Miami’s Best Live Music of 2008

The year’s 10 best shows of the year? I’m sick of that shit. The top 10 albums? Tired. Finest songs? Forget about it. Here are my faves in the categories that music nerds probably won’t list this season. With a bonus: They were all onstage. Best Virgin Live Appearance: Tie…

Studio A Shooter Charged With First-Degree Murder

(Photo by Ivon David Rojas)The Herald reported yesterday a small item following up on this past April’s shooting at the now-defunct Studio A. A 22-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 24-year-old alleged victim. The shooting took place on Sunday, April 14, during the…

Tab Benoit Performs With Mike Zito Sat. at City Limits, Delray

With the establishment of so-called alternative rock, the concept of a “guitar hero” is now passé, for better and worse. While tedious fretboard histrionics have (rightly) gone out of style, there should be room for hot-stuff six-string slingers matching flash with creativity. Blues music impacted less by trendiness and more…

Joachim Garraud, David Guetta’s Co-Producer, at Mansion This Sat.

Like fellow Frenchman Laurent Garnier, house DJ Joachim Garraud cut his teeth at Paris nightclub Boy, ground zero for the country’s techno scene. Unlike most DJs, however, he came in with a fully rounded musical background, having spent seven years training at the French Academy of Music Percussion and Piano…

Partying at Buck 15’s Electric Lounge

A few weeks ago,as woman named Doris with a thick French accent called me at the office (305-571-72).  “I have been in America for six months,” she said. “I am a DJ from Europe and I am throwing a party at Buck 15.” She then told me that she had…

Q&A With Keyshia Cole, Performing at AAA on Sunday

She’s landed four Grammy nominations, seven number-one singles, and two platinum-selling albums, all in only three years. Thus, it’s safe to say Keyshia Cole deserves a place in that illustrious echelon of female artists known as Divas, though she may not realize it yet. But not the “get me my…

Dangerflow to Play Benefit Show Tonight at Jazid

A couple weeks ago, Miami New Times introduced you to Dangerflow, the latest high-energy, multi – genre – fusion party band to score a coveted weekly residency at Jazid. Like fellow Jazid favorites Locos Por Juana, Dangerflow touches on cumbia and other Latin rhythms. But the addition of soul singer…

Q&A With T-Pain, Performing at AAA on Sunday

Many of today’s hip-hop personalities and R&B royalty would have fans believe they’ve got the genuine Midas touch, but few in recent years can truly back that claim up. The Tallahassee-born T-Pain, however, is one of these chosen few. It’s no wonder Akon snatched him up for his own imprint,…

Switch

A Chromeo DJ set, Crookers, MSTRKRFT, and now Switch? Whoever is responsible for the string of bookings at Heathrow Lounge deserves a gold star, because it’s getting ridiculous. Switch, born Dave Taylor, is the U.K.-based whiz responsible for producing dance-floor staples for artists such as M.I.A. (“Boyz,” “Jimmy,” and “20…

Ogre Needs Love

During the Eighties as half of Skinny Puppy, Nivek Ogre (or just Ogre, or Kevin Ogilvie) created a much-imitated, arresting blend of industrial and hard rock, belched forth amid bewildering onstage theatrics. A showman from the beginning, Ogre quickly used his theater of the horrifically absurd as a platform to…

Miami According to Brooklyn: Art Basel Wrap-Up

Last week, we introduced you to Crossfade’s latest weekly guest columnist, Brooklyn, the day manager and occasional night-time gatekeeper at the Vagabond. To read a longer introduction about who he is, click here to check out last week’s premiere installment of Miami According to Brooklyn.To the person who left that…

Brand New Black Chiney Mix+ Willy Chin Birthday Bash

South Florida’s favorite reggae sound system, Black Chiney is at again. They just released a brand new free mix  project full of the hottest tracks coming out of Jamaica at the moment. But in typical Black Chiney fashion, the songs are mashed up with solid hip-hop tracks at just the…