Music

Familiarity rules: The chorus borrows from El General’s pioneering, eponymous reggaeton hit, and its “Gasolina” likeness is more than passing. But skittering, synthesized brass ‘n’ toms prop Prez’s gritty spitting as he begs la sirena not to slay a man with her wild punane (and mami answers back like, “Whatever!”)…

Have you heard about the franks and beans incident at I/O? Last year the dynamic electro bass duo and avant-garde performance art troupe Finesse and Runway sprayed the crowd with wieners and the like. If you missed out on the antics the first time, this weekend is your chance to…

With a degree in publicity and numerous acting roles on his resumé, Carlos Vives could have chosen a route in life that didn’t include sold-out arenas or recording studios. But how else would’ve Vives put all the musical influences he picked up as a kid in Santa Marta, Colombia, to…

Vidavox isn’t a jazz or jam band. Nor is it electronica, though the group does borrow certain strategies from IDM. Vidavox is a swirling amalgamation of exploratory music culled from the recesses of South Florida’s underground. The outfit cranks out boundless, genre-defying sound that captures bits of classical, punk, and…

How do you say punk in Espanglish? In Miami the answer is Güajiro (pronounced war hero in gringo). The Hialeah punks, consisting of Cuban-American and Honduran exilos and a notable ex-Long Beach, California resident, are thrashing their way onto the national stage with a five-song EP on the same label…

Wearing stiletto heels and a tight minidress with a wild Sixties print, Cuban cabaret singer Daya cheerfully trots out from the dimly lit table area and onto the stage of the newly relocated Café Nostalgia. She shakes her massive mane of kinky black hair and nods to the band before…

The Backstreet Boys! Yeah, I know, I should have told the joke before I got to the punch line. In 2005, though, the Backstreet Boys are both. The mere mention of Orlando’s most popular musical export conjures up images of a pop juggernaut crashing under the weight of its own…

7:41 a.m. Get a wake-up call from my fourteen-year-old nephew, Jeremy, whom I’m taking to his very first Warped Tour. He asks to borrow my faded old Bad Brains T-shirt because his Bowling for Soup tee makes him “look like a noob.” 10:06 a.m. Traffic slows as we near the…

Usually when a music man becomes a businessman (say, by being named an executive at Virgin Records), the music that plays loudest in his head goes cha-ching. And no disrespect to Clive, Quincy, or Jigga, but Jermaine Dupri hears this music clearer than most. Over the past year, J.D. has…

I Self Divine’s latest album, Self Destruction, sounds like the sonic equivalent of road rage: angry, violent, yet ultimately annoying and pointless. With a self-assured delivery that resembles Brother Ali or Fat Joe, the former MC for Atlanta’s Micranots delivers angst-ridden blasts of slogan-heavy choruses. Meanwhile Destruction’s production is steeped…

The Now Sound Redesigned, a remix tribute to the Sixties soft-psych group the Free Design, is an opportunity lost. The soft vocal harmonies would seem a lush foil for hip-hop’s hard beats and streetwise rhymes, but the album fails to properly negotiate the juxtaposition. Don’t get me wrong; there are…

Natasha Bedingfield, sister of Brit pop star Daniel Bedingfield, has already gone triple platinum in the UK with this set of sunny self-empowerment anthems, and no wonder: In an era when an album can move a million units on the strength of only one song, Unwritten delivers virtually an entire…

From Jamaican dub to European electro, Zuco 103 scours the world for its exceptional new album, Whaa! The European-Brazilian group blends its light electronica with the Latin rhythms of bossa nova legend Roberto Menescal, the dub thump of reggae pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry, and the quirky, cute vocals of Spanish…

The Domino Kings aren’t the only band from Springfield, MO, you’ve never heard of, but they’re probably the best. Their brand of hard-rockin’, honky-tonk swing reverberates like a drunken earthquake. Lead singer, main songwriter, and rhythm guitarist Stevie Newman’s warble is part Hank Snow, part Buck Owens, and part perfect…

The Website for California-based rock outfit Brian Jonestown Massacre warns visitors about the band’s lineup with this disclaimer: “Subject to change without notice.” The noncommittal stance about who exactly will be taking the stage as the group makes its way across America to promote its latest album, We Are the…

Not too many publications are knocking Franco De Vita’s door down for a glossy pictorial. Let’s face it — with a short and stocky build, receding hairline, and prize-fighter’s nose, the Venezuelan singer/songwriter doesn’t rank very high on anybody’s list of potential cover boys. Although he isn’t exactly a heartthrob,…

Jamaica’s independence from England on August 6, 1944, may have been somewhat of a red herring — the Queen of England’s portrait was not removed from the King’s House — but that year did produce Alton Ellis, also known as Mr. Rock Steady. For those who don’t already know (and…

It’s easy to blame Tori Amos for inspiring a generation of whiney singer/songwriter types. But those who wallow in her wake are merely pretenders to a throne built on soul-baring ballads that relive painful personal experiences, whether it be a rape, a miscarriage, or a difficult marriage. Although Amos vacillated…

For decades the glorious sounds of sacred steel music were confined within the walls of Church of God parishes throughout Florida and the East Coast. The music, a mixture of gospel and blues that centers on the pedal steel guitar, was never intentionally restricted, but the musicians never bothered taking…

Andrea Echeverrí, organic rocking front-woman for the alternative Colombian band Los Aterciopelados, is milking the groove-mama experience for all its worth. The artist had her first baby, Milagros, three years ago, and is now stepping out with a solo album, Andrea Echeverrí, dedicated to the joys of motherhood. In typical…

It is a Friday afternoon and hundreds of eager, sweaty teens swarm outside of South Beach club Mansion. They have all but overtaken the sidewalks between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets on Washington Avenue and are trading demos, cracking jokes, and exchanging rumors of celebrity sightings. Two girls immediately blocking my…

Remember the winter of 1999? Eminem and Royce Da 5’9″ had just dropped “Nuthin’ to Do/Scary Movies,” a twelve-inch so hot that DJs spun it even though the shit wasn’t on a major label. Em was on fire, kid, and rattling cages with wit like “Any man that dares to…