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8:30 a.m. Audubon Society Field Trip See Event Description

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8:30 a.m. Alzheimer’s Resource Center Volunteer Training See Event Description

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9 a.m. Arcata Farmers' Market Arcata Plaza

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9 a.m. Speakers' Symposium College of the Redwoods

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9 a.m. Humboldt Botanical Gardens Foundation Speakers’ Symposium College of the Redwoods

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9 a.m. Humboldt Botanical Gardens' Speakers' Symposium College of the Redwoods

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9 a.m. Fall Rummage Sale Arcata United Methodist Church

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9:30 a.m. AAUW Meeting See Event Description

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9:30 a.m. Little River State Beach Restoration See Event Description

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9:30 a.m. Sierra Club Headwaters Hike See Event Description

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10 a.m. Lanphere Dunes Guided Walk See Event Description

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10 a.m. 5th Annual Synergy Fair Arcata Community Center

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10 a.m. Go Green and Boost Your Bottom Line Wharfinger Building

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11 a.m. Sustaining Excellence and Enthusiasm in Health, Relationships and Work Carlo Theater (Dell'Arte)

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noon KEET's Kids Club Morris Graves Museum of Art

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1:30 p.m. Humboldt County Historical Society Humboldt County Library

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2 p.m. Arcata Marsh Field Trip Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary Interpretive Center

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4 p.m. Woodside Preschool’s 36th Wine and Ale Tasting Gala Adorni Recreation Center

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4:30 p.m. Harvest Dinner and Bazaar Humboldt Grange

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5 p.m. A Toast to Music Christ Episcopal Church

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5:30 p.m. Elvis and the Hound Dogs + Stolen Taxi Trinidad Town Hall

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6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds Chapala Cafe

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6 p.m. Arts Alive! Various Locations

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6 p.m. Day of the Dead Exhibition Ink People Center for the Arts

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6 p.m. Bar None 10th Anniversary Eureka Labor Temple

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6 p.m. Randy Spicer Piante Gallery

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6 p.m. Gallery Open for Arts Alive! Four Paths Gallery and Studio

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6:30 p.m. ShinBone (Blues R&B) Eureka Theater

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7 p.m. Mike Craighead and Sari Baker Old Town Coffee & Chocolates

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7 p.m. Harvest Concert Arcata Presbyterian Church

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7 p.m. 2 Left Feet Dance Project Redwood Raks World Dance Studio

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7:30 p.m. Joe & Me Cafe Mokka

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7:30 p.m. Cyrano de Begerac Eureka High School Auditorium

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7:30 p.m. Torch Song Summit Eureka Women's Club

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7:30 p.m. Jeff DeMark and the LaPatinas Westhaven Center for the Arts

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8 p.m. Stones in His Pockets Arcata Playhouse

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8 p.m. Humboldt Bay Brass Band Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU

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9 p.m. Synergy Six Rivers Brewery

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9 p.m. Arts Alive! with Akaboom Sound Pearl Lounge

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9 p.m. Tempest WAVE @ blue lake casino

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9 p.m. Back In The Daze Dance Party Central Station Cocktail Lounge

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9 p.m. Swingin' Country Band (country) Bear River Casino

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9 p.m. The Zygoats + Alder Camp (rock) The Lil' Red Lion

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9 p.m. DJ Knutz (funk) Muddy's Hot Cup

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10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines

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10 p.m. DJ Icy Hot Aunty Mo's Lounge

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10 p.m. These United States (indie folk) Humboldt Brews

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11 p.m. Hellbound Glory The Alibi Lounge and Restaurant

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previous columns

June 12, 2008

Jack and the Beanstalk

Ballet performance by North Coast Dance. June 7 at the ...

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June 5, 2008

The Hot Tempers vs. The Cold Hearts

Roller derby, May 28 at Redwood Acres. It was girl-powered ...

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May 29, 2008

Street Horrrsing

Album by Fuck Buttons ATP Recordings I’m not entirely sure ...

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  • The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit
The Midnight Organ Fight

The Midnight Organ Fight

By Mark Shikuma

By Frightened Rabbit.

FatCat Records.

With their sophomore effort, The Midnight Organ Fight, the band Frightened Rabbit delivers a deft assortment of songs, filled with dark, painful longings, performed with dramatic dynamics and immediacy. Recorded in two weeks with producer and engineer Peter Katis, who worked with Mercury Rev and Interpol, Frightened Rabbit have created a densely textured pop, or even folk, record that has been speeded up and undermined. In an odd way, it bears a similarity to the Velvet Underground's Loaded, which was intended to be Lou Reed's version of a pop record.

Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, this trio consists of the Hutchison brothers: Scott (vocals, guitar) and Grant (drums, percussion) and Billy (no surname revealed) on second guitar. In fact, the trio prefers not to use their second names. Scott's heavy Scottish-laden vocals are raw, yet intricately melodic. The guitars, whether acoustic or electric, are strummed fast, layered upon one another to provide a dense sound. The drums and percussion play a somewhat minimal role, varying with a barreling presence or as a percussive accompaniment.

The cautionary "Good Arms vs. Bad Arms" opens with an acoustic guitar; a soft pedal steel plays underneath, while Scott questions an ex-lover's decision. "Leave the rest/ at arms length./ Keep your naked flesh/ underneath your favorite dress." But there is also a dual purpose here: one's struggle with one's own duality. It rivals Elvis Costello's spiteful, yet intelligent, songwriting, circa 1978's This Year's Model. And there are plenty of similar gems throughout The Midnight Organ Fight. "Fast Blood" has a sonic wall of chiming guitars and hard drums that crescendo, reminiscent of early Superchunk. The rave-up of "Old Fashioned" stands as one of the record's highlights. It's a hootenanny. With fast swinging acoustic guitars and a thumping bass drum, Scott sings, "Give me soft, soft static/ with a warm voice underneath./ We can be both be old fashioned/ back to how things used to be./ Give me soft, soft static/ of an open fire and the shuffle of our feet." One senses there is an underlying tone of irony to the sentiment, but, at the same time, it is also meant to be sincere tribute to tradition — to folk music and ritual and human connection. It also signifies the loss of such things.

And as dense, sonically, as The Midnight Organ Fight is, Frightened Rabbit also understand space, leaving room for the exquisite vocal melodies. This is a record brimming with enthusiasm, energy and wit, showcasing a band (and a songwriter) with great promise, in the tradition of fine Scottish pop bands like Aztec Camera, Belle & Sebastian and Orange Juice. At the chorus of "Keep Yourself Warm," Scott chimes, "It takes more/ than fucking someone/ you don't know/ to keep yourself warm./ You won't find love in a hole ..." Coming from a young band, this is an atypical way of expressing something, well, typical. It's called poetry.

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