Up-and-comer Hook Shop Records held its label debut party early in the week of August’s VMAs inside a sleek hotel lobby in Miami Beach. The night went from ho-hum to slam-bang as reggae riddim masters Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare made the scene and dancehall blasted from a makeshift PA…
We just want you to know how much we love you,” VHS or Beta frontman Craig Pfunder says. He cups his hand over his eyes to block the glaring spotlight and slowly scans the paltry crowd at Atlanta venue Vinyl. “We bought up all the tickets for tonight’s show and…
Of course, it’s the producer who gets the performer into these pages; does this look like People magazine to you, huh? Fact is, anybody other than Rick Rubin produces this thing and it’s forgotten day before yesterday. But the expectation outweighs the result, so here we are some three decades…
This year has already featured its share of mediocre G-Unit-related product, so it was hard to expect the soundtrack to 50 Cent’s rags-to-riches film to be any different. But this collection of short, punchy songs is 50’s most consistent project since his debut, giving small nods to the maturity he…
The members of the band formerly known only as Dios deserved to be pissed when metal singer Ronnie James Dio’s lawsuit forced them to add the parenthetical Malos to their name. But Dio may have done the band a favor. Dios, which translates as Gods, was the perfect name for…
Born on hip-hop and driven delirious by dancehall’s sub-bass and garage’s ADD beats, U.K. grime is new enough to have more energy than it does discipline — which makes it both exhilarating and barely listenable. Vertically Challenged, the first stateside offering from 18-year-old London MC Lady Sovereign, suffers from a…
In just three years, the Fiery Furnaces have mastered the fine art of Ritalin rock, with three albums of genre-as-buffet music that offer weirdness without sacrificing intelligence. The only thing that outpaces the songwriting and musical skills of siblings Matthew and Eleanor Friedberg is their impatience to get to something…
Drummer Rafael Martinez and guitarist Jason Landrian have been pals for a long time under the South Florida sun. Landrian´s early exploits occurred in the early ´90s with a quasi-riot grrl band named Dorothea Dix while Martinez spent most of that time fine-tuning his skills on a multitude of instruments…
Summiting the Rickenbacher Causeway on a bicycle at sunset offers a startling take on Miami. The whitewashed skyline juts like an artificial reef out of Biscayne Bay, which stretches far below and southward into endless Atlantic. Cars whiz by indifferently, and the warm evening air is palpable with sound and…
Though less than a decade has passed, 1998 seems like a lifetime ago. There was a Democrat in the White House and a robust economy, and the greatest threat to national security arose from a little stain on a blue dress. 1998 was also the year that America was introduced…
The evolution of Breakestra has been an auspicious journey of funk and feeling. Bandleader Miles Tackett made a name for himself in Los Angeles as the leader of the weekly Rootdown party, a hangout for conscious and breakthrough hip-hop/soul/funk mavens. His band started out playing covers of soul classics, eventually…
From the ashes of Uncle Tupelo, Wilco has become one of America´s finest rock bands, its constantly evolving sound a seamless mix of country, folk, and jolting blues that retains its urgency even during the quieter moments. Not surprisingly, the group has also grown into a potent live act, thanks…
¨Frances! Frances Bean… What are you doing up here, sweetie?¨ ¨I was just going through Daddy´s tapes, Mom. I wanna pick a song for the new album too!¨ ¨OK, honey, but we´ve only got room for three unreleased tracks, all right? The other 19 are coming from last year´s boxed…
Just because South Florida’s only real seasonal transition is from Hurricane to Tourist doesn’t mean we can’t aspire to an ambiance more earthy and romantic. One easy way to fade into that fall feeling is to adjust your wardrobe. So come November, Beatcomber trades in the hot-pink Zubaz for the…
“Mixing pop and politics, he asks me what the use is/I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses.” — Billy Bragg, “Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards” Musicologists will argue about the beginnings of politically conscious rock music, but a thumbnail sketch of its lifespan might look something like this:…
“I don’t know that music’s role is always to promote social change, though it can,” John Legend says about the deficit of political activism in hip-hop. “At the end of the day, our job is to entertain people. Certainly we can inform and educate, but mainly, you guys just want…
The baddest alto sax in R&B/funk history is back (albeit on a German label). Maceo Parker, featured saxophonist in James Brown’s great 1960s band, has crafted a classic-to-be platter of old-school, deep-groove-laden funk. Parker blows fierce and jubilant with his tastily tart, sinewy tone, while his touring band throws down…
So let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Yes, Jahcoozi’s singer is from Sri Lanka, the group plays a glitched-up brand of electro, and (perhaps as a concession) all of its label-sanctioned press materials mention M.I.A. by name. But the similarities between the two artists are, as that…
When you combine former Dead Kennedys lead singer Jello Biafra with seminal sloth-rock monsters the Melvins, you get (a) what the DKs might sound like today if Jello still sang with them, and (b) the Melvins playing much faster than usual. This album gets off to an intriguing start with…
This pairing of several Wu-Tang Clan stars with a collection of underground hip-hop talent is a boon to both parties. The young rappers get to share the mic with the remnants of hip-hop’s last true supergroup, while the RZA and company remind the kids of their prodigious ’90s feats. Although…
West Palm Beach émigré Scott Henderson honed his electric-guitar acumen playing alongside iconic jazz keyboard aces Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea. Like fellow fusioner Robben Ford before him, he stylistically transitioned from electric jazz to electric blues. Henderson, however, brings along many tricks of his previous trade — although Live!…
A luscious bitch she is, true. But it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature. — “Red Hot Mama” by George Clinton You know you’re starving for a groove when your mind cross-fades the sounds of groaning generators and dopplering sirens and the meep-meep-meep of reversing sewage trucks into a mechanical…
