Music

Although standout actress Aishwarya Rai’s pretty face adorns the cover of the newly released The Rough Guide to Bollywood Gold, the music presented here has little to do with the young crossover star of Bride and Prejudice. The tunes, however, are all representative of the golden era of Bollywood films…

It’s not always obvious from what we’re exposed to in this dance-centric part of the state, but Florida used to be a fairly reliable bastion for rock ‘n’ roll. Just check out the list of former homeboys — the Allman Brothers, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Buffett, the Mavericks, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and…

Guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer is a strange duck. Though he started out in jazz organ combos, Ulmer made his rep with avant-jazz icon Ornette Coleman in the latter’s ebullient “harmolodic” period. But in the mid-1980s, Ulmer began upping the ubiquitous blues elements of his playing — and singing — until…

Most cover albums typically feature an established artist paying respect to some of his favorite musicians, and they’re lucky if they match the original material. But Version, the newest release from London-born, New York-bred DJ/producer-of-the-moment Mark Ronson, essentially smashes a group of remixes from homegrown English artists such as the…

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…

It’s almost midnight in the lobby of the Jacksonville Sheraton Hotel, and Grandmaster Dee, legendary DJ and key member of Whodini, is acting the fool. With his low-cropped fade, blue Jumpman tracksuit, and white sneakers, he does not stand out as a celebrity at all. That’s the problem — or…

Jackson Ellis is freaking out. In late April, the 26-year-old publisher of the independent music and fiction magazine Verbicide got word that starting July 15, his shipping rates would increase by 30 to 40 percent. “It’s not going to be the thing that kills me, but coupled with the lack…

Here’s the secret about nerdcore: Either you get it or you don’t. This hip-hop subgenre is essentially music for folks who enjoy tinkering around with the insides of PlayStations and quoting from Star Wars like it’s Scripture. As for Frontalot, well, he’s nerdcore’s disseminator, originator, and poster child all wrapped…

The calypso anthem “Big Tingz” on Kingston-based singer Nadine Sutherland’s new album, Call My Name, would be the perfect opener for the annual Memorial Day Fest at Miami’s Bayfront Park. You can visualize people balling out “yeah” in a sea of Caribbean flags as Nadine calls out the people of…

Maybe it’s the long nights with nothing to do but take drugs and play music, or maybe it’s their position outside of America’s mainstream, but whatever the case, Norway’s 120 Days has managed to create a murky, driving album that puts the relentless pulse of synthetic percussion and old, cheesy…

Wilco may be the essence of eclectic indulgence. Shedding their Americana visage with 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, they successfully redefined themselves as an experimental outfit dealing in atmospheric soundscapes and sonic contradiction. Their daring was rewarded with a pair of Grammy nods for their follow-up, A Ghost Is Born, while…

Although her flamboyant outfits have never been polite, Björk’s past few albums certainly have been. The ice-crystal percussion and melodies on Vespertine were stunning but mannered, like an immaculately decorated parlor, while the nearly a cappella Medulla — an album in which beatboxing and throat-singing replaced traditional instrumentation — felt…