Music
Kid Eggplant & the Stuffed Melatauns: War…We Love It! (Independent)
This may be the most oddly eclectic album I’ve reviewed in all my years with this magazine. And that’s sayin’ something. Bassist and bandleader Robert Snow has played with a host of different artists—including greats like Little Freddie King, Johnny Adams and Ernie K-Doe—and his band project, now on their third CD, is an outlet for anything he happens to come up with.
The Imagination Movers: Blue Skies (Independent)
Gather ’round children, and I will spin you a gruesome tale of horror and subversion. Your parents have been conspiring to make you listen to their OLD music. For example, on this new Imagination Movers recording Blue Skies, your parents will play it for you, and you will be sucked into these tunes that stay in your head all day with lyrics that sound like you wrote them about real events like going on a road trip or eating an ice cream sandwich or even dreams you have about flying around with jet packs.
Dr. John: Frankie & Johnny (Sundazed)
The discography of Mac Rebennack, better known as the inimitable, inscrutable piano and vocal icon Dr. John, is as mixed up as his life was reported to be, especially during his long period of addiction. On the heels of a press release from his estate highlighting the release of four albums since his death five years ago, comes a new collection, Frankie and Johnny.
Soul Project: Live From Norway (Independent)
One of the more difficult aspects of witnessing this current period of New Orleans cultural life is to watch so many of the rhythm and blues inventors transition to the great Dew Drop Inn in the sky. One consolation is that there are many musicians who have learned from and taken the lessons from those who are gone and are applying it and innovating it on stages and records. Christian Duque and his band Soul Project are one shining example.
Steele Creek: Towards the Light (Southern Crescent)
Phil Cramer doesn’t write songs so that others can easily cover them. As the brainchild and songwriter behind the Americana ensemble Steele Creek, the acoustic guitarist’s compositions resemble torn pages from a diary—deeply moving testimonies based on personal experiences and meticulous introspection. Steele Creek’s sophomore effort, Towards the Light, represents the logical evolution from its 2022 debut, A Long Way From Home, ruminations of family and his North Carolina upbringing.
The Rare Sounds: Introducing the Rare Sounds (Color Red)
The association between guitarist Eddie Roberts of the New Mastersounds and members of the Greyboy Allstars goes back to before his groundbreaking, Meters-inspired band even existed.
Drew Landry: Exiles: The Dockside Tapes, Volume 1 (Fightinville Records)
On his first domestic full-length release in 16 years, Drew Landry refers to Exiles as a love letter to Louisiana, the place of his origin. Since the troubadour’s relocation to Big Sky Country Montana and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation eight years ago, Landry’s appreciation for his La Louisiane and Cajun culture has only deepened, manifested throughout this nine-track/five-originals affair.
007: The Return of Ben Downlow (Independent)
Nobody in the 007 lineup necessarily needs another band, so this has all the earmarks of a labor of love. They play these vintage songs faithfully, but not slavishly: They usually make the tempo a bit faster and the production a bit cleaner but they’re out to spotlight these songs, not redefine them.
Byron Asher’s Skrontch Music: Lord, When You Send the Rain (Sinking City Records)
Byron Asher, who plays multiple reed instruments, leads his 11-piece ensemble, Skrontch Music, in a program of his compositions and concepts. In several respects, this talent-packed group of some of New Orleans finest players, works in an orchestral-like setting particularly during the album’s early cuts. Later, the music and vibe change dramatically.
The Desert Nudes: Keep A-Movin’, Dan (Lazy Dan Records)
The cover of the debut recording from the Desert Nudes features three smiling gents in cowboy hats and promises “songs of hydration, vigor, horses and wide-open spaces.” The three cowpokes are André Bohren, David Pomerleau and John Paul Carmody, but it keeping with the tongue-in-cheek presentation all three have stage names beginning with “Danny.”
