The music industry has a lot in common with the average automobile plant. Lots can go wrong, but when everything’s operating at peak efficiency, it’s still capable of turning out impressive products. Like, for instance, B’Day, a sleek new model that displays all the benefits of custom manufacture. Granted, Beyoncé…
Sure, the pairing of this superstar French actress with the adventurous electronic duo Air is bound to send novelty lovers and Francophiles into throes of self-lubricating excitement. But they’re not the only ones with a hand in 5:55. The presence of famed Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and Fela Kuti alumnus…
Blues Dragon, the project of bassist Mark Telesca, takes a spin through pre-WWII blues throwing in touches of contemporary R&B, AOR, and storytelling. Recorded this past July, Alive at the Bamboo Room gives fans of the blues, the Allman Brothers, and Jethro Tull all of that and more. The album…
If funkmaster Isaac Hayes ever decided to join post-rocker Tortoise, they might sound a lot like the psychedelic dub of Sound Tribe Sector 9. Mixing metaphysical interests like Maya mysticism with jazz aesthetics and electronica, the Georgia five-piece is identified with a spacey jam-band rock that’s original, danceable, and completely…
For two years now, South Florida’s indie, alternative, and experimental scene has known about a Wednesday night party that’s every bit as bumpin’ as Friday night fare — even if it’s Off the Radar. Conceptualized as a mid-week recharger by DJs R. Milian and Danny Ashe, Off the Radar delivers…
Since its 1999 formation, Strike Anywhere has fought the good fight, hardcore style. The impassioned quartet from Richmond, Virginia, has never strayed from a steadfast DIY aesthetic and socially aware sing-along messages. The live shows spew a furious chunky sound as singer Thomas Barnett bangs his head and twirls his…
After beating up on the ’60s generation for its “Never trust anyone over 30” mantra, punk rock itself has entered its third decade as bands like the Vibrators celebrate their 30th b-days. So can we trust them? Well, yeah — much more so than the major-label-sucking pop-punk bands of today…
Have you heard the new John Mayer album, Continuum? Oh, so you’re not into “adult-contemporary” stuff, you say. Perhaps you’re still nauseated from Mayer’s 2001 hit, “Your Body is a Wonderland.” The thing is, that’s the old John Mayer, before he became a born-again bluesman. Mayer hasn’t totally abandoned his…
Four weeks ago, New Times ran my cover story “G Marks the Spot.” The article was about the G, formerly Gumwrappers, a Fort Lauderdale strip club turned rock venue I thought deserved some attention. I knew there was a club in central Palm Beach County called Mr. G’s that could…
In the pathologically trend-obsessed milieu of indie rock, the desire to separate your band from whatever sound or scene invigorated you in the first place is the community’s brand of hubris. It hangs over everything the French Kicks do. It’s not exactly their fault. They had the misfortune to have…
San Jose’s Heavy Heavy Low Low plays a mixture of light, ambient synth-rock and space jazz. OK, so that’s obviously bullshit. The band’s called Heavy Heavy Low Low for a reason — there’s nothing New Age about it, just loads of sludgy, metallic riffage and agitated, screamo-style vocals. It’s all…
If you head over to the venerable All Music Guide online database and enter the name Electric Six, you’ll find the following “themes” attributed to the Detroit sextet: “Cool & Cocky,” “Guys Night Out,” “TGIF,” and, of course, “Party Time.” Those are fitting topics for a group that blends cock…
Nonpoint is one of those rare South Florida bands that doesn’t mind being a South Florida band. It’s been six years since Nonpoint joined the majors, but Broward County’s alt-metal stalwarts are still planted firmly in the peninsula. So it’s only appropriate (and just) that their cover of Phil Collins’…
Here’s the problem with riding the ass-end of a musical wave where everything old is new again: The tide eventually comes in, and what was previously a tight refurbishment seems like trite regurgitation. Take London synthpop-rockers Boy Kill Boy — the band has a spacy ’80s sound reminiscent of Simple…
On the Guns ‘N Roses song “Nice Boys,” Axl howls that “Nice boys don’t play rock ‘n’ roll.” He obviously hadn’t heard these Nice Boys. Still, the Portland-based band has little to do with GNR’s bad-boy aesthetic. The band, comprising ex-Exploding Hearts guitarist Terry Six and members of the Riffs…
The two-disc Gigantour DVD documents a 2005 heavy-metal tour that, in the words of visionary/headliner Dave Mustaine, was “for people who love the guitar solo.” In the documentary half, Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy describes his technical-ecstasy band as “the Grateful Dead of heavy metal.” He’s right to a point,…
It’s a crowded field of pretty-girl thugettas trying to make a mark on the hip-hop world, but Jeannie Ortega might actually have a shot. With her debut release, No Place Like Bklyn, Ortega proves she’s more than just someone a producer tells, “Stand here, sing that.” She actually has a…
Hollywood’s Mr. Entertainment (Mr. E, for short) is known for his exuberant, sometimes bizarre, and always fun live performances. On Loiter, Mr. E’s revolving cast of musicians — known mostly as the Pookiesmackers — consists mainly of Mark Zolezzi (drums and vocals), Johnny Mahone (guitars and keyboards), and Brandon “B-dog”…
For a band that spends so much of its time on-stage — playing at least twice a week, sometimes twice a night — the Spoon Benders aren’t what you’d call a studio band. So it’s only fitting that the funky rock trio is recording its next album far outside studio…
It’s no secret that the music industry loves a good tale of adversity — just look at mainstream hip-hop and its archetypal story of the American ghetto. But for Jamaican reggae artist Cham, growing up on the bloody streets of Kingston was all too real. While he struggled in the…
It’s taken only two years for Revolution to become Broward’s most ambitious venue for live music. In that time, the club has played host to an astonishing mix of artists, from Fall Out Boy to the Black Crowes, Wu-Tang Clan to the Church, and Lagwagon to Liz Phair — more…
They looked like rock ‘n’ roll Vikings, what with their long red beards and even longer hair. Either that or an Appalachian motorcycle gang. But who spells Thor with two r’s? Apparently, Valient Thorr does. And it was the first clue I found that the rough-rolling rockers weren’t of Nordic…
