Eugene Weekly

Composer Steven Mackey was honored by the commission to write a new work for his longtime collaborators, the celebrated Brentano Quartet, but daunted by the subject matter: a quartet that commemorated one of the most tragic days in American history, the assassination of President John Kennedy half a century ago. How could he write music that was true to what happened that terrible day, without reproducing its ugliness and thereby distressing listeners? What could instrumental music add to our understanding of, or feeling about, that dark day in Dallas? Continue reading →

“I like to paint a picture of a modern woman who’s sexual and who can do the same things as a man,” Sallie Ford tells me over the phone. Sift through her lyrics, her throaty rock vocals or the imagery in her band’s music videos, and it becomes clear that Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside is not just paying lip service. Continue reading →

When Chris Henderson, the singer and songwriter for the indie-roots Bronze Radio Return, talks about the band’s most recent album — Up, On & Over — he is practically breathing a sigh of relief.  “It’s always nerve wracking, putting out a new body of work, wondering if people are going to say, ‘I like their other albums better,’” Henderson admits. “But we’ve been really fortunate. Our fans have had a lot of positive things to say about it, so it’s been really exciting.” Continue reading →

Of all the white-hot techno DJs and producers, few are more molten right now than Anton Zaslavski, better known as Zedd. Zedd’s single “Clarity” (featuring London-based female vocalist Foxes) is arguably the “it” single of 2013: a big, weepy ballad mixed with epic, fist-pumping, club-thumping beats.  Continue reading →