Glimpses of the South Florida Scene: Alexander

Glimpses of the South Florida Scene is a weekly column devoted to the artists thriving within Broward and Palm Beach counties featuring interviews with the folks making it happen. This week, Alexander.Ryan Alexander is a superhero. When I met with him to ask him about his band (entirely his brainchild),…

Crossfade: School of Seven Bells, Dead Meat, Kid Sister, and Deer Tick

So maybe Crossfade and County Grind are living separately, but our split was completely amicable. Here are a few stories reported recently via Miami’s raddest music blog that we want to make sure our readers see.School of Seven Bells: ethereal, gorgeous melodies featuring a dude from Secret Machines and On!Air!Library!…

Local Motion: Glocca Morra and The Illustrated

We here who grind away in the County Grind like to respect and promote our local efforts. In today’s Local Motion, we look at a pair of releases by Boca Raton’s Livid Records, a fine compendium of local and out-of-state acts that is rapidly becoming one of the “friendliest” independent…

The Crests Celebrate Johnny Maestro at Coconut Creek

Interracial R&B group the Crests charted many doo-wop hits, including “16 Candles,” during its heyday in the ’50s and ’60s. After a late-’70s breakup, the rotating cast of members found a new following thanks to the John Hughes film named after their hit, as well as a cover of the…

Viva le Vox Celebrate New CD at Respectable Street

Freaks and fans alike can brace themselves for Lake Worth act Viva le Vox’s upcoming CD-release party, a spectacle some might refer to as a “hillbilly zombie circus.” Freaks aside, the band is a local work of art worth checking out if you want to feel scared and uncomfortable yet…

Blood of the Prophets Brings Metal to Monterey

Blood of the Prophets has rapidly distinguished itself in the metal community with melodic fretwork, elements of thrash, and forays into synthesizers. Formed in 2008 in Toledo, Ohio, this sextet’s standouts are drummer Will Clark and keyboardist Elizabeth Croak, who affirm the intensity via blast beats, heavy cadence, and gothic…

Uberzone Returns to Fort Lauderdale to Ignite Revolution

Back in 1995, Timothy Wiles performed his first show as Uberzone at the Edge in Fort Lauderdale. Since then, the name of the club has changed a couple of times (it’s now home to Revolution Live), but the name Uberzone has become well-recognized among the international dance music community. Throughout…

Jordin Sparks Brings Powerful Voice to Revolution

After winning American Idol in 2007, Jordin Sparks hasn’t attained Carrie Underwood-level success, but she’s fared far better in her pop career than Idol alums like Taylor Hicks. Her self-titled debut album featured two smash singles, “Tattoo” and a duet with Chris Brown, “No Air.” Both songs showed that Sparks…

DJ Deekline brings breakbeat to Respectable Street

The electro-savvy Briton DJ Deekline’s international following pulls his bass-heavy, hard-core jungle rhythms back and forth over the Atlantic. His breakbeat prowess was even put to work to remix Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s biggest hit, “Got Your Money,” featuring Kelis. Deekline is a delight live when he gets that sweet vibe…

Wiz Khalifa’s Leads Hip-Hop Bill at Revolution

Hailing from the same city as Girl Talk and the Steelers — which he’s affectionately dubbed “Pittsburgh, Pistol-Vania” — Wiz Khalifa hasn’t let being from a place not typically synonymous with hip-hop get in the way of his grind. In the past 12 months, he has released his second full-length…

Boca Has Dive Bars Too!

What do you do in Boca after all the frozen-yogurt shops have closed? And more specifically, where do you go if you just want to kick back, have a good time, and not be judged by the supermanicured elite? Well, I embarked upon a quest to find a couple of…

MP3 of the Day: Young Jeezy – “And Then What (Sumsun Remix)”

Sumsun’s Judson Rogers has been busy with two upcoming releases detailed here, and taking his sparkling, R&B-inspired magic (thanks to syrupy vocals by Cleverly Hustle, AKA Beverly Russell) to more northern sects of the state. Still, he found the time to remix Young Jeezy’s “And Then What” featuring Mannie Fresh.Considering…

Moving Units: Radio-Active Records’ Top 5 Releases for June 8-14

In our Moving Units column, Mike Ramirez at Fort Lauderdale’s Radio-Active Records graciously keeps us up-to-date and comments on the current releases flying out of his store each week.Local bros the Jacuzzi Boys not only have a winning album cover for the limited-run Bricks or Coconuts three-track vinyl (Ratatat’s new…

MP3 of the Day: The Band In Heaven – “Dreams”

In anticipation for their show tonight night with Lagues at Propaganda, it is important  — necessary — to get oneself into the right headspace for the Band In Heaven. Indeed “headspace” is the right term for such foggy, fuzzy stuff recalling both outer space and My Bloody Valentine, the Orlando-based…

Blast From the Past: Charlie Pickett — “If This Is Love…”

Charlie Pickett “If This Is Love, Can I Get My Money Back?/Slow Death” (Open Records) One of the beautiful things that we can wholeheartedly enjoy here while County Grinding is the fact that we don’t necessarily have to come up with explanations from the get-go. I’ve been enjoying a good…

MP3 of the Day: The Jameses – “Rat People”

Impose Magazine deemed Lake Worth’s the Jameses “another reason Florida doesn’t completely suck”; this is slightly true. They’re deserving of a headline based less on the supposed suckiness of their surrounding environment and more on the quirk-and-catchiness of their banging lo-fi, which Impose went on to fairly acknowledge.It’s the nature…

Local Motion: The Shrubs and Daze

We here who grind away in the County Grind like to respect and promote our local efforts. In today’s Local Motion, we look at a pair of releases by Boca Raton’s Livid Records, a fine compendium of local and out-of-state acts that is rapidly becoming one of the “friendliest” independent…