Hip-hop music with a message in 2008 is like a biased voter. It has plenty of opinions but often can’t see the bigger picture outside of whatever it’s ranting about at the time. One major exception to this rule is Pretty Dark Things, the new full-length by local act Cyne…
DJ Gunars DJ Gunars has been spinning all over Miami for quite some time now. His more prominent gigs have included stints at Pawn Shop Lounge (er, back when it was the place to see and be seen) and Rokbar. This week, writer John Hood profile’s Gunars for his “Head…
Tonight’s Smashing Pumpkins concert — or Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin with some other people who aren’t James Iha and Darcy Wretzky — at the Center for the Arts at Mizner Park has been reschedule for Thursday, August 21. Tickets purchased for tonight’s show will be honored Thursday. — Jose…
Alexandra Lipsitz Talk about creepy: Village Voice’s Sound of the City posts up a promo picture for the movie Soul Men, which features the late Isaac Hayes and the late Bernie Mac. Quick, someone get Samuel L. Jackson to a panic room! LA Weekly gives us a glimpse of the…
Courtesy of Laundry Bar Pack up the suds. Laundry Bar has its last wash. South Beach venue Laundry Bar is calling it quits. Well, not exactly. The place we come to know as Laundry Bar will in fact cease to exists, but its owners are still planning to keep it…
Courtesy of Girls Gone Wildlife You love this ass! Debbie Attias takes a cross country bike ride to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund. Does she look like a slut? No, Debbie Attias, half of the now-defunct, Brooklyn-based, MIA born-and-raised Avenue D, looks like a cyclist. She and friend…
There’s a tough balancing act that comes with being an active reggae band in South Florida. Groups that are serious about their craft typically promote spirituality and consciousness in their music — but the venues where they perform often do not. If a band wants steady gigs, it means it…
I hate getting my hair cut. I hate the awkward, stilted conversations you have with hairdressers — those perfect strangers who just happen to be paid to wield scissors dangerously close to your throat. I hate how salons are as sterile and devoid of character — and damned near as…
Continuing to prove that psychedelic rock was as omnipresent in the ’60s as it is loosely defined today, the tenth volume in the QDK Media series further breaks down the definition of “Latin American Psychedelic Music” the label explored in its second volume. After delivering tunes from Brazil (Volume Six)…
Like corrupt politicians and David Hasselhoff, gangsta rap isn’t going away — but the played-out quality of T.O.S. suggests that it’s headed for an extended stretch down the wrong highway. Five years ago, the smashing aggressiveness of “Straight Outta Southside” would have offset its lack of originality. Now, though, the…
A blur of slow, gaping chords literally smothers the vocal tracks on Grouper’s Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill. An organ produces only lethargic tones on the album, and plentiful acoustic guitars run reluctant and warm. Sole member Liz Harris ensured that each moment of Grouper’s Dragging is coded…
Five long years have passed since Immortal Technique, a Harlemite Afro-Peruvian hip-hopper, released an album. His diehard fans have been waiting, and unfortunately, The 3rd World might not live up to the earth-shattering veracity of its predecessor, Revolutionary Vol. 2. But rest assured, Tech’s gritty lyrics and in-your-face delivery remain…
Last year, Florida quintet Black Kids released a free four-song EP of electro-tinged dance songs addressing themes of incest and gender ambiguity. The girls went wild — well, the bloggers did anyway — and somehow the group got signed to Columbia. BK’s debut, Partie Traumatic, contains the entire EP and…
Sexy Fitsum/iLLIMETER When Baltimore DJ Dave Nada stops by The Vagabond’s Money Shot party tomorrow along with DJ Craze, expect to give your ass a thorough workout. The grooves will be plenty heavy, but that’s to be expected since Baltimore has emerged as one of the more promising DJ scenes…
So here’s a new erotic banger from Ft. Lauderdale’s genre-defying songwriter Timb and his electro partner, Danny Ae called “Starchild Lover.” Both of those artists make music individually, but when they combine as the Craven, they sound even better. I’m not sure how old the song is but the video…
Ivon David Rojas With so many good music stories being produce every week, we here at the New Times wanted to clue you in on stories and blog posts done by the other Village Voice Media publications. Check it out what is happening Around the Voice: Village Voice’s article “How…
It’s been a swell few months for Torche, since the release this April of its second full-length (and Hydra Head debut), Meanderthal. The record’s garnered raves from the likes of Spin and the British mag Mojo, and been featured in Alternative Press, to name just a few of the many…
Courtesy of Spiradic Productions Cuban jazz drummer Diego “Mofeta” Iborra passed away last month at 89. You never know who some of Miami Beach’s golden oldies are or might have been in their younger years, unless of course they reach into their wallet from time to time and pull out…
Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson, Rick Ross, and State Representative Oscar Braynon II. To confirm our breaking news report (which we had up before any other news outlet in the country), the 2nd Annual Rick Ross Be Out Day was in fact interrupted and tainted by gunfire yesterday. By now,…
With summer heat still in its hellish full swing, it’s hard to get the mail without producing enough sweat to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. And that’s at night. Go outside during the day? Forget it. You’re better off standing naked under your air conditioner until the sun goes down…
Danger Mouse is arguably the most adventurous producer to tackle a Beck project since the Dust Brothers helped birth a 1996 baby called Odelay (the Dusters’ return for 2004’s Güero doesn’t count). The resulting sound is satisfyingly dense and intricate; the neo-surfisms of “Gamma Ray,” the delicate psychedelia of “Chemtrails,”…
Hip-hop and reggae, though closely related, often have a precarious dynamic when brought together on wax. What should be an organic formula typically comes off as forced, clichéd, or just plain bad. But thanks to an Iranian-American DJ/producer from Minnesota, the two genres finally achieve coexistent harmony. Meet K-Salaam and…
