Eugene Celebrates
Photos by R.Fursa & Camilla Mortensen Continue reading
Whats-Happening: Page 633
The Means Justify The End
It’s been six long years since the last Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg collaboration, the gets-better-with-age Hot Fuzz. Wright and Pegg have kept plenty busy: Wright directed Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, my favorite comic book movie that comes off like a video game movie, and Pegg, of course, is Scotty in the new Star Trek franchise. Pegg and the third member of this trio, Nick Frost, spent some time on the disappointing Paul, while Frost memorably appeared in the entirely excellent Attack the Block (which Wright executive produced). Continue reading
It’s That Time Again
Hard to believe, but it’s already time to think about a fall and winter vegetable garden. If you grow your own starts from seed, it’s already a bit late for some crops, but happily there are people out there who are growing starts for us. Continue reading
Go Yell It On The Mountain
The inaugural Kaleidoscope Music Festival attracts thousands to Emerald Meadows
Love or hate the idea of Emerald Meadows as a thumping festival hotspot pulsing with thousands of gyrating bodies, there is one thing no one can deny: Eugene has never seen a music spectacle like Kaleidoscope Music Festival (Aug. 23-25) before. EW stared down the barrel of that neon prismatic lens and came out the other end. This is what we saw. Continue reading
Ra! Ra! Riot!
Ra Ra Riot’s 2010 release, The Orchard, begins with a solemn and lush track of the same name that’s heavy on strings and atmosphere supplied in part by now-departed cellist Alexandra Lawn. “Dance With Me” kicks off 2013’s Beta Love very differently. And the song title pretty much says it all. The New York-based Ra Ra Riot — formerly known for classical-leaning string arrangements and bookish, collegiate indie rock — has put on its dancing shoes. Continue reading
New Numan
The man behind one of the New Wave era’s wormiest ear worms “Cars” could have been content to remain a one-hit wonder. Instead, industrial-synth pop pioneer Gary Numan has maintained a vital artistic output over a career spanning three decades. And this fall the iconic artist will put out Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind), his first album of all-new material in seven years. Continue reading
Matt, Pondering
Matt Pond’s sound is pure chamber pop: introspective and literate, backed up by lush string arrangements and delivered with classical music formality. Pond (who dropped the PA of his former band Matt Pond PA) toils in semi-obscurity, despite 10 full-length records and an impressive array of EPs. Continue reading
Back Beat
It’s official: reggae fusion band Sol Seed nabbed the crown for EW’s Next Big Thing 2013 with a final, outstanding performance at the Eugene Celebration Aug. 24. The 6-person outfit — including Michael Lennon (vocals, guitar), Michael Sorenson (vocals, drums), Benny Pezzano (vocals, bass), Kenny Lewis (vocals, guitar), Sky Guasco (vocals, percussion, didgeridoo) and Greame Pletscher (saxophone) — created a bubbly and psychedelic wall of sound that got the crowd swaying and singing on Willamette. Look for them on the cover of the Sept. 12 issue. Continue reading
Welcome to the Picnic
Local fiber optics company Ants On A Melon lights up festivals across the country
With all the hoopla of Eugene Celebration and Kaleidoscope Music Festival this past weekend, you probably laid eyes on a whole slew of inexplicable sights. And if you saw a giant glowing jellyfish bouncing around Mount Pisgah, don’t fret — you weren’t having a crazy trip; those dancing tentacles were just the far-out fiber optic artwork of local company Ants On A Melon. Continue reading
Arts Hound
All over the world anarchists, activists, rebellious teens and, of course, hipsters wear T-shirts emblazoned with the two-tone image of Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara sporting a steely stare beneath a beret. It is said to be one of the most duplicated images in the world, right up there with the Mona Lisa. Continue reading