Moving Units: Top Sellers at Sweat, Radioactive, and Backbone Music

Neutral Milk Hotel’s 1998 classic was a top seller at BackboneMoving Units is a new column on Crossfade tracking the best-selling music at South Florida independent record stores. Top Sellers for the Week of May 22-29:Sweat Records, Miami1. It’s Blitz, Yeah Yeah Yeahs2. Entertainment, Fischerspooner3. Born Like This, MF Doom4. Sounds…

Head Spins: DJ Jenni Foxx

Hurricane Wilma may have been devastating for a lot of folks, but not for Jenni Foxx. See, on that 2005 day after it hit, she happened to have a scheduled DJ audition at the Clevelander. But there was no power. And a few hours later, when power was restored, Foxx…

The Crumbs Insubordination Fest DVD Out Now

The Crumbs were once signed to Lookout! Records. They toured the country and wrote great songs that made the kids sing along.  But times have changed. Johnny B moved on. Chuck Loose went back to his office. Emil 4 ½ isn’t doing it anymore. But the Crumbs are still pretty…

CD Review: Julian Marley – Awake

Julian MarleyAwake (Ghetto Youths International)It’s been six years since Julian Marley’s last full-length. Awake, his third major release, comes to us at the height of spiritual and political alertness. The first African American president is in power, and our ever-growing global village is becoming even more interconnected, one Twitter as…

King of the Dogs

Sometime in the past few years, between digesting French literature and watching birds alight on the placid South Florida waters, Iggy Pop, the Godfather of Punk, decided, finally, that rock as we know it is a lost cause. No, actually it’s worse. “It’s clear that rock music, what’s made right…

Slip Slidin’ Away

It was Friday night, and Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” echoed deep in my ears as I sipped a raspberry daiquiri and relaxed at Scandals Saloon with some of Wilton Manors’ finest gentlemen. As the Friday-night liquor-drenched festivity unfolded around me, I found myself mesmerized by…

Notes from the Soundboard: Famous Fathers and Sons

via myspace.com/rufuswainwrightRufus Wainwright did his dad proudNotes from the Soundboard is a new column appearing weekly on Crossfade,  focused on pop music’s history and ongoing evolution. Lee Zimmerman shares insights and observations on how music continues to connect with the weirdness of the world. Click here to read past installments.”It’s…

MP3 of the Day: “The Vacant Chair,” Performed By Matthew Sabatella

via matthewsabatella.comMatthew SabatellaToday’s MP3 of the day relates to the serious meaning behind Memorial Day, and comes courtesy of local troubadour Matthew Sabatella. He’s one of the most unique solo performers in town, as he’s dedicated his work lately to preserving American folk traditions. But not folk like the festival…

MP3 of the Day: “Burnin’ Hell” by Rotagilla

RotagillaSeason For Leavin’ (self-released)You’d think it was 1970 again, for Chrissakes, what with the way the guys of Rotagilla let out their inner Led Zep. Granted, there’s no hint of a Robert Plant or Jimmy Page lurking among this lot. However, in recycling the old school power trio format and…

Notes From the Soundboard: The Joys of Poco

Notes from the Soundboard is a new column appearing weekly on Crossfade, focused on pop music’s history and ongoing evolution. Lee Zimmerman shares insights and observations on how music continues to connect with the weirdness of the world. Click here to read past installments. I try not to spend too…

MP3 of the Day: “Youngest God” by Mother/Father, at Churchill’s Tonight

photo by James Robert Farmer, via myspace.com/thisismotherfatherYesterday we recommended tonight’s show at Churchill’s, which features local acts Ex Norwegian and the Jean Marie, opening for Nashville quartet Mother/Father. Here’s a free taster from the headliners, a song called “Youngest Gods.” While the band’s other songs are full of swirly, reverb-laden…

South Florida Native Jim Jonsin Is the New Producer King

It’s a recent Saturday night, and producer Jim Jonsin is installed at the console of his midtown Miami studio, as he is for about 15 hours on an average day. It’s been a banner year for the Coral Springs native, born James Scheffer, and he’s wearing a multimillion-dollar smile. “Winning…

MP3 Of the Day: “False Confidence” by Rimsky

Rimsky and his live bandBesides being a metal head and a member of the semi-slumbering Miami-based rock juggernaut Humbert, Rimsky Pons makes his own sweet music, self described as “power-pop for the working class.”  For those of you familiar with Humbert’s body of work, and Mr Pons’s place in it,…

ArtOfficial Wins Florida Grammy Showcase at FMF

I mentioned here previously that out of the six artists chosen as finalists for the Florida Grammy Showcase in Orlando last Wednesday, five were from Miami. They were, to recap, Selena Serrano, Spinlight City, Tristan Clopet & the Juice, and finally local favorites Awesome New Republic and ArtOfficial. I said…

DJ Tamara Sky Featured in Missbehave Magazine

Carlos Ramos/Miami FeverDJ Tamara Sky is always in the spin cycle.To say Miami via Puerto Rico DJ Tamara Sky is gorgeous is sort of an understatement. I’ve been at plenty of parties around the city where she’s been like two feet away from me but never had the nerve to…