Carlos Charlie Perez’ Short Film Billy the Kids Debuts

Carlos Charlie Perez wants to make a feature film someday. The South Florida native who specializes in music videos told us as much in a music feature last fall. During our visit to his New York studio space, plans were beginning to come together for his collaboration with Opening Ceremony,…

Download: M.I.A. Drops WikiLeaks Mixtape

Now listening to M.I.A.’s second mixtape of her career, Vicki Leekx. This 36-minute single track emerged over the weekend, and it seems to be no less fiery than MAYA, an album we actually liked in spite of the massive truffle fry inconsistencies (“Born Free” video wasn’t exactly kind to ginger-haired…

MP3: 20 South Florida Tracks From 2010

Over the course of a year, County Grind offers up a lot of music at the affordable price of free. Much of this tuneage is home-grown, and reflects the boundless interests of the local freelance corps contributing to the blog. Area hip-hop, goth, electronica, punk, folk, and ska all got…

MP3: Lavola’s “The Queen Is Dead”

Oh, has the world changed, or have we changed? Arguably, it’s a bit of both coming to play in West Palm Beach rock trio Lavola’s latest single, “The Queen Is Dead.” Just to get the question on newcomers’ minds out of the way, no, this is not a cover of…

In Print: The Heavy Pets & the Dirty Dozen

On this second to last day of December, there are plenty of reasons to cling onto the last scraps of 2010. After all, this was the year of County Grind’s birth — as well as Celine Dion’s twins. However, there’s a seedier side of this idyllic paradise we call home…

Borgore’s Dubstep Brilliance Leads Revolution Lineup

It’s a sign the South Florida bass scene has finally arrived (again!) that a once-fringe dubstep act now promises to fill Revolution — and with only local supporting acts, to boot. Frequent attendees of parties like Get Low in Miami will recognize recurring favorite Borgore. But this gig (presented in…

MP3: John Ralston Unveils “A Marigny Christmas”

Invisible Music’s John Ralston gets into the holiday spirit with the b-side off his new single “Jesus Christ” single,  “A Marigny Christmas,” which has all of the acoustic warmth of a solid-stone hearth — even if that isn’t all that necessary in sub-70 degree South Florida weather. With some lightly…

Gutter Queens Lead Christmas Lineup at Monterey Club

Intergalactic surf rockers the Gutter Queens ensure that every willing participant can have a very retro and ribald Christmas this year at the Monterey Club. Led by guitarist-vocalist Ryan Black, the Coconut Creek natives (currently students at USF in Tampa) do a mean rendition of Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” dubbed “Gutterlou.”…

South Florida’s Ten Best Local Releases of 2010

The methodology for this list was simple: Any local recording that made a huge impact in 2010 would be considered. This included EPs, mixtapes, Mediafire .zip files, Bandcamp profiles, split cassettes, and ringtones. Music consumption in South Florida shouldn’t be confined by technicalities or “official release dates” — that would…

The Doors Don’t Support Jim Morrison Pardon

Earlier this month, outgoing Governor Charlie Crist, recent Doors convert Alex Sink, and the two other members of the Florida clemency board issued a full pardon to frontman Jim Morrison for a 40-year-old indecency charge that remained on his record at the time of his death in 1971. County Grind…

Radio-Active Records Launches Fashionable T-Shirt Line

No, County Grind is not a consistent source of couture commentary, but everyone needs a clean T-shirt or a ready-made gift idea from time to time. Since this one comes courtesy of a brick-and-mortar music purveyor, we’ll bite. Add that Radio-Active Records’ line of T’s is not emblazoned with the…

In Print: Palm Beach Pop Festival & South Florida’s Top 10 of 2010

Fanfare here goes to Lee Zimmerman for tracking down some fascinating details of the 1969 Palm Beach Pop Festival. It was a bit like Woodstock, and the Rolling Stones performed, but no one’s talking about it now. Documentarian Ken Davidoff (oldrockphoto.com) and his co-producer on the project, Jack Connell, are…

New Disqus Comments Section Kicks Captcha to the Curb

As much as County Grind would love to associate its comments section with the happy realm of online concert ticket purchases, that Captcha feature that made you type in a random series of garbled numbers and letters is gone. Captcha is released, unpenned, and unassociated with us anymore.What comes instead…

MP3: Bright Eyes’ “Shell Games” Is the Beginning of Goodbye

Although Conor Oberst is far too prolific to ever stop putting out records, he managed to put three years of space between entries in his flagship enterprise. Bright Eyes is back with a vengeance on the first single off The People’s Key, “Shell Games.” With a production style on this…

Zitfest 2010 Is History, but 40 Photos Live On

The final piece of County Grind’s coverage of Zitfest, a two-day musical engorgement on the forehead of South Florida that proved impossible to ignore, is this collection of photographs lovingly compiled by Monica McGivern. This welcome introduction of 19 bands to Lake Park’s Orange Door — facilitated in part by…

Best Local Albums of 2010, #2: Love Handles – Faith, Hope & Love Handles

County Grind is counting down the best local albums in South Florida. Monitor our progress here.Time to embrace Love Handles, one of the umpteen projects featuring the prolific team of lead singer/guitarist C.J. Jankow and organist/drummer Jordan Pettingill. In addition to the guys’ gifts for sly, deadpan wordplay and spooky…

Zitfest Schedule Posted, See You at the Orange Door Tonight!

Happy Holidays from the Jameses, who have been instrumental in getting the inaugural Zitfest together. Although the guys are generally reluctant to be photographed, as was made clear in my interview with them this week, there are always exceptions.On to their gift to you: tonight and tomorrow’s schedule for Zitfest…