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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 30, 2005)
L O C A L S O N LY Depravitae , Apocalypticusadisticon RELEASED: Coming out soon, self-released GENRE: Industrial/Metal Self described as “the resurrected abortion of rapists’ seed,” Depravitae is the first Eugene-based industrial band that I’ve ever heard of. Before meet- ing Gideon Gash and Razor Praizer one night at my DJ gig, I didn’t think anyone in Eugene even listened to industrial music. Their forthcoming album Apocalypticusadisticon evokes memories of old goth club-nights I used to go to as a teenager growing up in Honolulu. I remember doing my hair like Robert Smith, painting my nails black and smearing my lips with oxblood red lipstick and hitting the Sub Club. Hundreds of candles illuminated the rooms, as whips and crops whacked against bare skin. People shackled them- selves to crosses, hanging totally nude for the entire night. Above all the depravity we danced as the DJ spun Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy and KMFDM. Apocalypticusadisticon harkens back to those good ol’ days. I don’t think anything could make me dress up like I did back then, but thanks to an advance copy of Depravitate’s forthcoming album, I’m reminded why I appreciate the music of bands like Skinny Puppy. Apocalypticusadisticon captures the necessity of the electronic sound in industial music: the blips, drum machine snare whaps and creepy samples of babies crying really bring back memories. — Steven Sawada Dubble Helix , The Machine RELEASED: 2005, Scientific Records GENRE: 8-bit, dub Stoned-out, island experimenters forged dub (a Jamaican music with roots in reggae) out of decisive electronic elements. In the seventies, with the grow- ing availability of synthesizers, processors and drum machines, you no longer needed live players to cre- ate large, textured sound. Thus dub was, in a way, the forerunner to most modern electronic music. It’s exciting then, in a time when electronic music has become so convoluted by DJs and producers who abuse these tools to create corny, anthemic, com- mercially viable pop hits, to find a musician with a stripped down sound and a roots-based focus. Shane Kramer, aka Dubble Helix, has been quietly producing 8-bit and 8-bit-inspired dub locally for quite some time now. In a nutshell, 8-bit music refers to music created through sounds and songs generated from old video game consoles such as Atari, Nintendo and Sega. Some of these sounds are sampled, others are created through antique, or res- urrected, or emulated, 8-bit processors. Kramer’s latest recording, The Machine, utilizes 8- bit technology to create spaced-out, bass-heavy dub. Many of the tracks, especially the songs with titles such as “Missile Command” or “Bonus Round www.eugeneweekly.com Babylon,” which reference video game jargon, sound as if Lee Perry and King Tubby dissected a few sound cards from stand-alone Q-Bert games. Kramer’s pas- sion for 8-bit and dub shine through, effectively cre- ating a unique, witty sound. The CD is available in Eugene exclusively at the Museum of Unfine Art or at www.zebox.com/dubblehelix/music — Steven Sawada Jessie Márquez , Sana Locura RELEASED: 2004, independently released GENRE: Latin/Cuban When the Eugene Weekly last tried to contact Jessie Márquez she was gone, reachable only by e- mail, to play a series of shows in Cuba. After listen- ing to her newest album, Sana Locura, her connec- tion to Cuba in body and spirit is even more appar- ent. Márquez grew up in Puerto Rico before moving to Eugene and in 1996, she made her first trip to her father’s homeland to visit her relatives there. Since then, she’s returned on numerous occasions and studied Cuban music in Havana. Sana Locura is a rich album full of verve and tex- ture. With roots in traditional bolero music, the album is a delicate balance between Márquez’s pow- erful voice, the gorgeous layers of hip shaking rhythm and the incredible horns and harmonies. The title track is particularly notable for its clear, emo- tional beauty. “Dile Que Me Voy,” another song deal- ing with the classic subject matter of love and heart- break, is also exceptionally catchy and smooth. On this particular track, Julito Padrón’s background vocals add depth and a dark, smoky feel to an already fine song. If you enjoy the music of the Afro-Cuban All Stars, Ana Belen or the Buena Vista Social Club, you’ll enjoy the fresh twist of Sana Locura. — Melissa Bearns Kurt Doles & Dac Crowell , Mercury RELEASED: 2005, Suilven Recordings GENRE: Avant garde, ambient Inspired by journeys — a long drive from Eugene to LA, a trip to Chicago — this mesmerizing collec- tion of shimmering soundscapes nestles snugly in the ambient tradition of Eno, Arvo Pärt and the now-retired Harold Budd, which embraces atmos- pheric beauty while avoiding saccharine new agey gloop. Doles and Crowell are both highly trained musicians who ultimately abandoned their doctoral degree studies because of what they perceived as narrow-minded academic resistance to non-academ- ic composers such as Klaus Schulze and Brian Eno. You can hear their classical training and other influences (Doles studied Balinese music at the source; Crowell, a krautrock fan, studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen), which pre- vents monotony. But this album will appeal to anyone who values musi- cal beauty and doesn’t automatically condemn background music — what Erik Satie called “furniture music” — as somehow tainted. Unlike the stasis that stalls so much electronic experimentation, this is moody music that moves, and is moving. — Brett Campbell TERYL HAWK up to the band’s name. Most, if not all, of the tracks are about sex or other aspects of the mating ritual and include song titles such as “Glory Hole” and “Dirty Mind.” The music is bouncy and upbeat, but many of the songs sound eerily alike. And while the album title and lyrical subject matter are a clever, humorous play on the band’s name, don’t pay too much attention to the lyrics. While certain sections are chuckle-worthy, some are painfully generic and rife with clichés. This effort is fun and danceable, but it takes more than a concept to make a great album. These songs probably make a better live show than an album, and unfortunately, it shows. — Sara Brickner Teryl Hawk , La Vie en Rose RELEASED: 2005, self-released GENRE: Lounge Teryl Hawk has a nice voice. It’s nice enough to pull your eardrums from the everyday babble around you, nice enough to entertain you during dinner, or even nice enough to make you tap your toes and snap your fingers. However, you might want to keep the finger snapping to just one hand, because while her voice is nice, sometimes nice isn’t enough. Ms. Hawk is more than competent. She has a beautiful vocal instrument, and holds notes with a tender grasp rarely heard in pop music. Unfortunately, this might be her undoing — she seems scared of her subjects. She lacks the swagger of Peggy Lee, who masters “Fever” with regality. Instead, we hear what she is — a young girl demure- ly singing the words to a very powerful song. But back to the positives. If I didn’t want to snap The Perverts , Upskirting RELEASED: 2005, independently released GENRE: Punk The Perverts, a local Eugene band, have the punk rock humor thing down pat, and they’ve proved it with UpSkirting, an arguably con- ceptual album that definitely lives LOCALS ONLY 2005 9
