In Dead Prez’s world, politics and activism usually take precedence over the music or, to be more precise, motivate the music and give it a reason for being. Every song is another opportunity to talk about issues, whether it’s the gentrification of “Hip-Hop,” the transformation of urban America into a…
Type O Negative can embrace only about three emotions: misery, anger, or some combination of the two. So it’s no surprise to encounter more morose melodrama, haunted-house synthesizers, Sabbathian sludge, and the phantom-like baritone of vocalist/ bassist/beefcake brooder Peter Steele. Life Is Killing Me isn’t as dark as its predecessor,…
So many ideas spring forth from Deep Dish that it’s hard to categorize the Iranian-born, Maryland-based duo. DJ/producers Ali Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi raid every shelf in the trance-progressive-house pantry, usually brewing up excellent results. Tedious double-length sets like the Yoshiesque series seem to exist for the benefit of the…
City Link’s intrepid music columnist, Bob Weinberg, should be all over the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra’s bankruptcy announcement. You’d think his single-genre, twice-monthly column would zero in on the fact that 84 musicians — all of ’em orchestra members who were finally given notice last week that the organization has officially…
With riffs as thick as its collective skull, Godsmack is a band of unabashed metal meatheads, which doesn’t necessarily invalidate the music; as with Jean-Claude Van Damme films, there’s something to be said for mindless kicks. But after three albums of crushing monster-truck rock, Godsmack’s dirt-simple approach is growing exceedingly…
Since genre godfather Fela Kuti’s death in 1997, a void has opened in Afrobeat that’s been only partially filled by New York’s Antibalas. The 17-strong Najite Olokun Prophecy further eases the pain caused by Kuti’s departure with vigorous orchestral firepower. Nigerian master drummer Najite Agindotan studied under Kuti and later…
Since the early ’90s when it was called jungle, drum ‘n’ bass has reflected young marginalized peoples’ desire to mutate audio culture through technology. Bored with safe reggae, R&B, and hip-hop heard on the radio, London’s restless young inner-city producers injected it with double-speed digital beat patterns and fat bass…
This long-overdue retrospective collects the Dead’s pre-Warner Bros. recordings in one place for the first time. Although some of these tracks have surfaced elsewhere, much of it has never been available, and it’s a telling glimpse of the group’s development between its inception (as the Warlocks) in late 1965 and…
In northern Ontario, spring’s warming wind is making possible a pleasure cruise on one of the province’s countless lakes. It’s particularly enjoyable for Grandaddy guitarist Jim Fairchild, happily cracking open a can of beer while the rest of his bandmates finish filming a video for “El Caminos in the West,”…
What the Jackson Five did for Motown, what the Osmonds did for… well, whatever kind of music that is, Morgan Heritage has done for reggae. The family conglomerate’s distinctive, grassroots style is crammed with calming, melodious rhythms and conscious lyrics. Echoes of late reggae vocalist Garnett Silk or one of…
In the 1990s, South Florida native Diane Ward cemented her palm prints in the local walk of musical fame with Mirror (1995) and Move (1999). Miami New Times gave Mirror a Golden Mic as Best Album of the Past Twelve Months in 1996; in 1999, it dubbed Ward the Best…
Like that friend who is always cheerful without being annoying — or, God forbid, perky — Dressy Bessy does pop with enough edge and subversiveness to infect even the most cynical among us. And while a cynic might say it’s a little soon for a greatest-hits disc from this Denver-based…
The Old Gray Al, he ain’t what he used to be. While many a desperate rock critic has declared Ministry’s 2003 release Animiositisomnia as a return to form for industrial mavens Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker, one listen reveals the opposite is true. Instead of the chemical-inspired madness found on…
“No significant progress,” the directors of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra said last week, admitting that the organization’s liquidity situation remained all but hopeless. “Bungling” and “unfortunate,” wrote the Sun-Sentinel’s Lawrence Johnson of what looks to go down as the Phil’s final performance. Can you blame the orchestra’s musicians — sitting…
If you consider dub — reggae’s stoned, stripped-down, echoey instrumental aspect — the way that producer Lee “Scratch” Perry did when he described it as “x-ray music,” you’ll see the cosmic cultural humor of Cool Hipnoise’s cover of Nirvana’s “Come as You Are,” which closes its third album, Select Cuts…
More snow-capped rock from the frigid peaks of Scandinavia, this time from Norway, with a notable female presence that differs from the region’s normal chest-beating male dynamic (as epitomized by the Hellacopters, Hives, etc.). Sweden’s phenomenal Sierra Hotnights already proved that there was a place for feminine angst among the…
In El Gran Silencio’s native Monterrey, the accordion is a deadly weapon. That’s why the band appeals to chúntaros, barrio bad boys like themselves, with a wild working-class fusion it calls “freestyle norteño popular.” El Gran Silencio is often referred to as a Mexican regional-hip-hop hybrid, but the band bites…
British duo Zero dB (Chris Vogado and Neil Combstock) have earned equal if not more attention for their remixes as for their own songs, and Reconstruction features nine of their most solid interpretations of other musicians’ work. Few of the artists “reconstructed” (Grupo Batuque, Peace Orchestra, Interfearance) will be familiar…
I’m not shaking my bonbon, and I’m not doing the Latin-lover thing,” says Franky Perez. “I didn’t set out to do a Latin record, because I didn’t want to get trapped into that. But I’m an American of Cuban descent, and I’m very proud of that.” The Las Vegas singer/songwriter’s…
The reaction to Steve Malkmus’ eponymous 2001 debut was astonishingly consistent. “Whew,” sighed hardcore Pavement fans: Malkmus was a little poppier, a little more straightforward than any Pavement recording, but it still sounded like Pavement. Nonfans seemed likewise relieved: The wordplay made actual sense, and you could even hum along…
From love poems to memoir-fueled writings, Richard Negri loves to tell a good story. His spoken-word songs don’t imitate life; they mirror it. The 35-year-old Coral Springs native behind the Abstract Truth started writing in elementary school and performing at 17. Negri’s unadulterated poetry-slammer delivery amplifies his raw connection to…
Hear that? The gaping beaks of Juilliard-schooled, hungry hatchlings peeping pitifully for funding that never comes? All over South Florida this week, classically trained, unionized, professional musicians are glued to their computers while updating their résumés, searching for jobs online, and waiting for the guillotine to fall on their collective…
