Lady Saw performs with Buju Banton, Barrington Levy, Shaggy, Elephant Man, and others on Saturday, May 27, at the Best of the Best 2007 Dancehall Festival at Bicentennial Park, 1075 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Tickets cost $45. Call 305-438-9488, or visit www.bestofthebestconcert.com.
Bloc Party performs Sunday, May 27, at the Pompano Amphitheater, 1806 NE Sixth St., Pompano Beach. The Noisettes are also on the bill. Tickets cost $30 in advance, $35 at the door. The show starts at 7 p.m. Call 954-523-3309, or visit www.fantasma.com.
Things have never been easy for platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated, neo-soul crooner Anthony Hamilton. Before briefly touching superstardom with his 2003 So So Def hit Comin’ From Where I’m From, Hamilton bounced from short-lived label to short-lived label. Hamilton, who honed his gritty chops singing in his Charlotte, North Carolina, church choir,…
Ah, the joys of living in Paradise… paradise as defined by a ready vat of margaritas, a reliable pair of flip-flops, and any optimism — however misguided — that it’s actually possible to dodge a hit by a killer hurricane over the next six months or so. That’s the view…
With the term jam band incorporating everything from blues to bluegrass these days, it’s an overused handle that barely describes all the disparate bands lumped within its parameters. Still, Assembly of Dust has found its fit there, mostly due to its freewheeling dexterity, a sense of retro revival, and a…
There’s been something simultaneously low-rent and high-minded about the progressive funk that Aja West and his Mackrosoft co-conspirators have been churning out since the late ’90s. Total Recall 2012 nails that dichotomy beautifully. The retro-futuristic vibes evoke the loose-limbed weirdness that can come only from a skilled musician set loose…
The guys of Underoath love Jesus, make no bones about it, and want you to know that. But the St. Petersburg-based quintet isn’t about that hands-in-the-air, holier-than-thou proselytizing stuff. Theirs is a mission of integrity and respect. “Something we try to do is be a real band for kids that…
Since becoming a parent, I’ve increasingly believed this: If a 1-year-old doesn’t respond to a song, there’s a strong chance the music stinks. A nine-month-old won’t try to tell you Thursday’s music is really sophisticated pop. (It’s not.) A 2-year-old won’t bore you with an argument that Slayer is one…
Although standout actress Aishwarya Rai’s pretty face adorns the cover of the newly released The Rough Guide to Bollywood Gold, the music presented here has little to do with the young crossover star of Bride and Prejudice. The tunes, however, are all representative of the golden era of Bollywood films…
It’s not always obvious from what we’re exposed to in this dance-centric part of the state, but Florida used to be a fairly reliable bastion for rock ‘n’ roll. Just check out the list of former homeboys — the Allman Brothers, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Buffett, the Mavericks, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and…
Guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer is a strange duck. Though he started out in jazz organ combos, Ulmer made his rep with avant-jazz icon Ornette Coleman in the latter’s ebullient “harmolodic” period. But in the mid-1980s, Ulmer began upping the ubiquitous blues elements of his playing — and singing — until…
Most cover albums typically feature an established artist paying respect to some of his favorite musicians, and they’re lucky if they match the original material. But Version, the newest release from London-born, New York-bred DJ/producer-of-the-moment Mark Ronson, essentially smashes a group of remixes from homegrown English artists such as the…
On Still Stuck in Your Throat, the band’s first album in six-too-many years, Fishbone once again presents us with its merry-go-round assortment of horn-driven ska, funk, punk, soul, metal, and reggae music all wrapped into the legendary band’s signature style. Although the energy jumps out of the speakers before the…
It’s almost midnight in the lobby of the Jacksonville Sheraton Hotel, and Grandmaster Dee, legendary DJ and key member of Whodini, is acting the fool. With his low-cropped fade, blue Jumpman tracksuit, and white sneakers, he does not stand out as a celebrity at all. That’s the problem — or…
Jackson Ellis is freaking out. In late April, the 26-year-old publisher of the independent music and fiction magazine Verbicide got word that starting July 15, his shipping rates would increase by 30 to 40 percent. “It’s not going to be the thing that kills me, but coupled with the lack…
Here’s the secret about nerdcore: Either you get it or you don’t. This hip-hop subgenre is essentially music for folks who enjoy tinkering around with the insides of PlayStations and quoting from Star Wars like it’s Scripture. As for Frontalot, well, he’s nerdcore’s disseminator, originator, and poster child all wrapped…
The calypso anthem “Big Tingz” on Kingston-based singer Nadine Sutherland’s new album, Call My Name, would be the perfect opener for the annual Memorial Day Fest at Miami’s Bayfront Park. You can visualize people balling out “yeah” in a sea of Caribbean flags as Nadine calls out the people of…
Maybe it’s the long nights with nothing to do but take drugs and play music, or maybe it’s their position outside of America’s mainstream, but whatever the case, Norway’s 120 Days has managed to create a murky, driving album that puts the relentless pulse of synthetic percussion and old, cheesy…
Wilco may be the essence of eclectic indulgence. Shedding their Americana visage with 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, they successfully redefined themselves as an experimental outfit dealing in atmospheric soundscapes and sonic contradiction. Their daring was rewarded with a pair of Grammy nods for their follow-up, A Ghost Is Born, while…
Although her flamboyant outfits have never been polite, Björk’s past few albums certainly have been. The ice-crystal percussion and melodies on Vespertine were stunning but mannered, like an immaculately decorated parlor, while the nearly a cappella Medulla — an album in which beatboxing and throat-singing replaced traditional instrumentation — felt…
Last month marked the 20th anniversary of the release of Sign o’ the Times, the album regarded by many critics and fans as Prince’s creative high-water mark. Due to the animus Prince feels toward Warner Bros. (the label that released the double-LP opus… only after insisting it be cut back…
Can we say Alex Cruz is a walking conglomerate? “My whole life, I’ve always been into something, and I end up getting into it so much that it becomes an inconvenience financially,” says the 26-year-old entrepreneur, co-owner of the new Fort Lauderdale-based music studio/clothing store Hi-Top Studios. “So I turn…
