August 24, 2012

This week, Kishi Bashi, Y La Bamba, Matt Lemmler and more perform, while the Saints defense gets another chance and we do what we can for Mike Mayeux.

What should be on your radar this week?

Friday: Kishi Bashi, The Last Bison, 10 p.m., Circle Bar: This violinist and multi-instrumentalist last passed through town this spring touring with Of Montreal, for whom he served as a one-man string section. With the aid of loop pedals, he creates lovely, smart chamber pop. 

Also on Friday: Y La Bamba, 10 p.m., AllWays Lounge 

Saturday: Sun Hotel, Twin Killers, Glish, KG Accidental, 10 p.m., One Eyed Jacks: After spending a better part of their summer touring the East coast and Midwest, Southern rock troupe Sun Hotel is back to play to New Orleans. Psychedelic, fiesty, power-rockers Twin Killers and shoegaze pop group Glish should make for an energizing line-up. (tickets)

Also on Saturday: Love Moments with Dee Dee Bridgewater and Irvin Mayfield, 8 p.m.. Irvin Mayfield's I Club (The two will perform nightly through August 29); Uniquity hosted by Slangston Hughes with DJ Bazooka Joe, Lazarus, Rose Gold Rebels, Jimi Clever, Fo on the Flo, 10 p.m., Dragon's Den 

Sunday: Matt Lemmler, 8 & 10 p.m., Snug Harbor: Pianist Lemmler has released a new album, Ubuntu, with his New Orleans Jazz Revival Band, which includes Brian Blade, Evan Christopher, John Ellis and many, many more. The album is built on the connected themes of spirituality and community, which will be put into practice by the sizeable band he'll bring to the stage. (tickets)

Tuesday: John Rankin, Phil deGruy, Cranston Clements and Jimmy Robinson, 8 p.m., The Columns: It's hard to think of a show at The Columns as a destination, but the St. Charles Avenue hotel and bar routinely have great players, and this time they have the guitarists that comprised Twangorama plus John Rankin. Individually, there is the possibility of too much guitar wankery for all but the most guitar-obsessed, but when I've seen them play in groups, their sense of ensemble musicality kicks in and is truly impressive.

Wednesday: Ramblin' Jack Elliot, 8 p.m., Chickie Wah Wah: Elliot is one of the handful of artists keeping the American folk revival alive, and in performance it's clear that he still believes in the value of the folk song as a way of bringing people together. (tickets)

Thursday: We Heart Mike: Mike Mayeux Benefit Concert feat. Papa Grows Funk, Susan Cowsill, Creole String Beans, Paul Sanchez, Bonerama, 8 p.m., House of Blues: Guitarist and engineer Mike Mayeux has been hospitalized in his post-Katrina hometown Nashville, first to deal with a heart defect he was born with, then to deal with blood clots in his foot that were a byproduct of treatment for the heart condition. He's facely likely partial amputation of the foot after gangrene set it, and six-figure hospital bills. Beatin Path bandmate Skeet Hanks has helped organize this benefit for Mayeux with many of the artists he's worked with over the years. (tickets)

OTHER STUFF

This weekend, LaFreniere Park in Metairie hosts the appealingly named Slobster Fest, with food, music, arts and crafts. On Saturday, The Revivalists, Eric Lindell, Amanda Shaw and more will perform; on Sunday, Slobster Fest features Honey Island Swamp Band, Bonerama, Mississippi Rail Company and more.

On Saturday at 7 p.m., The Saints are at home in pre-season action against the Houston Texans. After last week's sad showing by the defense, it seems like it has to get better, except that we lost much of our starting linebacking corps this week - at least for the game. It's only pre-season ... it's only pre-season ... it's only pre-season ...

I've worked on today's Milk Run while listening to comedian Marc Maron's interview with Fiona Apple on his WTF Podcast. His interviews have become my go-to for road listening when I need a break from music and the news gets a little too disspiriting. The Apple interview isn't the show at its best, it's close. His lengthy conversations adopt fairly natural contures, occasionally nudged back into a general direction by an actual interview question. That means that he and his subjects talkabout things that actually matter to them and that are on their minds. That means it's often about how people actually live, so it's surprisingly easy to connect to. Maron's enough of a performer to keep the conversation fun, which means that when it gets heavy, the show has real gravity. He's not afraid to talk about things that are real - Gallagher's racist jokes, Norm MacDonald's gambling problem - but the show's at its best talking shop with other comedians. His conversation with The Daily Show's John Oliver is hysterically funny, and a good chunk of this week's interview with Tenacious D is very revealing and very funny. 

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