Never know what to expect from Raiford Starke, but rest assured that it won’t be soft, fluffy, cuddly, sissy stuff. Whether the 40-year-old singer-guitarist is blasting electric blues with a full band or sittin’ on a stool with his acoustic on his knee, Starke’s Southern swamp-boogie always confirms a raw…

Pirate radio reaches more eardrums in South Florida than anywhere else in the country, says the FCC. Which is fine by Bandwidth, cuz such illicit sounds are among the few interesting offerings on local airwaves. Except for one, shiny, corporate exception that proves the rule: Native Noise, the newly reinstated…

In the cultural Gobi desert that is the American public school system, choir practice might lead somewhere later in life. Forced to practice patriotic dreck like “In the Spirit of Hope” in Mrs. Fazoli’s class, our youth have only screeching some abominable Whitney Houston song on American Idol to aspire…

In Berkeley last week, the peace movement rolled out the big musical guns: a massive antiwar protest concert featuring Chuck D., Ani DiFranco, Ozomatli, and Michael Franti’s Spearhead. Franti left no room for debate, debuting a new single called “You Can Bomb the World to Pieces but You Can’t Bomb…

There’s a battlefield face-off approaching on the retail warfront, with South Florida’s put-upon small record stores providing a longevity litmus test. That’s why a recent rumor struck so ominously — that revered outlet Blue Note Records in North Miami Beach might be shuttering its rock room. “No, no, no,” insists…

There we were, convocating with our cup holders. The total commute from central Broward County to the Concrete (er, Convocation) Center on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables: one hour and 25 minutes. Approaching the just-opened venue from southbound U.S. 1 was — face it, folks — a…

Freddie McGregor wears a big smile as he strolls through the double doors of the Dania Beach hotel lobby. Staff members at the registration desk light up with smiles of recognition when they notice the reggae great come in from the rain. The next several minutes are giddy with handshakes…

Never saw the Gits live, but word has it that the Seattle band put everything into its performances and that singer Mia Zapata’s presence was that of a future superstar ready to shed the training wheels. Not enough folks were able to experience that dramatic arc, cut short when Zapata…

Still helmed by mainstays Chrissie Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers, Pretenders soldier on, with guitarist Adam Seymour providing the slash-‘n’-chop chords once proffered by original member James Honeyman Scott. Their reggae-tinged eighth album, Loose Screw, is far from the most consistent in the band’s catalog, though Hynde remains as gruffly…

Will Luna always stand like a wallflower, picked last for every dance? The band’s ten-year mission — fusing fragrant guitar melodies with potently acerbic lyrics — has gone rather well. Somehow, though, unreservedly praising Luna would be like saying Foghat was your favorite band — representative of the style, sure,…

Everyone complains about the radio, but no one ever does anything about it. Ever find anything worth leaving the dial alone for? Ever tried? Forget “set it and forget it” — driving without plenty of CDs is almost as dangerous as merging onto I-595 at rush hour. Search the FM…

Ironically, I was almost halfway through the paperback The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town by Marcus Gray when I decided to check the old Bandwidth e-mail shortly after sunset on Christmas Day. “Joe Strummer Dies of Heart Attack” sat glowering at the bottom of the in box,…

Almost in time for Christmas, it’s Local CD Roundup time! The good-hearted souls from Fourth Dimension (fourthdimension@hotmail.com) — Fort Lauderdale’s competent if not convincing reggae act — can often be found performing at Tarpon Bend downtown. On their recent disc Around the World, Steve, Carlos, Pierre, and Ilich praise Jah…

Cheap Trick’s late-1970s heyday seems ancient history now, but the band never went away. Although nothing has come close to the success of Live at Budokan — which inspired the term “big in Japan” — the band’s largely ignored output from the ’80s and especially the ’90s remained consistently strong…

By all rights, downtown Hollywood should be Broward County’s best bet for weekend fun. By the time the county gets to building its long-promised greenbelts and bike paths, the city’s urban renaissance should be in full swing. Helping fight the good fight is the City Link Music Festival, which moved…

Bad news travels fast, and for months most of the ear-aware local public has known that Bobby Baker, sonic steward behind Boca Raton’s famed Baby Robots and Ant Lunch Musick, is not long for South Florida. In the interest of keeping Baker employed at his health-food store as long as…

It’s that time of the year again, when sidewalk buskers feel the humidity wane and the nights dry and crispen, so they all grab their beat-up woodentops, park their asses on a street corner, open their guitar cases, and play for tips. OK, so hardly anyone actually does that. Tourists…

“Boca Raton,” Saturday Night Live comedian Jimmy Fallon mused. “What’s that mean? ‘Rat mouth?’ Oh, that’s nice.” Glancing up at the massive chiffon Styrofoam stucco structure over his head, the Spanish-challenged Fallon (one last time, people: Raton is mouse; rata is rat — my copyeditor’s dictionary says so) acknowledged his…

Dot Allison is best-known as the ex-singer of Scottish trio One Dove, which quickly came and went back in 1993. One Dove’s detached coolness and dub explorations (courtesy of Primal Scream producer Andrew Weatherall) still generated enough earth tones to keep it grounded in dance-pop. In fact, One Dove’s sole…

From the Bandwidth Business Desk: In 1995, after he was brought in as a consultant for Ace Music, former Office Depot prez Mark Begelman purchased five Ace stores. For years, Ace had dominated South Florida instrument retailers; when Begelman took over, he retitled the chain MARS Music, and he staffed…

The same week the Wilco documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart debuted in area theaters, the band rolled into town for a spectacular, sold-out show Monday, November 4, at the Carefree Theatre. Remember back when the two Uncle Tupelo offshoots, Son Volt and Wilco, would battle for seasonal…

This cuddle-worthy, melodica-totin’ Olympia, Washington-based progenitor of Beat Happening, Dub Narcotic Sound System, and K Records oversees a vast dominion of all that’s independently cool in the Pacific Northwest. Johnson just released What Was Me, the first solo effort in his 20-year career, an acoustic outing focusing (exclusively, in some…