Ah, the New Year. Time of transformation, time of bubbly-spawned magic, time of awkward passes and resolutions you mean at the time. While you’re preparing for the long sled ride down Hangover Hill, here’s some topical listening material. — Jeff Shaw 5. Death Cab for Cutie, “The New Year” “So…
Go figure. But you gotta give credit where its due and as of today, Miami’s own Flo Rida has bumped Alicia Keys out of the number one spot on the Billboard charts and his song, “Low” has ascended in its place. It’s a proud day for South Florida music fans…
Dave Navarro & DJ Skribble December 22, 2007 Pawn Shop Lounge Better Than: A fistfight in front of a mirror. Contrary to unpopular opinion, kids still get riled about rock; when the rock comes dosed with bottom heavy rap, they get really riled. Make that: really, really riled. Witness Dave…
With his long dreadlocks, croaking voice, and penchant for zaniness, Lil Wayne is an unpredictable MC. He’s also a prolific one, releasing albums and mixtapes by the handful. In 2007, he recorded guest verses with everyone from Shakira and Beyoncé to Chris Brown and Little Brother. But his newest collaboration…
It’s easy to assume that reggae music is a product of Jamaica alone. The island has produced all of the genre’s biggest names for the past 40 years, and it’s still ground zero when it comes to discovering what’s hot. Reggae music was undoubtedly born in Jamaica, but if you…
Rick James had it wrong. That girl he sang about in “Super Freak”? She doesn’t even come close to the world’s freakiest super freak: R. Kelly. The R&B chart-topper, alleged pedophile, and consummate booty-lover can’t even tour without causing tons of controversy. A few years ago, Kelly abruptly left his…
This has been a sad year for some of our favorite musical artists. Many of them self-destructed to a degree we never even imagined possible, even as we rooted for career salvation. Others inexplicably ruined events we were greatly looking forward to. Instead of analyzing what went wrong, we’ve chosen…
Now that you’re done being good girls and boys for Santa, it’s time to pull out the lollipops and get ready for Candyland. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, just head to VooDoo Lounge on Friday to experience the grandiose lifestyle that once was the beloved rave…
If you’re as sick as we are of hearing trite, toe-the-line renditions of holiday classics on throwaway compilations put out solely to feed the commercialization of Christmas, then Psychostick’s Flesh Eating Rollerskate Holiday Joyride may be just the coal you need in your stocking. The comical metal band throws “tidings…
If “world jazz” were a legitimate genre (which it should be), then South Florida-based musician Macarldie Nibbs’ newest release, Moving On, would be the perfect album to bear its name. Too often, more popular forms of global jazz, such as Latin jazz, African jazz, and Brazilian jazz, get dumped into…
Around midnight, it seems like most of the rock ‘n’ roll fans in the county are squished into Swampgrass Willy’s, in the heart of Palm Beach Gardens, trying to celebrate with their hometown heroes. This is Big Bang Radio’s album-release party, and considering the fantastic yet turbulent year it’s had,…
In 1984, the ad wizards at the Gillette razor company offered Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill, lead vocalists of legendary blues-rock band ZZ Top, a million dollars each to shave off their infamously thick, long, awesome beards. Wisely, the men turned the offer down. “We’re too ugly without ’em,” they…
In some ways, Atlanta quintet Sevendust could be compared to Deftones. Both bands started out with some serious nü-metal tendencies, which got them swept up in that genre’s commercial rise in the late ’90s and subsequent fall in the early ’00s. Both bands featured versatile, distinctive singers who managed to…
Good luck finding Derek Trucks in his hometown of Jacksonville. Though Trucks and his spouse, four-time Grammy nominee Susan Tedeschi, own a home there, the 28-year-old slide guitarist is on the road more often than not. Besides leading his own eponymous blues-based collective, Trucks is a full-time member of the…
There’s something deeply compelling about the voice and spiritual lilt of Brazilian samba singer Maria Rita. Upon first listening to her newest album, Samba Meu, you’re instantly transported beyond your car speakers or headphones to the nightclubs of Sao Paulo, where samba reigns supreme. Unlike Rita’s (pronounced HEE-tah) first two…
Beanie Sigel’s rough-and-ready new CD, The Solution, stands in contrast to the latest from his mentor, Jay-Z. American Gangster saw Jay reminiscing about the days before he settled into his plush corporate lifestyle, but Sigel is still living hard. Having been acquitted of attempted murder and done a prison stint…
There’s a photo on the inside of Lagos by Bus that shows 13 of the group’s members backstage before an opening gig for Femi Kuti in Lagos. It is, needless to say, a prestigious show for the Afrobeat-oriented collective. More interesting, though, is how the white faces in the photo…
Melbourne, Australia, is known for a lot of things to Americans: kangaroos, crocodiles, Outback Steakhouse, and, oh yeah, having good music from “down under.” Most gringos don’t really know what that “good music” is; we just hear that it’s different and good. If you want to get an idea of…
Bill’s Filling Station 2209 Wilton Dr. Wilton Manors 954-567-5978 Wednesday marks the midway point of the workweek. It usually marks ladies night too. But this is a good ol’ boys bar. At Bill’s Filling Station (by far one of the coolest bar names I’ve come across), you won’t see any…
A couple of weeks ago, we posted video here at CrossFade of South Florida’s mixtape king, DJ GQ chilling in the studio with his friend DMX. The video ended up all over YouTube, and every other viral video website and essentially played on the fact that DMX looked like he…
MSNBC is reporting that Jay-Z is resigning as president of Def Jam records at the end of this year. He took over post three years ago when former boss Lyor Cohen left the position to become the chief executive at Warner Music Group. Yesterday’s move isn’t surprising (his artists have…
Okay, I admit to reading this on Perez Hilton first, but the Miami Herald’s also got the whole scoop. In a nutshell, Mr. 305 got caught driving drunk early this morning. The story kinda deserves LOLz, though, for how ultimately Miami it is. First, he didn’t get busted on South…
