Nut’s demo cassette does the boys proud. With wierdo keyboard effects high in the mix, they sound less like a thrash band and more like, uh, Devo gone hardcore or maybe Henry Rollins fronting the Butthole Surfers. It’s almost a parody, with herky-jerky rhythms, bile-duct noise and machine-gun drumming so far over the top it hit you from the bottom.
For the whole story in all its perverse, cartoonish intensity, you have to see Nut live.
Atmospheric power trio Of Human Bondage hope to have their debut CD in the bins by September, says the bassist and vocalist Pete Winkler. The band, whose members have logged time with Abstract Illusion, Uncle Stand & Auntie Vera, Divine Culture and Stephie & the Whitesox among others, has actually been around since 1988, but took a hiatus when Winkler moved to Boston. Back and stronger than ever, OHB falls somewhere in the vicinity of Nine Inch Nails, the Cult, the Pixies and the Beatles. Keep an eye out for the CD next month.
Pete Ficht, frontman for grunge-pop band Noisecandy, has taken his act on the road—permanently. The one-time House Leveler is moving to Portland, Oregon as of Aug. 1. Ficht said problems finding band members-Noisecandy hadn’t performed since guitarist Rhoades and drummer Paul Distler quit the band a few months ago—had him contemplating moving from New Orleans. When friend Thaddeus Dennison of Oceans 11 decided to move back to his hometown of Portland, Ficht decided to tag along with the idea of reforming Noisecandy—the West Coast edition.
Ficht says he plans to call his. next release, the follow-up to his debut Hope, Despair, in honor of his recent band problems.
In the wake of some recent club closings, the Faubourg Center is a welcome newcomer to the scene. Francois Cousteaux, director of the center, leased the space, located on Frenchmen next to the N.O. Aids Task Force, last November with the intention of converting the former storefront into a multipurpose community venue. Since going public in February, Cousteaux says that the center has been used for everything from dance lessons to theater presentations to literary workshops to raves-and, lately, a few all-ages punk rock shows. “It’s begun to pick up with the music,” Cousteaux notes.
“It’s an alcohol and tobacco-free environment, so it’s okay for kids who are under 21 to come,” he says. “Down here in the Faubourg we have such a diversity of humanity. Everybody in New Orleans comes here at some point along the way, and being so close to Cafe Istanbul, Cafe Brasil and Snug Harbor, it allows people to club hop.”
The venue has a live music capacity of about 800 and is available for artist and rehearsal space. For more information about the center or to schedule an event, call Cousteaux at 949-0369.
Lollapalooza is bypassing New Orleans this year, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss, out on all the, uh, fun.
The roadshow stops in Atlanta on Aug. 5, Austin on Aug. 9 and Dallas on Aug. 10, and as usual, the line-up has something for everyone. Main stage artists this year include Sonic Youth, Hole, Cyprus Hill, Pavement, Beck, the Jesus lizard and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Sinead O’Connor pulled out of the tour in mid-July, citing health concerns. O’Connor announced that she is pregnant and had underestimated the strain the tour would put on her.
Lollapalooza organizers, who say they were unaware of O’Connor’s pregnancy, are undecided on what to do with her main stage slot.
On the second stage, Atlanteans can check out Built to Spill, Dirty Three, Mike Watt, Redman and VelSus. Austin and Dallas attendees get Blonde Redhead, Dirty Three, Hum, MikeWatt, the Roots and Versus.
In addition there’s lots of Mindfield attractions as well, which encompasses art, film, spoken word and other stuff.
Tickets are expensive and available at Ticketmaster. You know the number.
If you’re really looking for a hot August festival,why not caravan to the Black Rock Desert in Northwest Nevada for the Burning Man Festival Held each labor Day weekend, the festival is a five-day Saturnalia of art, dance, music,ritual and fire. Hundreds of people gather in the ‘desert for a free-for-all in which the boundary between audience and performer is rendered non-existent.
The culmination of the festival is the ceremonial burning of the Man, a four-story wooden effigy filled with gasoline. All things considered,it’s a lot like Christmas in the River Parishes. For more information, contact the Burning Man Project, P.O. Box 420572, San Francisco, Calif. 94142-0052. Or call(415) 985-7471.
A few shows for August include: Aug. 1, Calvin Johnson’s latest incarnation, Dub Narcotic Sound System, along with Two Chinese Brothers and a battle of the puppet bands, is at the Pussycat Caverns;that same night, Gene is at Howlin’ Wolf; Aug. 2, Ed Hall is at the Howlin’ Wolf; Aug. 4 (or 5), Royal Trux at the Howlin’ Wolf; Aug. 6, the Muffs, the Queers, and Cub at the Howlin’ Wolf; that same night, Bruce Lee Roy, Gus, Tired from Now On and Swank are at the Faubourg Center; Aug.10, 100 Watt Halo and Andon are at the Faubourg Center; Aug. 16, Flat Duo Jets are at the Wolf;Aug. 18, Catherine Wheel, Gwen Mars and Wax are at the Howlin’ Wolf; also that night, Sons of Hercules are at the Faubourg Center; and The Torture King, formerly of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, and a puppet show, “Robot Wedding,” is at the Pussycat Caverns; and on Aug. 26, Alanis Morrissette is at the Wolf.
