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I dare you to not bang your head to the opening strains (after the moaning stops) of White Zombie’s 1995 hit “More Human Than Human.” And yet, despite the fact that Rob Zombie crafts killer songs, at some point we’ll have to stop referring to him as a musician. In 2014, his acting, directing and filmmaking credits eclipse his musical offerings. Continue reading
I really, really, really want to tell you what happens in The One I Love, the smart and slithery new movie by director Charlie McDowell, but I can’t. To reveal the device at the center of this cinematic mind-fuck about a married couple on the skids and their surreal, disarming and ultimately transformative experiences during a weekend retreat suggested by their therapist would be tantamount to breaking the first rule of Fight Club (“Don’t talk about fight club”) or spilling the beans on Rosebud in Citizen Kane (it’s the sled). Continue reading
Mark your calendars twice, because sister pubs Sam Bond’s and Axe and Fiddle have booked two rising Americana powerhouses this week — Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers and Nora Jane Struthers & The Party Line, respectively. The two have much in common: guitar-strumming, soulfully voiced and glossy-blond-locked women front both bands, both are touring with recent albums and both leads have been shaped by the music their pops played growing up. Continue reading
If Eminem is the Elvis of hip hop — taking sounds of urban America and repacking them for the suburbs — Sean Daley (aka Slug) of Minneapolis indie-rap legend Atmosphere is Eminem in reverse: taking the subjects of suburban life and repacking them for the inner city. Continue reading
The sixth annual Next Big Thing contest proved once again that small-town Eugene is home to an incredibly talented and prolific music scene — so prolific that the competition has been divided into three categories for the first time: single/duo, band/group and youth (18 and under). Continue reading
Here’s to tooting our own horn: September’s First Friday ArtWalk downtown is upon us and Eugene Weekly is hosting. Meet us for the first stop of the guided tour at Tokyo Tonkatsu on the corner of Broadway and Charnelton (201 W. Broadway) at 5:30 pm Sept. 5 where we will introduce the first of the five ArtsHound on Broadway EW distribution box winners. Continue reading
When I heard author Jon Ronson interviewed on NPR recently about Frank, the film based on his book, I was excited. Having seen trailers featuring Michael Fassbender wearing a papier-mâché head, I was tickled to learn from Ronson that the story was inspired by a real person — Frank Sidebottom, the English musician and comedian who lead the band The Freshies as the ’70s sank into the ’80s. With Fassbender and Maggie Gyllenhaal on the roster, how could Frank be anything but a delightful whimsical romp? Continue reading
There’s a luring, mid-20th-century California cool to Natalie Gordon’s voice that sounds like it should be tumbling out of a poolside record player — part-Rosemary Clooney and part-Nancy Sinatra with the contemporary lilt of Shirley Manson and Amanda Palmer. Continue reading
Bellingham’s Polecat plays up-tempo, largely instrumental Americana-roots-bluegrass-folk-reggae — forget it, let’s just say Polecat plays dance music and they play it well. “We are trying to move away from any sort of real specific designation for our sound,” vocalist and guitarist Jeremy Elliott tells EW. Continue reading
Clean-shaven with slicked-back hair and sporting a perfecto leather jacket, rising hip-hop star G-Eazy could easily be mistaken for a cologne model. With his retro greaser look, G-Eazy (né Gerald Earl Gillum) has cultivated a unique style for his chosen genre, earning him the title of “the James Dean of hip hop.” Caught between flattered and exasperated by this categorization, G-Eazy is trying to stake his own ground. Continue reading