The Duchess The Duchess is all over the place; she spins breaks, drum ’n’ bass, house, instrumental hip-hop, R&B, funk, disco, ’80s dance, progressive, and ambient. In addition to being a DJ (she also spins under the name DJ Mizz K), she’s an MC, recently signed with a local indie…
Time Well Spent (Parasol) The genesis of the South Florida duo Time Well Spent is one of love — love for ’60s psych, ’70s soft rock, and a man named Burt. Vocalist Casey Fundaro (the nephew of Three Dog Night’s Danny Hutton) and guitarist/pianist Christopher Moll (formerly of locals See…
It was the fall or winter of 1995, and I was standing in front of the stage at the Edge in Fort Lauderdale, being throttled by a throng of sweaty, mohawked kids while trying in vain to chain-smoke the pack of cigarettes I had stolen from my mom. It was…
Chances are you’ve heard at least a bit of Motorcycle’s “As the Rush Comes,” the techno-house dance-floor burner that’s probably spinning at a club as you read this. The men behind the fist-pumping song are dance hit makers Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden, but those seductive vocals are all singer…
Morrissey fans are just plain weird. Case in point — the Moz’s message board on his website, where fans can discuss all things Morrissey. A sampling: “Early on in the show I managed to shake (or rather, grasp) his hand while he walked by us at the front of the…
The Anti-Sessions has been a collaborative effort of local musicians rocking against the current shrub in office, kind of like a smaller version of Bands Against Bush. As the last chance to snag any undecided voters, “The Anti-Sessions: Final Volume” features several bands with equally shady records and questionable pasts…
After parting ways with a major label and dealing with the loss of his father, Dave Wyndorf and company have bounced back with a new lineup, label, and record. Monolithic Baby surpasses 2001’s God Says No as straight-ahead stoner rock. “The Right Stuff” is the ballsiest Lemmy-era Hawkwind tribute anyone…
This sobering admission was heard at the Pixies show at Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton: Young girl on hot pink cell phone: Well, I told her to stop tanning so much. Now what boy is going to talk to her? Well, maybe if she gets some decent highlights…..
Brian Wilson’s story is one of creativity and commerce, about trying to make the most innovative, divine music in the world. It’s also about a dysfunctional family, about a tyrannical father who beat him so hard that he went deaf in one ear, about brothers who lent him the voices…
It’s gotta be the biscuits, because good things keep coming out of North Carolina. The Tarheel state is chock-full of Southern gems, and musically, it’s long been an incubator for such rock landscapers as Superchunk, Polvo, Archers of Loaf, and the little labels that could, Merge and Mr. Lady Records…
Real Gone, Tom Waits’ first record since the double-whammy of Alice and Blood Money in 2002, clanks and wheezes and wails and pontificates, alternating cacophonous, uptempo tunes with theatrical narratives and Quaalude reggae. It’s a great Waits record, populated, as always, with loners, losers, and outsiders. Recorded real loud, Real…
The Prodigy came of age when big pants and even bigger beats reigned supreme in England, but the band became known to most Americans in 1997 with the sadistic metal twang of “Firestarter.” Outgunned, its first proper studio disc since that time and first without spiky-haired barker Keith Flint, hasn’t…
On the heels of Tijuana’s Julieta Venegas’ alt-pop smash hit and Latin Grammy winner Sí comes yet another Mexican norteña that should make as much noise. Monterrey-born Ely Guerra’s fourth album is truthful to its name. It has a strong pop element during the “sweet and sour” segment (the first…
Not since the late Bobby Darin has there been a talent as protean as Dolly Parton: She’s straddled both the Top 40 pop and country music charts; she’s mainlined Vegas glitz into bluegrass; and she’s found time to sing with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, act in Hollywood movies, and open Dollywood,…
Yes, it’s true: The Beastie Boys are pushing 40. As their original fan base comes to terms with being 30- and 40-somethings, the Beasties have responded by looking to the past on their latest CD. To the Five Boroughs represents a throwback to the formative days of rap music, casting…
Say It Loud The cats from Shuttle Lounge, South Florida’s blue-drink-swigging lounge band, answer the question: Besides Labor Day, when is public nudity OK? Dik Shuttle: Whenever you’re unable to pay your hotel bar tab and want to get out, quick! Ca$$iu$: Public nudity is only OK within the context…
Imagine you’re cutting through the dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean in a cigarette boat stashed with several hundred pounds of cocaine and a Coast Guard helicopter hot on your ass. Now you can have the soundtrack to that little fantasy. Now It’s Overhead, the brainchild of Athens, Georgia, producer…
Mouse on Mars are the young lions of German techno, their squishy, bulbous music so thoroughly modern and forward-looking that it makes Kraftwerk sound like an old Volkswagen. Ten years after their debut, the duo of Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma remains well ahead of the curve, but Radical…
When Ronnie James Dio was in Black Sabbath in the early ’80s, it may have been hard for him to express his inner self. Left to his own devices, though, Dio let his imagination loose in Dungeons and Dragons land. And there it has stayed, from the opening strains of…
Overheard This frightening exchange was heard outside the Poor House in Fort Lauderdale on a recent Friday night: Drunken man: All I’m saying is, our whole society is just gonna be fucked if Bush wins this election, and people — people our age — don’t even seem to give a…
Talib Kweli has been called a revolutionary, a philosopher, a teacher, a social critic who waxes poetic on the black community’s travails. While he doesn’t necessarily accept these labels, his latest CD, The Beautiful Struggle, most definitely is a solid foundation for this talented MC. Kweli’s struggle doesn’t feature the…
