The last thing the world needs is another rant by some snooty music scribe who actually believes he can peg the next Coldplay or validate some MySpace wannabe. Don’t worry; yours truly doesn’t make any such presumptions. You won’t find any holier-than-thou prognostications here — just good new sounds worth…
When New Times last checked in with Miami’s premier live hip-hop party, Mayday!, we were happy to see they had survived the wave of almost-hype in ’06/’07 and were back to the grind. (Nutshell refresher: The group recorded a track with Cee-Lo and DJ Craze called “Groundhog Day,” played a…
On Combichrist’s fourth and latest album, Today We Are All Demons, the band’s mastermind, Andy LaPlegua, effectively ups the ante on the tried-and-true answering machine intro. It begins with a message from an unfortunate soul on his way to jail on a concealed-weapons charge. His girlfriend, meanwhile, is in the…
Churchill’s at nightPhoto by Tony VargasLongtime Churchill’s Pub manager/booker/in-house promoter, Michael Toms, made his exit from the venerable Miami institution this past January 1. Churchill’s marks its 30th anniversary as a mainstay of the Miami music scene in 2009, and owner Dave Daniels will be taking over the lion’s share…
Retro video game nerds, don’t get too excited. Friday’s guest act at the Vagabond has nothing to do with the mostly forgotten Nineties Nintendo game, but rather has appropriated the moniker, a la Crystal Castles, to broadcast a fascination with retro bleeps and bloops. The multicolor, 8-bit style graphics festooning…
Few local DJs in any genre have such a scarily deep and broad knowledge of music as Alex Caso. Able to wax poetic on and dig deep into any genre from psychedelic garage nuggets, to Jamaican rocksteady, to robotic electro, Caso’s consequently spun everywhere from straight-up raves to hipster hotspots…
(Photo via Galacticfunk.com)So how does a group of (mostly) non-native college students go on to become ambassadors of New Orleans funk? For Galactic, of which all but one of the band’s current members relocated to the Crescent City in the early Nineties, it took more than just practice and persistence…
(Photo via Stonefox’s MySpace page)Stonefox is a garage band in the purest sense of the word — except, perhaps, for the fact that they did most of their recording in living rooms. But they did accomplish the entire recording for their first full-length LP, Dead in the Sun on “barely…
(Photo via Smash Mouth’s MySpace page.)If a band exists solely to keep the party going — as California’s Smash Mouth clearly does — it makes perfect sense to catch that band in a tailgate-party setting before a huge football game. For this appearance, Smash Mouth takes a detour from its…
Madball (photo via the band’s Myspace page)Beyond the unending, dentist-office-like whir of hundred of tattoo needles buzzing on and off, the Miami Tattoo Expo will feature another soundtrack — an impressive lineup of local and national musical acts. While other South Florida tattoo conventions have relied mostly on rockabilly cover…
The party’s over.They finally figured it out. After 24 months, New Times realized that it has been paying me to party hard with music celebrities. They’ve been shelling out cash for me to dance at night clubs, to hang out at rock concerts, and to simply dive in and write…
1. CarcassNecroticism (Earache)Arguably grindcore’s finest hour, Necroticism captures Carcass hitting previously unheard-of heights of technical proficiency with such jaw-dropping skill that the album sounds absolutely fresh 16 years after it came out. Rarely has a grind band achieved the thrilling, epic majesty of classical music, but Carcass took the cake…
6. Jesu Why Are We Not Perfect (Hydra Head)Technically not a heavy release, but how can we discount Justin Broadrick, founding member of both Napalm Death and Godflesh? Fed up with the single-minded bludgeoning of those classic acts, Broadrick’s intention from the start in forming Jesu was so that he…
Boris(Photo via Boris’ MySpace page.)Was 2008 another renaissance year for metal? Well, yes — but the point should be moot by now. Whether metal is “in” or “out” during any given year, the music has gone through a creative revitalization every year — especially when you consider heavy music and…
Fallen From the Sky(Photo via the band’s MySpace page.)Pat yourself on the back for attending Saturday’s early-evening, all-ages extravaganza at Revolution. It’s sponsored by Music Saves Lives, a California-based group on its way to nonprofit status that aims to “create opportunities for people to save lives with simple contributions, and…
Ahhh… the sweet sounds of classic Seventies California pop. No one has ever embodied that sound more than the Doobie Brothers. And now that the style the Doobies perfected has become a musical archetype (see modern artists like the Autumn Defense, Beck, and so on), it’s all too easy to…
UltrachicUltrachic (Self-released)www.myspace.com/ultrachicUltrachic stand on a weird crossroad bridge where they sonically span the golden years of Venezuelan rock (Sentimiento Muerto, Dermis Tatu, Desorden Público) with the newer bloods who continue to make the racket (Zapato 3, Los Amigos Invisibles, Caramelos de Cianuro). The funny thing is, Ultrachic bass player Luis…
To read past installments of Miami According to Brooklyn, click here. Most of these guys who hang out in this club scene crap have no respect for women whatsoever. They’re just out trying to get their dick wet, which is horrible. I see it every day. Women should be treated…
The Seventies Soul Jam, scheduled for January 14 at the Fillmore Miami Beach, was set to feature the Stylistics, Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes, Main Ingredient, and Miami’s own Heatwave. The show, however, has been cancelled. Those who purchased advance tickets through Livenation.com should contact LiveNation’s ticket line at 888-598-4299. Those…
Crossfade reported earlier this month that Combichrist and Black Light Burns would kick off their tour in South Florida on January 14, at Club Premier in Ft. Lauderdale. That sounded like a weird fit, as the venue usually specializes in hip-hop and reggae dance parties. The event has been moved…
(Photo via Medeski, Martin & Wood’s MySpace page.)Despite being a cool, downtown NYC jazz act with roots in the early Nineties avant-garde scene of John Lurie and John Zorn, no one loves Medeski, Martin & Wood like that patchouli-loving, Birkenstocks-on-the-weekend hippie in the next cubicle over from you at work…
Luz MarinaCoincidencias (Cacao Música)www.cacaomusica.comVenezuelan singer/songwriter Luz Marina makes her debut for Cacao Música with 14 tracks of heavy-breathing soft numbers full of sexy insinuations and personal moments. It works. “Noche a Noche” (Night to Night) and “Cómo Dueles” (How You Hurt) were a little more my cup of tea, while…
