No British rapper has a bigger hurdle to overcome than the Streets’ Mike Skinner. His second full-length, A Grand Don’t Come for Free, comes two years after the critical and fan favorite Original Pirate Material, an album the “British Eminem” used to turn the world on its collective ear with…
Hair metal is an addiction for some; the spandex, the teased ‘dos, the bulge-accentuating pants, and total gender abandonment are a fix. Unfortunately, there are no self-help books for this problem. There are no formal group therapy sessions to attend for this obsession. There is no place to go and…
Check out Oly at 10 p.m. Saturday, June 5, at I/O, 30 NE 14th St., Miami. Call 305-358-8007.
In the smoke-filled confines of Morning Drinker Studios in Fort Lauderdale, there was a rap-off a-brewin’. Weed aficionado Afroman and Florida’s own Blowfly, two rappers who like to spout off about drugs, drinking, and all types of ill shit, were poised to offend anyone within earshot. Blowfly, the original dirty…
Electroclash was just a 15-minute cocaine high on the pop time line, so Miss Kittin is deservedly cranky on her solo debut-cum-comedown, I Com. She kicks off a liturgy of her sub-A-list duties (adding people to the guest lists, kissing cheeks) on the opening track, “Professional Distortion,” before reminding us…
After the commercial and creative peaks of its “La Bamba” cover and 1992’s Kiko, respectively, Los Lobos owed themselves — and us — another great record. The Ride, a mix of rearranged band classics and sublime originals, is such an album, not just as strong as the last few outings…
This ain’t no never-never land. This ain’t no tweehouse fort. This ain’t no Disney-go-round. But somewhere in the ether, savvy counselors at a cult day camp broadcast Sung Tongs over the PA during ‘shrooms-and-cookies hour. Animal Collective’s fuzzy-wuzzy instigators, Avey Tare and Panda Bear, sacrifice folk, cracked Beach Boys vinyl,…
The Hold Steady is the current project of former Lifter Puller vocalist — and security broker — Craig Finn. After the legendary Minneapolis band went belly-up, Finn left his job in the finance trade and moved to New York City to create stories of the underworld. A street punk with…
The intro to Tanya Stephens’ latest album asks this question: “At this stage in my life/I really don’t care if I have the approval of a few of my peers/I diverted for a little while/And the calls from my so-called friends stopped/I guess they thought I lost it/’Cause if they…
“Second verse, same as the first!” When Joey Ramone, innocently enough, heisted this line from Herman’s Hermits, little did he know that it would one day become a battle cry. Since then, untold scores of punk and indie acts have clung fanatically to a simple, profoundly imbecilic idea: making every…
Harry Connick Jr. performs at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 27, at Mizner Park Amphitheater, corner of Federal Highway and NE Mizner Boulevard, Boca Raton. Tickets cost $35 to $75. Call 561-962-4109.
Afroman tells it like it is at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 27, at Ray’s Downtown, 519 Clematis St., West Palm Beach. Call 561-835-1577.
Stavros Polentas, singer/guitarist for South Florida’s Smiths-loving trio the Secret French Kissing Society, answers the question: What band or musician would you like to fight? “If you mean someone I really hate and would like to kick the shit out of, I’d say Lenny Kravitz or Pharrell Williams from the…
While some DJs will only play parties with VIP lists and bottle service, Christopher Lawrence has a more eclectic outlook. He’s gotten behind the decks and hocked his dark brand of trance at Ahhnald’s Terminator 3 party, Las Vegas’ annual Pimp ‘n’ Ho Ball, the yearly indie-rock pilgrimage known as…
So, I can’t stop listening to American Idol reject William Hung’s CD. And I can only chalk it up to its overwhelming guilty-pleasure aspect. The mutilated notes, the castration of everything decent about the human voice; it’s all there waiting to make love to my ear. Violent, atonal love. His…
These days, mash-ups of Jay-Z’s The Black Album are becoming as common as massive egos on reality shows. Not to mention that the whole DJ mash-up phenomenon is getting to be as played out as trucker hats at Old Navy. But regardless of the impending irrelevance of the novelty blends,…
Munich’s Chris de Luca and Michael Fakesch (Funkstörung) are better-known for their remixes (including those for Wu-Tang Clan and Björk) than for their own productions, which fuse playful melodies, granulated textures, and fractured, cubist electro-rhythms into crunchy, metallic hip-hop. Disconnected is Funkstörung’s first album since 2000’s Appetite for Disctruction. By…
Like pre-Iraq War British intelligence, U.K. hip-hop is regarded as suspect at best. After all, the classic hip-hop mantra “Fuck tha police” doesn’t seem as relevant when the fuzz comes armed with billy clubs and funny hats. Upwards, the new album from long-time U.K. scenester Ty, marks a sea change…
With the title of his new album, standup performer David Cross has a point. Abortion, Gulf War II, and Family Circus aren’t inherently funny, but he successfully mines them for big laughs. The balding, bespectacled Cross has been in the spotlight recently as the neurotic psychologist-cum-actor Tobias Funke on Fox’s…
Eek-a-Mouse squeaks at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 29, at the Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale. The Yoko Theory and Jerrods Door open. Call 954-564-1074.
Sister Machine Gun performs at 9 p.m. Saturday, May 29, at Respectable Street, 518 Clematis St., West Palm Beach. Call 561-832-9999.
South Florida is home to thousands of DJs, both the big-name and the bedroom variety. Sure, female DJs get behind the decks, but many are marketed as hot, busty eye candy. DJ Soozin sits at the opposite end of the table. In fact, she’s not even at the table. She’s…
