Saturday, February 11, 2006

Stoner Sludge

Proto-metal stoner sludge is not what I expected after reading a few lines about Pearls & Brass, describing them as "bluesy rock and roll," "modern classic rock" and the like. With one giant power chord they managed to erase any preconceived notions I had about "classic" rock and blast my ears as if the past three decades of rock never happened.

Drag City released their sophomore album, The Indian Tower, just days ago, on Jan. 24. The band hails from Nazareth, Pennsylvania (which is, no shit, about 6 miles from Bethlehem). This trio of young guys sound like they should be bearded and bell-bottomed, smelling like bongwater. They've reached back into the ancient rock vaults and unearthed the under-appreciated vibes of proto-metalists like Mountain, Cactus and Blue Cheer, also revealing for us how such modern touchstones as Kyuss or Queens of the Stone Age found their sound.

"The Face of God" is a saga of power, heaviness and motion. "Wake in the Morning" gets sludgy, dredging the depths of molten blues. All the song titles are monumentous: "No Stone," "Black Rock Man," "Beneath the Earth."

The Indian Tower rocks. It sways, boogies, wails, thunders and emerges from the Nazarene wilderness completely embodying the legacy founded by prehistoric metal. See it live, hear it loud.

Pearls & Brass play at 10 pm Tuesday, Feb. 14 at Luckey's. $3-$5.

Cool Nutz!

Hip hop talent may come and go here in the Northwest — blowing up big or moving on to other area codes. But after all is said and done, any MC and DJ who has spent time in the NW will gladly drop what they're doing and give a shout out to rapper, manager and promoter Cool Nutz, aka Terrance Scott. The "Charlie Hustle" of Northwest hip hop stretched the region's sound down to the Cali border and nudged it east out to Boise, dotting all the small towns along the way, bringing hip hop to the otherwise untouched.
Cool Nutz, Kane, Siren's Echo, Maniac Lok, Young Gangsta Poets and the Option Hosted by DJ Chill. WOW Hall, 9 pm . Friday, 2/10, $10, all ages. www.jusfamilyrecords.com

A man with a true passion for hip hop, the Portland bred Cool Nutz founded Jus Family Records with producer friend Bosko Kante in 1992. Their first release under the Jus Family name, Dis Niggaz Nutz, laid the groundwork for this now highly respected underground label, leading to an eventual 16 releases and a slew of partnerships with high profile MCs and producers from around the world. Jus Family's reputation for churning out streetwise regional hip hop has lead to collaborations with rap heavyweights like E-40, Kurupt, WC, Too Short and Kanye West. Between creating and releasing music, Scott also manages several NW hip hop artists including the spunky female duo Siren's Echo. Cool Nutz and Bosko, along with Xzibit of Pimp My Ride fame, just came off tour in Copenhagen with Denmark hip hop phenom the L.O.C.

Right on the heels of the release of his new mixtape, DJ Chill Presents: Cool Nutz "The Voice of Northeast Portland" Mixtape Vol. 1, a showcase of retrospective, forthcoming and exclusive material from the Jus Family stable, Scott returns to Eugene with Siren's Echo as well as Jus Family's own Maniac Lok and Hard Times Records' founder Kane.

Scott calls his forthcoming album, I Hate Cool Nutz, a coming of age record, featuring a more progressive and "grown-up" Cool Nutz. "I feel very strong about the new album, and look at it as my greatest work to date," he says. "Everything to this point has been what you would call a warm up." Featuring appearances by E-40, Kurupt, Ras Kass and Sticky Fingaz, along with production work from Bosko, UnderRated and Jeffrey Simmons, the voice of NE Portland strikes again with a late spring release date.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

On Sale Now!!

James Blunt - 7:30 p.m. April 4, Crystal Ballroom, Portland, $22, TM. On sale at 10 a.m. today.

O'Jays, the Manhattans - 7:30 p.m. March 23, Rose Garden's Theater of the Clouds, Portland, $34.50 to $47.50, TM. On sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Veggie Tales Rockin' Tour Live 2006 - 3 p.m. April 3, Rolling Hills Community Church, Tualatin, $15 to $25, TM. On sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Brad Garrett - 8 p.m. May 5, Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, $39.50 to $49.50, TM. On sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Bobby Vinton - 8 p.m. May 5-6, Chinook Winds Casino, Lincoln City, $13 to $28, TW. On sale at 8 a.m. Sunday.

Thursday - Shirts for a Cure Tour, 8 p.m. March 31, WOW Hall, $18, TM. On sale at 10 a.m. Monday.

LOCAL

Coming this month

Dougie MacLean - 8 p.m. Feb. 15, WOW Hall, $25, $23.50 advance, WOW.

advertisement Philip Glass - 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15, the Shedd, $32 to $42, Shedd.

Josh Gracin - 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15, McDonald Theatre, $27, $22 advance, TW.

Lucinda Williams, Tim Easton - 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17, the Shedd, $30 to $42, Shedd.

The Blind Boys of Alabama - 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19, the Shedd, $32 to $42, Shedd.

Buckethead - 9:30 p.m. Feb. 19, WOW Hall, $15, WOW.

The Derek Trucks Band - 8 p.m. Feb. 19, Taboo, $19, TW.

Dick Hyman - 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23, the Shedd, $23 to $32, Shedd.

Relient K, the Rocket Summer, Maxeen - 8 p.m. Feb. 25, McDonald Theatre, $17, $15 advance, TW.

March

Keller Williams - 8 p.m. March 2, McDonald Theatre, $20, $18 advance, TW.

The Friends of the Bob & Tom Show - Featuring Nick Griffin, Drew Hastings, Bob Zany, Tim Cavanaugh and Donnie Baker, 7:30 p.m. March 3, Hult Center, $27, Hult Center.

The Oak Ridge Boys - 7:30 p.m. March 7, Hult Center, $28.50 to $44.50, Hult Center.

Michael Anderson and Friends - 7:30 p.m. March 9, the Shedd, $20 to $30, Shedd.

Hapa - 7:30 p.m. March 11, the Shedd, $22 to $32, Shedd.

Opeth - 7 p.m. March 11, WOW Hall, $19, TM.

Bill Frisell and the 858 Quartet - 7:30 p.m. March 21, the Shedd, $24 to $34, Shedd.

Nrityagram - 8 p.m. March 22, Hult Center, $18 to $32, Hult Center.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo - 7:30 p.m. March 25, the Shedd, $28 to $36, Shedd.

April

Kathy Mattea - 7:30 p.m. April 4, the Shedd, $28 to $40, Shedd.

Luciana Souza and Romero Lubambo - 7:30 p.m. April 6, the Shedd, $24 to $32, Shedd.

Judy Collins - 7:30 p.m. April 23, the Shedd, $36 to $48, Shedd.

May

John Pizzarelli Quartet - 7:30 p.m. May 7, the Shedd, $26.50 to $38.50, Shedd.

Mark O'Connor, Appalachia Waltz Trio - 7:30 p.m. May 17, the Shedd, $28 to $38, Shedd.

OUT OF THE AREA

Coming this month

Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche - 8 p.m. today, Crystal Ballroom, Portland, sold out.

Tom Rush, Corky Siegel - 8 p.m. today, Aladdin Theater, Portland, $20, $18.50 advance, TM.

Austin Lounge Lizards - 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday, Mississippi Studios, Portland, $20, Mississippi Studios.

The James Cotton Blues Band - 8 p.m. Saturday, Rogue Theatre, Grants Pass, $25, $20 advance, Rogue Theatre.

U. Utah Phillips, Sisters of the Road - Winterfolk XVIII Benefit, 7 p.m. Saturday, Aladdin Theater, Portland, $26, TM.

The Men of Las Vegas All Male Review - 3 p.m. Sunday, Crystal Ballroom,

Attractions

Art, Artists and Galleries

Alder Gallery. 1 Pearl Street, P. O Box 8517, Coburg, OR 97408. Phone: 541-342-6411; Fax: 541-683-9797.

LaFollette Gallery & Framing. 410 E. 11th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97401. Phone: 541-484-1420; Fax: 541-984-0321.

Museums and Exhibits

Oregon Air & Space Museum. 90377 Boeing Drive, Eugene, OR 97402. Phone: 541-461-1101.

Educational, non-profit, aviation museum dedicated to the acquisition of historically significant aircraft and artifacts. Displays Include a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, Grumman A-6 Intruder, North American F-86 Sabre Jet, Fokker Dr 1 Triplane, Taylor 2100 Bullet, Mikoyan/ Gurevich MiG-17, Yakovlev Yak-50, and others.


Photo of Fokker Dr 1 Triplane courtesy Oregon Air & Space Museum

University of Oregon Museum of Natural History. Museum of Natural History. 1680 East 15th Avenue, 1224 University of Oregon,
Eugene, OR 97403-1224. Phone: 541-346-1809; Fax: 541-346-5334. E-mail

A link to part of the University's web site. The Museum is located on the campus at Eugene. Includes information on the Museum's collection, exhibits, events and field trips. Includes a page on the Oregon State Museum of Anthropology.

University of Oregon Museum of Art
This is part of the University's web site and the Museum, well-known for its collection of Asian art and a collection of paintings and sculpture by contemporary Northwest artists, is located on the campus at Eugene.

Performing Arts

Actors Cabaret of Eugene. 996 Willamette Street, Eugene, OR 97401. Phone: 541-683-4368.

The Community Center For The Performing Arts. 291 West 8th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97401. Phone: 541-687-2746. E-mail

Eugene Ballet Company. Hult Center One Eugene Center, Eugene OR 97401. Mail: P.O. Box 11200 Eugene, OR 97440. Phone: 541-485-3992; Fax: 541-687-5745. E-mail

Hult Center for the Performing Arts. One Eugene Center, Eugene, OR 97401. Phone: 541-682-5087; Fax: 541-682-5426. E-mail

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Dub innovator The Mad Professor

Are We Mad Yet?
Dub innovator The Mad Professor
BY ENGLISH BROOKS
Mad Professor & ARIWA Sound System featuring Aisha. 10 pm, Friday 2/3 • WOW Hall, $12

Dub has come to mean some pretty strange and sundry things over the last few years. The music that developed in late '60s Jamaica from remixing singles has become more than its own genre. It has influenced and infiltrated rock, electronica, hip hop, house and a whole heap of other contemporary music. You might think of dub as the conscience and soul of modern electronic music and the Mad Professor is its sole purveyor today, at least among the music's originators.

Born in Guyana, Mad Professor (aka Neil Fraser) became enamored with American soul and Jamaican reggae music, as well as electronic gadgetry, at a young age. When he was 8 years old, Fraser built his first radio from scratch. It was this same love for the music and production behind it that would later possess the Professor to build his own studio (console, board, phaser, mixer and echo/effects machines) in south London in the late '70s, again, by himself. He named the studio ARIWA (Nigerian for sound). Since then, he has recorded hundreds of albums and singles, balancing the roots of traditional dub reggae with his own genius for innovation. Mad Professor's style is heavier, even busier than that of his musical predecessors. If King Tubby and Lee Perry's sound can be compared to Count Basie in its restrained, spare minimalism, then the Mad Professor sound is an elaborate, sometimes even baroque approach, akin to Oscar Peterson or Duke Ellington.

To experience his sound live is the closest many will come to a Jamaican dancehall. Comparable to rave or house music, the Professor's dub is heard and felt, but with a real depth and warmth so absent from other electronic music. Singing over it all on stage will be vocalist The High Priestess Aisha.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8

Sunrise 7:22am; Sunset 5:33pm, Av High 50; Av Low 34

ARTS/VISUAL Gallery Talk: "Eye Contact" with Carla Bengtson, Barbara Setsu Pickett and Kate Wagle, 6pm, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. 346-3027.

FILM The Idiot, Episode 5, 6pm; The Falcon, 7pm; Brigade, Episode 5, 9pm, all in Russian with English subtitles, 111 Pacific, UO. FREE.

Darwin's Nightmare, 7pm, 128 Chiles, UO. FREE.

GATHERING Cajun/Zydeco Dance, 7pm, World Café. Helmut, 344-0748. FREE.

KIDS Drinking Gourd Elementary School presents two plays for preschool and elementary ages: In the Great Kapok Tree and Where the Wild Things Are, 10:15am & 11am, Downtown Library. FREE.

LECTURE "Diffusing Ideas: Intellectual Women in Paris Since 1945," Jennifer Duncan, noon, 330 Hendricks, UO. FREE.

"Learning from Vancouver, B.C.: Lessons in Transportation and Land Use," Gordon Price, 6:30pm, Downtown Athletic Club. FREE.

"The Story of Douglas Fir," Whitey Lueck, 7pm, Downtown Library. FREE.

"A Revolution in Evolution: Discovery, Story and Implications of Homo floresiensis — The Hobbits," a slide lecture by Peter Brown, 7:30pm, 180 PLC, UO. FREE.
The Supersuckers return to the WOW Hall Wednesday.

MUSIC Oregon Wind Ensemble, 8pm, Beall Hall, UO. $5, $3 stu., sr.

The Wailers, Pocket Dwellers, 8pm, McDonald Theatre. $21 adv., $23 dos.

Supersuckers, Sawyer Family, 9pm, WOW Hall. $10.

ON THE AIR "The Jefferson Exchange" discusses the unseen and emotionally difficult life of military families with author Kristen Henderson, 8am and 8pm, KRVM 1280 AM.

"UO Today" continues. See Monday.

OUTDOORS/RECREATION Nature Photography in a Digital World continues. See Saturday.

SPIRITUAL Ecstatic dance, "Relationship," self-nurturing, exploratory movement, 7:30pm, Eugene Friends Meeting House. $5-$10 ss.

THEATER The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, 8pm tonight, tomorrow and Feb. 10, 11 and 16-18, Arena Theatre, UO. 346-4190. $6.


The Noodles play the Downtown Lounge Thursday, Feb. 9.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9

Sunrise 7:21am; Sunset 5:34pm, Av High 50; Av Low 35

DANCE Dance 2006, annual celebration of faculty choreography featuring guest choreographer Gabriel Masson, 8pm tonight, tomorrow and Feb. 11, Dougherty Dance Theatre, UO. 346-3386. $10, $5 stu., sr.

GATHERINGS Juction City-Monroe-Harrisburg Area Alzheimer's Association Caregivier Support Group, open to anyone caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's or other memory disease, 9:30am, Junction City Retirement Center. 345-8392.

League of Women Voters of Lane County February unit meetings on "Lane County Public Safety," various times and locations today through Feb. 16. www.lwvlc.org

Cascade Mycological Society and Lane Culinary Arts Program Annual Fungal Feast, cooking demonstration and mushroom-centered meal, 6:30pm, Center Building cafeteria, LCC. Kyle, 463-5447. $8-$15 sug. don.

Cupid.com and PreDating speed dating event for single professionals, go on up to 12 six-minute dates in one evening, 6:30pm ages 36-49; 8:30pm ages 25-35, My Coffee. Register at www.cupid.com/predating

Women's Action for New Direction meeting with WAND member Pam Garrison and CISCAP's Scott Miksch discussing protesting the School of the Americas and other human rights issues, 6:30pm reception, 7pm meeting, McNail-Riley House. FREE.

KIDS Gimme Games for grades 1-6, play word and storytelling games, 4pm, Downtown Library. FREE.

LITERARY ARTS "Grandfather Talks: The Earth Speaks," discuss the teachings of the Lipan Apache people and the books of Tom Brown Jr. with Linda Redmon and Steve Kreigh, 6pm, Mount Pisgah Arboretum Visitor Center. 7474-1504. $4 sug. don.

Readin' in the Rain discussion of Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber, 7pm, UO Bookstore. FREE.
Camille Bloom celebrates the release of her new CD at Cozmic Pizza Thursday, Feb. 9.

MUSIC Oregon Jazz Guitar Summit: Mike Denny, Dan Balmer, Don Latarski and John Stowell, 7:30pm, Jaqua Concert Hall. 434-7000. $15-$20.

Adrianne, Camille Bloom (CD release for Say Goodbye to Pretty), 7:30pm, Cozmic Pizza. $5-$7.

The Rocketz, Gambler's Mark, 7pm, John Henry's. 21+ show. 342-3358.

Eugene Symphony and guest soloists Amy Burton and Guido LeBron perform Brahms' Requiem and Haydn's Symphony No. 100, "Military," 8pm, Hult Center. $15 & up.

Nuborn Tribe, DJ Risingsun, Katt & Roots Revolution, DJ Cansaman, 9:30pm, WOW Hall. $8 adv., $10 dos.

The Noodles, StereoFuture, Alter Ego, Good 4 Nothing, Your International Head Quarters, 10pm, Downtown Lounge. 21+ show. 343-2346.

ON THE AIR "The Jefferson Exchange" feaures the creative dimensions of leadership with Jean Houston of the Foundation for Mind Research, 8am and 8pm, KRVM 1280 AM.

"New Dimensions" features "Conscious Capitalism" with Patricia Aburdene, 6:30pm, KLCC 89.7 FM.

THEATER Cyrano continues. See Thursday, Feb. 2.

Othello continues. See Thursday, Feb. 2.

The Good Doctor continues. See Friday.

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail continues. See Wednesday.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Absoulte DJ's

I know I have mentioned this company before but I am a firm believer in supporting the local new guys as much as possible!! If you are a bar, a club or just having a private party or wedding and enjoy Karaoke/music, then you need to call ABSOLUTE DJ'S!! They are new so prices are very competative and the DJ's are great. Korina and Jason have 20 years of experience between them and would love to do a show for you. ASOLUTE DJ'S mostly does Karaoke shows, but can do dj-ing for weddings and private parties as well. I recommend you check them out! 541-607-9020
PEACE OUT!
JAYDOGG

HOLY HALF NAKED CHICKS BATMAN!!!


EXCUSE ME IF I BOLD OUT HERE, BUT IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TO DIABLO'S ON SUNDAY NIGHTS,,,,HOLY CRAP,,, YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON SOME EYE CANDY AND THE MOST EROTIC DISPLAY OF DEBOTCHARY (WITH YOUR CLOTHES ON THAT IS...)!!! SUNDAY'S ARE FETISH NIGHT! SO DONT KEEP THOSE BLACK LEATHER BRAS AND WHIPS IN YOUR BOTTOM DRAWER ANY MORE!!BRING OUT THE FREAK IN YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS FREAK TOO. $5 WILL GET YOUR EVERY WISH TO BE FLOGGED, SPANKED AND WHIPPED INTO AN UNFORGETTABLE GOOD TIME! THEY HAVE SOME KARAOKE TOO BUT.....WHO CARES WHEN YOU HAVE HALF NAKED HOTTIES WALKING AROUND!! SEE YOU THERE AND DONT FORGET TO GET YOUR "REAL" FREAK ON!!
PEACE OUT!
JAYDOGG