Full Show Friday: Stooges Brass Band Live 8-16-2013

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's.  These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Stooges Brass Band!

Every April we have a special showcase for bands who are playing this years Jazzfest in NOLA. Today we will focus on Stooges Brass Band who will be appearing on the Jazz and Heritage Stage Sunday May 4th.  

Ahh the Stooges!  We love these guys, all the brass bands are fantastic from New Orleans and each seems to bring a little bit different to the musical gumbo. The Stooges like to add a bit of Hip-Hop  and we dig on that. A fantastic group who you should check live whenever they come to your neck of the nape. We reviewed them for Glide and caught them playing in NOLA before, and both shows where much better then this one, the crowd is dead here...oh well, I guess it was a slow night in The Funky Biscuit. Can't wait to catch them again in a few Sunday's, Wish We Were There Now!!!  Anyway, Enjoy this set:

Album Review: Tuba Skinny- Pyramid Strut

Tuba Skinny

Pyramid Strut

***and1/2 out of *****

Tuba Skinny like other New Orleans buskers, started as street musicians who had a common love of old-timey jazz tunes that were just wallowing in forgotten history. Having now tightened up a bit Pyramid Strut, is the bands 3rd release, a collection of those unknown jazz gems along with some more known tunes and even a few originals.   

Let's start with the originals as they are perfect fits into Pyramid Strut. The title track is structured send up with bubbling tuba backing Shaye Cohn's forceful cornet. "Lonesome Drag" motors as Erika Lewis sings about going blind with the blues, before Jon Doyle's clarinet dances around with wild abandoned.

Lewis' take on Trixie Smith's "Freight Train Blues" drips with the blues trademark pain but spins a bit of role reversal. The vocal tracks are balanced nicely by the instrumentals, an example would be the percolating run through their version of the South Street Trio's "Cold Morning Shout" before Lewis again takes the forefront on the traditional "Hesitation Blues".
  
The old time jazz just keeps flowing with tracks like "Gimme Some", "Sweet Lovin' Old Soul" and "Alligator Crawl". All the songs hit that mark, without varying much, but the group loves the oldies, and with their commitment you will too. 
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If you dug Ms. Lake and the L.B.H from earlier this month, jump on Tuba Skinny now! Showcasing a NOLA based old-timey act that we found on bandcamp makes us smile, wish we were doing it in the Royal St. sun with a hilife in hand....

You can grab the album here, or stream it below. Support the band here, peep some video below:

Album Review: Chad Mic- $upreme

Chad Mic

$upreme

**and1/2 out of *****

New Orleans embraced hip hop early on with legends like Mannie Fresh and the city has recently produced mega stars in the genre with Lil Wayne. One thing that always seems to be a staple of NOLA Hip-Hop, energizer beats mixed with wild rhyme styles. Chad Mic's $upreme goes the other direction with smooth, laid back rhythms and unhurried rhymes.  

These aren't purple slurred jamz, rather beats that would sound proper coming out of a high end lounge or a late night blunt session. Opening with the slow rolling "Limelight" Chad Mic establishes his easy if not perfectly smooth flow. "ThecherryLounge" is an early stand out clearly rhyming about things that are close to him with lines like, "This rap ain't paying the rent though/Celebs on TMZ crashing their Enzo's". Augmented by an enchanting vibraphone, the music rolls and skitters at the edges, relaxed yet never sleepy; a disk highlight.

The follow up track "Goyard Bag" goes against the materialistic rebelling of the "ThecherryLounge" but contradiction is central to hip hop. "Higher" is an ode to his woman, fitting easily into Chad Mic's style if not elevating super high. "Real I$ Back" has some spacey swirls and electro keys while "$OULpower" lights up and rolls on chimes and distant drum beats.  

"$ummertime" looks backwards to the good old days as Chad Mic never hurries, relaxed with a strong set of produced music backing him up as he presents the chill vibes of $upreme. 
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The first NOLA Hip hop album from bandcamp we will be showcasing this month. More underground NOLA hiphop to come.

Support the artist here, Stream the album here:
    

Album Review: Eat The Witch- Eat The Witch EP

Eat The Witch

Eat The Witch EP

**and1/2 out of *****

New Orleans isn't all horns and jazz, metal has long had a hold on the city starting in the late 80's with bands like Eye Hate God and Soilent Green. The slow sludge/doom rock seems to flourish in the southern heat and Eat The Witch continues that on their first release which is just one instrumental track that rolls on for over 23 minutes.   

The track is titled "The Scarlett Capsule" and it moves in and out of a lot rock terrain. Doom, Sludge, upbeat math rock all work as tempo changes and hard driving riffs are channeled throughout. Formed from ex members of New Orleans bands haarp, Spickle & Dresden. The group rises like a decaying dinosaur carcass out of the swamp stomping and trudging all over the landscape.

Around the 10 minute mark things pick up as he tempo accelerates then a series of stopping and starting is employed. The clashes become frequent before the 16th minute mark where things get lucid as sonic waves warp around a deep bass line, turning the metal groovy. The rhythmn builds and the guitars take flight leading to a crushing finale.   

"The Scarlett Capsule" would have been perfect for the creepy climax of True Detective as McConaughey and Harrelson perilously run through Carcosa. The cinematic imagery this instrumental metal journey projects is exciting, here's hoping we get more from Eat The Witch soon. 
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Can't get enough of New Orleans bands on bandcamp this month with more to come. A different sort of find, this time on the metal tip. We know this isn't for everyone but we dig this stuff.

Support the band, buy the album here or stream it below:

New Black Key's Title Track Released

Well The Black Keys keep releasing new tunes. Give the title track from their new album Turn Blue a go below:

This one is a bit funkier with a soul tinge then the first one. Lots of sounds going on with this one as well as an echo effect with Dan Auerbach's vocals. We dig the bass focus post solo with the tripped out sounds to end things...playing with some funky psychedelia it seems on this disk, very intriguing.

At first blush we like "True Blue" better then the first release from this upcoming disk, "Fever" but both are indications the new release will be solid and bold.

You can pre-order the album here with a t-shirt to boot.

Album Review: Anders Osborne- Peace

Anders Osborne

Peace

** out of *****

Anders Osborne is a music lifer. He has written Grammy nominated songs for others, as well as constantly toured with a variety of acts. His last 2 albums (American Patchwork and Black Eyed Galaxy) have been explorations of thumping rock and song writing, mixing some psychedelia with introspective lyrics of personal growth. Peace stays in this same vein but things are starting to feel stale.

Musically the album stays in the Crazy Horse-Light realm with repetitive riffs and stomps as Osborne sings lyrics straight out of a journal. The title track has some potential opening things but never really goes anywhere over its almost 7 minute run time (after 45 seconds of feedback to start things). Anders has never shied away from his past struggles with addiction and sobriety and that is admirable. Those topics get a lot of play here on tracks like the "I'm Ready" and the tribal, rhythmic, saxophone laced "Windows". The best of this bunch may be "Let It Go" as gritty guitars and fuzzy six strings lead to an invigorating guitar dueling solo before an almost gospel release.

As a lyricist Anders doesn't beat around the bush, while direct and appropriate at times it feels plain spoken and flat. His tracks to his family also show up a few times with "Sarah Anne", "Dream Girl", and "My Son" while nice odes to his loved ones they never elevate much higher then that. A more encompassing personal tune is the mellow "Sentimental Times" which clicks and uses strings, adding depth.

There are a few missteps that weigh things down, first is "47" which ponders life at his age with the laughable line "But nothing happens/At 47". This just seems odd, awkward and probably would have been better off as an outtake or re-written. "Five Bullets" is well intended but ends up clunky with a hip-hop edge that struggles to find a line, however that distortion rings true.  

Anders is going to keep going (to 57, 67 etc) wailing on the guitar like a champ and his plain spoken writing will surely hit a few high notes. It is good to hear from the man that he is closer to Peace then ever but as an album things may need to be shaken up for maximum results.
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See we just don't rubber stamp and love everything from NOLA. We do really love Anders having seen him a bunch and reviewed him in the past, this one just never stuck with us. That said, we are happy for him (more from him later this month too), we really hope to catch him around town during Jazzfest.  Christ, It can't come soon enough..more from Anders later this month here as well.

Support the artist here, buy the album here, peep some video below:

Dylan Cover #134 Hurray For The Riff Raff "Walkin' Down The Line" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan songs. Today's tune is a live cover by Hurray For The Riff Raff playing "Walkin' Down The Line"

This month our Dylan Cover Series will focus on artists playing The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Hurray For The Riff Raff play the Samsung Galaxy Stage on Friday May 2nd at 2pm 

Thoughts on Original:
This is an exciting rare one to talk about as we haven't addressed it yet. A sweet little jaunt around as the singer acts as a wander and rambler, with "heavy handed gal's" "holes in clothes" and "walking shoes". A bit of the folkise poor boy blues that young Dylan epitomized during his Greenwich Village days. Officially appearing on the fantastic Bootleg's 1-3 Series this quick jam is a real smile inducer.  
Cover:


Thoughts on Cover Artist:
Hurray For The Riff Raff are always playing around their home of New Orleans, yet we always seem to miss them. Hopefully this year we rectify that. The folk-blues band have been at it for a while and just maybe, later this month, you will hear more about them on this site...ooh a teaser!!  
Thoughts on Cover:
A perfect fit for the group, which sounds like they are kicking off their second set on this night. well timed harmonica, fun playing and a spruced up way to get things rolling. Crisp clear voices from Alynda Lee Segarra accent the guitar and harmonica work. Love the obscure song choice and the performance.