Talented songwriter k.d. lang has clearly learned a few things from spending so much time around Tony Bennett. The two have been recording together since they released 2002’s A Wonderful World, and on her latest disc, you can hear the influence of Bennett in her approach to singing. Throughout Watershed,…
Local boy band Los Primeros have gotten with a group called Citizens to Save Hialeah Park, and recorded a bilingual song called, well, “Save Hialeah Park.” The park itself is the site of a former race track, clubhouse and grandstand, and, according to the group on its web site, “is…
Most Jay Dee enthusiasts know that over the weekend, there were some worldwide celebrations for the birthday (Feb 7) and passing (Feb 10) of the late great producer J Dilla. Here’s some footage from the Donuts are Forever party in Brooklyn with appearance from Illwill, Phonte, House Shoes, Von Pea,…
This isn’t surprising but yesterday, an appellate decision upheld the 37 month prison sentence that R&B legend Ronald Isley of the Isley Brothers is currently serving for federal tax evasion. A three judge panel disagreed with arguments that Isley,66, is too old and sick for such a lengthy sentence. Many…
By ANDY VIHSTADT Gods & Monsters R.E.M. is streaming “Supernatural Superserious,” the first single from the upcoming Accelerate LP on its official site. Have a listen here , and then contemplate whether it’s worth $2.50 for the ringtone. The album comes out on April Fool’s Day, so let’s hope Stipe…
Daft Punk backstage at the Grammys, in LED suits I’ll admit to not really paying much attention to the Grammys live broadcast this year. Kanye, Winehouse, blah blah blah blah, predictable for an awards show based more on (ever-weakening) album sales than anything else. That’s why it was pretty cool…
Amazing news: Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige are touring together. Doubly amazing: the tour kicks off at the AA Arena on March 22nd. This’ll be Jay Hova’s first tour since 2004. Tickets go on sale February 16 at 10 a.m., and they’re available through all Live Nation and Ticketmaster outlets…
Flo Rida shows off his Jimi tattoo at Sunset Place Thursday night There is just something about Missy. As I approached Ms. Elliott last night at Sunset Place for a special screening of Step Up 2, I felt my knees turning into Jell-O. Our eyes made contact; my heart began…
With signature dreads, gold chains around his neck, and a tattoo of his father on his right arm, Ky-Mani Marley has a presence that is unmistakably Marley. Despite a Miami swagger, he speaks softly, with a Jamaican accent. The resemblance to Bob is remarkable. Ky-Mani, 31, is one of Bob…
Every man has made at least one. The romantic-mix CD is one of the surest-fire ways to woo a woman’s heart or, if your goals are more banal, just get laid. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, here’s a list of songs you should never, ever include on a mix…
In a recent interview, Wyclef Jean summed up in just a few words the very thing fans both admire and abhor about the former Fugee. Bubbling over with understandable enthusiasm for Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant, the star-studded sequel (of sorts) to his 1997 solo debut, Clef couldn’t…
What do perezhilton.com, El Cerro Market no. 7, Máxim en Español, botánicas, Mary’s Coin Laundry, and your heart have in common? Those are places where Jose El Rey resides. Let’s face it: The kingdom of Hialeah was up for grabs, and this man rose to the challenge. Living in the…
For the first six albums, a dozen years into their collective career, the North Mississippi Allstars opted to take a more traditional approach to their rural, rootsy designs, resulting in a sound that paid homage to blues by the book. Then again, that’s not surprising considering their family pedigree —…
Saudade is a Portuguese word that is untranslatable but is best interpreted as wishful yearning felt toward someone who is far away or a place that a person hopes someday to return to. It’s the main theme of Lisbon-based singer Ana Moura’s fourth release, Para Além da Saudade, a disc…
Having earned her solo artist status by way of backup gigs with Jamiroquai, Massive Attack, and William Orbit, Australian-born Sia Furler is now proving she can hold her own with Some People Have Real Problems, her full-length release on Starbucks’ Hear Music label. Over 13 tracks, the ’90s indie-spirited singer…
The autopsy report has come back for Pimp C, half of the legendary southern rap duo UGK, who was found dead in his L.A. hotel room this past December. The coroner’s verdict? A combination of sleep apnea … and SYRUP, that narcotic prescription cough medicine name-checked in oh so many…
If you can think back to a time in the mid- to late 1960s when folk music was king, there are a few faces and names automatically associated with its rise to dominance. Undoubtedly, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Joan Baez are among them, but sly and soulful guitarist Richie…
My Lord,” you might be saying, “Ween is still around?” And how, brother. Dismissed for two decades as a joke band, Ween has labored in sorta-obscurity while somehow simultaneously selling out shows and winning die-hard converts. How does the band do it? Easy: Ween rules. In fact, the Pennsylvania group…
Too many movie tie-in collections put profits before cohesion. Tunes by widely disparate performers, most of whom just happen to record for companies affiliated with the film studio, wind up being tossed together willy-nilly in the hope that one of them will stick, thereby inducing fans to buy all the…
South Florida isn’t exactly a hub for jazz right now. Despite the fact that a few solid jazz musicians have retired here and that some damned fine players were raised here, the culture of jazz itself doesn’t seem to stick to South Florida’s ribs. So it’s a pleasant shock when…
With hip-hop increasingly a boys-only drug cartel, it’s not surprising that the top urban hit makers are increasingly females in the R&B genre. Like Alicia Keys on her recent chart-topper As I Am, Mary J. Blige plays things safe on her own new blockbuster CD, Growing Pains. The album functions…
The release in 1987 of Pato Banton’s Never Give In was, in retrospect, something of a watershed moment. Though it may not have been immediately recognized as being so, it turns out that Never Give In marked the beginning of the contemporary era of reggae. After the 1981 death of…
