The roster of artists assembled here — Caetano Veloso, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Prince, etc. — would make even the most casual Joni Mitchell fan tingle with curiosity. But the sense of “what would that song sound like done by this person?” dissolves as song after song stalls under the…
Tool performs at 8 p.m. Friday, June 1, at the BankAtlantic Center (1 Panther Pkwy., Sunrise). Tickets cost $52.75. Call 954-523-3309, or visit www.ticketmaster.com.
On Still Stuck in Your Throat, the band’s first album in six-too-many years, Fishbone once again presents us with its merry-go-round assortment of horn-driven ska, funk, punk, soul, metal, and reggae music all wrapped into the legendary band’s signature style. Although the energy jumps out of the speakers before the…
You’d be hard-pressed to find a group that makes more overt concessions to pop than Texas-based four-piece Bowling for Soup. That said, you’d also have a difficult time finding a band with as much panache and flair. The group specializes in crafting harmonized pop-punk ballads that are carefully put together…
Named after an Asian spiritual concept of nothingness, Senses Fail formed at a time when vocalist Buddy Nielsen was immersed in reading about Eastern religions. These days, Nielsen’s preoccupations still permeate the New Jersey band’s music, a decidedly melodic but fast-paced, crunchy brand of punk that straddles pop and contains…
“It’s like they say in the States,” says Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s Albert Mazibuko, “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Then he laughs, but only because of how bizarrely out of place this droll chestnut of American street slang sounds in the context of what he’s talking about, which is…
Like a latter-day hip-hop answer to Fishbone, the Roots bring a palpable spirit of gathering and unity to their live shows unmatched by any of their peers. Where the most monumental of hip-hop’s giants — Outkast, a Tribe Called Quest, and Public Enemy — made their reputations by delivering roof-raising,…
Though his accessible approach to rhyming and beats might at first sound tailor-made for suburbanite mall dwellers, MC Lars’ subversive spirit is what matters. His hum-along melodies and wise-ass quirks might come off as safe, but dude makes music like a Jesus Jones-meets-Kraftwerk compilation album. A Stanford University student with…
After originating in Japan’s heavily theatrical makeup- and aesthetic-driven “visual-kei” music scene several years ago, Dir en grey comes to Fort Lauderdale to embark upon its first-ever headline tour of the United States. The Osaka-based band eases between death metal, thrash, goth, glam, and straight-ahead hard rock with a fluidity…
What’s left for an ambitious metal band to do after it sets the tale of Dicky Moe to a rousing blend of thrash, prog, stoner metal — then reaches the mountaintop of critical acclaim? Why, set its sights for the top of a blood mountain, of course! On this mountain,…
“I’m waist-deep in alligators,” Bill “Watermelon Slim” Homans sings on his latest album, Watermelon Slim & the Workers, “and sometimes I’m neck-deep in bullshit.” The Oklahoma-based blues singer, slide guitarist, and harmonica player has definitely seen his share of… well, trouble and contention in his day. But that’s because he…
As much as the term may scream cliché, jam band has come to represent a springboard from which imaginative artists can create progressive variations on the vocabulary popularized by the likes of Phish and the Dead. Formed ten years ago in typical fashion — on the campus of Philadelphia’s U…
At this point, the unrefined anger of youthful musical movements from decades past should have given way long ago to a more reflective kind of angst. The last thing heavy music needs is more blame-fixated material that allows listeners to wallow in finger-pointing while avoiding introspection. Thankfully, Converge frontman Jacob…
Cowboy Mouth, a we’re-from-New Orleans-and-we-won’t-let-you-forget-it rock band with heavy pop-punk leanings, espouses what can only be called a relentlessly upbeat attitude. In fact, drummer, vocalist, and bandleader Fred LeBlanc talks about it so much, both in the press and at every show, that the band’s positivity seems less like a…
It Was Free Cuz I Stole It The year in unfair shares Now is a bad time to be a giant music corporation, but ethically challenged music fans couldn’t ask for better days. Bootlegging has always been about catering directly to the fans, and the Internet breeds the best bootleggers…
In the urban music market’s equivalent of a monster truck radio voice, the ad for the Scream Tour 5 blares: “We Wanna Make You Screeeeeeeeeam!” Well, duh. With a roster like this, it kind of goes without saying that there’s going to be some screaming in the house — lots…
Let’s face it: R&B needs a savior like a burning building needs a firefighter — and everyone’s pushing for a happy ending. On his latest album, Once Again, pianist John Legend once again strides that fine (and lucrative) line between vintage R&B and modern hip-hop chic. Admirably, he pursues distinct…
Shortly after Mötley Crüe embarked on its reunion tour with promises that it would go for two years nonstop, guitarist Mick Mars checked in with New Times. Given Mars’ health problems and constant physical pain (he recently had both hips replaced and has struggled with a degenerative illness for almost…
If you’re lucky, you’ll learn about the connection between anal sex and the state of dental care in Britain at Wednesday’s Deftones show. If not, don’t worry — the answer lies on the band’s just-released platter, Saturday Night Wrist. We’re not going to spoil the surprise, but if you’ve gotten…
Focus isn’t exactly what comes to mind when you think of the Melvins, a group that has indulged its every outlandish whim for more than a decade. Despite often fascinating results, even the most devoted fans’ patience must have limits. On the flip-side, even if the Melvins pile on the…
Sure, the pairing of this superstar French actress with the adventurous electronic duo Air is bound to send novelty lovers and Francophiles into throes of self-lubricating excitement. But they’re not the only ones with a hand in 5:55. The presence of famed Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and Fela Kuti alumnus…
More so than any other high-profile traveling metal festival — Ozzfest, Blackest of the Black, Unholy Alliance, Contamination, etc. — Dave Mustaine’s Gigantour arguably draws upon a more conscious sense of metal history. Another way to put it is that Mustaine (who has been unabashed about Gigantour as a showcase…
