During a President’s Day weekend show last month in San Francisco, Michael Franti and his band, Spearhead, temporarily ceded the stage to a handful of fans who had won a “Letters to the President” contest sponsored by the group. There was plenty of vitriol in the air, and one letter,…
Here’s a good rule to follow: You should never trust what critics have to say about music, since most critics, as far as this journalist can tell, don’t even trust what other critics have to say about music. Here’s another good rule to follow: Ignore that first rule if the…
There’s no worse feeling as a music writer than having a local band blow up right under your nose and gain national acclaim without your hearing a word about them. It’s not a common occurrence, but when it happens, all you can do is dust yourself off, swallow that lump…
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…
Miami-based Tiempo Libre is in high demand these days. The band of Cuban immigrants is popping up everywhere across South Florida, playing for high school students in Boca Raton one moment, then grooving in South Beach jazz clubs the next. We’re not saying the impending death of Fidel Castro has…
Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible is a dense, academic, and ultimately rewarding album fixated on questions of spirituality, religion, and the concept of self — and more specifically, how to reconcile these things in a bleak world where uncertainty is the norm, hope seems dead, and God isn’t exactly benevolent. (That…
Legendary Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil has always stood out when it comes to musical production. After the Tropicalia phenomenon he helped create in the 1960s went global, Gil left it alone. As new-wave samba and bossa nova gained foreign acclaim in the early 1970s, Gil steered away from those genres…
For certain hip-hoppers affiliated with J Dilla, making music without the legendary producer just isn’t the same since he passed away. He helped a slew of average MCs get a rep, but his beats were so crisp and mind-boggling, it was easy to forget how pedestrian some of his friends…
Sure, Mary Karlzen sings like a coal miner’s daughter and lives in Wisconsin, but she’s originally a South Florida home girl who got her break with local outfit Y&T Music. Her third album, Dim the Watershed, released on Y&T in 2000, helped legitimize the hype regarding South Florida’s musical talent…
So the Langerado Music Festival is here again. Hippies will flood the scene, campsites will be booked up, and the price of magic mushrooms should skyrocket all over town. But as last year’s festival proved, the event isn’t all about jam bands. The City of Sunrise will pulsate with the…
There’s an element of Delta blues that’s as mysterious today as it was in the 1920s. Sure, Robert Johnson isn’t around to make deals with the devil (at least, we don’t think so), but there’s still something spooky lurking in the music of the delta that’s akin to Santeria or…
Is there such a thing as fate in musical collaborations? There is if you’re former sElf frontman Matt Mahaffey and former God Lives Underwater guru Jeff Turzo. The pair came together after each found himself watching videos of the other’s band on MTV’s 120 Minutes — the station had confused…
The fifth edition of the Langerado Music Festival arrives with a ton of hype, a couple of megastars on the bill, and lots of bands flying in from across North America to participate. It’s arguably the biggest party in Broward County all year, and for those of us who take…
“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…
On his previous album, Joyful Rebellion, Canadian rapper k-os shouted defensive lyrics like “Hip-hop is not dead/it’s the mind of the MC.” That particular rhyme got him in trouble with critics who saw the Toronto-based lyricist as a preachy preacher’s kid proselytizing the masses. And k-os actually is a preacher’s…
Because jazz sitarist/guitarist Rez Abbasi was born in Pakistan, studied in India, grew up in Los Angeles, and paid his dues in NYC, it’s safe to say he’s the prime example of what it takes to have a genuinely global sound. Trying to hang a rudimentary genre handle on Abbasi…
Jamaican singer Richie Spice is approaching dancehall music from a vastly different angle than most of his peers do. Despite growing up in the rough parish of St. Andrews, Spice’s smooth vocals and delicate songwriting is in stark contrast to most of the soundbwoy fi dead shit-talk proliferating throughout the…
Sexually inquisitive college girls have Ani DiFranco. Metaphysically minded faerie fetishists have Tori Amos. And aging Gen-X hipsters have Kristin Hersh. Of the three women, the latter is the most underrated and vital artist and probably the most normal. On Learn to Sing Like a Star — her 21st release…
Laurie Jennings understands the merits of being a singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. As former proprietor of Homestead’s now-defunct Mainstreet Café, she not only developed a solid reputation by booking nationally renowned folk acts but also frequently performed with her own house band, the Pathfinders. Although the club is now closed,…
It’s less than a week before Fat Tuesday, and Phil Frazier finds himself in a good place: watching a parade in his beloved New Orleans. He can’t resist putting his phone on speaker and holding it toward the marchers’ music. Frazier, a tuba player, loves parades, and he loves his…
The name of artsy reggae band Dubconscious suggests everything audiences can expect to hear in concert. The well-traveled eight-piece group is known for its experimental dub sets and progressive lyrics that are fun to dance to and good for the spirit. There is a slight hippie vibe to the band…
