Bright and unusual color schemes on houses and other buildings add to the Caribbean-like atmosphere of New Orleans
Month: September 2011
Faubourg Marigny, Friday, September 23, 2011
Faubourg Marigny, Friday, September 23, 2011
Walking around the Faubourg Marigny on a Friday morning
I had seen a 24-hour restaurant called La Peniche when I was driving over to the Hi-Ho Lounge, so the next morning I ate breakfast there, and afterwards spent some time walking around the cool neighborhood known as Faubourg Marigny. The center of it is a street of bars, clubs and restaurants called Frenchmen Street.
Album Review: Pure Swamp-Pop Gold Vol. 10
The pre-Beatles South was an interesting place where a number of regional musical genres were spawned by the intersection of African-American rhythm and blues and white teenagers. The music that British musicologists ultimately dubbed “Swamp Pop” resulted from Cajun kids discovering Fats Domino and Little Richard, much like Beach Music elsewhere in the South sprang from R & B groups like the Tams and the Drifters. But swamp pop had little of the gaiety and joie-de-vivre of Beach Music. Indeed, there was something far darker, primal, even heart-breaking about it, for swamp pop was rooted as much in Cajun country music as rhythm-and-blues. With the release of Pure Swamp Pop Gold Vol. 10, Van Broussard’s CSP label gives old fans and newbies alike a 21-song journey through the world of contemporary swamp pop, which, like Beach Music, is a world where the 1950’s largely never ended. The heartbreak is there, of course, in songs like “Lord, I Need Somebody Bad Tonight”, but there are also love songs like Wayne Foret’s “That’s What I’ll Do”, covers of swamp pop standards, like Kenny Cornett’s take on Johnnie Allan’s “Promised Land”, and the odd oldie, like Van Broussard’s “Hold My Hand”. Of course the best place to check out swamp pop music is in a Louisiana dance hall, but for those unable to make the trip, Pure Swamp Pop Gold 10 will serve as a swamp pop fix until you can get down there.
Pastor Troy was one of the founders of the crunk style of rap for which Atlanta is famous, and he continues the tradition with his most recent album King of All Kings. Featuring an all-star cast of producers including Memphis legend DJ Squeeky, the album exhibits Troy’s characteristic style in 18 tracks, ranging from the melodic “Backroads” that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Colt Ford album, to crunk anthems like “King of All Kings”, “Gangsta Revival” or “Niggaz Is Hungry”. There are songs for (or about) the ladies too, like “She Say She Never Knew” and “Georgia Peach”, and the seemingly-autobiographical “Lyin’ Bout Her Crib”, which follows a similar course to Notorious B.I.G.’s “I’ve Got A Story To Tell.” With King of All Kings, Pastor Troy has released an album of consistent quality that should please his fans, as well as fans of Southern rap everywhere.
I noticed that the Stooges have a conga player this year which I didn’t recall from last year. The percussionist reinforces the strong Cuban influence that is apparent in New Orleans brass band music.
After the TBC Brass Band ended their performance at 10 PM, there was still time to make it to the Hi-Ho Lounge for the Stooges Brass Band’s weekly Thursday night set. The Hi-Ho is a tiny venue, and every inch of it was packed with fans, some dancing as best they could despite the limited space. Out in front, vendors were selling barbecue and drinks. There was no band battle during the break this year, but a man handed me a flyer about a Young Men Olympian second-line Uptown on Sunday, and I made up my mind to go if I could.
If you’ve ever read A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O’Toole (which is considered by many to be the quintessential New Orleans novel), you’ll remember that the main character, Ignatius O’Reilly, took a job pushing a Lucky Dog cart in the French Quarter. I never see one without thinking of that book.