Last week, we brought you a double dose of YouTube hilarity with Cuban interpretations of Rick Ross and Live. And today, it is our utmost pleasure to present el Cubanito’s take on Major Lazer. Let’s just say he’s got a different interpretation of Diplo and Switch’s colorful, on-the-floor donkey show. Our…
I get a lot of complaints (or suggestions) that I don’t promote local hip-hop enough. And I apologize. But as a matter of fact, I’ve really been enjoying the local stuff recently. So much so, that outside of my usual appreciation for old-school rap (say ’83 through ’94), the only…
The Getback Halfway Home (Livid Records) myspace.com/thegetback I must preface this by stating parts of my personal involvement with this band and its members. Almost a decade ago — or was it more? — I was asked by these guys to book a show for them. They were friends and…
South Florida artists wear many hats and no one wears them better than Beatriz Monteavaro. A darling in the contemporary visual art scene, Monteavaro’s revered as a living legend by fans of sludge-pop-metal outfit Floor. And her current band, Beings is gaining great momentum at both the local and national…
Most children hate piano lessons when they are forced upon them by overambitious parents. And sometimes, children in musical households don’t necessarily follow mom and dad into music. But neither of these scenarios was the case with Pembroke Pines’ Tony Madruga. Learning the piano at the age of five, Madruga…
Yesterday, we brought you a trailblazing (and clearly drunken) Cuban riff on a video by those alternative rock retreads Live. But the real gem is this dude’s take on a Rick Ross song. And it’s not for the faint of heart. In the video, el Cubanito rips the glorified ghetto-ness…
Last week’s local YouTube sensation was a marimbero who took it upon himself to reinterpret a couple of choice musical numbers, including a video by ’90s alt-rock retreads Live. The lively running commentary features gags on arrebatos, primos who don’t shut up, and the headache after a good party –…
The Antiques Simply Antique (Funny Records) The Antiques’ website I am not going to sit here and claim to know every goddamned thing about Florida’s proud musical tradition. A good case in point was one of the earliest Blast From the Past columns that I performed for these digital pages…
Tony Kapel is a sun-bathed and tropical version of the Renaissance man. He is a visual artist, writer, musician, scuba diver, and part-time animal wrangler for local cable access television. And he’s also one half of the husband and wife band Pocket of Lollipops who’ll be going on tour this…
The time for subterfuge and obfuscation has come to an end. I will no longer employ cloak-and-dagger tricks in order to make a Cavity reunion happen. No. It is time for action! I have already covered a hefty span of their catalogue via my Blast From the Past column, e-mails…
Admittedly, dear readers, I’ve never been the savviest of hip-hop scribes. Nah, it would be a sham to claim so. I was born out of my father’s Bossa Nova and my mother’s disco. I smashed my head on the punk rock and tempered it with metal. Music is love. A…
To Be Hated Bootcamp for Whores (Sour Grapes Records) myspace.com/tobehated Keeping with my tradition of doing things ass-backwards, we have To Be Hated’s second full-length effort, the provocatively titled Bootcamp for Whores. It is a logical stepping stone for the outfit who begat Outsourced and State of Things in the…
Drug Czars On Venus (Fruit Bat Entertainment) myspace.com/drugczars Last time we looked at the Drug Czars, we drew little lines separating the old from the new and identified these guys as potential line-blurrers. And keeping in the tradition of skipping around in artist’s catalogues, we’ll be looking at their last…
How awesome would it be if the Jacuzzi Boys met Frank Zappa in a sonic cage match and they all emerged after three minutes, hugging each other, laughing at little private jokes, and humming beautiful music? Well, even if it’s impossible, that’s a battle (or love-in) I’d like to see…
Load Lumberjack Death Luge(Ballad of Son of Crusher) Seven-Inch (House O’Pain Records) I have purposely left Load out of the rotation for a bit now since I started these Blasts From the Past slightly over a year ago. Call it professional payback for Bobby Load never remembering meeting me back in…
By all measures, David Brieske is a quiet and gentle man. It should be no shock that a lot of South Florida’s visual artists also create music. And Brieske’s solo work, under the virtually unpronounceable banner of Fsik Huvnx, has been gaining momentum lately. His instrumentation is simple. But the…
Evan Rifas has been active in South Florida’s music community since the early ’90s and he has maintained a relatively quiet presence that has allowed him to fine-tune his astute and articulate sensibilities. Aside from being a great poetic lyricist, he seamlessly weaves personal experience with observation and quirky pop…
The Crumbs I Fell in Love With An Alien Girl 7″ (Recess Records) recessrecords.com Admittedly, I had some grandiose ideas for this Blast From the Past. But now that I am thick in the drink and have spent the better part of the last hour grinding my needle into the…
D.T. Martyrs Narcotics in the Carport (Jeterboy Records & Tapes) D.T. Martyrs website To avoid confusion, you should now that the delirium tremens ceased at some point and the D.T. Martyrs simply became the Martyrs. And while the shortening of the name was the band’s call, forgive me if I…
Creep Guirdo is one of those musical aberrations that occurs from time to time. Unintentionally funny due to being a German national of Hialeah descent, he’s largely been the figurehead for local disco rock ‘n’ rollers Pool Party. He recently sat down with us in preparation for April Pool’s Day…
The Dyslexic Postcards have been around in one way, shape, or form for a long time now. And their particular breed of rock ‘n’ roll via the acid wash of alt-psych, punk, blues, and New Wave inflections are the makings of a love-’em-or-hate-’em type of band. Regardless of which, the…
Giacomo Gates is undoubtedly one the most exciting and articulate male jazz vocalists on the scene right now. He is a cool cat who embodies the eternal swagger of jazz. However, for the first forty years of his life, Giacomo Gates couldn’t have been farther from hep life. As a…
