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Entries from March 2010

2009 Alchy Award Winner – Best Local Band: Sar Shalom

March 31, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The Alchemist, March 30, 2010, Volume 3, Number http://www.corvalchemist.com/wp-covers/2010/March10WeekFiveCover.jpg117

2009 Alchy Award Winner – Best Local Band: Sar Shalom

The reggae band Sar Shalom is relatively new on the Corvallis music scene, but the group is packed with local talent and really good at keeping things moving. That must be why you chose them for an Alchy Award for Best Local Band last year.

“We’ve really only been around for a little over a year now,” said lead singer and rhythm guitarist Santino Cadiz.

Originally the group started as a trio with Cadiz, Brad Burnheimer on drums and Aarron Wootton on bass. Both Burnheimer and Wootton have been playing with local bands for some time, including last years Best Acoustic Performer Jenna Summer Smith. Burnheimer is also a former player in the Willamette Valley band The Crescendo Show, and Wootton also plays in Corvallis band Kaddy Wampus.

“I’ve been in Corvallis like two years now,” Cadiz added.

Most recently hailing from Eugene, Cadiz didn’t even pick up a guitar until he was 22 year old. Nowadays, after over a decade of playing music, he’s on his third album, has his own solo act going, and is going to school for independent film.

Since the original inception Sar Shalom has added several members. Ed Propst, a trombonist and keyboard player who played in the Badfish Band and Kaddy Wampus, joined the ranks. As did lead guitarist Luke Thomas, a nominee for 2009 Best Electric Performer who is a veteran of the Southtown Hounds and has played with Propst before. The sixth member of the band is saxophonist Peter W.A.

“The veteran of the band, the Yoda of the group,” Cadiz said of W.A., “Much respect for him musically.”

Cadiz sounds humble, but it may not be that hard considering the depth of the music backgrounds his band mates have. Two of them teach music; Wootton builds guitars even.

“I don’t have an extensive knowledge of [music] theory but everybody else does,” Cadiz said.

Each members talent and experience must have mixed well from the start because the band already had it’s first album on iTunes in September, after only about half a year together.

“Now that we’ve got that base we’re collaborating more together,” Cadiz commented.

Sar Shalom enjoys playing hip-hop, jazz and blues, but has really come to be a reggae band. The music is slow and wanders, and listening is good fun. Most of the song lyrics are originals by Cadiz, and contain traditional reggae roles and values.

“A lot of times the music we play has those underlying themes in there – though the rest of the band doesn’t subscribe to those beliefs,” Cadiz said.

That’s not to say the others don’t believe in good wishes on top of good music. The name alone testifies to the opposite: Sar Shalom is Hebrew for Prince of Peace.

“The cool thing is the word shalom, peace, typically means absence of conflict. It also means to be whole, to be complete. So a little bit more than absence of conflict,” Cadiz explained.

The band is currently on break to occasion guitarist Luke Thomas’ wedding, but is eager to get back to playing soon. Besides several shows coming up, they also want to get back to recording.

“We’ve already got enough songs to record our next album,” Cadiz said, “We kind of rushed to record this first album to have something to show people, so we want to go spend time in a studio and work on a single.”

This is happy news for fans Sar Shalom has made up and down the valley. The band has played shows in Eugene and Portland, as well as last years “Reggae on the Mountain” festival and local Bradstock event. This year they are confirmed to play at the local May Day festival, and are waiting to hear back from the Oregon Country Fair. In Corvallis there are many venues they are likely to return to, including Bombs Away Cafe and Cloud 9.

“We have a pretty committed fan base. They’ll drive all the way out to Eugene to see us,” Cadiz said, “A pretty big crowd came out to Calapooia [Brewing].”

This April you can catch Sar Shalom in town at Fireworks on the 24th, or head out to Summit, Oregon on the 17th for Clinton’s Annual 420 Party. At www.sarshalomband.com you can keep tabs on the band’s shows and recording, and members usually post info on their other projects, too.

~Robin Canfield

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Pop Rock at the Troubadour: Marty Baggen Band

March 16, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The Alchemist, March 16, 2010, Volume 3, Number 115

Vol. 3, No. 115

Pop Rock at the Troubadour: Marty Baggen Band
This Saturday, the 20th, is the second time this month you’ll have a chance to catch the talented act of Marty Baggen & Band. This four piece uncommon mix coming to the Troubadour Music Center is made up of musicians not looking to get signed, but rather just out to have a good time.
“You can never have enough keyboards,” Baggen started explaining the bands arrangement.
The band is uncommon both for instruments in, and not in, the group. Keyboards, for instance, make up half the foursome. Baggen plays rhythm guitar and sings, alongside Terry Takahashi on bass, Carolyn Krueger on back-up vocals and keyboards, and Bill Schwebke on keyboards. That’s right, two keyboards and no lead guitar or drums.
“You know how it is these days, everybody’s got real jobs,” Baggen added about the line-up.
The roots of this pop-rock band began in around the start of 2004, when Baggen and Takahashi began playing together. Takahashi, a professor, also plays bass in a funk-blues cover band and plays upright bass in a swing band.
“He’s an absolute chord crusher,” Baggen said, “You can describe a beat and he just does it.”
Two years later Krueger, a the sole Corvallis resident in the band and a cake-maker by trade, joined on keyboards to form the current band.
“She adds a tremendous amount,” Baggen told this reporter, “She learns so quickly.”
For a while the band had a drummer, but none of their usual venues were quite right for the style. The band played in a few various formations up to the near-present, when Schwebke joined as the second keyboardist.
“The most pure musician in the band,” Baggen said, “Bill added improvisation and soloing to the band.”
The new addition has certainly added a creative kick to the group which has no lead guitar and no stand-out solo instrument outside singing. Baggen and Band have been playing more since Schwebke joined in an effort to bring him more into the band. Usually the group averages about three shows in the valley per every two months, but after playing Fireworks at the start of March they are now on their second show in Corvallis for the month.
“The thing we’re excited about is getting Bill more used to us, more into the fold,” Baggen explained.
Part of the fun is the Schwebke and Takahashi combination; the two have already been playing together in the funk-blues band for some time now.
“They’ve really got a jazz influence,” Baggen said, “These guys start playing and you just want to sit back and listen.”
That’s not to say improvisation is all this band has. They may revel in it, but Baggen has about four albums worth of music to go off of as well.
“We do a couple of covers but mostly my stuff,” Baggen said.
You can listen to some of Baggen’s recordings on his Myspace page to check him out. To give yo ua better idea of their style, one of the bands usual covers is Space Oddity by David Bowie. Another cover, one Baggen doesn’t expect to play this time around, is the Nine Inch Nails song Hurt, played in the style with which the late Johnny Cash claimed the song.
“I’m going to have a compilation available at the Troubadour,” Baggen said.
Culled from his various albums, the music on the CD will be most of what is played at the show, however much of the recordings were done by guests that are spread about the country, none of whom play at the live shows.
The doesn’t mean the band or the audience is apt to have any less of a fun time.
“The big change from the past few years is much more freedom for improvisation,” Baggen said cheerfully.
The show is five bucks at the door and starts at 8 PM at the Troubadour on 2nd Street. After that the band will be playing off and on in Eugene throughout the spring.

~Robin Canfield

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2010 Alchy Award Winner: Best Electric Performer Mark France

March 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The Alchemist, March 9, 2010, Volume 3, No. 114

Vol. 3, No. 114

2010 Alchy Award Winner:
Best Electric Performer
Mark France

Last year’s winner for Best Electric Performer has been all over town lately with Xenat Ra, but there is a good chance you’ve seen him before. Mark France has been a part of the Corvallis music scene for years. Decades, actually.
“Almost thirty years,” that’s how France describes his years playing guitar.
Currently the man owns seven guitars, counting in a five-string bass, a student guitar, a seven string, and a classical.
“My main one is a six string Ibanez my parents got me in junior high,” France said.
There’s a good chance on any day that you’ll find him with a guitar in his hand. Besides the three local bands that France currently plays with, he has also been giving guitar lessons at a shop in Albany for a long time.
“I’ll take days off, but typically I like to play a couple hours a day,” France explained, “It depends what you’re working on: practice, learning songs, recording. There’s a lot you can do with your instrument.”
Instrumental bands are more France’s forte. He and Xenat Ra bandmate Dave Trenkel formed the instrumental band Minus with drummer Henry Franzoni back in the early 90’s.
“I played a lot with Dave in general prior to that,” France added.
Minus falls somewhere in the category of an electronic jazz band that mixes in funk and dub. The group managed to turn out two CD’s during their run; the first was a self-titled improvisational album, and the second, Dark Lit, was composed beforehand but still contained some improvisation.
“It just lost steam. It’s unfortunate but I’m really proud of the CD we put out,” France said of Minus and Dark Lit, “It captured us musically at a good point.”
Several other projects took France around the Pacific Northwest during this time, especially the release of “Matador’s Mistake,” that France recorded on with the band Thousand Pieces. Many of the projects were through Seattle connections such as singer/songwriter Aiko Shimada and composer Christian Asplund.
“I used to spend a lot of time up there,” France commented.
These days he has mostly been playing with local groups. The name you’ve probably heard the most is Xenat Ra. If you’ve thought the name is confusing, well, join the club. It may not help much to know, but the name is a mix of three other names: jazz composer Sun Ra, Greek composer Xenakis, and Frank Sinatra.
“I joined them about a year ago and enjoyed seeing them before,” France said.
The band was first a trio known as Top Dead Center with Trenkel, J.D. Monroe aka The Turntable Enabler, and Matt Calkins; the latter two France had previously played with in the band Eleven Eyes. France and unique rapper Monk Metz joined to form Xenat Ra, which France describes as a fusion band.
“Which can mean anything,” he explained, adding, “It’s a jazz-rock band, not a bebop band.”
Xenat Ra plays mostly original music, but when there is a cover it’s likely of musicians such as Charles Mingus or John Scofield.
Walk the Plank is a mostly instrumental trio that France plays in with Page Hundemer on bass and Brian Bucolo on drums. This jazz group has been together for about three years, and has played the likes of Sahalie’s and Calapooia Brewing in Albany.
“We improvise a lot,” France said, “Sometimes it’s over a steady beat.”
His third current group, El Kabong Orchestra, has been around the longest. While not his average band, they have a singer even, El Kabong is a fun group. They play sporadically, though. The last time was at The Peacock in mid-December, the annual “Non-President’s Ball.”
The odd thing about all three groups is that none of them have a website you can just jump to to find their next show. You may have caught one of his bands playing lately, but it seems now they are all taking a short break from the stage, so you’ll have to keep your eyes on the fliers around town to know when you can catch this Alchy Award Winner next.
“I think there are people in the bands I play with that deserve it more,” France said of the award, “But it feels good.”
~Robin Canfield

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A Little Bark and a Lot of Bite The Wolfman Review

March 3, 2010 · 2 Comments

The Alchemist, March 2, 2010, Volume 3, No. 113

Vol. 3, No. 113

A Little Bark and a Lot of Bite
The Wolfman Review

The Wolfman is a film with many drawbacks, especially a script lacking in style and substance, and an overall feel of being forced.
Let’s start with a horror movie checklist.
- Scary? Check. You’ll definitely jump in your seat.
- Blood and gore? Check. The deaths and various inner organs were excellent.
- Prize actors? Check. Right down to the damsel in distress.
- A period setting? Overdone and overpriced, but check.
- Everything the creators of Mystery Science Theater 3000 looked for when they chose a movie? Check and double check.
This is the werewolf film that movie studios wished they could have made 70 years ago. If all your looking for in a horror film was on that checklist, stop reading now and avoid a few spoilers. Just go see the movie, it will be worth it.
Director Joe Johnston made some interesting choices on this film. First and foremost is the make-up and effects. A veteran of creature effects, he even did the final designs for Yoda and Boba Fett for Star Wars, it should be no surprise that the severed limbs, gruesome deaths, and fields of bloodshed looked great. However, Johnston stuck with makeup and suits for most of the movie. This isn’t a bad thing when the wolfman is on the move, but when he is still, or morphing, the CGI effects just seem tacked on. The CGI effects aren’t bad by themselves, they just don’t mesh well with the make-up jobs. All right, sometimes they are just plain bad. Watching the wolfman sprinting on his hind legs is more laughable than fear-inspiring.
One of the most successful scenes of the film is also the most predictable; picture thirty men locked in a room with a wolfman and see where your imagination takes you. This segues the movie into a wild rampage through London that felt very reminiscent of watching a T-Rex rampage through San Diego, a scene Johnston certainly studied before he directed Jurassic Park III.
There are two quirky ideas added to the old werewolf tale in The Wolfman, one turned out well and the other did not. An officer of the law is ever-present in these stories, and sometimes they display enough intelligence to defend the gypsies instead of leading the attack, but none have ever been so clever as Abberline. Played by Hugo Weaving, he is an officer from Scotland Yard sent to solve the mystery. Abberline is a smarter-than-average detective that is very modern in his thinking, complete with very clever wolfman-hunting tactics. The only drawback is his Australian accent, but it is easy to lose the sound of it among myriad English accents throughout the film, or lack thereof.
The other, ill-fated idea is too much of a spoiler to fully explain. The story smartly treads lightly over the origin of werewolves in general, but adds far too much complexity to the life of the current wolfman. Let’s just say that one wolfman and a lot of humans makes for a blood-filled, scary scene. Wolfman versus wolfman action on the other hand, especially in their silly suits, isn’t great.
The ups and downs aside, Benicio Del Toro as the main character, Lawrence Talbot, and Anthony Hopkins as his father, Sir John Talbot, both have commanding screen presence. Emily Blunt plays a perfect confused love interest as Gwen Conliffe. The sets are convenient and often too embellished, but still manage to satisfy the requirements of being dark and dreary. The story takes a few departures from the norm, but ends with the usual moment of sad redemption and, in this case, an audience calling for the characters to rain down the silver bullets.
All the elements you could want in a classic horror film are here, just don’t look for anything deeper than that. The Wolfman is not destined to be a classic itself, not unless Mystery Science Theater 3000 returns.
C+
~Robin Canfield

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