seriously getting down — with some hard hitting (and intelligently composed) grooves, look no further than Hot 8 Brass Band’s show at WOW Hall. The New Orleans group has musical roots going back to grade school, and the chemistry they maintain today is an unequivocal product of that fact. In balmy Louisiana, traditional brass music has become so deeply embedded in the culture that images of sweltering New Orleans clubs are difficult to envision without that hot music. Continue reading →

We’re in it now, stumbling through the depths of the PNW rainy season. Burdened by a crippling lack of vitamin D and the knowledge that soggy socks are all but inevitable, the only comfort comes in knowing we’re not the only ones. Eugene-based band Pluto the Planet can relate to precipitation-related woes, as the chorus of their song “Port Orford” can attest. “And it rains here almost every day/I really need a hot getaway/Someplace I really want to stay/I just need a break from all the rain.” Amen, boys! Continue reading →