Bob Dylan is the kind of iconic musician than breeds obsessive – and discerning – fans. It’s natural, then, that Dylan devotees would be split over I’m Not There, an experimental biographical movie directed by Todd Haynes. Here, Dylan is portrayed by six different actors (Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard…
Outspoken rapper, actor, and activist Mos Def is voicing his anger at the hip-hop community for their lack of support for the Jena 6. He’s been in Louisiana of late, marching and performing, but recently spoke out about feeling alone within the hip-hop community when it comes to standing up…
You be the judge. He is looking mighty ripped these days. First 50 Cent rumors of steroid use swirled, then it was Busta Rhymes and Timbaland (and rightfully so, who are we kidding) but now it’s Dr. Dre? The 42-year-old Compton native recently appeared on television looking like he could…
If 2Pac’s legendary status within urban America is to be examined, folks should start with the video below. Released in 1991 on his stellar 2Pacalypse Now album, “Brenda’s Got a Baby” is one of the most poignant songs to ever be composed within the genre of hip-hop. They’re bold words,…
So, word is on the other side of the pond, French kids like Cali, le super clubber, above, are all into this “tecktonik” dancing business. Agence France-Presse has hailed it “a new homespun urban dance phenomenon … a mix of hip-hop and techno dance.” Um… well, Cali here is certainly…
Stevie B Thursday, September 20, 2007 Nectar Lounge The Review: It’s a sad thing when your life peeks at 13. Ever wonder what those kids that used to rule the roller skating rink grew up to look like? Well, kind of the same – ghetto-fabulous in tight clothes and big…
Got this letter in our e-mail today. “Today I stopped by a health food store (Wild Oats) on S. Dixie Highway for my weekly shopping, and was met by the most astounding music from local musician, Peter Betan, playing pieces from his CD, PassionFix (which I bought). Now, I’m not…
Duncan Sheik w/ Holly Brook September 22, 2007 The Theatre, West Palm Beach Better than: MTV Unplugged The Review: Politically charged lyrics that are shrouded in double entendres, Buddhist sensibilities and laid-bare songwriting are the hallmarks of a Duncan Sheik semi-acoustic show. Known for his chart-topping “Barely Breathing,” which garnered…
Interview: John Ralston Born and bred in Lake Worth, John Ralston first hit the national music scene as the leader of Legends of Rodeo, a quartet that tended towards a sort of whiskey-soaked, on-the-road wistfulness. After recording for both Vagrant and MCA, the band, as all bands do, started to…
Since it’s Friday and folks are only a matter of hours away from blowing off steam, here’s some music to whet your dancehall sensibilities. –Jonathan Cunningham…
Miami fans of intelligent, funky grooves and beats: This edition of the weekly Switch dance party at PS14 is for you. The star of the evening? The DJ/producer born Adam Dorn, a.k.a. Mocean Worker, known by the downbeat cognoscenti for his funk-inflected, organic take on jazzy drum ‘n’ bass, breaks,…
Interpol singer Paul Banks Interpol September 19, 2007 BankUnited Center Better Than: The big bright dark of a full-on eclipse. The Review: Sure it’s nice to know people, but it’s really nice to know cool people, and at last night’s BankUnited Interpol show, cool converged in abundance. From the editor…
Broward County hip-hop acts are often looked at as second-class citizens next to rappers from Miami-Dade. Fair or not, MCs on both sides of the county line know it’s a fact. Although most hip-hoppers north of the 305 are lobbying for R-E-S-P-E-C-T, here’s a local crew that’s taking the opposite…
If you somehow don’t remember Trey Songz from his 2005 debut album, I Gotta Make It, you’ll know his name two weeks from now when his follow-up, Trey Day, hits the streets and solidifies his place in the new wave of R&B elite. Songz, 22, is a young buck —…
Listening to Dashboard Confessional can sometimes be like picking at a scab or poking at a cavity — vaguely painful and enjoyable at the same time, weirdly compelling and hard to stop. But not because the music, now fleshed out by a full band but masterminded by Boca Raton native…
The blues isn’t the type of music a performer can just jump into, but if you’ve ever been kicked around and left for dead, it could be your thing. Spend a little time with John Lee Hooker Jr. and you quickly realize that this singer and composer, despite the famous…
Kanye West and 50 Cent are the two biggest drama queens to hit pop music since Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop, and that’s not a bad thing. Hip-hop, still the voice of young black America, is only going to get louder and prouder as it goes along, if only because…
Pop stars are always putting on a show. They’ve got their down moments, sure, but if lights are flashing, cameras are rolling, or a reporter is in the room, then a diva will always act like a diva. Not necessarily a bad thing — just a simple fact of life…
James Joyce is best-known as an Irishman, despite being one of the greatest authors of the 20th Century. Everything he wrote was infused with his heritage and the struggles that came with such a life, and such is the same for the Dropkick Murphys — a bunch of Americans of…
The fact that he brought home an armful of honors at the recent Tony Awards — thanks to his sensational smash-hit musical Spring Awakening — may have led some unaware observers to believe that Duncan Sheik has always been a Broadway bard. In fact, Sheik started his career as a…
Call it down-home or downcast; the Everybodyfields’ restless recasting of neo-Appalachian folk tradition is nothing if not emotive. The title of their third album, Nothing Is Okay, may suggest a certain pessimistic perspective, and while cochairs Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews tend to skew their sound toward more melancholic musings,…
Catalonia falls into that deliciously saccharine category of local acts that includes, among others, Secret P.E. Club, Humbert, and Map of the Universe. Its base is solidly built on the sonic foundation of American garage, Britpop, psych-pop, and jazzy bossa nova. Operating as a foursome on this recording (currently a…
