The Source Staff

Hip-hop fans in Bend know they don't have it as tough as one might think. Of course, there are a few quality local acts to feast on, but it's our proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area that makes Bend the benefactor of high-profile hip-hop tour stops.

The Dirty Words: Seeing through the trees.At times during the past two years, it seemed that there was only one
indie rock band in Bend. Well, let's just say there was only one indie
rock band playing shows in the city. While there were plenty of
burgeoning, still-in-the-garage acts, it seemed the Dirty Words were
the only band that would actually play a steady line of shows.

But in
the last year, the high school scene and the just-out-of-high-school
set have come forward with a number of bands and other veteran groups
have shored up their acts, and giving hope that there might be more to
be found in Bend than roots rock, metal, bluegrass and, surprisingly,
hip-hop. The influx of indie rock sounds is a splash of cold water to a
face largely hung over from too much of the same and it's with that in
mind that The Dirty Words release their debut full-length album,
International Machine, which has been in the works for the better part
of the past year.

Christmas music can drive you crazy. Actually it will almost certainly attack your sanity if ingested in large portions. Like eggnog, these tunes are reserved for only one month (or maybe month and a half if you're on the overly festive side of things) out of the year and also like eggnog, Christmas music is dangerous in large quantities.
I'll be upfront. I hate Christmas music (but love eggnog) and when a CD entitled Jingle All the Way landed on my desk on the last week of October, I nearly set it aflame. But before any rash actions could be made, I took a closer look at the CD and saw this wasn't just a mere Christmas album, but a holiday record from instrumental icons Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.