File under the “so random we had to publicize it” file — and wait for the whole enchilada, because this party sports some funky sauce. This weekend, hip-hop supa-produca and Miami resident Timbaland is holding the Beach Ball Festival, a competition among 12 South Beach hot spots in a sort…
Los Angeles-based Seksu Roba — translated literally from the Japanese as “sex donkey” — is made up of Korean producer/thereminist Sukho Lee and Japanese artist/designer/vocalist Lun*na Menoh. Together, the duo serves up a spaced-out dish of bachelor-pad lounge pop that — were she still actively saving the universe today –…
Nothing suggests the spirit of New Orleans like crawdads, Cajun cooking, the mayhem of Mardi Gras, and of course, the Neville Brothers Band. With the release of their 16th album, 2004’s Walkin’ in the Shadow of Life, the soulful siblings — Art, Charles, Aaron, Cyril, and Ivan — mark their…
Believe it or leave it, hip-hop shares something significant with country music and rock ‘n’ roll — there’s the stuff that gets on the radio and TV awards shows, and then there’s the genuine article, the clamor without a mainstream-friendly face. While the bling set gets the two-page spread in…
As one of the oldest musical styles in the world, the classical Indian raga resonates deeply to Eastern ears but often feels distant to Westerners. Even as the Beatles and countercultural America welcomed the beloved Ravi Shankar and his sitar-and-tabla combos into the pop lexicon of the 1960s, the sitar…
Styles come and fads go, yet thankfully, the funk is always lurking about, its spirit manifest in different forms and from unlikely tributaries. Believe it or not, New Orleans’ Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes hail from classical music backgrounds — at Loyola U, goateed bandleader Johnny Sketch (a.k.a. Marc…
When you hear the name Maroon 5, generally the first words that pop into your head are atrociously overexposed. The machine behind Maroon 5 has saturated the market so heavily that it feels like this is the group’s umpteenth time around the globe, despite the fact that it’s actually embarking…
With a moniker like Decibully, one might conclude that this band was another irreverent, Cramps-descended, demented rock outfit, like Killbilly, the Blubbery Hellbellies, and Déja Voodoo. Rather, Decibully is a Milwaukee septet combining two seemingly disparate strands of indie rock: ornate, neo-progressive art-rock (think Polyphonic Spree) and rootsy Americana (Uncle…
The M3 Summit’s Bridge and Tunnel rump-shaker, presented by arbiters of urban hip Triple 5 Soul, The FADER, and Turntable Lab, features a slew of up-and-comers as well as music’s current “it” girl. SA-RA Creative Partners is a bicoastal trio of producers turned performers. Previously beatmakers for Dr. Dre, Jurassic…
Lest you forget, Bennigan’s is ostensibly an Irish pub, so it’s fitting that the schlocky chain restaurant should don its tam and go for gold on the most Irish of holidays. Actually, it’s more the dedicated drinkers of the group Kocosante who are responsible for putting together one of Broward’s…
Well, this is interesting. From out of nowhere arrives In Motion, the second album from Lakeland, Florida’s, Copeland. Somehow, unlike so many Central Florida acts, this upstart four-piece actually cobbles together influences that range beyond last year’s MTV pap. Over the course of In Motion’s ten tracks, Copeland moves from…
A long time ago, in the scary makeup hierarchy of rock ‘n’ roll, Kiss begat Marilyn Manson, Madonna begat Taylor Dayne, and GWAR begat Slipknot. While many would argue that it’s all about the music for Slipknot, the band’s local hockey-mask dealer and sheet-metal welder would disagree. Slipknot seems to…
A button-down sanctuary for bluehairs and snowbirds, Boca Raton is probably the least rock ‘n’ roll place in South Florida (maybe America). But sometimes you find the sweetest things in the strangest places. Take for instance, Amp Fest ’05, two hot and heavy nights of raucous local rock of all…
There’s a simple reason why overstimulated, drunkards at rock shows reflexively scream out “Free Bird!” in that pregnant pause before the encore begins: The song might be the most glorious, foot-on-the-amp, mullet-in-the-wind, shred-friendly rock anthem of all time. Its adolescent yearning and simple worldliness (penned as a dedication to Duane…
Though its former home was Christian-tinged emo label Tooth and Nail, it’d be naive to call the Juliana Theory Christian rock. Like other bands that have capably blurred the lines between secular and religious — from pop-punkers MxPx to angst-ridden Floridian upstarts Further Seems Forever — Pennsylvania’s Juliana Theory handily…
Even with a seven-year hiatus, a modern-rock-leaning new album, and the absence of John Stanier’s signature drum style working against them, Helmet deserves better than the otherwise generic heaviness of the Winterfresh Sno-Core Tour. Though much is said about founding member and principal songwriter Page Hamilton’s influence on nü-metal, his…
Maximizing Miami’s place as a crossroads between the Americas and the Caribbean, the Heineken Transatlantic Festival is a globally aware music series voted Best Festival last year by Miami New Times. This year’s festival kicks off in sultry style as DJ Da Lua brings neo-bossa beats to the swank outdoor…
It doesn’t sound like anyone’s staring at his shoes in Timonium. Instead, the soundscapes offered by this Northern California quartet feel like watching clouds float across a summer sky. Getting lost in the band’s celestial extendo-epics is easy enough — songs build and build forever only to suddenly dissipate or…
When they’re played right, the blues become a bridge between the past and the present, built musically from celebration and suffering. Singer/guitarist Corey Harris plays the blues right, recognizing their ancient origins and cultural evolution and imbuing them with modern urgency. With extensive travels throughout the African continent and an…
For those bred on the mid-’90s Florida rave scene, the name DJ Three is synonymous with late-night/early-morning euphoria. A long-time cohort of Tampa icons Rabbit in the Moon and a staple on that group’s Hallucination Records, Florida-based Three (first name Christopher, last name withheld by request) paid his dues at…
Guitar hero Dave Alvin is nothing if not dedicated to rock ‘n’ roll. For more than 20 years, the undersung Alvin has wielded a sharp ax, cutting deep into the heart of hard-driving American music. Along with his brother Phil, he founded the early-’80s roots rockers the Blasters and later…
Among hipsters in the late ’70s and early ’80s, admitting you liked Fleetwood Mac was enough to get you sent into exile. But damn it, those Lindsey Buckingham tunes were captivating. And while never cool (read: elite/outré), the fusion of folk-inspired melodies, restrained rockin’ crunch, and winsome vocals endures, and…
