Although he hasn’t made much of a splash on this side of the pond, Paul Weller’s British career marks him as one of the most successful artists to emerge from the punk/new-wave scene. This CD sampler culls 23 tunes from the four-CD, 67-track Hit Parade retrospective box, and although it’s…
Established in 1996 by producer Chris “Peanut Butter Wolf” Manak, Stones Throw serves as a benchmark for innovative hip-hop music. This compilation, originally released last year as an in-store exclusive through Guitar Center, arrives at the height of the L.A.-based imprint’s popularity. It collects underground hits (Lootpack’s “Whenimondamic” and Aloe…
It’s good finally to hear an LP from Cali-via-Detroit hip-hop darling Ta’Raach, who has been stuck in “next to blow up” status for, well, the bulk of his life. While rapping under the name Lacks in the late ’90s, he helped start a makeshift group called the Breakfast Club with…
Fall Out Boy is its own best friend and its own worst enemy. But subpar live shows, photos of bassist Pete Wentz’s penis, and Internet fights with ex-friends (see askheychris.livejournal.com/93593.html) can’t seem to stop the pop-punk juggernaut. The Chicago quartet addresses criticism head-on in this release, slyly incorporating a response…
Queens-bred, Broward-based lyricist Dynas has put out an impressive limited-edition mixtape, Street Skriptures, that unabashedly “borrows” beats and vocals from other producers. Corporate attorneys would call such an act theft, but hey, this is hip-hop. Jacking beats is a 25-year-old habit within the genre, and on Street Skriptures, Dynas does…
Celebrated New Orleans trumpeter Irvin Mayfield experienced the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina up close— his city washed away before his eyes, and his father, Irvin Mayfield Sr., died in the aftermath of the storm. It’s a macabre story, but the upside is that the gifted horn player now leads a…
After originating in Japan’s heavily theatrical makeup- and aesthetic-driven “visual-kei” music scene several years ago, Dir en grey comes to Fort Lauderdale to embark upon its first-ever headline tour of the United States. The Osaka-based band eases between death metal, thrash, goth, glam, and straight-ahead hard rock with a fluidity…
Orlando isn’t necessarily known for hip-hop. Though definitely the breakbeat capital of the state, O-Town doesn’t get much credit for anything else. So it’s good to know a hip-hop crew like Sol.illaquists of Sound exists. If you are not familiar with Sol.illa, think De La Soul-style wordplay with the stage…
It’s hard to believe it was only a year ago that beat-maker J Dilla passed away from complications due to lupus. At the time, he’d just released his instrumental project, Donuts, arguably the best album of his career, on his 32nd birthday. He died three days later. Naturally, the album…
There aren’t too many MCs in hip-hop that get as much respect as Rakim. He’s got the stage presence of a legend and rocks a party like its 1987 every time he touches a microphone. Starting off his career as one half of Erik B. & Rakim, he helped change…
St. John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish mystic, described something called “the dark night of the soul,” which he defined as that necessary descent on the way to salvation. His visions in the abyss of self-reflection were weird, beautiful, and (in hindsight) all the redemption he needed. Fast-forward to…
There aren’t too many bands in South Florida that pride themselves on making truck-driving music. The sweaty-armpit-style, four-to-the-floor country rock that’s almost nonexistent around these parts, might have a sizable audience — but there aren’t that many venues where you can still relax and hear it. So it’s no wonder…
Black Milk is becoming the hip-hop junkie’s newest fix. Born Curtis Cross, he’s been creeping toward brand-name status since his 2005 debut album, Sound of the City. Until then, Black Milk was known strictly as a producer, so his pinpoint lyricism caught critics by surprise. His ability as an MC…
Although he never achieved the same fame as his peers — a group that includes Augustus Pablo and Tommy McCook — the late Jackie Mittoo (1948-1990) was a major player in the history of reggae, rock steady, and ska. Mittoo was an ace on the keyboards, a charter member of…
Like Public Enemy and the Wu-Tang Clan, the five pioneering group members of N.W.A were a revolutionary bunch that changed music with unabated street rhymes composed within the framework of gangster rap. However, no rappers were oppressed like Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Yella, and the late Eazy-E —…
The Postmarks make music that, at times, is part Burt Bacharach, part Beach Boys, and part folk rock. That’s an odd blend in 2007, but this emo-pop trio knows how to bring it together. The Postmarks have appeared in this rag before and have raised their profile since we last…
James Cotton cut his teeth playing mouth harp with Sonny Boy Williamson at the tender age of 9 in the Mississippi Delta. His blues harmonica has influenced rock legends such as Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. To get a sense of how much mileage Cotton has under his belt,…
Goth is like the wasting disease. It’s all about death, but you can never quite get rid of it. There are plenty of willing participants in South Florida all dressed up for funerals, but is there really anywhere to go? A couple of local goths didn’t think so, and they’ve…
It’s visualization time, folks. So go ahead, close your eyes, and imagine an endless stretch of cliffs overlooking a slate-gray ocean, with cold waves crashing like reverberating feedback. A thick, moist fog clings to everything save a constellation of volcanoes dotting the landscape; each one sporadically shoots clouds of television…
What’s left for an ambitious metal band to do after it sets the tale of Dicky Moe to a rousing blend of thrash, prog, stoner metal — then reaches the mountaintop of critical acclaim? Why, set its sights for the top of a blood mountain, of course! On this mountain,…
Sheila Witkin was the type of fly on the wall that never got swatted. Her contributions to South Florida’s music scene in the late 1970s by way of promotion and artist development was a critical component of what gave this region an identity when it came to indie rock. And…
Jazz and hip-hop once constituted a popular combination thanks to the likes of Gang Starr and A Tribe Called Quest. And while the mainstream has seemingly lost its taste for the blend, there’s plenty of flavor left in it — at least when Future Jazz Project is plugged in. The…
