P R O C R A S T I N A T O R S ’
Fill Your Ears
Music picks from ’06
From Mastodon to
Martin Denny in 10 Steps
Name: Vanessa Salvia
Paying the Bills By: Uh, bills are supposed to be paid?
File Under: Alternative ’80s, punk/metal, lounge
Extracurricular Activities: ‘50s pulp fiction, weird movies, sleep
Looking Ahead: April ‘07: New baby on whom to inflict my bizarre
musical tastes
Mastodon, Blood Mountain (Reprise)
The second concept album from the
new (not nü) kings of metal.
Mastodon has reinvigorated metal,
producing complex rock combining
elements of prog, old school metal
and Southern rock. How could any-
thing called Blood Mountain be bad?
This is not metal for lunkheads.
Jesu, Silver (Hydrahead Records)
Inverted doom. We’ll call it mood metal. Shimmering guitar and
rumbling bass from one of the genii of industrial metal titans
Godflesh.
Johnny Cash at San Quentin
CD/DVD (Sony)
The complete San Quentin concert,
including interviews with prisoners
and guards and the performances of
Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers
and the Carter Family, who were also
on the bill. A sure winner for just
about anybody.
Jucifer, If Thine Enemy Hunger
(Relapse)
Continuing to push the edges of
female-fronted heavy rock, this duo
is both sexy and scary, ominously
heavy at times and also eerily quiet.
Melvins, A Senile Animal (Ipecac)
More accessibly rock-y but still offensive to the average listener.
Adding a second drummer results in
drum solos on nearly every track;
surprisingly butt rockin’.
Yo La Tengo, I Am Not Afraid Of You
And I Will Beat Your Ass (Matador)
Another winner from these indie
favorites. Seems like they can’t make
a bad album.
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G I F T
G U I D E
Ouija Radio, Oh No … Yes! Yes!
(Crustacean)
A little bit new wave-y, a little bit punk,
with a Minneapolis sound. Fitting,
‘cause that’s where they’re from.
Bad Brains, Live At CBGB 1982 DVD
(Music Video Distribution)
One of the greatest hardcore bands ever,
in the greatest hardcore venue ever, in
one of the greatest hardcore years ever.
Sure to please any punk fan.
Rockin’ Bones: 1950s Punk and Rockabilly (Rhino)
Get all shook up with 101 authentic rockabilly rave-ups, from ’54 to
’69, in a cool box set.
The Best of Martin Denny’s Exotica (Capitol/EMI)
The finest exotica, 18 tracks, plus a bonus interview with the man
himself.
A Modicum of Hope
Name: Steven Sawada
Paying the Bills By: I’m sure curmudgeon can be considered an
occupation in some country
File Under: I told you when I came I was a stranger …
Extracurricular Activities: Thinking and reading
Looking Ahead: Building a shrine to the goddess Newsom
Joanna Newsom, Ys (Drag City)
J Dilla, Donuts (Stones Throw)
Wooden Wand, Second Attention (Kill Rock Stars)
Colleen et Les Boites a Musique, s/t (Leaf)
Beirut, The Gulag Orkestar (Ba Da Bing)
Franco Battiato, Fetus (rerelease) (Water)
Giuseppe Ielasi, s/t (Hapna)
Fovea Hex, Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent: Huge (Janet)
Vetiver, To Find Me Gone (Dicristina)
Entrance, Prayer of Death (Tee Pee)
I could gush for days
about my newfound love for
Joanna Newsom and Ys, her
latest blessing to us mor-
tals, but I think I’ve already
said enough. I will say,
though, that her recent tour
with boyfriend Bill Callahan
made for possibly the best
live show I’ve ever seen. So
to the other contenders: I
nabbed a copy of Prayer of Death in its inchoate, “unreleased”
phase; it has since been picked up by Tee Pee records. I know
Blakeslee was shopping around his preternatural, electric-blues
gospel for some time, and I’m happy he’s found a decent home for it.
Fovea Hex is a collaborative project between composer Carter
Burwell, Brian Eno, Colin Potter (of
Current 93) and cult legend vocalist
Clodagh Simonds. I picked this up
on a whim and was completely
blown away; Huge is only a three
song EP (part of the short-run
Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent
series), but its brooding, minimalist
approach to ambient and drone
based music is eerie to say the
least. Battiato is a god in his native
Italy. Fetus is his first album and
concisely encapsulates his early
prog-rock days. Mad props to James
Toth of Wooden Wand for continuing
to plod through a perilous tour
schedule, always acknowledging
Eugene despite our scant turnouts.
Second Attention is a nice homage
to all the great male troubadours of
the ‘60s and ‘70s. And finally, Jay-
Dee, R.I.P. … thank you for rejuvenat-
ing and reinventing hip hop with
your always fresh boom bap.
“Everything You
Listen to Sounds
the Same”
Name: Molly Templeton
Paying the Bills By: Reading, watching, writing, rearranging words
File Under: Still listening to mid-’90s college rock? Hey, me too!
Extracurricular Activities: Compulsive reader; Zelda junkie;
would-be world traveler; learning to love the kitchen
Looking Ahead: Shins in January, Bright Eyes in April
Band of Horses, Everything All the Time (Sub Pop)
The Thermals, The Body, the Blood, the Machine (Sub Pop)
Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti-)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones (Interscope)
TV on the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain (Interscope)
Mates of State, Bring it Back (Barsuk)
Cat Power, The Greatest (Matador)
Bound Stems, Appreciation Night (Flameshovel)
DeVotchKa, Curse Your Little
Heart (Ace Fu)
Twilight Singers, Powder Burns
(One Little Indian)
Pulling this together was harder
than it should’ve been, and there
are a good number of things I just
didn’t get or didn’t get to listen to
O PEN FOR
L UNCH & D INNER
(Angela Englert & Bill Town’s New Eatery)
Featuring:
Mediterranean Inspired Tapas
It’s a
show-stopping
holiday idea!
• Fr.-Sat. Smoked Prime Rib
• Parties, up to 20 Guests
• World Class Desserts
• Full Bar featuring Seasonal Drinks
Monday Nights Cheese Fondue
75
$
for one ticket to
three different
performances
Three shows from the Resident
Companies of the Hult Center for
the Performing Arts and Hult
Presents. Recipients choose the
shows they want to see.
460 Willamette Street • 343-1586
Mon.-Sat. 11-10 • At 5th & Willamette
in the Historic Lane Building
Buy yours today!
HultCenter.org or 541.682.5000
DECEMBER 21, 2006 17