GO TO A DIY SHOW THIS WEEKEND
By now, most of us are aware of City Hall’s latest attack in their sneaky and unpredictable War on Culture. A few weeks ago venerable Bywater institution Siberia ran into some permitting issues that caused them to suspend their expansive live music schedule, and just yesterday it appears a similar fate officially befell the similarly venerable Circle [...]
Thanks, Dog: A Strangely Fitting Kinship
It was only recently that I began to finally fathom, after four years or so, the narrow yet oddly pervasive influence of Dr. Dog in the consciousness of New Orleans. I’ve always felt their presence here; it’s inescapable when you live in the town that boarded the dudes who started a label specifically to put [...]
“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” and Questions of Avant-Garde
Though it may be surprising to find ourselves realizing that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the 2002 offering from Chicago-based Americana heroes Wilco, has already turned ten years old, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that, after ten years, we are still reflecting on, raving about, arguing over and debating the album, its surrounding controversy and its [...]
For Lack of a Better Phrase, NOLA Bands “Killed It” at SXSW
Hours before my fourth trip to South by Southwest Festival would take a decided turn for the Kerouackian, when I’d find myself sleeping among a sea of strangers thirty deep in what appeared to be a furniture-free detox safe house for strung-out teens with an elderly black man walking around smoking a cigarette preaching the [...]
An Open Letter To The New Orleans City Council
Dear members of the New Orleans City Council, When I moved to New Orleans in the beginning of 2008, after leaving a job in Minneapolis and a life largely spent in and the around the Chicagoland area, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with almost every aspect of this majestic city. [...]
The Strange Confluence of Internet Media, Semi-legitimate Live Music Establishments and Hardcore Punk
It should have been artlessly apparent to anyone who attended Siberia’s Saturday, October 15 showcase of California supergroup Off! and Brooklyn newcomers Cerebral Ballzy – bands who overwhelmingly appear to represent the heart of a new wave of tradition-burning and norm-ducking hard edged music – that it was a categorical smash success for every party [...]
Thoughts on Voodoo And The Current And Future State Of Music
That the 2011 Voodoo Music Experience dispatched the second Le Ritual Stage to expand the electro-focused Le Plur area and add an additional DJ venue should come as no surprise to anyone who made it out to City Park last Halloween or attended literally any other weekend music festival in the last 12-18 months. Last [...]
Barryfest at South By Southwest, Part 2: SXSW Is Shallow and Pedantic
I’m generally not the kind of guy that notices, asks for, or even cares about American politics at rock shows. In fact, there was a time, somewhere between Rage Against the Machine’s second album Evil Empire and, not ironically, when Bono started begging George W. Bush for money on behalf of all 3rd World countries, that I wanted every nineties band to just shut the fuck up.
Barryfest at South by Southwest, Part 1: SXSW Is Decadent and Depraved
I’ve been to South by Southwest a few times in the past several years, the experiences of which have been experiments in the cause and effect of not planning for something that requires concise preparation. Results have been varied, the luck of the draw sometimes providing me with posh hotel accommodations and free drinking, and [...]
