The 26-year-old Fort Lauderdale singer-songwriter Travis Newbill writes tunes that are one part quirky acoustic, one part angst, and one part philosophy. With a weekly gig at the nautical pub the Jib Room, a bar off of Oakland Park Boulevard just west of Federal Highway, Newbill fuses pop hooks with…
Astari NiteFriday, June 5, 2009Flamingo Fridays at PS14, MiamiBetter Than: A pop goth cocktailAs my esteemed colleague (and de facto boss) Arielle Castillo so keenly wrote in these pages last September, Astari Nite singer Mychael Ghost is unquestionably “a proper frontman.” Which is to say (as she said), that he…
Sexist lyrics and heavy beats go together like pork and beans when it comes to dancehall. There is something so good about it though. If you can cast aside the bigotry, the misogyny, the rampant and sometimes violent homophobia, and the bizarre posturing, the beats are savage, the delivery is…
Country/Blues icon Bonnie Raitt has announced an October 23 date at Pompano Beach Amphitheater. She’s recently released her 18th album, and simply refuses to stop touring. Most of this tour is being performed with Taj Mahal, but they won’t be making the trip down to Pompano Beach. Instead, Bonnie will…
Are you sick of the old tried-and-true musical formula for your Friday night carousing? If you usually go out clubbing in South Beach and you still have any semblance of distinction and personal taste left after sustained Top 40 self-abuse, you’ve gotta be eager for a change of pace. Or…
Looking to see a good live show in Broward or Palm Beach this weekend? Well you’re in luck.One of our favorite bands, Ex Norwegian, is playing Propaganda tonight starting at 9 p.m. $5 gets you in the door.Looking to folk it up a bit instead? Try country-pop-folk duo Friction Farm…
You’ve spent weeks alone indoors, cultivating the kind of sun-neglected sickliness that, in certain circles, passes for goth authenticity. And now, it’s finally time to take your proud pale ass into the streets. But don’t worry, no one’s talking daytime hours. Just join your fellow doomed and Vitamin-D deficient for…
Miami New Times, Churchill’s, and Epiphone are sponsoring a new series of acoustic performances on Wednesday nights at the sort-of-English pub. (Guess since Raffa and Rainer pioneered Can You Rock A Little Softer? (R.I.P.) there, Wednesday is now the official acoustic night!) The series starts on June 17 and runs…
Fiona Apple has an older sister, Maude Maggart. And she’s kind of a big deal on the cabaret circuit. Drawing praise from most major media outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR and Entertainment Weekly, Maggart has gained a following for her haunting and exquisite renditions…
DJ Nova, a.k.a. Nelson Fernandez, is a Venezuelan transplant and pivotal figure of Miami’s underground EDM scene since the early ’90s. With a lifelong commitment to his craft, Nova’s DJ career has taken him from Miami’s myriad local clubs and venues to bookings all over the U.S. and Latin America,…
myspace.com/jacuzziboysIndie rock taste-makers/breakers Pitchfork Media threw some love to Miami’s tropical-death-metal-slash-swamp-rock threesome the Jacuzzi Boys this morning. In a review of their (comparatively) mellow anti-ballad “The Countess”, Amy Granzin threw up some fairly gushy praise by Pitchfork standards: “A bass drum drives the song straight and steady, but heavy reverb…
Lissy TrullieThe VirginsWith Lissy Trullie and Anya MarinaWednesday, June 2, 2009Culture Room, Ft. LauderdaleBetter Than: Reading a magazine.The Review:Much of the early hype — and there’s been a lot — about both the Virgins and Lissy Trullie has focused on the “scene” from which they come. Music media addicts know…
One of the two bands currently touring under the L.A. Guns moniker is coming to Culture Room on September 12. Founding member Tracii Guns, Jeremy Guns, Marty Casey, Alec “Big Al” Bauer, and Chad Stewart make up this version of the Guns, while all Phil Lewis, Steve Riley, Stacey Blades,…
It’s the end of an era ladies and gentlemen, especially for those of you who like your pop icons a bit on the schizophrenic side. It seems as if Miley Cyrus has gotten some help with her dissociative identity disorder and has decided she’ll be touring without her alter-ego Hannah…
Going to see the New York Dolls is an odd proposition. On one level, it’s hard to deny the importance of a band so central to the legacy of rock and roll, and punk music in particular. Their genre and gender bending brand of heavy-hitting raunch rock is still vital,…
Let me paint you a picture. It’s a little hazy, but that’s just pot smoke (in the story, I swear). The year is 1969 in L.A., and Frank Zappa has just handed vocalist-guitarist Lowell George his walking papers from the Mothers of Invention. Some legends contend Zappa thought he showed…
Young hunk Ryan Cabrera’s third effort, The Moon Under Water, released last year, was supposedly his entry into serious music. Check out Cabrera’s brunette locks and soul patch as well as his Bono-inspired attire on the album’s back jacket — this guy is a thoughtful rocker, damn it. He’s been…
Friday night’s weekly Flamingo Fridays party at PS14 marks the first show there in a while for Miami foursome Astari Nite. The band has been steadily plugging away at its chilly, Placebo-influenced rock. Now that summer’s here, singer Mychael Ghost and company have set to work on a proper debut EP, heading into…
About BluesWhen I was a little boy I used to sit on the floor in front if a bookcase in my Dad’s living room and look through his records. They were all in alphabetical order and I would play them on his old old old turntable and hi-fi stereo system. …
Post-Prodigy-era bassheads Jackal & Hyde will bring their hard-core blend of industrial-laden, fetish-inspired electro to West Palm’s Respectable Street next month. The duo, made up of Scott Weiser and Todd Walker, has been around since 1998, but dropped their first album The Badlands in 2001. The album featured original material…
via myspace.com/lastnovemberAtlanta-based trio Last November plays two gigs in South Florida this weekend, hitting an early all-ages gig tomorrow night at Respectable Street Cafe in West Palm Beach, and then Transit Lounge in Miami on Friday. The group first got together in high school, when they bonded over playing acoustic…
Geez, I’m really torn here. Part of me wanted to start this post by singing, “Llevaba medias negras / Y me robó el corazón!” But then I’d be leaving out the equally worthy, “Oxigeno! Esa mujer me da oxigeno / Con su sonrisa simpatico / Con su presencia magnifica!” It’s…
