THE BASH IN REVIEW

Student bands play the Crystal Ballroom

BY DYLAN DISALVIO
Arts Editor

The Pioneer Log, APRIL 15, 2011

Photo of the Week

Flynn Casey (14)

Last Friday night went off with a bang with three student bands performing at new President Barry Glassners Inaugural Bash at the Crystal Ballroom downtown. The groups that performed were the winners of the Lewis & Clark Battle of the Bands held several weeks ago. Jonah Luke and Friends started the night off. Jonah Geil-Neufeld (11), a singer-songwriter who arranged a small bandtwo trombones, backup vocals and drumsto accompany his guitar playing and singing, is good with a crowd and received a warm welcome to the stage. His music is soft, melodic and interesting with particularly good horn arrangements; no one in the audience complained about the lack of a bass player, as the trombones easily covered the low end. Drummer Steven Skolnik (13) did a great job keeping the time exciting and lively. The next band, Faster than Radio, was a big contrast with Jonahs sensuous crooning. Faster than Radio, which consists of electronic musicians Merv McKenna (12) and Jack Yaguda (13), brought some serious LC womp to the Ballroom. The place was transformed: people started bumping, grinding and getting down all over the place. Yagudas addition of saxophone on a number of tunes was a nice touch and really brought the whole experience to the next level. Both McKenna and Yaguda orchestrate their beats, and Fridays set saw them switching back and forth between their compositions, with Yagudas sax wailing consistently throughout. The Dancing Hats closed the night of student music. A large band with eight players, the Dancing Hats has a genuine, American folk-rock sound that feels good. They started their set off with an exciting number that got the crowd jumping, singing along and shouting Yeah! I had a little trouble hearing all of the musiciansit was hard to hear the violin and mandolin in the mixbut the effect of the music was not lost in light of this.

The Fuzz Box

Arts 9

A music column devoted to bridging the gap between Palatine Hill and Portland

Flynns photo is one in a series that aims to suggest a kind of loss of reality or consciousness. To accomplish this series, Flynn followed his model through the woods as if to document some sort of psychedelic experience. His creative abstraction of not just the photo but the framing of the photo adds a lot to this supposed experience. Many of Flynns photos evoke a sense of adventure, and this is no exception. Zibby Pillote

Students dance and drum to Ghanaian beats

ILLUSTRATION BY ZIBBY PILLOTE

BY KEVIN MUHITCH
Staff Writer

Geoffrey OBrien to speak on campus

ZIBBY PILLOTE
Arts Editor

April is national poetry month. To celebrate, Lewis & Clark is hosting a well-known West Coast poet. Geoffrey OBrien, notable American poet, will be reading some of his work this afternoon in the Hoffman Gallery of Art. OBrien has written several books, including Metropole, The Guns and Flags Project and Hesiod. His works range from poetry to academic articles to short fiction. He currently works at UC Berkeley as an Assistant Professor of English. Writing is not OBriens only pastime; he also teaches for the Prison University Project at San Quentin State Prison. OBriens poetry is simple and didactic. As snow or fire no unreal reason / a poem would begin by stating / be steadily flashing as utopia, reads one of OBriens poems from his collection Green and Gray. His poems are known for being extremely selfaware and ambitious. His short lines and almost lyrical poems move the reader in the subtlest of ways. OBriens poetry confronts contemporary issues and in doing so, is refreshing. Although his poetry is at times challenging, it is easy to relate to. Hearing OBrien read his poetry will only add to the humanistic experience. He doesnt write about existential dreams, and he doesnt use long, exhausting metaphors to describe unrequited love. OBrien relies on everyday experience to get his point across to the reader and does so effortlessly. His reading this afternoon presents a great way to take part in Aprils toast to poetry. Hoffman Gallery of Art, today, 3 p.m., free.

Carolyn Worthge (11) performs a traditional dance called Bamaya in Ghana during an LC Summer Program in 2010.

PHOTO BY ALLISON LENTZ

JERRED BLANCHARD
Staff Writer

One thing is for certain: we are extremely fortunate as a school to have the Ghanaian Master Drummer Obo Addy as an adjunct faculty member, as he brings an exciting and unique pedagogy to our mostly Western music education program. Every semester he teaches classes to beginners and experienced drummers alike, and every semester, the drummers combine with students of the Ghanaian dance class for a rhythmic recital of body-moving fun. Allison Lentz (13), a student of the dance class, describes the concert as charged with fun! With that in mind, Obo puts together traditional Ghanaian rhythms and dances to be performed by the students as well as some of his Ghanaian friends and colleagues. First in the concert lineup is the beginning drummers, who play fundamental and basic Ghanaian rhythms, each member taking his/her own improvised solo over and through the backbeat. After the beginners show off their semesters hard work, the advanced group takes the stage. With seven drummers, they will play a Fontonfron style of drumming, an energetic

collage of different drum patterns. Max Evans (12) said The piece were playing is an attempt to mimic the sound of an elephants ear when it hits the water. Included in this piece will be three Akimebus, which are very long wooden drums that are hit with sticks, making a deep pulse that a cowbell cuts through. The student drummers then leave the stage so that Obo and his crew of experts can accompany the dancers and their dance known as Woungo. Woungo is a dance from Northern Ghana typically done by men. Even though this class only has one male, they stay pretty traditional in their approach. The Woungo is a prayer dance that appeases the deities for plenty of rain and a prosperous crop season, said Lentz. The atmosphere is pretty fun, so feel free to whoop and holler while the dance is going on. It should be a fun event with maybe a surprise or two to keep the audience on their toes. So if youve been bitten by the rhythm bug, come on down to the music building for a fun-filled performance thatll bring a smile to your face. Evans Auditorium, Apr.17, 7 p.m., free

It might seem a bit peculiar that as the rain lets up and the sun finally begins to rise over our weirdo woodsy city that Portlands drone queen would release a set of new LPs. Floating through fuzzy, shifting textures and slowly rearranged tape loops, Grouper has released two records that challenge us to reimagine melody and illustrate the possibilities of sound collage. Over the past six years, Grouper has quietly amassed a large catalogue of short run releases and has, most recently, gained a large following from her 2008 release Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill. Most of her records have remained short-press self-releases featuring beautifully lush tape loops and drones. While Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill retained strong song structures as well as clear melodies, her two new releases, Alien Observer and Dream Loss, revert back to her old tape loop days. Its much slower-moving than her last release and also much more introspective, as lush melodies are hidden below deep layers of noise. Both of these releases are highly focused and are best when keenly listened to on late nights. Highly introspective and melancholy, fans of earlier Grouper releases will be delighted to hear this new series. Liz Harris development as an artist has been greatly evidenced by this years output, including a visual art book and long tape loop sets at various venues along the West Coast. Her set at the Artisterys closing week evidenced her ability to create beautifully music out of painstakingly tedious tape loops meagerly arranged through a very basic mixer. This show also served as a glimpse into the music that is showcased on Alien Observer and Dream Loss. The music seems nervous, reserved and shy but also overwhelmingly powerful. Groupers music has become one of the most defining factors of Portlands music scene and a beacon of the direction of American underground music. It seems unconstrained by the meager 4-track recording and simple instrumentation, able to gravitate ears to new worlds of blissfully serotonin-soaked drones. These new releases are bound to give newcomers chills and delight old fans as well. It is an important landmark in Portlands musical upbringing, as it signals not only the prominence of house party shows and wild energy, but also the prominence of quietly reserved musicians who are able to gain recognition through small-run self releases and self-screened artwork revitalizing diversity in our citys music scene.