Music
Tom Ze, Estudando O Pagode (Luaka Bop/V2)
Avant-garde composer Tom Zé emerged from Brazil’s tropicalia movement in the late ’60s, but that’s more a function of being from Bahia and being too musically restless to be […]
Band-Aid
October was a surreal time in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina had passed and the floodwaters were finally gone. The city was officially open, but it didn’t feel very open. Traffic […]
Down By the River
Allen Toussaint finally looks comfortable. We’ve finished talking and during the conversation, he expressed concern that he wasn’t a good interview. He was gentlemanly as you’d expect, forthright, and though […]
New Orleans Social Club
At South By Southwest last month, Saturday afternoon at the outdoor Town Lake stage was a mini-Jazz Fest, with performances by BeauSoleil, Buckwheat Zydeco, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Ivan Neville’s […]
Shannon McNally, North American Ghost Music (Back Porch)
Your third (perhaps fourth, depending on how you count) album is an uncommon occasion for a live album. Admittedly, the MC5 recorded its first album, Kick Out the Jams […]
Anthony Hamilton, Ain’t Nobody Worrying’ (Zomba)
Anthony Hamilton doesn’t sound like a neo-soul singer; more accurately, Ain’t Nobody Worryin’ sounds like an old soul record, with nothing neo- about it. The songs hinge on subtle, […]
King Louie One Man Band, Chinese Crawfish (Goner)
When “King” Louie Bankston was drummer for the Royal Pendletons, every drum fill was an adventure. There was no telling what condition the beat would be in by the […]
The Interlopers, “You Make it Sound So Bad…” (Rhinestone)
If punk rock is defined by its velocity, then the Interlopers “You Make it Sound So Bad…” isn’t punk rock. If it has more to do with disregarding conventional wisdom […]
Chris Thomas King, Red Mud Sessions (21st Century Blues)
Chris Thomas King is, bluntly, perplexing. He is a talented guitarist and actor, but the his rhetoric and results rarely match up. He has worked in recent years to […]
Chris Thomas King, Juke Joint: You Can Never Go Home Again (21st Century Blues)
Chris Thomas King is, bluntly, perplexing. He is a talented guitarist and actor, but the his rhetoric and results rarely match up. He has worked in recent years to […]
