Thanks to the Diplo-inspired popularity of “favela booty beats” among U.S. audiences, there’s a certain expectation of unhinged rhythmic fire and verbal violence when it comes to Brazilian hip-hop… especially the type emerging from the slums of Rio de Janeiro. This multifaceted compilation from the upstart, “socially conscious” Verge label…
“Our Bovine Public” starts off the new album by the Cribs as an opening shot across the bow of the container ship that is the modern world. Or maybe that’s not the point at all and there are no deeper meanings. It’s hard to tell when every punk and indie…
One thing you notice about Breathing Under Water is that Shankar was willing to go beyond the confines of classical Indian music (her previous discs contained material written by her father, legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar, who guests on the disc). Kale’s sonic textures, which blend Western, Eastern, and electronic…
If there’s one thing the bulk of Bob Marley’s children are good at, it’s carrying the legacy of reggae forward in ways that most people wouldn’t expect. It’s a big part of what’s helped Damian, Stephen, Ziggy, Julian, and now Ky-Mani stand out from the lion’s den of today’s dancehall…
You know, Radiohead, I was just about to go to sleep when I checked my email one last time. And lo and behold, the download code for your new CD, In Rainbows, popped up in my inbox. *sigh* I didn’t need sleep anyway. Since the rest of the blogosphere is…
I love love love Little Steven, of his eponymous weekly syndicated Underground Garage radio show (and 24-hour station on Sirius!). (Locally, listen in on Sunday night/Monday morning from midnight to 2:00 a.m. on BIG 105.9 FM, the only time you will hear something beyond the station’s seeming 20-song “classic rock”…
Everyone was atwitter about this year’s edition of the Bang! Music festival, which started in 2005. On one hand, people were amped to see blabbermouth Kanye West and the recently reunited (sans James Iha) Smashing Pumpkins on the lineup. On the other hand, there was the strange mix of the…
Ministry The Last Sucker (13th Planet/Megaforce) If The Last Sucker is, as leader Al Jourgensen says, Ministry’s swan song, fans are not left wanting. From the assault of opener “Let’s Go,” the album recalls the thick groove and overall intensity of The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste, churning…
Few people in rock need less of an introduction than Slash, the legendary former ax man for Guns N Roses who built that band’s epic sound with his deft, but economical and sexy, riffage. Since 2002 he’s been one-fifth of what is now Velvet Revolver, along with former GNR bandmates…
Jenny Lewis Photo by Jamie Puntumkhul Rilo Kiley Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale October 1, 2007 Better than: A three-way between a man, me, and Jim. The Review: The last time Rilo Kiley ventured down to South Florida it was roughly two years ago at the I/O Lounge. They performed for about…
Fight Klub Buck 15 October 2, 2007 Better Than: Getting lost in Liberty City on your way to the beach. The Review: The first time I went to South Beach, I got attacked by a beautifull cross-dresser. So, I never know what to expect when I’m in the area. On…
In the South we’re all about Soulja Boy, but up in New York City, a girl named Tokyo Diva and her crew are showing us how the ’80s babies do it on her block — in neon leggings, big-print t-shirts and thick, gold dookie rope chains. In part, the style…
Feeling a bit nostalgic and blue today. Can’t explain why, but this old Mazzy Star video from 1993 seems to fit the mood perfectly. It was off their stellar, So Tonight That I Might See album which is worth revisiting if you haven’t listened to it in awhile and is…
Miami’s favorite youth football coach, Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell is back in the news again, but for a good cause. He’s reaching out to folks in the hip-hop industry and gathering support for the Third Annual Battle of the Stars Celebrity Football Tournament to be held in Miami next year…
About two years ago, Jason Tyler lost everything in a Chicago house fire that was started accidentally by a superstar DJ and good friend. Then he spent a couple of semihomeless weeks in New York writing and recording an entire album with nothing more than a laptop that he carried…
Navigating a path in the world of reggae is no easy task. The terrain is rough, there’s an endless supply of talent, and Jamaican record companies are notoriously shifty. Think the odds are bad now? Twenty years ago, they were worse. And one accomplished reggae DJ’s uphill battle was even…
The year was 1988. The “golden era” of hip-hop was in full effect, and practically every rap record to hit the radio left a lasting impression. Almost two decades later, not all of those songs can still get folks on the dance floor like they used to. But Rob Base…
The good news: Slash’s photo appeared on the August 9 cover of Rolling Stone just as his current band, Velvet Revolver, was releasing a new CD, Libertad. The bad news: The image pictured him with Guns N’ Roses, whose most famous album, Appetite for Destruction, hit stores 20 years ago…
As Iggy Pop, he was (and is) one of rock’s wildest wildmen: a performer who might abuse the worst kind of drugs imaginable, bloodily mutilate himself on stage, or launch himself into a frenzied audience that might just as easily part like the Red Sea as catch him safely. As…
After weeks of uncertainty and bad press, Caribbean Carnival weekend is finally here. The fetes have begun, and they’ll continue for the next four to five days as partiers pour into South Florida by the tens of thousands. Hotels are filling up, masqueraders are putting the finishing touches on their…
Given the advances in digital studio equipment, cutting an album in analog can be both more difficult and more expensive than using readily available modern gear. Ben Harper preferred the old-school experience, however, so he and his band laid down Lifeline fast and dirty using a 16-track console. The results…
This Austin group is far from catholic in its approach to indie rock. Though pegged as “experimentalists,” the Octopus Project is more than capable of delivering the pop goods. And despite the members’ tendency toward vintage electronic equipment like theremins, the group’s passion for tweaking the capabilities of modern recording…
