New York quartet Asobi Seksu’s album cover has a “dream pop” label stamped squarely top-left like a ’60s hi-fi Stones record. They obviously aren’t afraid of wearing their influences on their sleeves. Asobi Seksu is a pastiche of early ’90s indie rock, with flagrant overtones of My Bloody Valentine, Stereolab,…
Armed to the teeth, bloodthirsty, and more concerned with making profits than being prophets, the members of G-Unit sound like the perfect candidates to be delivering the keynote address at next month’s Republican National Convention (“G-G-G-G.O.P.!”). Fortunately, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, and (of course) 50 Cent harness their…
Baltimore-based Nautical Almanac builds its own instruments — instruments that, if the liner notes to Rooting for the Microbes are to be believed, do not require the use of electricity. Dubious, indeed. Closer listening to this record suggests that NA principals Twig Harper, Carly Ptak, and assorted guests reside in…
Quantity over quality must have been the motto behind this compendium, which collects several hours’ worth of live footage — including camcorder bootlegs shot in a high school gymnasium — in its quest to compile a visual record of stark, strummy Galaxie 500. By far the most worthy portion of…
Born a simple country boy in rural Jamaica, Jepther McClymont, a.k.a. Luciano, has become the premier roots singer of his generation. As one of the few top-shelf artists to hold firm to the traditional reggae sound in a dancehall-dominated scene, he has earned the conscious mantle once worn by Jacob…
Electronica is alive and well in the F.L.A., having survived the demise of Squeeze and the unfortunate revival of college alt-rock in the guise of 20-somethings doing their best Eddie Vedder impression while bitching about their girlfriends. Thank Tomita there’s Ultrastar*, a trio of tech-heads that loves nothing more than…
Drum and bass DJ GENR8 answers the question: What do you think about all these DJ schools? I think it’s great. [DJing] was something that wasn’t even acknowledged as a skill until recently. Now, people know it can be a career. But it’s also about talent. If you suck, you…
Hey, kids! You wanna look cool at the club, with a style that just screams “Look at me!”? Well, nothing will get you there quicker than downing one of the many trendy hip-hop-flavored energy drinks on the market right now. At least, that’s what Nelly, Ice-T, Russell Simmons, and Lil’…
Every Boston album cover, beginning with the band’s self-titled 1976 debut, features a funky spaceship. The image — usually a gigantic psychedelic saucer topped with a glass dome — passed down to 1978’s Don’t Look Back, 1986’s Third Stage, 1994’s Walk On, the Greatest Hits album in 1997, and even…
In support of recent reissues of their first three records, the Psychedelic Furs have embarked on a U.S. tour, effectively preempting any chance of a surprise episode of Bands Reunited. I’m sure we all wanted to see the cameras sneak up on Richard Butler as he mowed his lawn in…
At the packed KRS-One show recently at I/O Lounge, these nuggets of verbal gold were bandied about by a young man and his friend: Man number 1: I can set different rings for different calls. Man number 2: How many calls do you get that you need different rings? Man…
In a sweltering, cavernous gym in Miami-Dade County, a crowd of about 50 young men and women, a few small, squealing children, and one really brave grandma gathers on a Saturday night, plopping down in a small, informal circle. In the middle stand ten guys — five on one side,…
What happens when you combine three quirky DJs, a bottle of George Dickel Tennessee whisky, a swanky downtown dance club peppered with white couches, girls in hot pants, and male bonding? A totally hot dance party, that’s what. Add a DJ booth adorned with Jesus bobble-head dolls, crates of new…
The Scissor Sisters exhibit a keen survivor’s instinct, with one platformed heel angled toward the past and the other toward the future. In 2001, they made a slapdash attempt to infiltrate Williamsburg’s electroclash scene. That big, neon ship went down, but like Peaches and Tracy and the Plastics, the Scissor…
To most people, world beat music conjures the sounds of ethereal synthesizers mixed with tabla beats and finger cymbals. But few know the modern world beat of Macha, a trio from Athens, Georgia, that fuses alternative rock with Indonesian folk as seamlessly as Talking Heads merged post-punk with African music…
When silly is your MO, the line between self-parody and business as usual is exceptionally thin. They Might Be Giants has had ample opportunity to explore both sides of that divide. In nearly 20 years of remarkably consistent recording and performing, it’s become the riot-nrrd AC/DC. A streak of early…
Tadd Mullinix (sometimes known as Dabrye, here referred to as Cotton, and never to be confused with the similarly named blues guitarist) knows that retro electronics are becoming passé. It’s not enough to rehash, so on his first album as Cotton, The Dancing Box, he rearranges history instead. The delirious…
Ludwig Clarke, aka Luddy, is a local DJ/singer who laces his dancehall and reggae jams with stream-of-consciousness-style raps about revelry, chicks, and hardships, echoing the Grammy-winning Sean Paul and the multiplatinum-selling Shaggy. Considering he was born in 1982, that’s pretty impressive. The Jamaican-born artist now resides in South Florida, but…
Mondays are manic, but Tuesdays are tough. It’s like, you’re waiting for Hump Day, but you don’t know what to do after work. You could drown your post-work/pre-Hump Day misery/anticipation in Club Sonar’s Tuesday night Unwind event. Check out live music from Brendan O’Hara and the Humble Ones, spoken word…
When Nonpoint came straight outta Fort Lauderdale with its 2000 major-label debut, Statement, the band was inevitably whipped into the nu-metal frenzy of the Linkin Parks of the day. Nu-metal’s not so new anymore, but Nonpoint’s third full-length, Recoil, finds its sea legs among a more melodic wave of metal…
Mr. Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone isn’t just any indie-label rapper. This 1986 new-school graduate has become certifiably old-school as he nears his 20th anniversary of MCing professionally. Having renounced the path of criminal-mindedness after his DJ, Scott La Rock, was senselessly murdered 17 years ago, KRS has blazed…
At a dance party at the Fox and Hound in Fort Lauderdale last year, just as the DJ put on Dre and Snoop’s “Gin and Juice,” a young man casually slipped me a CD. He looked deep into my glassy, alcohol-fogged eyes and said, “Few DJs have mastered the very…
