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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2004)
Party at the best NIGHTCLUB in Eugene* . C..II ™ • Full menu served till 2 am • One of the best happy hours in town • Swing dance lessons • Wireless Internet • Live music 4 nights a week • Diablo's Nightclub • House/Hip-hop on j weekends jj • Resident DJs ^ fm Ranked as the best nightclub in Eugene I W for the past 3 years by the readers of / f • y ' the "Eugene Weekly” § ff * W ' Live Music # Night Club 959 Pearl Street • Eugene 343-2346 • 21 & over www.diablosdowntown.com f/•}{/; rs/ire ff/tO UO School of Music fr Department of Dance MAY CONCERTS For more information on School of Music events, call 346-5678. Sun. MULTI-PIANO JAZZ 5/9 Faculty & Guest Artists 4 pm, Beall Hall $9 General Admission, $5 students & senior citizens May FACULTY DANCE CONCERT 13-15 UO Dance Department 8 p.m., Dougherty Theatre $10 General Admission, $5 students & senior citizens Fri. OREGON JAZZ ENSEMBLE + LAB BANDS 5/14 UO Jazz Ensembles 8 p.m., Beall Hall $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens Mon. OREGON PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE 5/17 UO Ensemble 8 p.m., Beall Hall $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens Wed. POETRY IN SONG 5/19 Voice students sing German lieder. 7:30 p.m., Beall Hall FREE Admission Fri. OREGON WIND ENSEMBLE 5/21 OREGON SYMPHONIC BAND UO Ensembles 8 p.m., Beall Hall Featuring guest artists Steven Mead & Patrick Sheridan. $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens Sat. STEVEN MEAD, Euphonium 5/22 PATRICK SHERIDAN, Tuba Guest Artists 7:30 p.m., Beall Hall $12 at the door, $10 in advance; call 346-5646 Sun. UNIVERSITY SYMPHONY 5/23 UO Ensemble 3 p.m., Beall Hall $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens Mon. CHAMBERFEST 5/24 UO Chamber Ensembles 8 p.m., Beall Hall $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens Tue. 100th MONKEY ENSEMBLE 5/25 UO Contemporary Music Ensemble 8 p.m., Beall Hall FREE Admission Thu. UNIVERSITY SINGERS, CONCERT CHOIR 5/27 UO Choral Ensembles 8 p.m., Beall Hall $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens Fri. THE JAZZ CAFE 5/28 UO Jazz Combos 8 p.m., Room 178 Music $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens For our complete calendar, check: music.uoregon.edu Reed's double live release exemplifies musicianship The Velvet Underground’s former frontman proves he belongs among the best with ‘Animal Serenade’ By Ryan Nyburg Senior Pulse Reporter It's amazing that Lou Reed is not considered one of the great songwriters to come out of the 1960s and 1970s. He writes killer lyrics within a strong personal aesthetic and puts them into songs with strong, moving melodies. Yet despite his power and proficiency, he's often overlooked in favor of more obvious choices, such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young or even David Bowie. that Reed hasn't done himself. His new double live album, "Ani mal Serenade," is the great expression of his songwriting power. Though it pales in comparison to some of his better studio work, the performance shows an artist in constant forward motion, always reworking old ideas while trying out new ones. Though he can be accused of many things, com placency isn't one of them. The album opens with the instantly recognizable opening chords of "Sweet Jane" which suddenly comes to a stop when the audience begins to applaud. It turns out to be a joke on Reed's part, and he tells the audience that he "would explain to you how you make a career out of three chords." REVIEW But other than popu larity, there is nothing they have ac complished The album really begins a couple of songs later with "Men of Good For tune," a song from Reed's criminally underrated "Berlin" album. It's a mov ing meditation on class distinctions that is able to avoid the pitfalls of elit ism and hypocrisy. The song sets the tone for the rest of the album: cool, mellow, almost funereal in tone, like a eulogy that describes the good times a person had while reflecting on the loss. Courtesy Lou Reed's new double live album, "Animal Serenade," isn’t his best release but is still a good listen with mellow material. The next great track on the album is "Ecstasy," one of Reed's best songs and one that typifies most of his work. It's incredibly cool, juxtaposing the melodic and the noisy but prefer ring the former. You can tell that this is a song written by the man who made wearing sunglasses in the mid dle of the night seem acceptable. "Street Hassle" typifies another kind of Reed's songs, the sort that de pend heavily on monotonous arrangement. Playing around with monotony is a dangerous thing for any composer to do, because there is the risk of boring the audience. But here is where Reed's lyrical powers come into play. His grimy narratives of New York City street life draw peo ple in, while the grinding guitars and cellos sound like the noise of the city. The first disc ends with the first Velvet Underground song of the per formance, "Venus in Furs." Though it's missing John Cale's electric viola, which gave the original its punch, this version works on its own as a more atmospheric piece. The second disc contains four more songs from Reed's work with the VU, ranging from the pastoral "Sunday Morning" to the pulsating "Heroin," which is probably the best expression of junkie nihilism. How can you beat lines like "I'm as good as dead / Thank God I'm not aware / Thank God I just don't care"? For all its better qualities, the al bum is not without faults, particularly in Reed's over-dependence on ballads. While there is nothing inherently wrong with ballads, and Reed writes some of the best, they don't hold much interest for the six to eight min utes Reed and his band stretches them out to. Also, since many of these songs have been recorded before, and in better versions, the album doesn't feel terribly essential. But then again, bad Lou Reed is twice as good as most of the acts performing today. And for anyone who is a fan of his work, or who is looking for an in troduction to it, "Animal Serenade" is definitely a worthwhile performance. Contact the senior Pulse reporter at ryannyhurg@dailyemerald.com. Mirah's third album offers miraculous, unified sound ‘C’mon Miracle’ exhibits powerful instrumentation and divine, intimate lyrics By Aaron Shakra Pulse Editor Mirah's latest album, "C'mon Mira cle, " is her most satisfying work to date. This record is not a statement of quality, but rather consistency. Her music has been beautiful from the start, but on this release, her sound has been refined to the point where it can rightfully be called divine. 2000's "You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This" and 2002's "Ad visory Committee." Listeners might be tempted to call her a singer-song writer, but her albums represent more than typical folky pop songs, in large part due to Mirah's strong mu sical relationship with collaborator Phil Elvrum. Yet whereas Mirah and Elvrum's techniques brought together numer ous, often disparate styles on her first two releases, the 11 tracks of "C'mon Miracle" are more cohesive, and don't sacrifice any of the musical diversity and unique production values. REVIEW For the uninitiated, this release is the musi cian's third album, fol lowing The first track, "Nobody Has to Stay," serves up a melancholic string section to the haunting delivery of the lyrics, "Rest up in the gentle sway / Sister make a flower place / The mother father brother greys / Of river stones to keep her safe." The result is lithe and dreamy. Courtesy Mirah will play with Liarbird and Tara Jane Oneill at WOW Hall next Wednesday. The instrumentation gives the al bum its atmosphere, as with the auto harp on "We're Both So Sorry." The indie rock sound from previous al bums is still intact, especially in "Jerusalem" and "The Light." Still, Mirah's guitar shines through when it must; the power of her play ing lies not in technical prowess, but in the connection to her lyrics. The music is unquestionably inseparable from the lyrics. In "Don't Die In Me," the singer tackles both personal and physical geographies, waxing, "The mighty continents divide / for a sec ond time in all history / they found themselves just floating free / from all responsibility / without the weight of being whole / some fruits evolved all on their own." The lyrics alternate and fall into groovy, mini mal percussive solos. "The Dogs of B.A." is a sunnier tune, almost samba-like, decked out with accordion and repetitive, alter nating guitar lines, while remaining minimal. Lyrics are appropriately breezy: "The dogs of Buenos Aries / they will take you from your sleep / between the firecrackers cackling and the taxies in the street / and if you wake up lonely better throw some shoes on those feet / to keep the heartbreak from taking your life." Let it be known there are few con temporary performers as special as this one. Her words are intimate, beautiful and honest. These are unde niably qualities. Mirah plays WOW Hall on Wednes day, May 12, with Liarbird (Themba Lewis of the group contributed to "C'mon Miracle") and Tara Jane Oneill. Tickets are $8; doors open at 8 p.m.; showtime is 8:30. WOW Hall is located at 291W. 8th Ave. Contact the Pulse editor at aaronshakra@dailyemerald.com. Qoil at iti luneAt. College students *22 for 18 holes *12 for 9 holes
