South Florida According to Brooklyn: To My Haters

Photo by Justin Namon, www.thepopnessparty.comTo read past installments of Miami According to Brooklyn, click here. This week is addressed to my haters. First off, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read my column. Second, the things that I write and talk about are just one man’s…

WMC Preview: A Few Underground Parties

Every year, without exception, WMC showcases the biggest commercial names in electronic dance music at Miami’s myriad world-class nightclubs and posh beachside hotels. With all the hype going to the top dogs, it’s easy to overlook some of the smaller gems on the Conference’s highly-anticipated itinerary. A shame, considering the…

Best Of The Best 2009 – 10 More Days for Early Bird Prices

It’s almost that time again. The Best Of The Best Concert has quickly become a premier annual event for Bicentennial Park drawing crowds and talent from around the world. If you’re into airhorns blaring, spray cans shooting fire, heavy bass, food, crafts, and top billed talent performing for massive, highly…

WMC Preview: Tony Touch at the Vagabond next Thursday

In the early 1990s, this bridge and tunnel boy from Long Island — yours truly — would wander over to the Tony Touch stand in the city to purchase his mixtapes that had the latest tracks mixed, scratched, and jacked for beats with different MCs rapping over instrumentals. 50 MCs…

WMC Preview: Q&A With Booka Shade

The international dance floor domination of the German electro-house duo Booka Shade, as well as that of the record label they co-founded, Get Physical, came serendipitously. “The plan was not to have a plan,” says Arno Kammermeier, half of the twosome, of Get Physical’s heady early days. It was around…

WMC Preview: Q&A with Surkin

Angel GhostsSurkin, the self-proclaimed Internet child. Compared to most DJs, Benoit Heitz, better known as Surkin, is a relatively young to be so far ahead of the game. Yet, the 23-year-old proves he has plenty of maturity when it comes to laying down the beats. Tracks likes “Ghetto Obsession” and…

WMC Preview: Q&A with Carles of HipsterRunoff.com

Carles, is that you?When we heard that the “blog worth blogging about” Hipster Runoff was hosting a party during Winter Music Conference, we admittedly thought WTF. Not because it’s a bad thing, but because this means we might be able to meet the man (or woman, we aren’t sure) behind…

Crüe Fest 2 invading South Florida on August 27th

In case you’ve missed the last 38 chances this year to see Motley Crüe, don’t fret. The band has announced plans for the second Crüe Fest on August 27 at Cruzan Amphitheater. Nikki Six and pals will be bringing Godsmack, Theory of A Deadman, Drowning Pool, and Charm City Devils…

Winter Music Conference Is Here

CyberSutra The San Francisco duo CyberSutra may be fairly new to the dance-music scene, but producers Scott Binder and Nathan Heal have wasted no time in making their presence known. Blending the hard edge of electro with the melodic expanses of trance, they incorporate unique vocals by some of the…

Wish Granted

You’ve got a penny, so chuck it down the well and make a wish. What do you wish for? A million bucks? A pet pony? A pet porn star? One despondent drinker at the Wishing Well, a spacious Irish bar in Boca Raton, wished for a job. A dart-playing, midlife-crisis-aged…

Joyeux Anniversaire, Institubes

It wasn’t too long ago that we were renaming French fries to freedom fries, but Franco-American relations have come a long way. Featuring touches of R&B, soul, disco, hip-hop, and rock ‘n’ roll, these days, the new wave of French dance music is heavily influenced by American sounds. Labels like…

Head Spins: DJ Midas

Of all the kickass DJs represented by DJ Irie’s Artist Related agency (and there are many ass-kickers on the roster), those who cite both Kings of Leon and Lil Jon on their hit lists have gotta be few and far between. Add the Ting Tings to the genre mix-up and…

Subtropical Spin

Matthew Sabatella has carved out a distinctive niche for himself over the past several years or so by re-creating the songs of America’s past, complete with instruments of the era — fiddles, banjos, Jew’s harps, and the like. He takes his traveling band to schools, libraries, and just about anywhere…

The Original Wailers

With Bob Marley at the helm in the late 1970s, the Wailers reengineered the reggae blueprint on Exodus by embracing pop, funk, and R&B and by teasing out multiple layers of riffs, melodies, and harmonies on each song. But even following Marley’s death, the band continued in various forms over…

Old Wives’ Tale

The Weston-based indie up-and-comers Old Wives’ Tale are nothing if not professional — the band’s entire existence argues further for the end of record labels. Its website and debut disc are snappily designed and art-directed by the band itself, with a high-gloss, new wave style much like the band’s music…

George Benson

As an ace jazz guitarist with a husky, syncopated voice, George Benson straddled the line between Quiet Storm R&B and adult contemporary during the mid-1970s and early 1980s. His singles from that era sound both of the time and utterly ageless: “Turn Your Love Around” predated the Police’s “Roxanne,” with…

Todd Rundgren

With his soaring voice and arena-rock fluency, Todd Rundgren seemed destined for hit-after-hit superstardom when he released his third album, the entirely self-recorded Something/Anything, in 1972. Looking back, though, it was clear that Rundgren had too many experimental itches to scratch — and the progression of his career has arguably…