My Hair Hurts (Livid Records) jccc.com Admittedly, this LP (vinyl-only) release came out late last year but I had been waiting to pair it up because it is a release by local label Livid Records. San Diego’s Jon Cougar Concentration Camp (JCCC) has been sporadically around since the mid-90’s and…
Jesus Loves You – So Give Us Your Money (Sublapse Records) While holding this seven-inch EP in my hands for what may be the umpteenth time, I finally noticed how goofy the band’s name looks across the top. It looks like something penned on the fly and without any thought…
We’re a fourth of the way in and 2010 taketh more than it giveth. And this time it’s no lame or naïve PR attempt, this time the bad news is as true as the 1995 Playgirl centerfold that shocked some of Type O Negative’s goth-metal fanbase. The band’s frontman, Petrus…
She was a mother, wife, and lawyer … but above all, Lisa Hodapp was a tried and true participant in the South Florida music scene since the late ’70s. Known to all as a charismatic and genuine lady who was always quick with a smile, it is with heavy heart…
I’ll be the first to tell you that going to Churchill’s for whatever reason is in and of itself a Big Top production filled with interesting characters, bizarre situations, contorting panhandlers, and so on. However, it seems like this Friday there will be a circus within the circus, courtesy of…
It makes me really happy and sad that a new Crumbs album (Gator Kicks) will be coming out at the end of this month. Happy because I’ve been a fan for a very long time and sad because it might very well be the last effort by these long-running punkers…
Well, downtown Miami is not known for its Latin rock flavorings, but this coming Sunday at the Vagabond there will be a nice showcase of local talent that falls into that Latin rock category, albeit with each act adding its own spices and roots; from the straightforward rock to the…
Local Motion: Nothing Rhymes With Orange and Goran Rista
From many angles (musical, cultural, etc.) one can argue that we all have African roots. But that’s not an argument that I feel qualified to follow up on, especially since I’m a huge Fela Kuti fan and while not having an ounce of his genius in me (that’s why I…
It’s been a while since I’d heard from reclusive producer/instrumentalist Harmonix. Yup, last time his work graced my stereo was way back in 2008 when he dropped the space-jazz, crunk-flavored and New Wave savvy Instrumentals, Volume 1. And this track here has a funny story, seems like he was trying…
One of the quiet men of the jazz guitar, Herb Ellis forged a career that took him throughout the rambunctious days of jazz to a very memorable stint in the Oscar Peterson Trio alongside Peterson and Ray Brown from 1953 until 1958, enjoying the controversial status of being the only…
Gilberto Gil is one of the rare foxes managing to carve an almost five-decade career while remaining in the shadows of larger names that have come and gone. While successfully spreading the beauty of Brazilian music across the continents, he’s done the same for Brazilian listeners by infusing the styles…
It has been 21 years since Fear Factory unleashed its racket, which has over time become a major influence on the landscape of American metal. It has also, in a bizarre manner, mirrored corporate America in the mentality that the band is first and foremost a business. While undergoing lineup…
FloorChurchill’s Pub, MiamiSaturday, March 27, 2010 As I live and breathe here in South Florida, I know a freaking thing or two: Floor is slow-thudding metal royalty. The kind that blue-blooded region rockers will sell their future babies for. And that’s a good thing. This reformation show (Floor parted ways in…
Blast From the Past is an occasional Crossfade column re-examining classic South Florida releases of yesteryear. Click here for past editions. FUTURISK – The Sound of Futurism (Clark Humphrey Records) For all the cool synth acts the hipsters drool their PBR’s for nowadays, I’m glad and quite freaking happy to…
The Happiness Struggle (Leftfield)nrwo.net It’s been a long six years since the Coccaro brothers have inflicted the local scene with their Anglophile musings and quite frankly, I’m extremely pleased with the time taken. Music journalism can veer (re: careen out of control) into some real douche-y environs and while their…
It’s refreshing to see a young salsero stick to his guns. Largely ignoring the route that most of his contemporaries have taken (well, excluding his brief cameo as Rubén Blades in 2007’s El Cantante), Victor Manuelle continues to forge his identity as a pure sonero while still exploring within the…
I’ve been reading Maximum Rock N Roll since the late 80s and for better or for worse, the quintessential punk rock magazine has had its ups and downs and bouts of scenester-like petty bullshit. But it has always provided solid content for those interested in the genre. From scene reports…
To prevent confusion in our readership, Alesana is not some drop-dead gorgeous model hailing out of Milan. Nope. In actuality, Alesana is six somewhat-OK-looking guys from North Carolina who do the post-hardcore thing with some gusto and panache. Take the usual experimental leanings of the genre and view them through…
Do not try to wrap your pretty little head around this track, “Crossing the Frozen Lands.” Nah. That is not the way art works, at least not for me and I’m only a heady guy when it involves booze and whores and narcotics… think about it baby! You’re in the…
DeicideWith Kalakai, At Odds With God, Paris Is Burning, and First Born5Revolution, Fort LauderdaleSunday, March 14, 2010Schlepping to Broward from Miami-Dade isn’t too much of a task when the end product is something like metal muthas Deicide. They carry a real Floridian pedigree along the lines of say, a Hunter…
Southern California’s RX Bandits have come a long way from their ska-revivalist roots in the mid-’90s — so long a way, in fact, that it’s hard to discern the roots of their eight full-lengths. One second, there’s a full-fledged horn section; the next, there’s a knock on Yes’ psychedelic-prog door…
