In true space-age, dance-music-weirdness style, Green Velvet was birthed as the alter ego of an alter ego: that of Cajmere, AKA Curtis Alan Jones, a reigning house-music artist of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Cajmere was always a little more out there than the other disco dons of his…
Any fans of breakdancing and viral videos need to watch this South Korean b-boy putting in some serious work! They don’t call this guy Poppin Hyun Joon for nothing.–Jonathan Cunningham…
Faith Hill & Tim McGraw at the BankAtlantic Center Tuesday, July 23, 2007 Better Than: Watching these two duke it out in a Celebrity Death Match. The Review: Move over Korn, Evanescence, and Flyleaf, the real Family Values tour made its long awaited debut at Sunrise’s Bank Atlantic Center last…
It’s a little past midnight inside the ballroom of a Sunny Isles Beach hotel, as the thinned out crowd seems oblivious to the salsa blaring from the speakers. Nothing the resident DJ standing atop the stage puts on the turntable during a one-hour span did little to arouse the gathering…
Photo by Jeffrey Delannoy Marilyn Manson and Slayer Sound Advice Amphitheatre July 23, 2007 Better Than: A sacrifice Marilyn Manson and Slayer kicked off their “Reign in the Sun” tour at the South Florida Fairgrounds last night. Junior High age Goths in their black Marilyn Manson outfits sweat profusely as…
This may come as a surprise to some, but there’s more than one royal family when it comes to Jamaican reggae. It’s obvious that the Marleys would be a shoo-in for this distinction, but during the late ’60s and ’70s, a slightly lesser-known crooner, Denroy Morgan, was busy creating his…
Look, let’s just face it, OK? Hard-rock power balladry is never gonna go away. As much as some of us might want it to, as much as it routinely falls out of vogue, there are always going to be bands interested in doing it — and hungry fans salivating to…
First, to clear up any confusion: This is the Radiators from New Orleans, the three-decades-plus-strong bluesy, funky rock group, not the also three-decades-strong band from Australia. These Radiators are sort of the ur-jam band; their first album was in fact a live one. The quintet dips equally into roots rock…
It takes a true dancehall aficionado to appreciate the top-ranking ghetto sounds of Jamaica’s Ninja Man. This is true only because most novice listeners, if they can even understand a word he’s saying, would be scared to death of him. Dubbed as “the original front teet, gold teet, gun pon…
The Format July 24, 2007 Culture Room Better Than: Watching a clip of The Format on My Super Sweet Sixteen. After arriving at the show moments before the door opened, I surveyed my surroundings to see if it met my expectations. Pimped out tour bus, a symbol of budding rock…
Willy Chirino July 21, 2007 Dolphin Stadum A downpour and several rounds of lightning three hours before the first pitch did nothing to deter a large contingent of Willy Chirino’s most loyal fans from heading out to Dolphin Stadium. Whether they are Cuban exiles that arrived in Miami 40 years…
Photo by Santiago Felipe Beyonce July 22, 2007 BankAtlantic Center Better Than: Hating. You gotta love it. The Review: Blue-eyed soulster Robin Thicke was just finishing up his set when I walked into the BankAtlantic Center. So like any good girl on a Sunday night, I head straight to the…
Vans Warped Tour July 21st, 2007 Bicentennial Park 11:00 a.m. Warped Tour is celebrating its 13th birthday this year. The main stages have been appropriately renamed to “Lucky” and “13” for the occasion. South Florida did hit some bad luck, though, with bands such as Alkaline Trio, Mxpx, and Valencia…
What’s so bad about feeling macabre? Nothing, if the works of Nick Drake, Camera Obscura, and Ladybug Transistor are around to dispel your bittersweet nostalgia or pensive melancholy. Although these ‘bugs call the wilds of Brooklyn home, there’s little of the bluster often associated with that NYC satellite within their…
When it comes to the prototypical urban songstress, there’s no one who commands more respect than the legendary Mary J. Blige. New urban starlets such as Keyshia Cole, Beyoncé, and Alicia Keys have all named her as influences, and she’s been the marquee name within female R&B for the past…
Go to any Colombian party on New Year’s Eve and you’ll hear it. Give it just five seconds and watch it summon all within its audible reach to the dance floor. It’s name is “El Preso” (“The Prisoner”), and it’s a Colombian classic. Keyboards and trumpets intertwine behind the clave…
Some assume that being in a punk band means surrendering your sense of humor and giving up all claims on musical maturity. Fortunately, there’s the occasional outfit that dispels that stereotype. The Ramones were goofy from the get-go, while Green Day proved that even irreverence can garner you a Grammy…
Aymee Nuviola will play Mystique on Saturday, July 14th. On more than one occasion Aymee Nuviola has emphasized her inability to socialize and vocal inclination as traumatic hurdles she encountered as an adolescent. “A raspy voice and lack of social skills will do that to you,” says Nuviola. “Let’s just…
As Tall as Lions July 11, 2007 Culture Room Better Than: Paying $200 for recycled nostalgia The Review: Coordinated in vests & dress pants like they were late to play a VH1 afterparty, As Tall As Lions’ hit the stage at freeway speeds, merging their sounds in and out of…
The first time Kristine Young, frontwoman for, um, Kristeenyoung, was summoned to meet Morrissey, she was summarily ejected from his Rome recording studio. ¨His producer for his last record videotaped one of our shows at the Delancey [in New York]. Over in Rome, where they were making the record, he…
So the blues is supposed to be a man´s world, right? Aside from the fact that most recognizable blues stars have always been men, the music itself is often dark, sultry, and not easily associated with the female voice. While all of that is true, when you come across a…
Which would you rather see: a concert appearance with the septuagenarian rockers from Deep Purple, or a performance of the band´s legendary ¨Smoke on the Water¨ featuring 1,683 guitarists (which happened in Kansas City last month)? At least one has a whiff of unpredictability to it. Like any good 1970s…
