Dâm-Funk The Vagabond Thursday, September 23, 2010 Better Than: Getting the high score on Miss Pac-Man while listening to Purple Rain. In an alternate universe, James Brown is John Lennon, Parliament Funkadelic is Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson is still making songs like “Rock With You,” and g-funk is grunge. On…
dontstayin.comThere’s no debate that Miami is ground zero for bass-rattling dance music. For as long as cars have come factory-equipped with a throb knobs, people named Luke, Laz, and Maggotron have been finding ways to turn them up to 11. And 1,976 miles and twenty years later, DJs like Sluggo…
In the late ’80s to early ’90s, Florida’s music landscape was ravaged by a brutal bulldozer known as grindcore. Inspired by death metal, thrash, and classic hardcore, and driven by the DIY ethos of punk rock, groups emerged like locusts. They played faster than everyone else and blasted the world…
Click here to view photos of Toro y Moi at Electric Pickle.Toro y Moi Electric Pickle Saturday, September 18, 2010 Better Than: A foam party in Ibiza. Columbia, South Carolina’s Chaz Bundick is Toro Y Moi and he’s trademarked a magical brand of sample-based sentimental synth-pop. Although there are two…
Toro Y Moi is 23-year-old Chazwick Bundick. Started as a side-project from his traditional band, The Heist and The Accomplice, his goal was to experiment, sample, and create something sincere for himself. The sound has since been lumped into the Chillwave category, a genre that has lots of reverb, sampling,…
via heard-words.comBig BoiWhen something happens in threes, we take note. When Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper died earlier this year, everyone was asking, “Who’s next?” The universe answered: Rick Moranis Art Linkletter. There are three primary colors, three types of matter, three little pigs, three stages of life, and the…
pyrofusion.comHave you ever wanted to be a part of something really big? Well Miami will be one of the hundreds of cities taking part in EarthDance 2010, hailed as “the world’s largest synchronized music and dance festival for peace.” In 2004, it broke the Guinness World Record for largest synchronized…
Photo by Jose FloresMemphis Blac with Smokahontas Jones Thursday, September 9, 2010 The Vagabond, Miami Better Than: A typical night at an 8th Street Motel The Review:Dallas’s Memphis Blac and Smokahontas Jones make no bones about who they are. Memphis used to be a sex worker and has a lot…
Bwomp-womp-woppa-woppa: That’s the sound of the dubstep. Friday night Canada’s Excision is making like a snowbird and setting up his nest at Discotekka for Boom! Pow! He’ll be joined by Miami’s own Pharaoh of Bass and Throw-up Music, Otto Von Schirach. Dubstep is a dirty, grimy genre, and Excision is…
Jacuzzi Boyswith Strange Boys, Gentleman Jesse and His Men, and Electric Bunniesat Churchill’s Pub, MiamiSeptember 5, 2010 Better than: last Sunday, next Sunday. The Review:”We’d like to thank Sailor … um … Sailor … Sailor Jerry” were the first of few words said by Electric Bunnies’ main guitarist Eldys Diaz…
Jacuzzi Boys have only been around for three years. In that time they’ve managed to frequently tour the U.S., put out a handful of fast-selling seven inches, release an album, and get noticed and respected on a national level. Not bad at all. The band practices and finds inspiration at…
Michael Arcos is one of Miami’s most gifted sons. As a filmmaker he makes movies that make people confused, giddy and sometimes a little upset. As a musician he makes music that elicits the same gut reactions. There’s something innocent about him and his art. Sometimes. There’s something dark and…
Those who say “Miami has no music scene,” take note: Furious Dudes (from Miami) and Lil Daggers (from Miami) are having a joint record release show at Bar (in Miami) tonight. Those who say Miami has no music scene, may have never seen these bands. Those who have seen them,…
Juliette LewisThursday, August 26, 2010Bardot, MiamiBetter than: That band called Guns ‘N’ Roses.As Juliette Lewis was about to take the floor at Bardot, the Village People’s “YMCA” was blasting through the packed bar’s speakers. I don’t know if people went because Juliette Lewis is their favorite singer, favorite movie star,…
When dance-pop diva Lisa Lisa was 13 years old, she started sneaking out of the house to hit dance clubs. Her goal? To get discovered as a singer. And even though what she was doing could’ve got her grounded, something inside her told her she had to hit those clubs…
K.C. Toimil sits on the sidewalk in front of PS14 on a recent weekend night. She’s trying to stay awake, and her band, Melted Sunglasses, is still patiently waiting to get onstage. It’s 3 a.m. I drove to this show, to see K.C. and her melty band. She told me…
