The only time I thought I was in the presence of superheroes was in the late ’90s at a Guitar Wolf show. The trio appeared suddenly on stage with a thunderclap coming from Drum Wolf on the risers. The late Bass Wolf stood stage left, sneering over a low, diesel-powered throb generated by his instrument [...]
Junip at Republic, May 12
“Folktronica” sounds like the worst idea on paper and yet is one of the best in reality. It is a bending of the infinite entrainment engine of electronic music toward the more sylvan, contemplative end of things, like trip-hop without being so self-consciously noir. Gothenburg, Sweden’s José González (born in Argentina, if you were curious) [...]
Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour
Under the ragged flag of the Elephant 6 Recording Company, some of the most enduring and endearing music of the 1990s was crafted by Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples in Stereo, Of Montreal, and countless other loosely defined projects born in a nebulous cloud of creativity and friendship that started in Ruston, Louisiana, then took [...]
Les Pêcheurs de Perles “The Pearl Fishers”
Go see Bizet’s “other opera” just to hear the duet “Au fond du temple saint.” Two men (a tenor and a baritone) renew their friendship, even though they have both fallen in love with the same woman. This duet is perhaps one of the most famous in all of opera. The opera was first performed [...]
Dâm-Funk at One Eyed Jacks Friday, December 17
In the world of local funk, there are few praises higher than “DJ Soul Sister’s Favorite DJ,” but that’s who will be playing his first show in New Orleans December 17. A 20-plus-year veteran, Dâm-Funk’s star began to rise a few years ago when word of his DJ night, “Funkmosphere,” spread throughout Los Angeles and [...]
Joanna Newsom
Hearing Joanna Newsom the first time in 2004 was like tasting the nectar of the wildest mountain flower. Her elfin voice woven into Bach-tight indie rock songs rendered on harp and harpsichord made sense in the most peculiar way. Some hated it immediately, others found their special purpose in it, but no one who took [...]
Robert Randolph
On the cover of his latest album We Walk This Road, Robert Randolph seems to be healing his instrument by laying on hands. That instrument, the pedal steel or—in the church context from which Randolph emerged—the sacred steel, has doubtlessly done its share of healing over the years to wider and more diverse congregations. In [...]
Shooter Jennings
A famous name is like a sail that weighs a ton; it’s the kind of thing that will pull you out into open waters, but when you are ready to retack, you’ve got a lot of pulling to do. Waylon Albright “Shooter” Jennings was born in 1979, growing up on a tour bus as his [...]
Marty Stuart
It’s hard to say exactly what country music is anymore, but if pressed to say what I want it to be, it would be Marty Stuart. On his 2006 live album, Live at the Ryman, he is introduced to the audience in the former home of the Grand Ol’ Opry as “country music’s Renaissance man,” [...]
Miike Snow
Three-piece band Miike Snow will be performing their catchy synth beats at Republic June 9. Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, previously known as Swedish duo Bloodshy & Avant, were behind-the scenes, producing hits throughout the ’00s for mega-pop acts including Madonna, Kylie Minogue, and Britney Spears. Britney may have provided throaty vocals and a video [...]
