To music buffs who remember the mid ’70s as the age of long hair, African garb, and jazz-rock, the name Omar Mesa might ring a bell. Mesa played guitar with the group Mandrill, whose Afro-Cuban-fusion-rock gave Carlos Santana, War, and Earth, Wind and Fire a run for their money. “Back…
If you’re going to the Spice Girls concert Monday to witness an example of “Girl Power,” you may be looking in the wrong place. A more suitable choice would be the folk duo Big Blue Sky. With Sue Crago singing lead and playing a crisp electric guitar and Jill Apolinario…
The punk rock genre has been getting a little formulaic lately. Various bigtime California bands — Green Day, Rancid, Offspring, Bad Religon — have basically laid down a blueprint consisting of boot-stomping rhythms and power riffs. But punk rock, by definition, rebels against established conventions. It was probably only a…
The slinky, swingin’ rockabilly of the Hep Cat Boo Daddies emerges from the open door of the Poor House in Fort Lauderdale on a recent Saturday night, drawing the attention of passersby. What is this mutant strain of full-throttle surf-blues? It sounds like there’s one wild party going on. Indeed…
A few weeks ago at Desperado’s in Fort Lauderdale, the dance floor was a sea of black and white cowboy hats. Two-stepping, silver-tipped boots gleamed under the flashing red and yellow lights above. Denim-clad butts shook, swayed, and wiggled. The inspiration? Pop-country tunes performed by Gatorkicks. “I kinda like to…
Lenny Kravitz 5 (Virgin) Even the casual Lenny Kravitz fan knows that Lisa Bonet’s old flame is, to put it nicely, a popular-music historian. His detractors, of course, would call him a rip-off artist. OK, so the riff from his hit “Are You Gonna Go My Way” sounds suspiciously like…
Containing more than 900 entries, 100 interviews, and 450 pages, Connecticut Rocks! is a monumental, if somewhat strange, achievement. Its subtitle defines it as “An Encyclopedia of Rock ‘N’ Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Rockabilly, Doo-wops, Gospel, Punk, New Wave, and Soul Records by Connecticut Artists and Connecticut Record Labels.” The…
This electronica stuff might be simpler than it sounds. Andre Frazier, a.k.a. DJ Andre, has figured out how to put together his own electronic music using some pretty basic equipment. “I’m telling you, this is low tech,” says Frazier, gesturing toward a few outdated instruments tucked in a corner of…
Jack “No Busfare” Johnson is the beatnik who many people, in the deep, dark recesses of their psyches, always wanted to be. He’s traveled from town to town, making music and poetry, expounding his theories on life, and chasing his muse. He has lived with Allen Ginsberg and run from…
Robbie Robertson Contact From the Underworld of Redboy (Capitol Records) A haunting Native American song floats over a bed of tribal shakers and atmospheric keyboards. Sweet piano chords add harmonic dimensions to the simple melody. Then an abrupt wall of industrial noise and harsh guitar feedback overwhelms the melody as…
Coughing, hacking, and snorting back phlegm, David Yow is half asleep and trying to sound coherent. It’s 12:30 p.m. on a recent Tuesday, and Yow is in a Montreal hotel room, resting between concerts while on tour with his infamously aggressive band, the Jesus Lizard. He has no idea he…
Nirvana did it, and the performance was one of the band’s best. Pearl Jam did it, too. As did Hootie & the Blowfish, R.E.M., and countless others. And now the Broward-based rock quartet Jadestone will do it, on Friday at Borders in Fort Lauderdale. What are we talking about? Going…
When Gary Numan first appeared in 1979, singing the chilly synth-pop song “Cars,” he didn’t look like a 21-year-old rock star. He looked like a flesh-covered robot. In the song’s video, Numan wore a black shirt and red tie, his dark hair combed perfectly to one side, menacing black eyes…
For insight into a foreign culture, look no further than the Broward-based, music-and-dance duo Harmonic Motion. The performers are Joe Zeytoonian on oud, cajita, and vocals, and dancer Myriam Eli on riqq, zills, and darbuka. The duo specializes in bringing together the string- and percussion-driven sounds found in Armenian, Turkish,…
Last Thursday evening outside Maison a Go Go, Hollywood’s newest dance club, roughly 200 people stood on the sidewalk waiting to get in to the preopening VIP party. Even the mayor of Hollywood, Mara Giulianti, had to wait in line behind the velvet ropes. Giulianti cut the ribbon for the…
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Walking Into Clarksdale (Atlantic) Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have produced some of the best rock albums of all time. Walking Into Clarksdale isn’t one of them. Twenty years ago, during the heyday of Led Zeppelin, Page was a lot slimmer, and Plant had a…
Every Saturday night at Tavern 213, several pairs of women’s shoes can be found lined up along the banister that surrounds the bar’s small stage. There are clogs, sandals, sneakers, stacked-heel pumps. It looks like some kind of strange offering or sacrifice to the four guys on stage, collectively known…
Machines are made by men for man’s benefit and progress, but when man ceases to control the products of his ingenuity and imagination, he risks losing the benefits. — Rod Serling The creator of TV’s Twilight Zone didn’t live to see the advent of sampling technology, but with typical prescience…
Spacehog The Chinese Album Sire/Warner Bros. Records Spacehog has been characterized as David Bowie reincarnate, and the comparisons are not unfair. One could easily picture this British band’s frontman, Royston Langdon, standing in front of the mirror as a child, hair dyed orange, face decorated with a glittered lightning bolt,…
What you see is what you get when singer-songwriter Dean Madonia takes the stage. In faded jeans, a comfortable T-shirt, and old Nikes, Madonia and his pop-rock songs are as easygoing and fan-friendly as those of his major influences, Paul Simon and James Taylor. Like them, Madonia weaves personal experiences…
Buddy Crawford can usually be found in the back of Dad’s Donuts, the shop he opened in Margate almost two years ago, frying up globs of white dough. Buddy, whose bushy, graying beard befits his nickname — “Dad” — usually starts work at 11 p.m. and bakes until well past…
Bonnie Raitt Fundamental (Capitol Records) Bonnie Raitt, bless her soul, didn’t go the Eric Clapton/Robbie Robertson/Madonna route and “update” her latest album with ’90s electronica influences. What she did do was shun the smooth sound of her last four recordings in favor of a more natural, almost live feel. On…
