LimeWire Music Blog

Of all the great music that’s come out of Louisiana — jazz, zydeco, Cajun — it’s surprising New Orleans has never had more influence in the rock world. There have been some middling national acts (Better Than Ezra, Cowboy Mouth), some great metal (Pantera, Zebra), and a few one-hit wonderboys that wouldn’t even make a good pub quiz question.

In the last few years, that’s been changing — especially since Hurricane Katrina. The city’s DIY approach to recovery has been applied to the local music scene as well, with great results. Theresa Andersson’s one-woman acoustic performances (taped in her kitchen) have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube. Just this month, New Orleans’ top power-pop combo, Generationals, were named to the New York Times‘ “Nifty 50″ list of upcoming national talent.

These are just two of the artists spotlighted in EAR TO THE GROUND: NEW ORLEANS, a free 19-track collection curated by the staff of Gambit, New Orleans’ alt-weekly paper. Check out two tracks from the compilation — One Man Machine & The Powers That Be’s “Get My Sound” and Rotary Downs’s “Indian Summer” — then download the whole shebang for free at LimeWire Store.

One Man Machine & The Powers That Be – “Get My Sound”

Rotary Downs – “Indian Summer”