1988 Entertainment Presents:
L'Eclair w/ The Raucous
Saturday, November 8th 2025 @ The Domino Room
Genre - psych-rock with elements of neo-disco, alternative dance, and neo-psychedelia
Doors @ 7PM - Show Starts @ 8PM
FREE!
Growing up in Bulgaria in the late 1990s, brothers Stef and Yavor Lilov were shaped in a myriad of unseen ways by the centuries-old folk music that filtered through their daily lives. It helped mold their creative spirit and inspired them to begin making noise together at a young age, and that unique and intuitive creative alchemy has been a foundation of guitarist/keyboardist Stef and drummer Yavor’s band L’Eclair since they formed it in their adopted home of Switzerland a decade ago.
After spending the past two years meticulously crafting Cloud Drifter, their fourth album and debut for revered U.S. label Innovative Leisure, L’Eclair is for the first time now led by the Lilov siblings. The result is an album seamlessly melding modernity with nostalgia and played with a robotic tightness that remains deeply human. Indeed, Cloud Drifter will move the body as much as it does the brain.
“We really wanted to finally be able to capture in the studio the feeling that people had listening to us live,” says Yavor. “Part of that involved really taking the time to polish the music between recording and mixing. Can we make this more impactful? How can we make it more attention-grabbing? Putting in that work and really dissecting the production helped us achieve the sonic result we were looking for.”
L’Eclair has built an international fanbase thanks to its impressive command of rhythm, dynamics and electro/acoustic alchemy, which has nodded equally to vocal-free titans such as Can and Tortoise, expansive, spacey and blissed-out jams ((2021’s Confusions) and more stripped-down, feel-good and genre-jumping destinations (the 2018 debut Polymood). Two live sessions for KEXP have accumulated nearly 900,000 views combined, beaming L’Eclair onto the playlists of adventurous listeners around the world.
And although Cloud Drifter reverberates with heavy, party-starting grooves (“Vertigo”), electrifying future club anthems (“MEMPHIS”) and even trap-inspired beats (“Nova Umbra”), its true revelations come from L’Eclair’s first-ever use of vocals, which are performed in a dizzying variety of styles by such guests as Pink Siifu, Gelli Haha, Phoebe Coco, Girl Named GOLDEN, A Ghost Column and Forest Law. The title track is also the maiden appearance of new L’Eclair member and singer/keyboardist Inès Mouzoune, whose group Roshâni is signed to Stone Pixels, the The Orchard-distributed label co-founded by Julien Fawaz & the Lilovs.
“That was a special song in the process, with the three of us in the studio, finding the melody together,” Yavor recalls. “It wasn’t like, we send the instrumental, you bring the melody and then we’ll see. It was collective work towards choosing the right ingredients.”
Elsewhere, former tourmate Girl Named GOLDEN sidesteps her familiar lo-fi indie pop sound to brings forth a captivating vocal atop the hypnotic groove of the aptly named “The Glitch,” while Phoebe Coco’s wordless intonations greatly heighten the ethereal ballad “Ocean Mind.” Forest Law’s sweet, heartfelt singing conjures the wistful vibe of a beach-adjacent drive with the top down on “Nostalgia,” while Gelli Hanna’s confident utterances (“something’s up with you” / “heaven can wait, should you be late”) help propel “Run,” the demo of which started in Afro-electronic/Nyege Nyege Tapes territory before morphing into something much more upbeat and crunchy.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Pink Siifu’s dexterous flow on “Replica M001” unlocks a brave new sonic world previously unvisited in L’Eclair’s prior work.
“It was very important that the first hip-hop song L’Eclair releases didn’t contain a loop,” Stef says in reference to Siifu’s performance, which is almost on a jazz level in terms of its complexity. “It was more about using what Siifu does best, which is rapping on a drumless beat with timeless instruments. What you hear is a freestyle. He used his voice as an instrument and you see the full spectrum of his abilities. That's what we wanted of every guest — to push them where they're not used to.”
The Lilovs also pushed themselves to deepen the material by recording a string quartet, a choir and a harpist at London contemporary jazz hub Total Refreshment Centre, whose like-minded artists-in-residence provided an extra, intangible burst of inspiration (acclaimed saxophonist/composer Alabaster DePlume happened to be tracking his own session there at the same time and hung out with L’Eclair while listening to the playback).
“We were really, really proud of actually seeing our music written out as a score and executed with a string quartet,” says Stef, who enlisted longtime friend Arthur Sajas (HAHA Sound Collective) to write the arrangement. “I know some of us cried.” The final touches came from Electric Lady Studio mix engineer Matt Scatchell (Adele, James Blake), of whose work Yavor says, “it was a completely new experience for me as a producer and musician to hear something we did as equal to artists or songs that I’ve admired for a lot of years.”
Crystallizing Cloud Drifter’s musical voyage is Melissa Santamaria’s artwork, which depicts an alien world enriched by a living, flower-like structure that may or may not also serve as an interdimensional portal. Says Yavor, “This album is a trip to unknown territories, but it all goes back to what is close to us: what is human, and what brings us back to reality?”
“When Stef and I began playing music, we did it with our ears and without writing. It always started with the emotion. We are always in search of the tools to make those emotions stronger. L’Eclair wants to make you dance and cry, and this album is a great example of that,” he continues. “For me, that’s what L’Eclair is about.”
The Raucous -
Emerging from the smoke-filled garage’s and neon-drenched dive bars, The Raucous, a psychedelic “Doom Jazz” jam band from Bend Oregon, weave a hypnotic tapestry of psychedelic jam, jazz improvisation, and doom-laden heaviness. Their sound drifts like cosmic incense, anchored by earth-shaking bass riffs, yet alive with the free-flowing spirit of fusion and lysergic wanderings.
Their live shows are part séance, part storm, as each performance evolves in real time, with no two sets ever the same. Rooted in deep musicianship and cosmic intent, The Raucous invite listeners to dissolve boundaries, embrace dissonance, and surrender to the noise.
1988 Entertainment Presents:
MELT-BANANA w/ DEAF CLUB, DREAM_MEGA, & B|_ANK
Sunday, November 9th 2025 @ The Wow Hall in Eugene, OR
Genre - Japanese noise rock
Doors @ 7PM - Show Starts @ 8PM
MELT-BANANA -
Last year, MELT-BANANA released their new album, ‘3 + 5.’ It is their eighth album. Like their previous works, it maintains the aggressive and violent pop sensibility along with a playful musicality, while also showing their eagerness to open new doors once again. This album presents a different side of them, yet when you listen to it, it still feels definitely like MELT-BANANA. They don’t seem to hold back at all. Instead, their willingness to keep pushing themselves is truly impressive.
Both now and in the past, MELT-BANANA continues to take us to new dimensions. I can feel their desire to present something new, and I am genuinely happy to be able to listen to the album.
This time, their US tour will last about a week and will only cover the West Coast.
For them, who typically go on tours that last two to three months, this is a short tour.
As the tour title ‘Sling Shot Tour 2025 (Area: US West Coast)’ suggests, it seems to be a targeted tour. Their upcoming tour includes a performance at Freakout Festival in Seattle, along with several additional dates along the West Coast — a rare chance to experience their live show across the region.
Whenever I attend a MELT-BANANA live show, I always come away feeling energized.
I think it would be interesting for both those who have never seen them before and those who have experienced them multiple times to get hit by their slingshot this time.”
1988 Entertainment Presents:
Jim Norton - Now You Know
Sunday, November 16th 2025
Genre - Comedy
Doors @ 7PM - Show Starts @ 8PM
Jim Norton is a stand-up comedian, radio host, actor, and a twice NY Times bestselling author. He hosts the podcast 'Jim Norton Can't Save You', as well as Sword Fight, the latter of which he co-hosts with his wife Nikki. His comedy specials can be seen on Netflix, MAX, Hulu, and Amazon. In addition to his stand-up specials, he has released 8 comedy albums. Throughout his career he has made multiple appearances on late night talk shows, and has appeared in several tv shows and films, including Martin Scorsese’s, The Irishman. A longtime fan of mixed martial arts, Jim is also the co-host of the official podcast of the UFC, "UFC Unfiltered with Jim Norton & Matt Serra". He lives in New York City.
1988 Entertainment Presents:
SOULFLY w/ GO AHEAD AND DIE
Monday, November 17th 2025 @ The Wow Hall in Eugene, OR
Genre - nu metal
Doors @ 7PM - Show Starts @ 8PM
decades now, reaching into limitless directions while seamlessly retaining the expert quality and perfection that bears the Cavalera seal of approval. Coming straight from the deep jungles of Brazil to the arid expanses of Arizona, Max and company are soon to deliver their thirteenth album, the mighty, heart-pounding, tribally fueled CHAMA. Once again, a remarkable testament to the Brazilian songwriter’s natural affinity for slamming yet rhythmic riffs that defined his signature sound to listeners around the world. A true return to the spiritual upbringing of SOULFLY that somehow bears a modern-day edge and vitality. Something that could only be attained by a true master of the craft, and Max has stunned us all again per usual.
It has always been apparent that Max has brought attention to Latin American culture, art, and spirituality through his music, and CHAMA brings him back to those dirty streets of Belo Horizonte as he screams in Portuguese. The name Chama itself literally translates to ‘Flame”, but it also embodies the burning vitality of the human spirit, the strength of ancestors, the forces of nature that bind us to the tempo of the earth. Accompanying the album CHAMA is the story of a boy from the dingy favelas of Brazil, who in search of a higher power, finds himself amongst the tribes of the Amazon, who show him the way of the jungle’s souls. Max comments that the album itself loosely follows this concept, the boy Chama finding his fire amongst the chaos and debris of a collapsing industrial world.
The tribes and indigenous peoples of the Americas play a large role in the inspiration for many of Max’s recordings, and Chama is certainly no exception, bearing the scene of a Navajo ceremonial dancer on the cover of the album. Featured on the inner label is also the image of Oxossi, a guardian of nature. Drums and fire and a ritual that beckons the summoning of ancestor spirits, a burning fuel that defies the darkness, SOULFLY ventures into these sacred spaces where few other metal bands dare to tread. The album kicks off with an intro track, ‘Indigenous Inquisition’, an homage to the genocide and extinction of the original American people, as Max hauntingly recites the names of long forgotten tribes, a proclamation to the bloodshed and warrior pulse of those wrongfully persecuted. An uprising for the underdogs, a home for the homeless, peace for the war afflicted. The song remains insane.
Max has been playing alongside his son, the enigmatic drummer, Zyon Cavalera for over a decade, and for the first time in SOULFY’s career, Max has passed the producing credits and creative direction to his son, and it’s clear to see the apple does not fall far from the tree. Zyon has brought an intensity and commitment to the band that is fresh and invigorating, stomping through song after song like a driven warhorse. If you’ve seen SOULFLY live with Zyon then you know he commands the stage from behind the drum set, directing the tempo and swing of each song like a well-seasoned general. Upon speaking to Zyon, he commented on the evolution of the music, exploratory sounds, the new blood brought to the band with the lineup changes over the years, the excitement of playing with new musicians. “For me personally, to have over ten years with the band has helped me grow and try new things musically. I think there is a strong fire lit within SOULFLY to take things to a new level. We’re not content to stand around, we are hungry.” He certainly displays this hunger, not only as a top-notch drummer, but also as a creative entity and a song structuring adept.
CHAMA was recorded at the Platinum Underground Studio in Mesa, Arizona by John Aquilino. John has worked with Max and company multiple times before and is not only a talented engineer but a family friend. The studio features the highest end Focusrite board, one of only three in the world, and is as prestigious as they come. Also featured on the producing credits is the masterful Arthur Rizk, who has not only worked with the Cavalera family numerous times before, but has also helped to shape the world of heavy metal in the modern day. You can throw a stone anywhere in a record shop and probably hit an album that Arthur worked on, and that is said with the deepest respect. Arthur truly brings recordings to life with his wizardly mixing and mastering, he is the obvious choice to flesh out any album of any extreme genre. His work on CHAMA cannot be overstated, he is one of the best in the business for a reason.
The familial ties do not end there though, Max has made it a point to work within his circle of talented sons, and CHAMA also enlisted the works of Igor Amadeus Cavalera, who played bass on multiple tracks and helped write the lyrics to the title track Chama and Favela Dystopia, a recognition to the grueling street life of the favelas of Brazil. Family means everything within SOULFLY, and the beating rhythm of the album flows like blood through veins, pulsing to the unique pattern of birth that runs as deep as tree roots into the earth.
SOULFLY has long been known to include an ensemble of guests and studio musicians, including a repertoire of guest stars such as Chino Moreno, Greg Puciato, Tom Araya, and countless other experts. Their thirteenth installment, CHAMA, also offers fans fresh collaborations to excite the audiophiles. Mike DeLeon (Flesh Hoarder, Phil Anselmo And The Illegals) has been playing live with SOUFLY for some time now and has made his first appearance on a studio album, ripping through some blistering solos, unnerving noises, and an array of effects driven soundscapes that are sure to melt and fascinate in equal measure. Taking a moment to chat with Mike DeLeon, he expressed gratitude and appreciation to the Cavaleras, “It’s been a total blast jamming alongside Max and the tribe. A true pioneer in metal music. Being a part of the new Soulfly album, writing and recording, has been a huge highlight for me thus far. Album thirteen for the band, first for me, lucky thirteen! To the future, let the Soulfly free!”
As if their immaculate touring lineup wasn’t impressive enough, SOULFLY also enlisted the talents of Dino Cazares of FEAR FACTORY, of whom Max and tribe have been long time friends and collaborators. Dino lent his machine gun picking hand to the aptly titled ‘No Pain = No Power’, and it is safe to say the combination of Max’s vocals, Zyon’s drumming and Dino’s riffs is something sure to please even the most extreme metal fans. The star-studded lineup does not end there though, Michael Amott of ARCH ENEMY played lead guitars on ‘Ghenna’, Todd Jones of NAILS sang on ‘Nihilist’ (a song dedicated to the one and only L.G. Petrov), Ben Cook from NO WARNING and Gabe Franco of UNTO OTHERS are also featured doing vocals on the album. It’s truly astounding how SOULFLY can venture into unknown territories alongside numerous all-star performers from around the world and come out with something as groundbreaking as CHAMA.
Each word delivered with unrestrained power, every strike of a drum a thunderclap through the ears, a torrential onslaught brought by the ever-shifting duo that is Max and Zyon Cavalera. His own anticipation obvious, Max himself stated, “I’m excited to present to longtime SOULFLY fans, a revival of our original sound. CHAMA is full of heavy tribal grooves and ripping fast riffs too. We’ve continued experimenting with different sounds while retaining the heart and soul that makes SOULFLY what it is. We hope this album brings veteran fans and new fans together to enjoy the new tracks. We hope to see you in the pit around the world.” Rest assured, Max, that this new album will have people blasting through the pits in no time.
Transformative and electric, shocking and pummeling, intuitive and raw, this album takes listeners on a journey from the deep jungles to the trash littered streets, storming the gates and finding the spirit, SOULFLY’s new record stands proud amongst the achievements of three decades of musical spirituality. SOUL FLY FREE.
CHAMA Coming out October 24th 2025 on Nuclear Blast Records.