4 • T he C lackamas P rint
Mark the
month for
merry music
Shingo Izumi
T he C lackamas P rint
Looking to get into the holiday
spirit a little early this year?
Clackamas has a variety of musical
performances designed just for such
a purpose.
“They’re going to be great
shows; we’ll play great music,” said
Instrumental Jazz Night conductor
Tom Wakeling.
First on the list is the
Instrumental Jazz Night, beginning
at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Gregory
Forum. Tom Wakeling will direct
CCC instrumental jazz students as
they perform the music of such jazz
legends as John Coltrane, Duke
Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie.
Admission to the event is $5.
Next up is the Fall Band Concert,
which will be held in the Gregory
Forum on Thursday, Dec. 4, begin
ning at 7 p.m.
“I hope everybody comes to lis
ten to music and enjoys it,” said
Dave Mills, who will conduct the
event. The evening will feature a
selection of symphonic pieces as
well as some classic Christmas stan
dards. A $5 donation is suggested.
On Friday, Dec. 5, the CCC
Chamber Choir, Lenistus Chamber
Choir and the Sinfonia Concertante
Orchestra and Friends will perform
the Christmas Ortorio by Camille St.
Saens at St. Mary’s Cathedral in
Portland, starting at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets range from $10 for students
to $45 for patrons.
The Christmas by Candlelight
Concert will take place on Sunday,
Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at St. John the
Apostle Catholic Church in Oregon
city. The CCC Chamber Choir and
chorale, under the direction of
Jolanta Szopa Tabisz and Lonnie
Cline, will sing traditional Christmas
favorites. The concert is free.
“It’s a 25-year-old traditional
event and it’ll be outstanding,” said
Cline. “I’m happy to have it.”
For more information on any of
these events, call the music depart
ment at ext. 2434.
A rts
E ntertainment
D ecember 3, 2003
Oberst revamps decrepit ditties
Ben Maras
T he C lackamas P rint /
Ever walked down the street dur
ing the holiday season wanting to
strangle every joyous caroler, as the
saccharine sweet songs send blood
sugar levels soaring and push listen
ers slowly towards insanity?
“A Christmas Album” by indie
poster-boy Conor Oberst, better
known as “Bright Eyes,” may
just be what the doctor
ordered.
Oberst,
along
with his “revolv
ing door” (i.e.,
no set mem
bers) backup
band
and
much of his
all-star line
up
at
Omaha's
Saddle .
Creek
Records, has
joined forces
with others to
create an album
full of the old
Christmas songs we
all love, or love to hate.
These versions are not the
typical holiday standards,
though; they've all been rewritten
and rerecorded Saddle-Creek style,
featuring artists from bands such as
Azure Ray, Cursive, and Now It's
Overhead.
One might ask the question: what
could one possibly do with
Christmas songs to make them a lit
tle bit more interesting? If anything
is possible, Oberst and company do
it on this album with techniques
ranging from stripping it down to a
bare acoustic guitar and vocals, such
as on "White Christmas," to spicing
it up with more instruments than one
could easily count.
The first track, “Away in a
Manger,” begins with a single drum
keeping a serene, half-time beat,
before Orenda Fink and Maria
Taylor (Azure Ray) harmonize their
angelic voices with the piano, while
the sounds of the hustling and
bustling of a family at Christmas
play in the background. Layered
with the chilling breeze of an arctic
wind, it creates possibly only “warm
fuzzy” moment on the album.
To liven things up, the next song,
“Blue Christmas/’ has a more up
tempo, bluesy tone, without being
overbearingly cheerful, it
instantly
Another superlative song, "Litfle
Drummer Boy” contains enough lo-
fi and electronic drum beats to make
Trent Reznor giddy. The synthesized
beat is done artistically, accenting
moments in the song, while a bass,
piano and trumpet drift
through the
fuzz,
slash
a n d
es any expecta
Oberst's signa
tion for the entirety of the album to ture wavering voice sings through
sound alike.
yet another AM-radio filter, molding
“God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” the most unique track on the album.
is a definite stand-out
Showing
that
track. As the cello of
Oberst is willing to
“The Little
Gretta
Cohn
try anything, “Silent
(Cursive)
slithers
”
contains
Drummer Boy” Night
underneath, the gui
sitars and Indian
contains
tars, drums, man
drums, giving an
dolins, flutes and
Eastern flair to this
enough
lo-fi
other such assorted
longtime classic. The
and electronic
instruments
wrap
slide guitars and
around listeners' ears
strings give the song
drum beats to
with an amazingly
a creepy feel, mak
make Trent
rich texture. After
ing it die eeriest ver
breaking down and
sion since Simon and
Reznor giddy.
giving way to a flute
Garfunkel mixed in
solo, the song ends
samples from the 7
after only one minute
p. m. news. Without
and 40 seconds, leaving the listener a doubt, this is the song the Grinch
feeling not quite satisfied.
would be listening to as he methodi-
cally planned his revenge, with
images of Whoville in flames danc
ing in his head.
Wise ones will skip over track
nine, “Silver Bells,” for no other rea
son than it seems almost unmistak
ably cliché ... a happy choir sings
with bells tolling in die background.
The following song, however, is
another story. There is nothing merry
about this rendition of “Have
Yourself a Merry Little
Christmas,” so much so that
one almost expects to
hear Oberst drop a
much harsher word
in place of “little.”
Despite
the
melancholia, or
maybe
because of it,
the track is
another
exceptional
work.
The
pristine
fragility seems
almost a lulla
by, doing much
good to calm the
tense
holiday
nerves.
When
placed
among Bright Eyes' other
works, especially the influential
“Fevers and Mirrors,” this album
would rank low. But when placed
among the sickening mass of stereo
typical Christmas albums, “A
Christmas Album” creates a shining
star that is the light at the end of the
tunnel for anyone having a dismal
holiday season.
In the spirit of holiday giving, all
proceeds from the album are donated
to the Nebraska AIDS Project, an
organization which aims to beat the
spread of HIV and AIDS by educat
ing those at risk and providing free
testing, as well as offering counsel
ing for those diagnosed and their
families.
Due to this, Saddle Creek has
denied retail outlets the capacity to
sell the album, knowing they would
mark the album up and keep the
remainder of the profit for them
selves. “A Christmas Album” is only
available for purchase for just $11
online at: saddlecreekrecords.com.
Back-to-back plays plus comedy improv equals tons of fun
Michaele Cooper
T he C lackamas P rint
The theatre department sets the
bar in this week’s comedic one-act
performances.
Twelve talented drama students
bring on the laughs through two
One-act plays and a series of
comedic improvisational skits in the
McLoughlin Hall Theatre.
Their performance yesterday was
a treat, and only an hour long. To
make it better, it’s free.
Even before the first show start
ed, the cast put on a believable “bar
scene,” complete with patrons, bar
tender, waitress and music. The
actors slid easily into their roles on
the stage as the lights and music
faded. The highlight of their acting
was the execution of jokes, creating
scenes where the timing of the lines
had to be perfect—very well done.
The only weak point was when the
actors swore: the crude words didn’t
flow like the rest of their lines.
First ip the line-up is a play
called “Big Mistake,” directed by
Bekah Finch with assistant director
Annie Rimmer. When two ex-lovers
meet in a bar, both in thé company
of a friend, hilarity ensues. Tension
rises as the man insists on buying
the woman a drink, and her friend
keeps saying, rather hopelessly, “I
have a bad feeling about this.”
The climax is a fight between the
two ex-lovers. The man rants about
women and the woman rants about
men. The friends, who at first appear
to just be along for the ride, have
their own fight about pick-up lines
or the lack thereof, executed at
exactly the same time as the fight
between the ex-couple. The cues
from start to finish, are laugh-out-
loud funny.
The second play, “Beautiful like
a Brick,” written and directed by
Matt Morrison, is slightly less funny
than its predecessor, but still worth
seeing. Two friends play a drinking
game with 20+ shots of vodka and a
hammer. This play is mostly full of
visual humor as we see the charac
ters get drunker and drunker down
ing one shot after another. It lacks
plot but is somewhat like “Saturday
Night Live” in flavor, so it’s excusa
ble.
After the one-acts, some of the
actors come back on with other
drama students to do a series of
improvisational skits. Morrison
describes the sketches as akin to
“Whose Line is it Anyway?” The
skits are directed by Michael Gerber
and include some creative input
from the audience. For example,
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CORY PRICE C lackamas P rint
From left: Kelsey Bales, Michael Gerber, Colton
Ruscheinsky and Crystal Elder star in ‘Big Mistake.*
when asked to provide something
for the actors to return to a depart
ment store help desk, people shout
things like “chastity belt” and “a
blender that’s a cannibal.” -
All in all, the one-acts are a
must-see for anyone with an hour to
spare. Additional performances ate
scheduled today and Thursday at
noon, as well as a 4 p.m. perform
ance on Thursday.