Christian-irking until its dying breath, Slayer has been the face of thrash music for more than 20 years. In 1986, the band — pioneers of a breakneck, full-throttle sound that combines demented guitar solos; thunderous, double-bass-drum kicks; and toxic bellowing with surgical precision — released Reign in Blood, a work…
The citywide blowjob known as the MTV Video Music Awards reached its apex on Saturday, August 28, the night before the ceremony. Washington and Collins avenues in Miami Beach were clogged with limousines, Hummers, and their poorer Ford and Chevy cousins. The clubs were packed, people were pushed against the…
Martina Topley-Bird is the female vocalist who was the focal point of Tricky’s groundbreaking first three albums. Back then, the two switched traditional roles, with Topley-Bird playing the male to Tricky’s female side. Five years after the duo’s split, Topley-Bird released the essence of her very feminine being in a…
If a spaceship crash-landed in a bourbon-swilling state like Louisiana or Kentucky, the soundtrack reverberating through the smoky haze of smoldering metal would be Comets on Fire’s Blue Cathedral. With their latest release, these Bay Area hellbenders up the noise-rock ante, punctuating a crisper sound with deafening angst and matured…
Dan “The Automator” Nakamura isn’t infallible, but he’s damn close. From Doctor Octagon to Handsome Boy Modeling School to Gorillaz, the respected beat-maker and producer has parlayed a string of innovative collaborations into almost universal critical praise. His latest project, a partnership with vocalist Daryl Palumbo of the emo-core juggernaut…
The title to Damon Gough’s latest epic should be a crystal-clear indicator of what you will hear over the course of the hour. One Plus One Is One is a 60-minute, 16-track musical journey through tales of infatuation, heartbreak, and loneliness, always bringing Gough back to square one. And while…
By now, Gary Lightbody is probably bloody well sick of the c word. Despite the success of Snow Patrol’s latest album, the gorgeous Final Straw, the Irish front man of the buzz-heavy group can’t avoid the Coldplay comparisons. You’d think no one else knew how to craft intricate make-out music…
It’s a shame that in recent years, the magnitude of techno-heralds Orbital was scuttled by the wayside. Sure, 2001’s The Altogether was lackluster, but who knew the undeservedly harsh reaction might’ve been the catalyst for the Hartnoll brothers’ untimely dissolution? Blue Album is the duo’s swan song after 15 years,…
Ah, Hanson. Were we ever so young? Fondly remembered for their supremely catchy and overplayed hit “MMMBop,” the brothers Hanson exploded onto the airwaves in the late ’90s before exploding into puberty. Their most recent album, Underneath, shows how much the boys have matured since the “MMMBop” days. A couple…
Bay Area noisemaker Kid 606 (Miguel Depedro) would like to think he’s killed sound. After all, his last two albums were called Who Still Kill Sound? and Kill Sound Before It Kills You. But just to mess with our heads, he creates albums full of sounds, overflowing with sounds. He…
Who needs drugs? Martyr AD’s April release from Victory Records, On Earth as It Is in Hell, is much cheaper for gripping your brain in a vise and giving it a good, heady scrambling. “This is the sound of three years of discontent and corrosion of life and society around…
It might trip people out to discover that some lucky individuals have an uncanny ability to see sound. Whereas the rest of us must ingest massive amounts of acid to Technicolor our world, these people are born with a gene that produces kaleidoscopic visuals 24 hours a day. Synesthesia, as…
The following conversation was heard at Dicey Riley’s, 217 SW Second St., Fort Lauderdale: Man: Wanna dance? Woman: You know, I really can’t. I’ve been sick all week. Man: That’s the worst excuse I’ve ever heard. Woman: No, seriously. I was laid up for, like, five days. Man: Uh-huh. Well,…
Check out Bleubird, the Secondhand Outfit, DJ Immortal, the LeftOvaz, All Good, and Anonymous Syntax at 8 p.m. Friday, August 27, at the hip-hop garage sale, Seventh Avenue Recovery Center, 16 NE Fourth St., Fort Lauderdale, 954-779-7041.
Myk Porter and his mates in Brandtson have grown accustomed to going largely unrecognized in their hometown of Cleveland. That’s true despite the many technicolor tattoos that checker Porter’s thin frame. “The only thing that’s ever helped is telling people that Brandtson rhymes with Hanson, because people remember Hanson,” bassist…
Sure, Churchill’s on a Saturday may seem creepy, but tonight the scary stuff’s not in the bathroom; it’s on stage. The club’s horrorbilly night is a little bit country, a little bit macabre. Imagine Rory Calhoun as Farmer Vincent in the ’80s redneck slasher Motel Hell, add the hip swivel…
Karma Lounge is just around the corner from downtown Fort Lauderdale’s mad thumpin’ dance scene, but musically, the club’s drum and bass night is deliciously off the map of rehashed radio mixes. Supersexy DJs Blue and Sean Weeks (pictured downing Grandpa’s cough syrup) throw down smooth, London-inspired break beats that…
Believe Blending country, folk, and pop into a seamless package is not easy, but West Palm Beach duo Friction Farm has it down. Singer/guitarist Aidan Quinn (not the actor) and singer/bassist Christine Stay’s latest album is their first acoustic CD, stripped down from the ’70s rock influence of 2001’s Choose…
What’s the 411 with downtown Hollywood gettin’ off the chain lately? Why, I remember when you could walk down Hollywood Boulevard and grab a soda pop, perhaps purchase a romance novel and a gelato. Now, you’ve got the hip-hoppers and the dance kids all over the place, with their bass…
This California quintet hasn’t released an album since 2002’s What It Is to Burn, but that doesn’t mean the band has been sitting on its ass. Last summer, Finch skipped the festival circuit — including a prominent invitation from Warped — to continue touring on the strength of Burn’s ongoing…
The following snippet of conversation was heard at Mangos (904 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale). God only knows what the first part of it was: Woman: …And then I gave him a taxidermy squirrel…
