Golden Smog, a group featuring moonlighters from several rock and roots combos, has lingered for a long time, particularly by side-project standards. On Golden Smog, an amusingly sloppy EP, arrived circa 1992, with two enjoyable full-lengths following in 1995 and 1998. There’s been plenty of radio silence since then, but…
It’s only fitting that Pharrell Williams has finally jettisoned collaboration for a solo career. The hallmark of his six-year chart reign as half of the superproducer team the Neptunes has always been reduction, stripping down urban music to its essence. That genius remains on In My Mind — most definitively…
One of the finer punk-rock traditions, and certainly one that’s easy on the pockets, is the split album format. More than saving a little cash for the labels involved, it brings together similar bands from different parts of the world onto one slab. Such is the case with locals the…
Impeccable Blahs, the latest album by Brooklyn’s Say Hi to Your Mom, is not only the rare synth-pop project with depth; it’s also a journey through the swarm of literal and figurative bloodsuckers who walk among us. “I think that certain songs are blatantly about vampires, and other songs just…
DJ Rap’s moniker may be a little misleading in its simplicity. Created out of an early fixation with breakbeats and hip-hop, it served better as a bypass key into the cock-and-balls attitude of the club world. You see, DJ Rap (AKA Charissa Saverio) was born in Singapore and spent an…
Hank Williams Sr. is legendary. Called the “Hillbilly Shakespeare,” he lived fast, died young, and left a beautiful legacy. Hank Williams Jr. is almost as legendary as his dad. Like many sons with famous fathers, Hank II grew up in his father’s shadow; but he eventually heeded his genes’ call…
Over the past year, the Radiators have received more national and international exposure than at any point since their late-’70s launch — but the attention has come at a heavy price. The bayou-rock band calls New Orleans home, and after that city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, reporters sought out…
On a recent Friday night, the Hideout (7200 N. Dixie Hwy., Boca Raton) was hosting Skafest 11, a showing of local bands that like to get down to the upbeat. I’d been meaning to check out the bar for a while, and Skafest seemed like as good a show as…
After making a wrong turn out of Dania Jai-Alai recently, I ended up in the parking lot of the King’s Head Pub next to a red phone booth that looked like it was shipped over from London. From the outside, the place looked like a little bed-and-breakfast that belongs in…
It’s the day before the release of Jurassic 5’s third, and much-anticipated, full-length album, Feedback. J5 producer/DJ Nu-Mark is on the phone with New Times, calling from the group’s home base of Los Angeles to explain the group’s current direction. “The last couple of records were about establishing the core…
Armed with a crew of ill MCs, an arsenal of hot beats from legendary producers (Pete Rock, Large Professor, 9th Wonder, and Da Beatminerz), and a faithful following of fans, Brooklyn-based crew Boot Camp Clik has declared war on the establishment of hip-hop. Unlike that other war you may be…
Inventing punk was a dirty job. You had to make up new rules for the guitar, cram your hairy appendages into ladies’ pumps and lingerie, get hooked on hard drugs, and squeeze Howlin’ Wolf and the Shangri-Las into the same three-minute songs. That routine shortened the lives of two New…
Tom Petty is perpetually underrated. He debuted too late in pop music’s historical continuum to seem deserving of full classic-rocker status (although he’s certainly earned it by now) and came across like an apprentice rather than a peer when collaborating with the likes of Bob Dylan (a result of his…
Bored with genres? Then this is your album. Brooklyn three-piece Dub Trio contrasts quick, tight, guitar-driven metal with big, open patches of serene reggae beats and keyboards… and very few vocals. With bassist Stu Brooks, guitarist DP Holmes, and drummer Joe Tomino all doing double duty on keyboards and dubs,…
There’s an obvious kinship between roots music and punk rock. When you break it down, there probably isn’t anything more DIY than grabbing an acoustic guitar and just lettin’ loose. Perhaps that’s why there have been so many local shows that mix the two genres lately (e.g., Wayne Hancock, Legendary…
Derrick Plourde had been out of Lagwagon for nine years when he took his own life in March 2005. A founding ‘Wagoneer, Plourde kept the beat for the fast-paced, melodic punk band from 1988 until 1996, when he left to play in the Ataris. But when news of Plourde’s death…
Don’t limit BaSheBa Earth by calling her a rapper. The woman born Portia Davis is also a fashion designer and a performance artist, not to mention a lyricist with a lot more on her mind than the average rhymer. Mothership runs on consciousness, and thanks to Davis’ passion and commitment,…
Miami is hot and swampy — just like Consular’s hybrid of doom, sludge, and metal. Composed of former members of Waiting Theory, Kiss the Sun Goodbye, and iamthedevil, Consular’s sound draws heavily from the Neurosis/Melvins school of rock. Imagine extremely thick guitar riffs with tons of low end, cranked out…
Ice-T is almost 50 years old. One of the first rappers to reach the half-century mark, the man born Tracy Marrow practically invented West Coast gangsta music. Despite a successful acting career, the man who borrowed his alias from famed author/pimp Iceberg Slim is still in the hip-hop game —…
Along with Diddy and Eminem, Snoop Dogg (AKA Calvin Broadus, AKA the Doggfather) is in the household name category of rappers. People still borrow from Snoop’s slang (his hiz-ouse), and any of his album tracks, old or new, are likely to set off a college keg party… or a Long…
The recent success of Mae is proof-positive that nice guys don’t have to finish last. In fact, they can get the girl and manage to open for Weezer. Not bad for a quintet of good ol’ boys from Norfolk, Virginia, who are currently preaching the gospel of spiritual piano rock…
For someone standing so close to the stage, this guy looked kind of bored. It was like he didn’t want to be there. Now, I’m used to seeing folded arms and stone faces at rock shows — even at a place like Maguire’s Hill 16 (535 N. Andrews Ave., Fort…
