Bobby McFerrin and Voicestra One-hit wonders, by definition, have a lyrical or instrumental gimmick, and one that won’t carry the artist any further than, well, one hit. Was it really possible for Hot Butter to top the electronic weirdness of its 1969 Moog-based hit, “Popcorn?” Or, in more recent times,…
Lots of rappers boast about surviving trials by fire. Mr. Lif knows whereof he boasts. Late last year, a tour bus carrying him, the Coup, DJ Big Wiz, Metro, and others flipped over and burst into flames. Everyone survived, and as a rebirth of sorts, Lif has undertaken this “New…
Critics have taken to calling the music of New York MC Cage “horrorcore.” And the guy does kinda have a thing about death. His recent breakout album, Hell’s Winter, features the following upbeat ditties: “Teen Age Death,” “Gimme Some Death,” and “The Death of Chris Palko.” (Hint: Chris Palko is…
For almost sixteen years now, James McNew has been commuting from Brooklyn to Hoboken, New Jersey, to spend hours on end, at least four or five times a week, with the same two people. And he’s pretty damn happy about it. Then again, his gig is pretty sweet: He’s the…
The Trapp Family Singers had the sound of music. The Partridges, well, they just wanted everyone to get happy. The Carpenters? More sunshiny stuff about mountains and the weather. Yep, whether real or fictional, family bands have mostly stuck in the mind for their sheer cringe-inducing factor. Still, over the…
As punk rock began its path of destruction westward from its English birthplace, it arguably gravitated to three poles, each with its attendant aesthetics and hangups. First, of course, was London, with its up-yours-Thatcher sneer and obsession with simmering class warfare. No need to state (but we will anyway) that…
A year ago the New York Dolls performed at Art Loves Music, the free concert on the sand that’s part of the official opening-night festivities for Art Basel Miami Beach. They must have liked it here, because this year they’re back. Sort of. Two members of the pioneering American glam…
After how many permutations in lineup and how many trips around the nostalgia circuit does a band remain, well, itself? The Rolling Stones, of course, are the Jurassic exception; not only do they continue to record new material, but they do so with a shocking member-retention rate. More typical of…
Every couple of years there’s a new buzzword for urban underground music from the United Kingdom. In the Nineties, it was drum ‘n’ bass, trip-hop, and basically everything originating in Bristol. When those two genres reached their peak, then came UK garage, based on hardcore breakbeats and featuring some MCing,…
They are festive, bright knit garments in solid colors or, at their jazziest, maybe an animal print. Their most distinguishing characteristic, though, is a neckline crowded with all manner of shiny baubles, mainly rhinestones and bugle beads. And these tops are often abandoned by the dozens, criminally forgotten in the…
The laws of music journalism state that when a precociously good new band comes along, one must harp on the members’ ages. So, okay, blah blah blah, the four members of be your own PET, from Nashville, are all teenagers, the oldest just barely legal. Great — now that’s out…
It’s official: Laundry Bar is single-handedly fomenting a local drum ‘n’ bass revival. Recent weeks have seen DJ sets by kings of the genre like Florida’s own AK1200, jazz-borrowing Londoners Aquasky, and one of the cofounders of the legendary Metalheadz imprint, Doc Scott. This Friday another Brit brings the choons:…
Old-school house heads know King Britt for early-Nineties smash dance hits like “Tribal Confusion,” coauthored with Josh Wink in 1993, as well as his latter-day DJ sets of deep, jazzy beats. As for everyone else — well past their teen years, that is — they probably remember “Cool Like That,”…
Taught to Be Taut Ska. Go ahead, laugh if you will. Much like a current genre label of the same length (hint: It begins with e and ends with o), it quickly became a musical four-letter word as soon as it appeared on mainstream radar. But something like Darwinism applies…
The Waterford Landing was voted Best Pop Band in this year’s New Times “Best of Miami” issue. In 2005 it was selected as a Personal Best, won the Readers’ Choice award, and picked up Best Electronic Group. But Alex Caso, keyboardist and singer, remains somewhat mystified about the acclaim. “I’ve…
Gregg Foreman, the mastermind behind the shifting musical lineup that performs as the Rare Birds, is indeed an exotic specimen in Miami. Under the moniker “Mr. Pharmacist” (cribbed from a song by the Fall), Foreman is one of the most prolific rock DJs around town. But even in his native…
Another rising star from the Botanica del Jibaro collective, Seven Star gives a taste of his upcoming full-length with this rallying cry for authenticity in hip-hop and culture in general. Seven’s flow is cool, calm, and collected, effortlessly riding producer Deviant’s arresting beat, a truly soulful funk wah-wah punctuated by…
After a couple of quiet years following the success of its sophomore album, Light and Magic, Ladytron has resurfaced in a surprising flurry of activity. First there was the third full-length, Witching Hour, in late 2005, and the band, which rarely appears live, is undertaking a massive world tour (which…
Since a change of ownership late last year, South Beach stalwart Laundry Bar has retooled itself as a tucked-away last bastion of underground electronic music. Its Friday-night party, Basshead, has especially attracted a number of notable out-of-town acts. Adding to the so-far sterling roster tonight is One Self, making the…
Electric Six probably shouldn’t be taken seriously, because it’s obvious the bandmates themselves don’t: They go by pseudonyms like Dick Valentine and Rock N Roll Indian, and rhyme the words “Taco Bell” with “gates of Hell.” The sextet from Detroit keeps a little of that city’s signature garage fuzz-guitar sound,…
Yet another band of floppy-haired, earnest-looking Brooklyn boys, We Are Scientists truly broke out of the Williamsburg scene ghetto this year with their major-label debut, With Love and Squalor. Their sound is far more melodic than most of their native borough’s dark or noisy counterparts, owing to the influence of…
It might well be the apocalypse if Ladytron is finally coming to Miami, and for the band’s first appearance in Florida, no less. The members of Ladytron are spread across Europe, variously calling Liverpool, Glasgow, and Sofia, Bulgaria, home. But in the years since founders Reuben Wu and Daniel Hunt…
