When Miami-based hard rock group Saigon Kick released their debut 1991 album, The Lizard, they weren’t exactly embraced by either the heavy metal or grunge movements that dominated at the time, leaving them in a sort of “no man’s land,” according to guitarist Jason Bieler. “It was just not being part…
Most people’s first listen to Alt-J was like their first taste of alcohol: unpleasant, then interesting and eventually intoxicating. The band’s lyrics and unusual sound resemble a William Blake print with its stark arches and angles and its often-grim depictions of rapture. Though Blake’s genius can be credited to madness,…
After some 20 albums in nearly as many years, calling Ani DiFranco an overachiever seems something of an understatement. Edgy, outspoken, and hugely influential, she remains the inherent insurgent, railing against the mainstream while others are merely wailing, taking relentless aim at issues surrounding sex, politics, and modern culture. “I…
Ed Roland’s dedication to music has been the sole driving force behind Collective Soul’s continued relevance in the music industry. Formed in the early ’90s as an outlet for work that he had created during his years as a sound engineer in his native Georgia, Collective Soul’s first product, Hints…
Kraftwerk’s 3-D Tour After a three-year South Florida hiatus, Kraftwerk is back. And for its homecoming, the pioneering electronic music collective — which, as pointed out in a recent New Times article, paved the way for Miami bass, the Magic City’s signature sound — is bringing a 3D spectacle (and…
After selling out both days at last year’s event, beloved Fort Lauderdale country music meet-up Tortuga Music Festival has just announced it will expand to a third day in 2016, taking over the sands of Fort Lauderdale Beach Park from Friday, April 15 to Sunday, April 17. Country everyman Blake…
South Florida isn’t exactly a hotbed for indie folk. Whether it’s the heat, the humidity, or the swarming mosquitoes, our musical tastes don’t typically veer toward the introspective. Most acts that make their way down here are of the head-banging or booty-shaking varieties, but last night under a nearly full…
Mick Swigert, frontman and lead singer or Lake Worth’s Spred The Dub, has always had dogs. He inherited his adoration for our four-legged companions from his mother, Jacqueline Batcha. So when their beloved dogs, Etta and Nesta, passed away within weeks of one another earlier this year, Batcha and her…
When you listen to a Brad Paisley song, you’re listening to more than just a song. You’re listening to a story. A rare contemporary country singers who stays true to country roots and the old sound, Paisley uses a combination of his slight southern twang and modern-day trending topics to…
“Dude! What kind of a grown man acts that way in public?!” It was hardly the kind of commentary you’d expect mid-way through Saturday night’s Anthrax set, during their double-bill with U.K. proto-thrash gods Motörhead at Pompano Beach Amphitheatre. But, there was Pete, my suburban metalhead and dreadlocked friend of a…
No other band has unified fans of aggressive music the way Motörhead has for the past 40 years. Such is the power of Motörhead’s legend that the band’s name itself has become a word rarely just uttered, but more often screamed as a battle cry that carries with it the…
Miami bass, the Magic City’s signature sound, owes a lot to a couple of robots from Düsseldorf. Kraftwerk’s influence on dance music cannot be understated. And more than 30 years later, tracks such as “It’s More Fun to Compute” and “Trans-Europe Express” are still DJ favorites to cut and sample…
Despite being one of the highest-profile members of heavy metal’s elite (thanks in no small part to his perennial hosting appearances on just about every show VH1 that has ever aired), Anthrax co-founder and figurehead Scott Ian wants you to know he is not the “mayor of heavy metal.” The…
If you’re the kind of person who believes in reincarnation, it would be reasonable to assume that when Nick Drake left this mortal plane in 1974, his soul — or at least his soulful voice — landed in Sweden in 1978 to a newborn of Argentine heritage named José González…
In a recent interview with CBS, Idol said he is “soberish” these days, at the age of 58. He smokes pot and drinks occasionally — a far cry from his crazy touring days in the ’80s, fueled by sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Over 20 years later, he’s still…
Icona Pop Icona Pop fans may be “the fucking realest,” but that’s just because Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt are a pair of total badasses. “We are feminists and I think every good person on this earth should be,” Jawo told our sister paper, the Miami New Times back in 2013…
Unashamed is the name of rapper Lecrae’s autobiography, out next May, in which he promises to go into vivid detail about the childhood abuse he suffered, his struggles with drugs and alcoholism, and an attempt at suicide. It will also undoubtedly elaborate on how he came out of the other…
Beach balls floated above hundreds of handmade signs and glowing cell phone screens at the ready when, to the backing track of a roaring tractor and an even louder crowd, hunky country bro Luke Bryan’s voice finally echoed the sultry command: “Kick the dust up.” As the hit single began…
Among the copious guitar heroes the 1980s gave us, Steve Stevens — best-known as Billy Idol’s capo and lead collaborator — remains in a class of his own. By Idol’s own admission, Stevens’ eclectic fretboard pyrotechnics and deft sense of arrangement were the emulsifying agents that helped make Idol’s most…
It’s easy to see why Luke Bryan is the hunk of country music. With a teasing smile, perfect stubble, and perpetual glimmer in his eye, yes: Bryan is damned good-looking. Typically dressed in tight shirts and snug jeans, he happily feeds into the frenzy by shaking his tush onstage, occasionally…
You win some, you lose some. While we’ve long since waved farewell to some of our favorite Florida campout fests — Langerado and Harvest of Hope, to name a couple — this morning we’ve been #blessed with some great news for music lovers in the Sunshine State. Soundslinger, LLC, the same…
Van Halen’s critically acclaimed 2012 record, A Different Kind of Truth, saw the band come full circle 40 years into its existence. On that album, lead singer and human slinky David Lee Roth properly completed his reunion with his old band, a journey that began in 2007 and led them…
