a feb 21, 2009 sin city south feature by APC

I fell in love with Tom Waits in my junior year of college in New Orleans while living with four other guys in a house that should have fallen over years before. We all liked music: a few of us played; we could get into -- and win -- any argument about early bluesmen, Her Satanic Majesties Request, or the relevance of Leon Redbone; and had a constant soundtrack behind our lives. A large part of that soundtrack was Tom Waits. The songs, his voice, the aesthetic of the whole package; it was something we could, and did, attach ourselves to (I can still look like a mean hobo if I want to...). On a larger scale, many musicians that call New Orleans home have also bought into the idea of Waits-as-muse, with an entire scene emanating from the 9th Ward/Bywater neighborhoods of the Crescent City. Waits wouldn't know it though -- he hasn't been back to New Orleans since the filming of Down By Law in the 80s (During his last tour he stopped in Mobile, Alabama but not here. Mobile? Seriously?!? Come on!).

- Unfortunately calling it quits after their last show on February 20th, The Morning 40 Federation kicked my ass when I first saw them in 2001 at the Dragon's Den, and was a must see any time they played for the next five years. Sweaty, loud, brassy, and drunk, I could drink and get down all night and not worry about the hangover -- I sweat it all out on the dance floor. The Waits influence was apparent in the music (horns blaring, laid back bluesy beat, chunky loud guitars) and in the lyrics: songs about the low life; begging for change for more drinks; stinking but being happy; and celebrating the vices we all loved but didn't want to broadcast. On their first album Your My Brother, the anthem "Sorry, Mom" summed it all up -- "I'm sorry mom, but I'm a drunk." Indeed.

- The New Orleans Bingo! Show (as well as Clint Maedgen's other band Liquidrone) falls neatly into the 9th ward/Waits aesthetic: odd/traditional instrumentation (found percussion, theremin, toy pianos, upright bass), sentimental lyrics about the underside of life, similar musical leanings, a barker; all under the umbrella (or circus tent) of an elaborate carnival-esque performance. Waits' albums Raindogs, Small Change, Bone Machine, and Mule Variations can easily be heard in Maedgen's take on chance meetings in a barroom ("In A Lounge With Broken Wings") or in the stomping devil music of "Lookin' For That Lucky Five." What sets this group apart is their dedication to the look and the performance, which is something that Waits has always excelled at. You don't just listen to a Tom Waits album -- you feel, smell, and taste the whole auditory experience. And if you see the Bingo! Show live, you actually get to play bingo!

- Silent Cinema has been playing around New Orleans for a while now, and they just released their LP Fins and Feathers in January 2009. A seven piece set up with a horn section, singer/songwriter Micah McKee belts, and sometimes croons, his lyrics over music that can be washy, raucous, and sometimes country. The combination of influences sounds like mashing all of Tom Waits' albums together and seeing what the outcome will be, regardless of polish or shine. Click here to check out the SCS review of Fins and Feathers.

- A more recently formed band that I believe has the Waits stamp is Hurray for the Riff Raff. A banjo, an accordion, found persussion, toy pianos, fiddle, saw(!), upright bass, Alynda Lee's haunting and beautiful vocals -- this shit screams 9th Ward music. Its not just the instrumentation though that puts them in this fold; Hurray for the Riff Raff creates beautiful stories, personal stories, that capture the imagination, just as the greatest Waits songs always do. Click here to check out the SCS review of their album It Don't Mean I Don't Love You.

There are others besides these bands, and many, many artsy and dirty kids living the life in the Bywater of New Orleans: creating, escaping, drinking, happy, angry, sad. Does this constitute a scene? Is this a movement? I would say so, and I'm cautiously waiting for the national media to latch on. I just wish Tom Waits would come to the city again and take responsibility for his offspring.

download mp3s:
silent cinema - "so say we all"
hurray for the riff raff - "daniella"


check it:
more by APC
The Morning 40 Federation myspace page
The New Orleans Bingo! Show website
The Liquidrone myspace page
Clint Maedgen's website
Silent Cinema's myspace page
Hurray for the Riff Raff's myspace page