Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2006)
6 The Arts Entertainment Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2006 Clackamas Pr¡ All photos by Joe Piazzisi Clackamas Print ABOVE: 1954 Chevy Convertible. LEFT: Yamaha RÌ. BELOW: RRev Motorsports Tuning shop have a line of 1990s Toyota Supras and MR2s with various degrees of modification. Joe Piazzisi S7, a Ford GT, a Pantera, a 2006 Mercedes CLS 55 AMG and mul- The Clackamas Print tiple Lamborghinis. These cars all looked extremely nice and gathered The Rod and Custom Show hit rather large crowds, as they should Portland with a bang, dragging some for tiie price it takes to own one. of Oregon and Washington’s nicest The Rod and Custom Show cars out of their respective garages wasn’ttheonlydrawthough. “Import and into tiie spotlight • Motion,” (an irregularly held show The Rod and Custom Show is featuring Portland’s tuned and show about more than just how much a car, import cars) was held on Saturday, cost when it was purchased. Whether in conjunction with the Rod and they are cars, trucks, motorcycles or Custom Show. Everything from a projects built just for a show’s Sake, 300 horsepower 350z on up to 1000+ just about anything that rolls and hp Supras were on display, showing looks good doing it is what the Rod off new innovations in auto technol and Custom Show is all about ogy as well as some crazy builds. This year there were some high- ^Even though the “Import” and the rollers at the show, including a Saleen “Classic” worlds don’t really seem to mix, the show brought them together in unity. The combination brought the ' — Classic guys to talk shop and mingle with the Import guys, demonstrating that it’s not about era or age, or the type of clothes the different groups wear that matters, it is all about the hobby and the build of the vehicles. Covering a wide spread of vehi- Editor’s Note: For more, motion on the Clackamas Department’s custom golf topage 3. Portland’s fond farewell to a friend I Ben Maras I \ Editor-in-Chief Fifteen Portland musicians cover ing 15 songs from their mutual friend, Elliott Smith -1 think my head just exploded. ‘To: Elliott / From Portland,” is a tribute album consisting wholly of local Stumptown artists. Thé album is an even mix of big names and no names and not every track is a win ner, but it’s still worth every penny, especially considering that 10 percent of the proceeds will go to lhe Elliott Smith Foundation’s charity, Free Arts for Abused Children. The album kicks off with the big name, The Decemberists, covering “Clementine” off of Smith’s self-titled album The lack of more than two instruments leads me to say that this should more accurately be credited as Colin Meloy in the liner notes. This is fine though, as it gives me a chance to get a preview of my musical fantasy: “Colin Meloy Sings Elliott Smith.” Maybe someday. It could be said that there’s two kinds of tracks on this album: those who tributed Smith, and those who ripped him off Ever wondered what Elliott Smith would have sounded like as a rapper? Me either, but Lifesavas fixed that for us. Their cover of “Happiness” is lhe biggest departure on the album, and honestly, it would be nice to see more of tiie artists taking a tip from them. I’m not saying that every song should be turned into a rap bit, but that more chances should be taken. Songs like “Between the Bars,” “Wouldn’t Mama Be Proud,” and “Ballad of Big Nothing” are almost note for note what Smith did (and better, may I add) with a few bells and whistles, although the latter was done better than most Others actually did make changes to their song in tribute to tiie original writer. Case in point “Needle in the Hay,” probably the best track on the album. Apparently done as a tip of the cles from 1904 up to 2006 The show featured something for everyone that came thro hi doors. This year Portland bad its first “Monster” built, live and' middle of the show. Our venl Clackamas Auto Department wheelie-hopping custom golf spectators watched. The Rod and Custom moves on to Seattle March] That same weekend the Convention Center will be Portland’s 50th Annual R Show. hat to the original version of a song that Smith scrapped in the middle of production, this version is layered with overdriven guitars, drums, horns and even a piano solo. (Trivia bit covering artist Eric Matthews played trumpet on Smith’s original arrange ment, which was sadly never record ed. So if anyone knows what it was originally supposed to sound like, it’s him.) Crosstide’s cover of “Angeles? took a bit of getting used to for me, and I still can’t say it’s one of my favorites. I suppose it was the forsak ing of the folky guitar line that for a wash of new-wave synthesizers. This could be attributed to either trying to escape the note-for-note cover, or two guitarists not being able to play what Smith could on his own while prob ably drunk, stoned, strung-out, over caffeinated and running on two hours of sleep. Not that there’s much shame in this though, because seriously, who can? The last track is an unreleased song titled “High Times,” and would be ttie best track if it weren’t for one thing: the voice. The instrumentation is beautiful, matching the building narrative style of lhe song perfectly, but what can I say? I can’t stand Sean Croghan’s voice. He would be perfect in a H.I.M. cover-band, not wailing out Smith’s stuff. Luckily a demo ver sion of this song is available all over the Internet, and it blows this pile-of- production clean out of the water. If there’s one big disappointment about this album it would be Sam Coomes mysterious absence. A good friend/former bandmate/touring part ner of Smith’s and half of his favorite Portland band, Quasi, he is the first person one would expect to record a cover. May I suggest “Son of Sam?” While some may see this as an example of lhe Yoko. Ono complex (cashing in on a musical legacy) oth ers will take this as a way to pay one last tribute to someone who influ enced them greatly. Either way it’s worth a listen. • TACTILE • KINETb INTERIOR DESIGN AT MARYLHURST Color Wood Windows I Texture Light Metal Lighting Blueprints I Fabric Paint Glass CAD Drawing! Carpet Furnishings Drafting Spring Term starts April 3rd. • Scholarships for transfer students • Small seminar-style classes • Year-round admission To work with an advisor, e-mail studentinfo@marylhurst.edu or call 503.699.6268. ★ lìS News & World Report BEST COLLEGES 2006 I "Number one in the Northwest for small classes" M A R Y L H UR ST U N IV E RSIT JUST 10 MINUTES SOUTH OF PORTLAND . Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities accrédité» 17600 PACIFIC HIGHWAY (HWY. 43) Serving students since 1893, MARYLHURST, OREGON www.marylhurst.edu 800.63^- {
