English-language press has described Carlos Varela as “Cuba’s Bob Dylan,” for lack of a better analogy. This is somewhat accurate, as Varela is an iconic singer/songwriter with deep folk roots. His own style, however, is singularly Cuban. In his 20s, he joined the so-called Nueva Trova movement, a musical scene…

A few years back, so-called “new rave” came and went, spawning in its multigenre, neon-baked wake a generation of artists who clearly profited from Justice’s mainstream crossover. From the mid-’00s to the decade’s end, a certain form of unapologetic electro ruled cool-kid dance floors, its signature chain-saw-sounding bass lines growing…

GallagherAt the Seminole Casino HollywoodTuesday, June 21, 2010If you’re in your mid- 20s to 30s and had cable growing up, you likely have some warm, fuzzy memories of Gallagher, the single-named comedian who ruled premium airwaves in the ’80s and ’90s. The Tampa native was inescapable on Showtime, particularly, a…

Heidi and the El Cats is a true Lake Worth invention. The Heidi in question (last name Jacobsen) was born in Toronto and worked as a fashion designer in New York before making her way to South Florida. It’s on our sunny shores that she befriended Cliff Guest, a Miami…

The bluegrass state may seem like an unlikely birthplace for a shiny indie-pop band, but Kentucky’s capital, Louisville, has long had an active music scene across multiple genres. So don’t be so surprised by the Pass, a four-piece from the city that relies on synths and dance beats instead of…

The guys of Miami-based Arboles Libres have managed to become darlings of a wide swath of the South Florida scene thanks to their geographically inclusive musical approach. The rock en español crowd loves the group for its frequent foray into Spanish lyrics. That’s only a little piece of Arboles’ musical…

All the hale, hearty Southern California sun and sea must have done Dick Dale good. At age 74, the guitar legend continues to go strong and tour, spreading the gospel of the nimble-fingered surf-rock style he pretty much invented. To this day, nothing says “Surf’s up!” like reverb-drenched, quavering scales…

Contrary to its name, foursome Nashville Pussy doesn’t actually hail from Music City; the group calls Atlanta home. The moniker’s at least half accurate, though — 50 percent of the band is, indeed, female! But in the past decade and a half of its existence, that touch of sugar and…

The one-man powerhouse born Jeff Baker but known in musical circles as King Django is one of the most influential Americans in ska, full stop. In the ’80s and ’90s, he — along with a handful of other figures like the Toasters’ Rob “Bucket” Hingley — was responsible for bringing…

For a group that was famously manufactured, the Monkees have outlived vast swaths of their supposedly more “serious” musical counterparts of the late ’60s. Perhaps that’s because the foursome was always more musically gifted than its initial TV-show origins might have let on. After all, though the group’s effervescent, lightly…

Psy-trance may have once occupied the realm of fringe raver hippies who had run away to India. But the increasing mainstream crossover of Israeli quintet Infected Mushroom has done much to legitimize the genre. Much of that is probably because it’s one of the first acts from the scene to…

At this point in her extreme cultural domination, it seems pointless to bother uttering the word country in the same sentence as Taylor Swift. Though the 21-year-old singer/songwriter makes a few nods onstage to the genre that gave her fame, it was clear from the beginning that her sights reach…

Pharell is like the random ghost of Christmas future of Miami’s music scene. Every once in a while, he’ll pop up at a club — presumably between bouts of buying designer toys and street art — then catch a random local act, murmur his seal of approval, and then disappear…

​If you haven’t yet heard of Rocketown, you might possibly be over 25 — an Old Person — and therefore the rest of this doesn’t matter. If, however, you are young and cherub-cheeked and missed the memo, it’s the local branch of the famous all-ages (and, let’s just put this…

How do spell fun? T-h-e T-h-e-r-m-a-l-s! OK, OK, that’s the Thermals, the opening act at Matt & Kim’s Fort Lauderdale show at Culture Room next Sunday, June 5. The Portland trio specializes in no-frills, unadorned fuzzy rock ‘n’ roll. Most of the time, it’s propelled by punk’s fast tempos and…

For a group that was famously manufactured, the Monkees have outlived vast swaths of their supposedly more “serious” musical counterparts of the late ’60s. Perhaps that’s because the foursome was always more musically gifted than its initial TV-show origins might have let on.After all, though the group’s effervescent, lightly British-inflected…