Dandy Warhols*
CD keeps
pop respectable
■The Brit-pop flavor of the
Dandys latest release is
offset by moodier songs
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
These days, the word “pop”
has an ugly connotation. Most
people instantly think radio
ready hits and boy-band fluff.
But the Portland-based group
The Dandy Warhols have made a
career proving that pop music
can still be powerful and, above
all, fun.
It’s been almost three years
since The Dandys released their
last album, “Dandys Come
Down,” which toyed with mar
ginal national success and a
MTV Buzz Clip.
The group’s new album, “Thir
teen Tales from Urban Bohemia,”
due out Aug. 1, departs from the
faster pop-rock that helped
“Come Down” and their first al
bum, 1995’s “Dandys Rule OK”
garner success. But the change to
a collection of slower, moodier
songs isn’t a downfall. Instead, it
displays the band’s successful
progression in the past five years
and features more hits than miss
es that are sure not to disappoint
Dandy Warhols fans.
Front man Courtney Taylor and
his bandmates have experiment
ed with powerful rock ballads be
fore, especially on the final tracks
of “Come Down,” but it has never
( i The team was able to
perfectly combine Taylor
and Peter Hoimstrom’s
guitars with Zia Mc
Cabe’s Korg keyboards to
keep their heavier songs
from turning into simple
noise.
>J_
been the focus of the album so
much as on their new record.
While the first single, “Godless,”
and tracks like “Cool Scene” and
“Get Off’ have a familiar Dandys
sound — British pop with an ob
vious Velvet Underground influ
ence — other tracks like “Niet
zsche,” “Sleep” and “The
Gospel” prove that the band has
been perfecting a part of their
sound they only played with pre
viously.
The only flaws on the album
come in songs like “Country
Leaver” and “Horse Pills,” which
step over the fine line between
pop bliss and overdone absurdity.
But they don’t bog down the al
bum enough to keep it from re
maining in the CD player for an
extended stay. Part of that credit
goes to the production of the al
% bum, done by Taylor, Clark Stiles
and Dave Sardy, who has previ
ously produced albums for the
Red Hot Chili Peppers and Hel
met.
The team was able to perfectly
combine Taylor and Peter Holm
strom’s guitars with Zia McCabe’s
Korg keyboard to keep their heav
ier songs from turning into simple
noise. Newcomer Brent DeBoer’s
drumming may be simple, but it
completes the sound nicely.
The Dandys will begin touring
England, where they are extreme
ly popular, in June, and a U.S.
tour has yet to be announced.
Northwest bands benefit Amnesty
■ Pipeline to Cameroon
comes to the WOW Hall
to raise money for the
Just Earth campaign
By Rory Carroll
Oregon Daily Emerald
On Saturday, June 3, a package
of Northwest bands are bringing a
message of environmental aware
ness to the WOW Hall. The tour,
named Pipeline to Cameroon, is a
traveling benefit for Amnesty In
ternational's Just Earth campaign,
which addresses the issue of po
lice arrests of environmental ac
tivists internationally. The tour is
visiting concert venues in Seattle,
Portland, Eugene and Belling
ham.
Four acts — Nine Volt Mile,
Carmina Piranha, The Whole Bo
livian Army and Honey Tongue
— will be supporting a compila
tion CD also titled “Pipeline to
Cameroon.”
The name of the tour and the
CD originates from the concern
with construction of pipelines
around the world, according to
Matthew Campbell, a coordinator
for Amnesty International in
Washington.
“In Chad, Cameroon, and espe
cially in Burma, the government
(a military dictatorship in the
case of Burma) makes big money
from oil. So often, oil companies
go into the areas, make deals with
the government and begin con
tructing these pipelines. When
keep
in touch
www.dailyemerald.com
environmentalists speak up about
the destruction to their ecosys
tem, the government cracks
down,” Campbell said.
He said that, in Burma, the
pipeline runs through some very
fragile and ancient forests and
through communities.
“Anyone who protests the con
truction is usually either impris
oned and tortured or murdered.
Others are then used as forced la
bor to build the pipeline that they
i C Anyone who protests
the construction is usual
ly either imprisoned and
tortured or murdered.
Others are then used as
forced tabor to build the
pipeline that they were
protesting.
Matthew Campbell
Amnesty International
coordinator
n
were protesting,” Cambell said.
“So we are really pushing for the
governments to protect their citi
zens and environments and for
the oil companies to use their in
fluence with the governments,
which is pretty much exactly the
opposite of what the status quo is
right now.”
Campbell said that guitarist
Matt Kite was the brainchild be
hind the tour.
“He had noticed the work we
were doing last year when we
helped pass legislation that made
it a crime for prison employees to
have sexual contact with in
mates,” Campbell said.
Kite contacted Campbell about
doing some sort of benefit for
Amnesty. Campbell suggested re
lating it to their new program that
ties human rights and the envi
ronment, and Kite loved the idea.
Kite is the guitarist for Seattle's
The Whole Bolivian Army. They
played the Wilma Fest at the
WOW Hall in 1997 and are excit
ed to return to Eugene.
“There really isn’t any venue
quite like the WOW Hall in Port
land or Seattle,” Kite said.
The 1997 show was their only
Eugene appearance to date, but
now they’re returning in support
of the Just Earth campaign.
“We were burnt out on doing
the Wilma Fest and decided to do
this benefit tour,” Kite said.
Anyone interested in helping
out with Amnesty International
can call 1-800-AMNESTY or visit
their website at
www. amnesty usa. org.
“More specifically, if they
wanted to get involved in the Hu
man Rights and the Environment
Program (and get lots more infor
mation) they can visit
http://www.amnestyusa.org/juste
arth,” Campbell said.
0084111
Ring of Tire
Restaurant & Catering
h'ne Pacific Rim Cuisine Specializing
in Thai and Vegetarian Dishes
Now Featuring:
LAVA LOUNGE
A full-service cocktail lounge serving specialty drinks and a full
menu for dine-in or carryout until midnight, seven days a week.
1099 Chambers (11th & Chambers) EUGENE
Photo courtesy dandywarhols.com
Guitarists Courtney Taylor and Peter Holmstrom strum out their brit-pop sound fea
tured on the forthcoming album, “Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia.”
Briefs
Museum of Natural History
exhibits a variety of cultures
Several exhibits are on dis
play at the University of Oregon
Museum of Natural History,
1680 E. 15th Ave.
Exhibits include “Archaeolo
gy of Oregon,” “Backyard
Birds,” “Clues to an Unknown
Culture,” “Living Traditions,”
“ Visions of the Dreamtime: The
Art and Myth of Aboriginal Aus
tralia,” and an articulated La
Brea Tar Pits saber-toothed cat.
Museum hours are noon to 5
p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
There is a $2 suggested dona
tion, though admission is free
for University students and mu
seum members. For information
call 346-3024.
“Mingqi: Early Chinese Fu
nerary Ceramics” is currently
one of the featured exhibits at
the Museum of Art, located at
1430 Johnson Lane. The exhibit
includes a selection of Chinese
funerary tomb figures from the
Han Dynasty (202 B.C. - 220
A.D.) through the Tang Dynasty
(618-906 A.D.).
In the museum’s Chinese Im
perial Throne Room, the public
can view works from the muse
um’s collection of Imperial ob
jects from the Qing Dynasty, in
cluding textiles, furniture, glass,
ceramics and the largest jade
pagoda outside China.
The museum also features the
newly renovated Preble-Mur
phy Wing of Japanese Art, in
cluding a changing print gallery
with traditional wood-block
prints. A second gallery offers
highlights from the collections
including Buddhist sculpture,
textiles, ceramics, metalwork,
hanging scrolls and painted
screens.
Museum hours are noon to 8
p.m. Wednesday and noon to 5
p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
There is a $3 suggested admis
sion charge, though admission
is free for students, University
employees and children, and
museum members. For more in
formation, call 346-3027.
009474
off all shoes* p„maritfe>
r*revt Wi if rfWT' r-1T
J ad i das
I over 100+
| styles
Simple^
AIR WALK
adidas 957 Willamette • 687-0898
Emerica.
Pick up an Emerald at 03
campus & community locations.