NEW ORLEANS | The warehouse district's Republic nightclub was filled with screeching noise, feedback, and all manner of distortion Tuesday night.

The cause of all the racket? Japan's foremost experimental noise-rock group, Melt-Banana.

NEW ORLEANS | Just about anyone who knows me knows that I love electronic music in almost any form. From seminal artists like Kraftwerk and Art Of Noise all the way up to the newest generation of producers, if it's produced with a computer, sampler or turntables, I am just all about it.

Sadly, there isn't much of a scene for this kind of music in New Orleans these days. With that in mind, I was beyond surprised when glitch-hop act Pretty Lights not only sold out the House of Blues Saturday night but did it in what has to be record time for an act who are still establishing themselves in the larger scene.

NEW ORLEANS | Saul Williams took the stage under the guise of his alter ego Niggy Tardust, with his hair a mess of feathers and his face painted with tribal-style symbols. He and his band ripped through a high-octane set of his half-spoken/half-sung conscious flows, with the excited crowd reciting his own lyrics back at him throughout.

NEW ORLEANS | Voodoo 2009 finished on a warm note this Sunday, with not even a cloud in the sky as I entered City Park fashionably late. I headed straight for the main stage this morning and was immediately awakened by the bluesy hard rock of Brooklyn's Earl Greyhound, who seemed as happy to be on stage as the crowd was to be watching.

NEW ORLEANS | Halloween at this year's Voodoo Music Experience was exactly what its name suggests; an experience. Making up for yesterday's soggy lost time, NewOrleans.com's very own Red Death (yours truly) snuck into Day 2 of the festival through a well-hidden side gate just before the main entrance opened to the public.

After a much-needed cup of strong coffee, I started my rounds through the vendors' area to check out a few of the things I missed out on yesterday. Once I had made friends with the girls at Inexplicable Confetti (who have my vote for Best Name For Anything Ever) and harassing my friends at Sabai, it was time for the first round of music to begin.

After a truly epic wait in the line to check in, I walked through the festival gates and right into the heart of the Experience. Running hours late and disappointed to miss so many of the early acts, I allowed myself some "retail therapy" and took a while to peruse the vendor booths. With Storyville's clever t-shirts, Sabai's gorgeous jewelery, and Dubwise's hip Rastafarian gear among many others, the local merchants were out in full force, offering their best to the festival crowd.

NEW ORLEANS | Industrial rock fans were in for a treat this past weekend at House of Blues. After KMFDM's knockout performance in HOB's main hall Saturday night, The Parish played host to the Revolting Cocks' "LubricaTour" on Sunday.

With Ringmaster Jim Rose playing emcee for the evening, the show kicked off with an energetic and somewhat playful performance from Vancouver cyberpunks Left Spine Down. Frontman Kaine Delay spent a good portion of the set running around in the still-small crowd and ordering shots at the bar. LSD were followed up by the raunchy, tongue-in-cheek metal crunch of California's Blownload, performing unrepentantly lowbrow songs such as "Keep Sex Evil" and "Legalize It" while cracking jokes and generally playing to the crowd.

NEW ORLEANS | Your new band sounds too much like your guitarist's old project? You're done. New album recycling the same beats and samples as 10 years ago? Forget it.

It's this sort of industrial evolution that has kept the real heavyweights of industrial rock music looking toward new frontiers of technological noise for over 20 years. As one of the most prolific and long-running projects in the genre, Sascha Konietzko's KMFDM are well aware of the ongoing need to evolve and refine their sound, and it shows.

NEW ORLEANS | Music lovers lined up down the block outside Generations Hall's Metropolitan nightclub Thursday night for an exclusive free concert by rap-rock supergroup N.E.R.D.

Even with relatively little publicity the band, led by hip-hop producers and childhood friends Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo (better known as The Neptunes), managed to draw an impressive crowd to the posh club.  Fans enjoyed free beers from show sponsor Heineken while DJ Digital warmed up the sound system with a wide-reaching hip-hop mix.

N.E.R.D. came into being after The Neptunes were already established as a hot music production team. The duo brought in Shay Haley, a high school friend, to play drums and add percussion to the group while Williams and Hugo played the melody instruments and Williams sang the lyrics.

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