RS Online Exclusive: As Mardi Gras Rages, New Orleans’ Music Scene Struggles to RecoverPhoto: Kravitz/FilmMagic The fourth Mardi Gras since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans is raging right now in the French Quarter. But many local musicians are still rebuilding. In a Rolling Stone online exclusive, writer Alex Rawls explores how local musicians — from its traditional brass bands to contemporary heavy metal bands — are coping with diminishing gigs and rising costs “Anxiety about what will become of New Orleans is still a part of the city’s discussion,” writes Rawls. “With zoning law enforcement limiting live music venues, grudging police support for second lines and Mardi Gras Indian parades as well as dispersed neighborhoods, the street-based culture that shapes the city’s music is in danger. Fortunately, some people are working to keep musicians at home and employed.” Some of those people are behind “Musicians Bringing Musicians Home IV,” a benefit for the non-profit Sweet Home New Orleans (SHNO) which recently brought Will Oldham, Nicole Atkins, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad and Fleet Foxes’ J. Tillman, among others, to famed venue Tipitina’s. “I didn’t understand the severity of things,” says Shocklee. “We have flooding, but nothing like that. To read more about the recovering music scene of New Orleans, check out the story below: As Mardi Gras Rages, New Orleans’ Music Scene Struggles to Recover
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Published: 2009-02-24
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News
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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Alec Ounsworth Talks Solo Disc “Mo Beauty”: Hear the AlbumPhoto: Michael Regan Alec Ounsworth has released albums with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and as Flashy Python, but he’s casting out under his own name for the first time with his solo debut, Mo Beauty (hear the whole record, which is in stores today, after the jump). Rolling Stone caught up with the Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter to get the story behind the new album and an update on the future of CYHSY. How did you come to record this album in New Orleans? I was there for an artists’ retre
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Published: 2009-10-20
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News
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Silverchair, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cold War Kids Rock the Early Shift at Lollapalooza’s Day Two Before any band even begins playing, Saturday is off to a promising start. Overcast skies and lower temperatures are a welcome relief from the heat, and the hand-sanitizer dispensers have actually been refilled.Boy-girl Brooklyn synth-pop duo Matt & Kim are equally enthused. Neither can believe the size of the stage or the throng of people awaiting them. “Look how my boobs look up there. That is so not to size!” exclaims drummer Kim Schifino upon seeing her body up on the projection screen. Her partner, keyboardist Matt Johnson, is downright giddy. Their pastel tunes belong in a basement, not on a bandshell, though that doesn’t prevent “Grand” and “Yea Yeah” from registering cute-factor points. Later, Matt & Kim pull double duty, subbing for the cancelled CSS. Tokyo Police Club also express shock at attracting a decent crowd. Sonically, the Toronto quartet doesn’t stay in the same place for too long, and its approach borders on train-wreck looseness, yet somehow everything gels. The group punctuates its hectic garage-cum-indie rock with red-throat yelps and spiky bursts of sound. A few fans wave Canadian flags as keyboardist Graham Wright flails about and tambourines fly through the air during a forty-five-minute set that lives up to the hype. Speaking of expectations, 2006 buzz band Tapes ‘n Tapes take the stage next, and despite similarities between the two acts — herky-jerky motions, disjointed new-wave synthesizers, staggered tempos — the Minneapolis foursome is far artier. Maybe the group is distracted by the wafting pot smoke, but they threaten their set’s momentum with an overabundance of pauses and tempo changes. A few stages away, Silverchair is performing in the area for the first time in recent memory. Shirtless and sporting a headband, leader Daniel Johns embraces his inner rock star. The stadium-directed anthems are proudly populist and carried by falsetto vocals. Thanks to the band’s ringing chords, basic structures, showy
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Published: 2007-08-06
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Festivals, Lollapalooza
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Hot Hits & Misses: Franz Ferdinand, Clap Your Hands Say YeahPhoto: Getty The Hot List has been a Rolling Stone tradition since 1986. All this week, Rock Daily takes a look back at the people and trends that stayed smoking and the ones that cooled off. Today, we visit 2005. Hot Hit: Franz Ferdinand. Rolling Stone checked in with the boys from Franz Ferdinand on the eve of the release of their second album You Could Have It So Much Better. Though that record didn’t exactly take the world by storm, the Scottish dance-rockers continue to be one of the more vital bands in indie rock, and their third album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is one of the more hotly-anticipated releases of 2009. Hot Miss: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Awarded the title of “Hot Indie” in ‘05, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah made some noise with their self-titled debut in ‘05, buoyed by the fact that they had managed to attain a certain level of success without the aid of a label. But their follow-up Some Loud Thunder was a non-starter (though remains an interesting mess). The band is still together, and frontman Alex Ounsworth remains one of the more interesting indie rockers out there, but it’s safe to say SYHSY didn’t live up to the buzz. Related Stories: • The 2008 Rolling Stone Hot List • Album Review: Franz Ferdinand, You Could Have It So Much Better • Album Review: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Some Loud Thunder
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Published: 2008-12-05
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News
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