Upcoming Events: Ashland Mind Music Festival

Ashland locals Kaargo Bossajova have worked tirelessly since their formation to promote local music and community spirit with the use of festivals, and on October 8th they will host another grassroots rager down there in southern Oregon. The Ashland Mind Music Festival boasts camping, open jams, and a place to kick back and listen to some awesome local names.

The lineup includes some of the names found at this year’s Apple Jam—an event hosted annually by Kaargo—and a whole lot of new ones too, including Eugene favorites Forever Growing. Beyond the music though, the festival is about much more; friendship, community and a fun atmosphere.



Though complaints about the price have occurred (albeit rarely), tickets include a full weekend of camping, and all night access to amenities—including beer—so although the prices may seem steep at first, it all evens out to a fair price in the end. Complaints about price tend to originate from the fact that many of the bands are unknown, but as the organizers put it: “All of the best were unknown until the community came out to listen.”

The Ashland Mind Music Festival is on October 8th, AMMF property, Ashland, OR. More info @ http://events.myspace.com/Event/7060427/The-Ashland-Mind-Music-Festival

Not So Hard On The Ears

Seattle has often been a hub for talented musicians and artists to join, gather influences and produce original results. With the rise of indie music over the last few years, many of these artists have become lost in a sea of names, making it hard to find a band that displays noticeable influences while still maintaining a solid level of originality. The Soft Hills, however, is one Seattle group that achieves this feat seamlessly.



Radiohead’s ambience, Bread’s guitars, a splash of Flaming Lips’ rhythm and some fabulous songwriting skills add up (remarkably) to create that poppy, indie sound that has managed to enchant music lovers and hipsters. The Soft Hills’ second release, Noruz, shows improvement from their older songs in most facets. The songwriting, instrumentation and production are tuned more finely, showing off the experience the group has gained since their debut release. Even fans of the “slop-rock” scene — which to most would include groups like Pavement and Sonic Youth — could find comfort in frontman Garrett Hobba’s vocals, which at times possess a jittery feel not unlike those found with fellow Seattle rockers Girls.

I guess what we’ve learned from all this is that leaving multiple variables open to influence can create a single outcome that isn’t half bad. And for those like me who don’t really understand math: The Soft Hills prove to be a smorgasbord of influences and originality, so don’t be surprised if you hear some familiar sounds shine through. The Soft Hills and The Stagger and Sway play at 9 pm Sunday, Sept. 5, at Cozmic Pizza. $5.

[EW 9/2]
Also scope: Lance Sparks' piece on the Southern Willamette Artisan Wine & Food Celebration HERE.

Sleigh Bells First LP Blows my Face off Twice

(This is a good Thing)

Last year the first traces of the face melting, bone shaking noise-pop project that is Sleigh Bells found their way onto the Internet and immediately gained a following. With the digital release of their first full-length: “Treats”, the music world just got a notch louder. After listening to the album, I am fairly certain that the band stole their amps from Spinal Tap; near every song has at least a minute of flinch-inspiring volume that forces the listener to wonder how in God’s name they finished recording without destroying their equipment.


The truly unique aspect of Sleigh Bells’ music however is not their extreme threshold testing, but rather the perfect contrast that is created between Alexis Krauss’ sugary (and for the most part calm) voice and Derek Miller’s violent distortion. The sound certainly bares comparison to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with the female lead vocal reigning supreme as pandemonium ensues
around them.

With opening positions for Yeasayer and Major Lazer helping put their name on the radar of thousands, this band should become one of the more renowned bands for 2010. Though I have yet to experience the duo live, I have read that the floor shakes from start to finish. This, I can only assume, is an accurate depiction. After all, it’s not hard to imagine the opposite-of-tender sounds that make up “Crown on the Ground,” “Straight A’s” and “Kids” scoring points on the Richter scale.

For me, “Treats” leaves every other 2010 album thus far dead in the water. This is a true example of auditory perfection: Chaos and harmony both play their respective parts in making Sleigh Bells’ “Treats” one of the most unique and enjoyable albums I have ever heard.

The Secret Society of Giraffes

With a growing fan base here in Eugene, the electronic psychedelia that is “The Secret Society of Giraffes” discards convention to create a style all of its own. With solid beats, strange time signatures and lyrics that tend to evoke personal apocalypse, the project is a unique powerhouse that challenges human perception. With smooth progressions throughout songs, often leading to explosions of sound, it becomes increasingly more difficult to fight the urge to dance.

“I try to write songs about living in the world, and a lot of them are about mistakes I’ve made.” Says nineteen-year-old Ali Muhareb, the sole mastermind behind S.S.G, whose solo work is undoubtedly the crown jewel of his music career thus far. Though he has years to go before reaching a zenith, this young artist still has the power to amaze. At such a young age, it becomes startlingly clear that Muhareb has a lot of time left to build upon his already abundant talent.

With mostly processed vocals, fans of clean, vocoder-free music may find difficulty in “The Secret Society of Giraffes” at first, but before long the way in which the singing is crafted grows into an entirely novel experience. With heavy vocalization, the words are extracted from their usual context, thus allowing the lyrics to reach an almost instrumental state. This, along with many similar characteristics, makes up the essence of originality that lies within Muhareb’s tracks.


(Photo: SSG: it's what's for dinner)

From the calming progressions of “God’s Of Sound” through to the utter freak-out that is “Powerful Beat”, the LP “We’re all Doomed/It’s Alright” contains many of Muhareb’s signature sounds. Most of the tracks found on this album are also seen at S.S.G shows, where the young artist is sometimes joined by guitarist Denis Rickard who adds a fuller, more psychedelic feel to the project’s futuristic sound. Beyond this, Muhareb designs his own lightshows that only serve to heighten the senses further.

The project has already been the subject of abundant votes for this year’s “PDX Pop Now” festival that will take place in Portland over the summer, and with the imminent release of a new EP entitled “The Earth is a Snow Globe” it will be hard to miss Muhareb and his “Secret Society of Giraffes” in the not so distant future.