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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2004)
Pulse Editor: Ryan Nyburg ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com Thursday, August 5,2004 — Oregon Daily Emerald PULSE Hot Picks: Peter Salett Sam Bond's Garage 407 Blair Blvd. Saturday, 8 p.m., $4 at door RYAN NYBURG BUDGET RACK Selections offer 'diet of cacophony' I know this is probably a hopeless cause, but I think it is one worth fighting for. I'm speaking of course of my crusade to bring noise, chaos and cacophony into modern music, through my organization the Society for the Preservation of Horri ble Noise in Music (SPHNM). After creat ing this organization in a column a few months back, I have received an outpour ing of responses in the form of a single e mail from a student in Indonesia who seemed to be working under the erro neous impression that I knew what the hell I was talking about. In case you have forgotten, the primary goal of SPHNM is to promote the use of grating sonic assaults as a life-confirming antidote to the banality of modern musi cal stylings. A lofty goal, to be sure, but please indulge a humble scribbler in his fanciful dreams. There is something liber ating about such noise, something that forces itself upon you in such a way as to make you feel alive. A break from stasis, if you will. Of course a steady diet of cacoph ony only creates a stasis of its own, but see ing as so much of our music has descend ed into a pitiful hell of easy-listening ballad blandness, the act of balancing things off is entirely in the court of the chaotic. Here are a few more suggested recordings. As always, further suggestions and monetary donations are accepted. Mudhoney, "Wocehtrehtorbym."This is a doozy of a hidden track on the CD ver sion of the "My Brother the Cow" album. It consists of the entire album, all 37 fuzz box-soaked rock 'n' roll minutes of it, played backwards. I can hardly take ten minutes of this before giving up, but it's still a fun piece of inane sonic manipula tion. The mother of all bonus tracks. Pere Ubu, "Sentimental Journey." One of the weirder outings on these art-punk purveyors' first album, "The Modern Dance." All smashing glass, senseless vo cals and rumbling instrumentation. A spooky intro into the next track, the haunt ing "Humor Me." iving crimson, zisi Cvemury ocmzoia Man." Classic opening track on the pro gressive-rock king's debut album. Mixing classical music, thunderous guitar riffs and free jazz, the song single-handedly creates a whole new form of prog rock, setting a standard that has hardly been equaled. The squealing horns mix with Robert Fripp's piercing guitar lines to cre ate a wonderful oxymoron: restrained chaos. The distorted agitprop lyrics aren't too bad either. Husker Du, "Recurring Dreams." The closing crescendo to these hard-core ma niacs' classic "Zen Arcade" album. With the guitars cranked loud enough to make the ears of God bleed, the band lays out 14 minutes of furious soloing, coming off like a sound painting of the pits of Hell. The guitar only occasionally sounds tuneful, more often it wails like Please see NYBURG, page 10 Tim Bobosky Freelance photographer William Hulings and Shirley Andress star in the upcoming production of ‘My Fair Lady,' which will be performed at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts this month. 'My Fair Lady' upholds charm of original The OFAM production showcases singing talent and beloved characters KENNETH MENDRIBIL FREELANCE REPORTER The Oregon Festival of American Mu sic's production of "My Fair Lady" did not stray from convention. It mirrored the 1964 classic film starring Rex Harri son and Audrey Hepburn. THEATER Thou?h no in \ ri p\\r novations were included in the script, scenery or choreography, the famed musical was a delight from beginning to end. Originally adapted into a musical from George Bernard Shaw's "Pyg malion" by Alan Jay Lerner and Freder ick Loewe, "My Fair Lady" opened on Broadway in 1956. OFAM stage director Richard Jessup and stage manager Josh Neckels have produced a very standard version of Lerner and Loewe's musical. William M. Hulings and Shirley An dress, OFAM veteran players, played Pro fessor Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. For Hulings, Higgins was a character he was born to play. Higgins' abominable con ceit and temperament were compli mented by Hillings' flawless British ac cent. Andress fell in and out of her gut tersnipe twangs, but made up for it with her incredible singing voice. Though she may not have commanded each scene, she commanded each song she sang, es pecially "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" and "I Could Have Danced All Night." Brandon Finch, who played Freddy Eynsford Hill, was also perfectly cast. His bright smile gave Freddy life and youth ful energy. Without the support of the ensemble, Finch's strong voice carried "On the Street Where You Live" with grace and confidence. The tiny ear mi crophone he wore proved to be unnec essary. The scene where he stands alone at Eliza's porch was simple, a far cry from the delightfully raucous "Get Me To the Church On Time," but no less ap pealing. Shaw's humor and wit shone through during the scene at the Ascot races. The black and white costumes were reminis cent of the 1964 film and the chorus and choreography were sublime. Professor Higgins introduces his cre ation, Eliza the Socialite, to the public at this event, only to be embarrassed in front of his family and friends. Even though she speaks properly of the approved topics, Please see PLAY, page 8 Concert series shares variety of music The University sponsored concerts in Washburn Park throughout the summer months KEVIN MILLER FREELANCE REPORTER Some would like to know who is playing and listening to classical music these days. Well, ac cording to last Sunday's concert in Washburn Park, mostly senior citizens. Eugene's Library, Recreation and Cultural Ser vices Department, with the aid of the Hult Cen ter for the Performing Arts has been busy host ing free live-music shows in city parks and recreation centers all summer. The Sweet Winds, a local brass quintet, kicked things off this month with a successful performance near campus on August 1. "We play for the fun of it," said Chet Peterson, the Sweet Winds' clarinetist. "We got our name because we'd always eat dessert to gether afterwards." The troupe's song selection was historically themed. They began with classics like Bach and Mozart then moved through the centuries, touching on Debussy, Gould and others. Every one seemed to appreciate the arrangements — except for 15- to 25-year-olds who were barely present at the show. Carol Phillips, Hult Market ing and Public Relations Manager, is well aware of the age-gap issue. 'They're going to have a graying audience," She said. "That's the tradition of that series. Some of them have been coming for years and they find great pleasure in it." Lauren Larson and Mike Ragsdale were two of the only college students to attend Sunday's show. They explained that they were there as friends supporting Karen Bertucci, Sweet Winds' oboe player. This summer the LRCS in partner ship with the Mult Center staff organized eight other concerts appealing to more diverse crowds in Eugene. "The rest of the park series is not classical," Phillips said. "It brings in a wide range of audi ences from babies to grandparents." Please see WASHBURN, page 8 Record-hunting treasures remain elusive Local second-hand stores harbor a wealth of forgotten trends and long-lost favorites RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR One day, while perusing a local record outlet for obscure bits of sonic kitsch, I met a man who told me a story about finding a couple of albums by the Beatles at a local thrift store, including one with "just a plain white cover and no words on it." This man had left the _ album there, apparently not aware of its worth (he was a Tom Jones fan, REPORTER S an(l could not reasonably be expect NOTEBOC) K et*to ^ave ^ooc*13816 *n mus’c) - I found this story intriguing. I had traversed the unyielding selec tions of the local thrift stores before, but never had I come across such a prize. For days the image of that glossy white cover tor mented my every waking hour. Even my dreams were haunted by images of glass onions, raccoons and birthday parties. Finally I could take no more. I organized an expedition, consisting of my girlfriend and me. This selection proved fruitful, as she served as both transportation and guide to local thrift shopping opportuni ties. Such knowledge would be important. My goal was to visit every second-hand store that possessed a record collection. Mad, you say? If dreams and passions are mad, then have me committed straight away, for I do not wish to live in such a world. The first course of action was to care fully plan my expedition. To my knowledge, there are five major second-hand stores in Eugene with record selections worth searching through. I could dis count one of' these, the West 11th St. Vin cent de Paul's, as the Please see RECORDS, page 8 Photo Illustration by Tim Bobosky
