So Miami-based super rapper/pop-star of the year Lil Wayne is now officially a blogger. He’s recently started a weekly blog over at ESPN.com about his opinions on sports and, so far, it’s actually enjoyable. The first post of his was a little dry but it gave a glimpse into how…
Maraca Lo Que Quiero Es Fiesta!!! (Ahi-Nama) On his first collection of new music in four years, Havana-based maestro Orlando “Maraca” Valle returns to the spotlight with a collection of tunes that basically celebrate life and the need to enjoy it to the fullest. As a former alum of Irakere…
Here’s some late-breaking news for jam band lovers…. The O.A.R. show scheduled for tomorrow, Friday October 3, has been moved south from the Mizner Park Amphitheatre in Boca, to the Pompano Beach Amphitheatre. The showtime is 7 p.m., and nothing else has changed — opening acts are still Between the…
The case of Charlie Pickett is one of rock ‘n’ roll’s classic stories of almost-was. The Dania Beach homeboy spent much of the ’80s working the road from here to the heartland, producing three highly acclaimed albums and an EP, and he garnered a rabid local following in the process…
It’s possible that there’s never been another singer who defined the genre of rhythm and blues the way Bobby “Blue” Bland does. With a homegrown singing style that’s two parts feeling, one part soul, Bland has spent more than 50 years crooning songs that define the black experience as descriptively…
You never know what you’re going to get when you see the Roots in concert. The band has roughly 14 years of material to draw from and ten albums full of hits that often keep audiences dancing from the start of their concerts until the last note is played. They…
With its sleek rhythms, sophisticated arrangements, and intricate picking patterns, thrash metal has come to be regarded as a legitimate art form (by those in the know) in spite of its beginnings as a raw, guttural subgenre at the extreme end of the heavy-metal spectrum. Still, even for those who’ve…
If you’re wondering what happened to popular ’90s band Blues Traveler, the answer is draped all over its latest CD, North Hollywood Shootout. The ten-track disc, released this week, features the band in good form — still focusing on clever songwriting and cheery tunes but also crafting music that isn’t…
The Melbourne-based group Brother Bean recently posted a new MySpace blog called “We Have You and You Have Us,” accurately depicting the communal vibe so characteristic of its live shows. That encompassing description is fitting because Brother Bean’s performances are more like collective jam sessions where the energy of the…
So I’m on the phone with Sean Daley — better-known as the rapper Slug — who alongside his producer/beat-making partner, Anthony “Ant” Davis, forms Minnesota’s long-running hip-hop duo Atmosphere. For kicks, I’m reading Slug some reviews of Atmosphere’s latest album, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold,…
If there were a DJ equivalent to late, great Cuban bandleader Mario Bauzá, it would have to be Miami’s DJ Le Spam. Like Bauzá, Le Spam is renowned for bringing the sound of Cuba to folks who might never have heard it before. In Bauzá’s case, it was in New…
“I really didn’t care if they were gay or not,” Debbie Harry says in just one of the many quotes collected for this photo retrospective on glam icons the New York Dolls. Music fans will always hunger for nostalgia and glorify the past, but this vibrant collection of rare Bob…
Jeff Finlin Ballad of a Plain Man With a voice that’s as fluid as molasses, Finlin sings from a weary but resilient point of view. Sounding like a cocksure barfly, he balances himself precipitously between a swagger and a stagger while crooning songs that run an emotionally frayed gamut, from…
I’ve always hated football. Maybe it’s because I personally suck at organized sports. Maybe it’s because I just never saw the appeal of watching a bunch of hulking idiots trying to break one another’s bones and making millions of dollars doing it. Football fans, I thought, were a low-brow pack…
The Lounge has a penchant for left-field art and trippy experimental music. Accordingly, cute artsy types parade in and out of this place with perfect just-out-of-bed hair and black-framed specs and the casual manner of the cool kids at senior prom. The minimalist décor is offset by colorful — wacky, even…
The local scene’s been showing a lot of love for Sweat Records after the break-in there a few weeks ago. The little indie store that could is slowly bouncing back, but is still smarting a little. In comes Sweat-Aid, another benefit show tomorrow night at the Vagabond. There’s another reason…
Jay-Z + Obama = Party in Bayfront It’s a celebration, bitches! The good folks at Obama For President just made your week. Jay-Z will play a free show in Bayfront Park Amphitheater this Sunday at 8:30 p.m. to drum up voter registration for his favorite presidential candidate. A quick call…
Click the flier for full view. Last time the Scion A/V Tour came to Miami, it brought with it Frankie Chan and Drop The Lime to celebrate the release of the IHEARTCOMIX compilation. We attended the party , but don’t ask how it was; many drinks were consumed to the…
I can remember DJ Laz being on the air at Power 96, in some form or another, since I was in elementary school in the early/mid-Nineties. Much like his home station itself, I really didn’t expect him to go anywhere. Still, Beasley Broadcast Miami, who owns Power 96 (and 99.9…
[jump] 10. “Dangerous” Kardinal Offishal featuring Akon This is one is a pure ego booster for the ladies. When it comes on, the lucky girl working the pole at that time probably feels like a star. It’s all about the baddest woman in the room and according to DJ FattBoi…
Churchill’s (5501 NE Second Avenue, Miami; 305-757-1807) Monday night Jazz Jam, winner of our 2007 Best of Miami award, is not a well-kept secret. It’s more like an institution. But a reminder is still in order: if you haven’t gone, you’re missing some of the best regularly-scheduled live music in…
The Sword and Clutch With Never Got Caught and Graveyard Friday, September 26 The Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale Better Than: Not discovering the awesomeness that was Graveyard. The Washington, D.C.-area quartet Clutch have been around since about 1991, and have seemingly been on the road ever since. That’s a long…
