As I was cruising the blogosphere over the weekend, I came across an interesting story that definitely caught me by surprise. MTV, home to all things exploitive and pop, just held their first annual African Music Awards in Abuja, Nigeria this past Saturday. It’s a move that could bolster more…
It was a big-deal time slot: Lollapalooza co-headliners Wilco and Rage Against the Machine were scheduled to go on at 8:30 p.m. over the summer, only about an hour after the Toadies were scheduled to perform their own gig at the three-day Chicago festival. And in a sense, it was…
L.A.-by-way-of-N’Awlins brothers Krispy Kream and Rah Al Millio are among a dying breed of hip-hop artists who were signed during that once-magical time of big-money major-label record deals. Joining Interscope in 2006, the duo promptly headed for the Hollywood Hills to live “like Slash and Axl Rose up in ’87.”…
While the MD of the title of Kenny Garrett’s Mack Avenue debut disc likely refers to former boss Miles Davis, Sketches sounds more like a tribute to McCoy Tyner and early 1960s John Coltrane… not that there’s anything wrong with that. The opener, “The Ring,” evokes those moody, slow-building compositions…
The same problems that plagued Bombay Dub Orchestra’s self-titled debut — released as a double-disc set to accommodate a bunch of unnecessary remixes — are notably present on 3 Cities. The duo of Garry Hughes and Andrew Mackay are still trafficking in trip-hop and downtempo beats that are thoroughly anonymous…
How has T-Pain done it? He’s not attractive, his fashion sense leaves much to be desired (at least for those without Dr. Seuss/LSD fetishes, in any case), and without the benefit of the computer program Auto-Tune, his voice is nothing special. And yet, considering his hip-hop and R&B radio dominance,…
Last night, South Florida’s fastest rising rap star, Ace Hood, had a CD signing at the Best Buy in Pembroke Pines. The event was well attended and a lot of people came out to support the young rapper as he continues to climb the ladder of fame. There weren’t a…
I just got an email this past Friday, announcing the current shortlist of reggae albums under consideration to be nominated for a Grammy. Surprisingly, one-time Fort Lauderdale resident, Etana, made the list due to her debut album, The Strong One, which was released earlier this year. Etana spent the bulk…
Sick as a dog on a Thursday evening? Try the Irish whiskey cure. Maybe it’s not just what the doctor ordered, but it sure doctors the pain when you don’t feel good. That’s what I’ve heard from the experts, anyway. I headed to Biddy Early’s Irish Bar (3419 N. Andrews…
Watching reggae’s newest female star, Queen Ifrica, liven up a crowd sends a jolt through the body and spirit. During a recent stage show two weeks ago in Nassau, Bahamas, Ifrica performed as part of the heralded Millennium Countdown concert series; she was the lone woman artist on the bill…
Bradford Cox’s oversized persona threatens to overwhelm almost anything his band Deerhunter does. In concert, the singer/songwriter — who has Marfan syndrome and is shockingly thin — sometimes bloodies himself and otherwise makes people uncomfortable. On his group’s blog, he battles music pirates and his own demons. But fans are…
Jazz singers do ’em often (too often, but that’s another harangue entirely). We’re talking albums of great American songbook standards, that perennial body of material composed between the 1920s and early ’50s. When redone in the modern area, these “standards” affairs tend to be boring, but not Loverly, and not…
Transitioning from overhyped buzz generator to perpetual powerhouse ain’t easy, even for figures as charismatic as the Party men, and on their third long-player, the strain shows. “Ares” is the sound of a band trying too hard, albeit with assists from some pretty interesting elements: screaming sirens, kinetic beats, and…
You Can’t Spell Slaughter Without Laughter (Epitaph) Hmmm. It seems this local duo has renamed itself appropriately. If you’ve never heard of I Set My Friends on Fire before, it’s the same two Miami homeboys — Matt Mihana and Nabil Moo — who used to play around town as We…
T-Pain Thr33 Ringz (Nappy Boy Entertainment) How has T-Pain done it? He’s not attractive, his fashion-sense leaves much to be desired (at least for those without Dr. Seuss/ LSD fetishes, in any case), and without the benefit of the computer program Auto-Tune his voice is nothing special. And yet, considering…
By ANDY VIHSTADT After giving it away for a limited time on eMusic, the Postmarks’ sophomore effort, By the Numbers, is officially released worldwide today. The all-covers album boasts a numerical theme and includes renditions of songs by David Bowie, the Cure, Jesus and Mary Chain and even the Pointer…
Thursday night. A muggy, rainy South Florida night, and I was feeling particularly grouchy. It had been a long, punishing mini-Friday, the air around me was veering toward triple-digit humidity, and I had just gotten one of those wish-you-were-here calls from my family in Texas. Everybody fine, and, oh, yeah,…
Florida’s hip-hop notoriety is going from hot to scalding with the release of Jacksonville-based DJ Bigga Rankin’s latest mixtape, From Dade to Duval. It’s a part of Rankin’s longtime Real Nigga Radio series, where he takes urban artists and tries to break them to a larger market. Luckily for him,…
When Rufus Wainwright hits South Florida this weekend for a two-night stint, prepare to swoon. This is one crooning troubadour who could probably turn a grocery list into a heartbreaking tale of terrible beauty. Not that Wainwright has to resort to grocery lists, mind you. With a song-soaked career that…
If there was ever auditory shorthand for “we’re not fucking around,” it would be starting your album with a half-minute of wrenching, agonizing screams that give way to a distorted, circular guitar riff that eventually collapses in on itself in a swirl of low-end feedback. This is the first three…
Caleb Followill and the other members of the Kings family once seemed content with updating ’70s Southern rock for the new millennium — but no more. Only by the Night is a bid for mass popularity and critical acclaim of the sort typically associated with Chris Martin, not Tennessee-bred good…
The last time these two oddball music pioneers made a record together, David Byrne was still a Talking Head and Brian Eno had yet to hook up with U2. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, released in 1981, was an ahead-of-its-time aural collage of African rhythms, radio evangelists, and…
