Much Ado About Something
Eugene Opera at 40
When Mark Beudert arrived as its artistic director in 2006, Eugene Opera was in trouble. It was losing so much money that it could only … Continue reading
Music: Page 108
All Pop-Punk-d Out
Pop-punk played a big role in a majority of millennials’ childhoods. From moshing at the Vans Warped Tour to staying dedicated to the fact that … Continue reading
Heartbreak and Honey
The alt-country duo HoneyHoney may seem like a basic pair of guitar-wieldin’ country youngins, but after a decade of jamming together, the two have cultivated … Continue reading
Mean & Melodic
Music writers constantly pester bands with the very question many musicians struggle to answer: “Tell me, in words, what your band sounds like.” Nevertheless, King … Continue reading
Band Campus
Six Student bands not to miss
The University of Oregon has opened its gates to the world, and as you read this, freshmen with guitars and amps are swapping numbers, meeting … Continue reading
Bedroom Sounds to Nameless Ghouls
Marissa Nadler performs with Swedish glam-goth band Ghost BC
There’s a ghost-like quality to Marissa Nadler’s 2016 release Bury Your Name that’s perfect for fall and winter in Eugene. Throughout the record, the strings … Continue reading
Call to Action
Nahko and Medicine for the People
Mainstream music has fallen prey to a habit of being short, sweet and shallow. Nahko and Medicine for the People, the multi-cultural music collective that … Continue reading
Instrumental October
A great jazz keyboard-and-drum duo arrives at Sam Bond’s Garage Oct. 13: Matt Chamberlain is well known for drumming with jazz stars like Bill Frisell, … Continue reading
Forging the Divide
Xylouris White is the sound of two people making music in a room. Person number one is Jim White of well-known Australian experimental rock trio Dirty Three. Person two is George Xylouris, one of Crete’s most beloved musicians, on vocals and lute. The result, evidenced on “Forging” from the duo’s 2016 release Black Peak, is something akin to punk, but also deeply rooted in the folk tradition of Xylouris’ native Crete. And like many folk traditions, there’s formalism but also creative naiveté — celebration, mourning and catharsis. Continue reading
Take it Easy
The Head and the Heart
There’s a song called “City of Angels” from The Head and The Heart’s third release, Signs of Light, and the album’s cover image shows the band lounging around a pool on a sunny afternoon. All this seems to signal a shift for the Seattle musicians away from the delicate, cloudy indie-folk sound they came up under — the same sound popularized by contemporaries like Blitzen Trapper, Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons. Continue reading