With a sound like warm melted butter in songs that defined the “quiet storm” slow-jam genre, the voice of Anita Baker ruled the airwaves during the ’80s and early ’90s. From the moment the Detroit native released Rapture in 1986, Baker became a mainstay on R&B radio. Songs like “Caught…
When it comes to the marriage of straight-ahead rock with experimental schizoid, nobody does it better locally than Hollywood-based freak-out band Tongues of the Heartworm. They’ve only been playing together for a couple of years, but they’ve already developed a sound that deserves to be respected for its sheer bravery…
Ask Shawn Snyder to summarize the past five years of his life and you’ll find he has a flair for the dramatic. “Grabbing the aspiring beast of a music career by its uncertain horns has amounted to its own rodeo bull-ride of starving artistry,” he reflects. The Kendall-born folk singer…
Portugal. The Man likes spontaneity. The band also likes random punctuation in the middle of its name. You could even say the Alaska-based quartet has a knack for doing things ass-backward. For example: Even though the band writes music while on the road and works out the parameters of some…
For years, the Hooters restaurant chain has aroused both groups of wing-eating dudes and the tempers of militant feminists. Questions have been raised: Are Hooters girls objectified? Are the wings really as hot and tasty as the ladies who bring them? Will they ever get rid of those horrible orange…
It’s hard to grasp everything Mart’nália tells you in Spanuguese — the only common language through which she and New Times can carry out a Miami-to-Rio de Janeiro phone interview. But one thing comes across as colorfully as the music she makes: muita alegria. In between a linguistically complex explanation…
Considering that 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of a year that produced innumerable musical milestones, it’s surprising how little has been made of it so far. While pundits were quick to offer retrospectives of 1967, the year that ushered in Sgt. Pepper, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Cream — not…
The last thing the world needs is another rant by some snooty music scribe who actually believes he can peg the next Coldplay or validate some MySpace wannabe. Don’t worry; yours truly doesn’t make any such presumptions. You won’t find any holier-than-thou prognostications here. These artists fly well below the…
Back in the day, the address 1903 Hollywood meant O’Hara’s – a constant blend of jazz and blues brewed for nearly 15 years. Today, the new Mix Ultra Lounge did away with O’Hara’s Americana- and New Orleans-inspired décor. Mix is well-dressed, glowing in purple and red. A brick industrial grit…
South Florida has its fair share of hip parties. Winter Music Conference, Langerado, Calle Ocho, Best of the Best, Poplife, Crush, Heat_r, Flaunt: the list goes on. Where we live is essentially the party capital of the entire South. So you’d think it would be impossible for a new party…
With a sound like warm melted butter in songs that defined the “quiet storm” slow-jam genre, the voice of Anita Baker ruled the airwaves during the ’80s and early ’90s. From the moment the Detroit native released Rapture in 1986, Baker became a mainstay on R&B radio. Songs like “Caught…
Most indie-rock groups of today seem to have forgotten the importance of piano in their compositions. The instrument is practically absent in much of the music on MTV today, but when you listen to Secondhand Serenade’s popular tune “Fall for You,” what really sticks, aside from its romantic lyrics, is…
This politically and socially conscious hip-hop collective from Denver hit big in April with its song “Handlebars,” off its second album, Fight With Tools. The tune tackles topics like gas-guzzling SUVs, corporate greed, and nuclear holocausts within the framework of a melody that could’ve been cribbed from playground sing-alongs. The…
This just in: Thousands of college students’ favorite jam act, O.A.R., will hit the appropriately jammy outdoor setting of Mizner Park Amphitheatre on Friday, October 3. Opening acts are Between the Trees and Matt Hires. Tickets cost $30 in advance, $32 the day of the show, and are available through…
Take a look at this: Amazon.com is listing two original copies of the now out-of-print 1993 album Love Thirsty by local act Black Janet, each asking close to $80. It’s hard to say how many have actually sold at this price, but I could definitely see this relatively unknown disc…
Here are tonight’s highlights in live music around town, in case you’re already getting the itch to go out and do something. — Arielle Castillo *Sebastian Bach, Poison, and Dokken at the Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. Seriously, Bret Michaels must really love South Florida — he played here…
Here’s an oh-that’s-too-bad item for obsessive watchers of the local indie rock scene. Another band bites the dust — this time, Call it Radar. You may remember the band as its first incarnation, Baby Calendar, who played around town a little more, and were popular with that whole Athens, Georgia-centric…
Raina McLeod Janelle Monae performs at the Florida Room at the Delano Thursday night. Janelle Monae Thursday, July 17, 2008 Florida Room at the Delano, Miami Beach She came out from behind a curtain of strobe lights and fabricated smoke, but all of the faux atmosphere in the world couldn’t…
(Photo from ArtOfficial’s Myspace page) Amazing. Over 1000 bands nationally who competed in the Last Band Standing contest, judged by Perry Farrell, to play an opening slot at Lollapalooza. And among the five finalists is a band from Miami — ArtOfficial! What’s more, they’re the only hip-hop group in the…
The world’s favorite Miami R&B quartet, Pretty Ricky, just released a video for its latest single, “Knockin Boots ’08.” And again, we’re reassured that the boys are totally celibate virgins…. Kidding! This video is full of grade-A, Madonna-in-the-early-Nineties style beefcake (I guess they needed to save wardrobe budget money? hah)…
So Fort Lauderdale’s hardest working hip-hop crew, Major League, have a brand new video that they just released a couple of days ago. They shot it, directed, and edited it themselves and the song is appropriately titled “Grustlin” since what these guys are most known for, aside from having good…
It’s doubtful that DJ Danny Daze loves the road above all else, but he sure seems to be on it a lot. Mondays at Tabu in Vegas, Saturdays at either Slide in San Francisco or Pittsburgh’s Privilege, the cat’s back and forth from the airport more times in a week…
