In the past, New Orleans’ Terius Gray, who’s over 30 but still Juvenile, has cared more about coochie than about current events. “Back That Azz Up” doesn’t exactly qualify as a political statement. It’s little wonder, then, that “Get Ya Hustle On,” a Reality Check track about the Hurricane Katrina…
Ouch. Not sure how we got here, but somehow hip-hop has arrived at the point where it’s not only unpopular to be a thinking fan or MC, it’s plain uncool. If you ain’t trappin’ with Jeezy or snappin’ with D4L — if you actually have something, dear God, thematic and…
A week after the techno-glitterati shot its wad at Miami’s Winter Music Conference and returned to its incubators of slick in Brooklyn, Oakland, and Chicago, Fort Lauderdale hosted a sort-of multimedia bacchanal of its own. It wasn’t at the beach or in the swanky pastel confines of a $400-a-night art…
Matt Pike has known label bullshit and what buckling to it means to a musician. It’s no secret that when his former band, Sleep, a stoner-metal doom-machine trio, recorded its magnum opus, Jerusalem, for London Records and promptly got dismissed as being too weird, Pike was pissed. That Jerusalem would…
From his founding role in ’80s icons Boogie Down Productions to his latest solo LP, 2004’s Get Right, KRS-One has always sought to make people think. The Brooklyn-born and -bred MC coined the term edutainment to describe the street-level wisdom — a mix of self-knowledge, anti-corporate awareness, and intense distrust…
“When people meet us, they think we’re gonna be shootin’ LSD into our eyeballs,” Ween guitarist Mickey Melchiondo says. “Or that we’re a lot crazier than we actually are. I’m actually a fuckin’ sports junkie. And I love military history. That’s pretty much exclusively what I read.” As eager to…
The British indie-rock quartet Editors is constantly compared to Joy Division and Interpol, and justifiably so. But what they lack in innovation, Editors makes up for in absorbing anthems that remind us why the new-wave revival happened in the first place. Editors’ debut album, The Back Room, blasts vigorous drumbeats…
Gathered around the low, round hotel table, four booze-broken musicians out of Orange County, California, lean forward with goofy but tired smiles and introduce themselves to the tape recorder that stands before them. “Hi, my name is Robb.” “Hi, my name is Patrick.” “Hi, my name is Justin.” The fourth,…
South Florida has long been a hub of pirate-radio activity. Thanks to mercilously flat terrain, miles and miles of nondescript subdivisions and warehouses, and a large Caribbean population used to getting its news on-air, Broward and Dade counties are home to as many as 20 illegal stations at any given…
It’s often difficult to critically analyze a much-beloved artist, because the reviewer’s tendency is to excuse irksome traits or loathsome sonic detours simply because of past greatness. And so while it’s tempting to give Morrissey a free pass for hauling in a children’s choir for several songs on his eighth…
Before the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O strutted, spit, and cooed her way to indie-rock icon status, the last dynamic female to front a rock band was arguably Courtney Love. The grunge widow propelled Hole to stardom in the 1990s with her inimitable martyr poses and baby-doll fashion on the…
You don’t really notice it until it’s pointed out, but Hialeah’s treeless streets do make for a rather bleak environment. The famed “City of Progress” has recently become a cradle of rock ‘n’ roll for South Florida amid the bump ‘n’ grind of hip-hop and reggaeton. Bands like Humbert and…
Morningwood plays with the Sounds and Action Action at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at the Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $12. Call 954-564-1074.
Mount Sims plays three times over the weekend, starting Thursday, March 30, with his full band at 10 p.m. at Crush at Tabu, 2674 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Call 954-566-6331. Matt Sims will DJ at 10 p.m. Friday, March 31, at Roxanne’s on Main, 3148 NE 12th Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $8. Call 954-567-9552. The full band plays again at 9 p.m. Saturday, April 1, at Respectable Street, 518 Clematis St., West Palm Beach. Tickets cost $10. Call 561-832-9999.
If recent breakouts by Mylo and Vitalic have proven that there’s still life left in house music and upbeat electronica (and they have), Idol Tryouts proves that there’s also life beyond it. This double-disc set, compiled by the soothsayers at the edgy Ann Arbor label Ghostly International, is split into…
Little Feat plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at the Harriet Himmel Theater, 600 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach. Tickets cost $36. Call 561-966-3309.
The Hellhounds play at 7 p.m. Friday, March 31, at South Shores, 502 Lucerne Ave., Lake Worth. The show is free. Call 561-547-7656.
Lee Roy Parnell performs at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 5, and Thursday, April 6, at the Bamboo Room, 25 S. “J” St., Lake Worth. Tickets cost $39. Call 561-585-2583.
Quick, name your favorite Irish DJ. Come on, we’re waiting. OK, maybe you see our point. Even though it supports a flourishing underground scene, the Emerald Isle isn’t known stateside as a dance music hot spot. Which is why we’re just as surprised as you that this year’s New Times…
Schematic Records. On seeing that name, any rational consumer would infer a record label with a distinct plan, a blueprint. And why not, seeing how much regimentation most electronic music has exhibited over the past 30 years? Most, that is, except Miami-based Schematic Records — celebrating its tenth anniversary during…
Since 1993, when they released their debut, 21 and Over, tha Alkaholiks have been one of the most talented party groups in hip-hop. Often underrated, the trio — Tash, J-Ro, and producer E-Swift — have issued several classic underground singles and albums over the years, including “Make Room,” Coast II…
A candidate for best and longest new band name of the millennium, Austin’s I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness has finally released its much-anticipated full-length debut. During the nearly three years since issuing its 2003 Britt Daniels-produced EP, the quintet has focused on sharpening its sound and building a…
