Take it from an expert. “Anywhere you go in Florida, you can party,” says rapper Prince Rahiem. “Jacksonville.” He laughs. “Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg. . . It’s the atmosphere,” the Hollis (Queens), New York, transplant explains. “Miami, the South, is a very sensual place. The less you wear, the better…
Bloodhound Gang Use Your Fingers (Cheese Factory/Underdog/Columbia) You’ll find white rappers generally fall into two camps: Beastie Boys disciples and the House of Pain clique. In the former, honky hip-hop has nothing to do with the African-American experiences that gave birth to the rap form; rather, the genre has been…
Almost nine years ago at Washington, D.C.’s Warner Theater, a grand, ancient vaudeville house, British synth-rock quartet Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — by then generally known as O.M.D. — stood on-stage beaming and looking somewhat bewildered at a house full of enthusiastic fans. At one point, bassist-principal singer Andy…
Rosario Siento (SDI) Since the Seventies, the children of flamenco masters have adopted the rhythms of their gypsy ancestors to create their own genre of contemporary Spanish music A flamenco-rock, -pop, and -jazz hybrids that nonpurists classify as “new flamenco.” The daughter of renowned Andalusian folklorist and Fifties movie star…
Being identical twins, Evi and Gin Weintraub of INHOUSE reach levels of vocal interplay that are out of the reach of singing duos with flimsier genetic ties. Technically, Evi’s a soprano and Gin’s an alto, but that makes little difference once they get going. Like the flight of two lovestruck…
Alison Moyet Singles (Columbia) Cyndi Lauper Twelve Deadly Cyns…and Then Some (Epic) Both tumbled somewhat improbably out of early-Eighties new wave. Both flashed brightly through their respective homeland’s cosmos, flared, and burned out. Both relied heavily on other writers’ songs. Both left behind one truly transcendent single. Both have new…
A year ago, at a concert thrown by and for Miami’s hip-hop habitues, a Bronx rapper by the name of Fat Joe clambered his way to the microphone and, drum tracks rattling in the background, hollered something to the effect of, “Y’all ready to party? Give it up!” This was…
Bob Marley and the Wailers Natural Mystic — The Legend Lives On (Tuff Gong/Island) Our thoughts might be many on the occasion of the release of Natural Mystic. We might marvel at the staying power of the Marley legacy. We might ponder the industry of those engaged in the mining…
A reporter has just informed Buffalo Tom bassist Chris Colbourne that his name appears under the image of the band’s drummer, Tom Maginnis — and vice versa — in Buffalo Tom’s brand-new record company photo. “Ohmygod!” Colbourne exclaims. “I hadn’t heard that before. That’s hilarious. That’s great. Poor Tom! He’ll…
Elvis Costello Kojak Variety (Warner Bros.) Robert Forster I Had a New York Girlfriend (Beggars Banquet) As a result of his huge rep as a songwriter, Elvis Costello’s talents as an interpreter of others’ work often has been overlooked. — pity, because in the past he adroitly has embodied songs…
Fireworks boom and crackle outside, smoke fills the streets, and bottle rockets emblematic of revolutionary bombs burst in the air. Inside, four young men — members of the band Orgasmic Bliss — are sitting in a sprawling Florida room. However, instead of partaking of the Fourth of July traditions of…
Sponge Rotting Pinata (Chaos/Sony) You’ve heard the jaunty title track (possibly the only song in pop history to use a pinata as a metaphor for a cowboy’s broken heart), the gripping “Plowed” (with its riveting “in a world of human wreckage” chorus), and the supercatchy “Molly” (“Sixteen candles down the…
The technology gremlins have been playing hob with Lycia. During a show in Philadelphia two and half weeks ago, the band’s keyboards, a critical ingredient in its dark, ethereal sound, winked in and out. Then, during the same set, without any apparent provocation, the drum machine, another critical ingredient, shifted…
Thanks to the regional college radio success of their single, “I’m Beautiful,” the Wilcoxes have gained a reputation among local scenesters for being a band that hails from some supercool bastion of alternative rock far, far away. Not so. The Wilcoxes — vocalist Spring McClure, guitarist Kelly Fulton, bassist Claudia…
Cake Motorcade of Generosity (Capricorn) Ever get the feeling alternative rock is on the verge of collective suicide? I do. All the hot new bands sound so bedraggled with Weltschmerz it’s a wonder they have the energy to pound out the same three power chords over and over. The five…
Up on stage, John Tenaglia looks satisfied. The boxy WSHE owner holds a microphone in one hand, shields his eyes against the glare of the spotlights with the other as he beams out at the crowd of about 200 — station personnel, advertisers, local ad agency reps, and sundry listeners…
Paul Stanley, king of the nighttime world, just woke up. And you can tell. His voice has little of the distinctive arena-rock urgency that one somehow can’t help but expect after hearing all his rousing stage patter between tunes on Alive!, KISS’s epochal 1975 live double-LP. “I wanna know how…
Various Artists For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson (MusicMasters/BMG) Harry Nilsson was to the Seventies what Warren Zevon was to the Eighties. Imagine Randy Newman, but suave. Now imagine Randy Newman, suave and drunk as hell on martinis. Maybe we all needed to be reminded about Nilsson. His…
The telephone connection crackles with static as Theodore “Lolo” Beaubrun, Jr., front man for the Haitian roots band Boukman Eksperyans, shushes the half-dozen children who happily scamper about his father’s Port-au-Prince home. “It’s ‘vacation noise,'” Beaubrun notes lightheartedly, before returning to a very serious discussion of his band’s precarious position…
Rara Raveup Boukman Eksperyans Libäte (Pran Pou Pran’l!) (Mango) For listeners whose perception of “voodoo” has been formed through the distorted lens of Hollywood, Libäte (Pran Pou Pran’l!), the third release by Haitian rasin band Boukman Eksperyans, is a joyous revelation. Central to the album A indeed, to the the…
Esquivel Music From a Sparkling Planet Space Age Bachelor Pad Music (Bar/None) Between 1958 and 1967, Mexican pianist-bandleader-arranger-composer Juan Garcia Esquivel recorded and released a series of wonderfully bizarre orchestral albums in the U.S., music that aggressively cross-pollinated big band sounds with the aural anarchy of composer Raymond Scott (whose…
At the opening-night talent showcase for Billboard magazine’s Latin Music Conference, held here last week, Cuban singer Albita Rodriguez was the obvious star attraction. A crowd of about 450 recording executives, distributors, producers, promoters, journalists, and musicians mingled vigorously during acts that included a Venezuelan model-turned-pop-singer and one half of…
