STS9
and morphed into rhythmic music that moves. STS9 play
8 pm at the McDonald Theatre at Saturday, 4/23, $18
dos/adv. — Melissa Bearns
On the Yellow Brick Road to Hip Hop
Holy Land
Trippy Techno
It took long enough but the people with the power
finally figured out that Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) is
not a jam band. For years STS9 was booked as the open-
ing act for bands who spend most of their shows
noodling away on their instruments, lost in a haze as the
patchouli-scented crowd sways and does that flowy hand
dance.
But they’ve graduated to more appropriate pairings —
Tortoise, Mr. Lips, the Perceptionists and Blackalicious to
name just a few more recent shows. And while publica-
tions such as Jambase still take an interest in STS9, pos-
sibly because they sometimes have a floating, ethereal
feel, the word is finally out that this is a genre-bending,
magical melting pot of sound.
It’s 2 pm somewhere in Texas and guitarist Hunter
Brown is just rolling out of bed after staying up until 5 in
the morning working loops and mixing beats on his lap-
top in the back of the tour bus. He’s remixing songs off
the band’s most recent release, Artifact, and working on
his own side projects.
Back when Brown, keyboardist David Phipps, bassist
David Murphy and percussionst Jeffree Lerner first start-
ed out, STS9 spent about 200 days a year on the road
playing their vibey, free form, jazz-meets-electronic-
meets-drum and bass-meets-hip hop to anyone who
would listen. Now that they’re established, they have a
more sane touring schedule.
But that hasn’t changed their strange take on music,
like someone never told them what it’s supposed to
sound like or how you’re supposed to make it. Take
Artifact for example — you can download one song,
“Tokyo,” off their website (www.sts9music.com). Check
out the spooky loop at the beginning and the hip hop-
inspired scratch-infused end. The full CD is packed with
more amazing stuff. Listen carefully to “8 and a Extra”
and “People’s Part II.” Hear anything that sounds like five
guys “going completely ape shit on anything we could
find,” in an empty 8,000-square-foot warehouse with 10
microphones?
Boxes of glass for recycling smashing against the wall.
Cell phones feeding back. The whir of a vacuum cleaner.
Metal striking metal. Crazy energy released then sampled
The Living Legends’ rise to stardom is nothing short
of inspirational. It is a testament to the hip hop “dream,”
where a hip hop holy land promises success along with
continued underground credibility. All you must do to get
there is work hard and stay true to your craft and crew.
Their tale is as follows: Between Oakland and LA, a
group of small-time, like-minded MCs found each other
and formed a crew. They debuted their live routine at loft
parties, collecting other like-minded members along the
way, steadying their roster at eight strong. Eventually the
group released an album together, toured the country
(then Europe), released solo albums (as well as inner-
group collaborations — different Legends’ MCs perform-
ing together), and got back together to release several
more collaborative albums. Soon the group found them-
selves blowing up all over the world.
Somewhere, somehow, the Living Legends have found
that balance between fame and craft. Their new album
Classic proves that it is possible to attain notoriety while
still maintaining one’s artistic integrity. The album blos-
soms with bouncy, straight-ahead hip hop beats that fea-
ture all the solid bumps and soulful samples that make up
classic rap tracks. On “Brand New,” the group tears
through staccato rhymes and a wonderfully harmonized
chorus all over an old school Slum Village-styled groove.
“Blast Your Radio” features the man with the Midas
touch, Madlib, on production duties.
While hip hop offers an infinite
space in which to grow and
develop, from hustling mix
tapes on the streets to
playing at Eugene’s
McDonald Theatre, the
Legends really have
come a long way. Jedi
Mind Tricks and Pigeon
John are supporting the
Legends for their highly antic-
ipated return to Eugene. Living
Legends, Jedi Mind Tricks and
Pigeon John play 8 pm, Sunday,
April 24 at the McDonald
Theatre. $15 adv.
— Steven Sawada
Chamber Pop
Confessions
The weakest
moment on Over the
Kinnie Starr
T HE S POT FOR
$7.00 BOMBS
IRISH CAR
NEVER A COVER
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FREE POOL
FREE POPCORN!
* FREE POOL HOURS:
TUES. - SAT. • 4PM-10PM
SUN. & MON. • ALL DAY/ALL NIGHT
99 W. BROADWAY • EUGENE • 683-3154
30 APRIL 21, 2005
Rhine’s new album, Drunkard’s Prayer, is easily pinpoint-
ed: the damn saxophone solo on “Little Did I Know.” It’s
jarring, a strange switch to a sort of pop-jazz that seems
to scribble all over an otherwise lovely tune.
Up to that point, the album glides along sleepily, Karin
Bergquist’s breathy, unaffected voice resting lightly atop
a simple piano or guitar line, the occasional harmony
breaking in. There’s an old-timey beauty to the first half-
dozen songs, a set of classic-sounding melodies that
smartly leave plenty of aural white space around
Bergquist’s voice. “Hush Now (Stella’s Tarantella)” begins
with a charming Tom Waits-ian piano bit, a hint of vaude-
ville. But two songs later, following the unfortunate sax
solo, Drunkard’s Prayer begins to take on a decidedly
Dawson’s Creek tone, relying too heavily on a back-and-
forth between bland mid-tempo cheeriness and over-
wrought melancholy that brings to mind a montage from
a teenage heartbreak.
The good songs, though, make you want to give Over
the Rhine a chance. They certainly do a decent piano bal-
lad tinged with strings — probably the reason the band’s
been described as “confessional chamber pop.” Over the
Rhine has opened for Bob Dylan and been honorary
members of the Cowboy Junkies. Their musicianship and
the economy of sound on their better tracks, proves that
they really do know what they’re doing.
Over the Rhine plays at 8:30 pm, Saturday, April 23 at
the WOW Hall. $15. — Molly Templeton
Divine Kinnie Starr
Canadian diva Kinnie Starr returns to Eugene wrap-
ping up her most recent tour in support of Sun Again, her
newest release. If you missed her last time she breezed
through town, don’t make that same mistake again.
A modern-day musical goddess, Starr has the poise
of a swan, the grace of a panther, the gentleness of a
cloud and the power of hurricane. She’ll croon a
love song one second then get up in your face,
rapping and rhyming the next.
She mixes gritty urban beats with sensual
lyrics creating songs that bump and glide at
the same time. Her themes range from femi-
nism to food to earth worship and she infus-
es every song with an element of spiritu-
ality that’s all about heart and staying
real.
The way she rampages
across musical genres with
blithe disregard makes her one
of the most innovative and fresh
voices to grace our fair city in
months. Kinnie Starr plays with
the Ovulators at 9 pm Friday,
April 27 at Sam Bond’s Garage.
$5. — Melissa Bearns