Miami’s Lil Champ FWAY Is Focused on the Music

On Sunday, Carol City rapper, Lil Champ FWAY, headed to the stinky and smoky trade show known as Cannabis Cup in Denver, Colorado, to usher in the unofficial stoner holiday, 4/20. Before surrendering himself to the hazy interiors of Denver Mart, he took some time to talk with New Times…

Coachella 2015’s Ten Coolest Totems

This year, Coachella explicitly denied totems entry into the festival. These celebrity faces and odd things attached to sticks are useful for helping keep groups of friends together in big crowds, and they’re especially ubiquitous at EDM events like Hard Summer, EDC and Ultra. The ban on totems, though, didn’t…

Sweatstock 2015 and Record Store Day’s Ten Best Moments

Intrepid music fans willing to brave an absolutely scorching afternoon in the Little Haiti sun were treated to the sixth incarnation of Sweatstock, beloved local shop Sweat Records’ blowout in honor of its anniversary and Record Store Day. Celebrating ten years in the biz, this year’s offerings for the annual…

The Who Hits a Magnificent 50 in Miami

The Who Hits 50! With Special Guests Joan Jett and the Blackhearts American Airlines Arena April 17, 2015 Better Than: Most bands of a similar stature (Hey, this is The Who, after all!) First things first: despite the hype and hoopla surrounding the fact that one of rock’s quintessential bands…

Miami’s Five Best Concerts This Week

Another day, another dollar… To spend on kick-ass concerts! At least that’s the mentality of every music junkie here in the 305. And while it may be only Monday, once the clock strikes 5 p.m., you’ll be one step closer to hitting up South Florida’s five best concerts.  Check ’em…

Miami’s Limited Fanfare Records: “People Really Connect to Vinyl”

“From its birth to I guess now being a toddler, the strength of the label has and always will be putting out quality music,” says Limited Fanfare Records founder Brian Kurtz. “The productivity and activity generally stems from different things: relationships with bands that I’ve worked with over the past…

Homework Talks Amsterdam, Chicago House, and Keeping It Groovy

DJ-producers Zip Stolk and Tom Waist may as well be time-warp Chicago homeboys, considering their keen grasp of the jacking classic house sound. But in fact, they hail from present-day Amsterdam. As Homework, the pair has taken the international scene by storm since 2010 with a series of delectably deep…

Miami’s Ten Under $10 Weekend Party Guide

Oh, the wonder of the weekend: three whole nights and two full days filled with nothing but endless possibilities of fun. But with Tax Day behind us, your pocket may be running short on dollar bills right about now. In the Magic City, however, your 48-hour party bender doesn’t have to…

Record Store Day 2015’s Best Releases, According to Sweat Records

An unprepared Record Store Day shopper is a disappointed Record Store Day shopper. If one intends to totally carpe diem, as Latin-speaking RSD fans say, then it is absolutely necessary to compile an alphabetized and annotated list of potential purchases, wake up before dawn to empty all bank accounts, and…

Trick Daddy on What It Means to Be 305: Video

Growing up in Miami, Trick Daddy was the hardest and grooviest thug playboy of them all. Who would have thought the man behind the legend can be so traditional? Miami New Times had the divine pleasure of hanging with the Slip-N-Slide superstar in his Miramar home last week, and we…

Five Best Goth Rock Bands of All Time

Let’s make one thing clear about this list: the only goth bands that matter were those at the forefront of this short-lived scene in England. Everything after the bands listed and explored below were some sort of rip-off … excluding one exception (it’s called cognitive dissonance, humor me … it’s…

How the Hell Do People Afford Coachella?

Sierra Blackford really wanted to go to Coachella. But it wasn’t easy. The 23-year-old Hawaiian singer-songwriter juggled three jobs as a waitress, playing gigs at local bars and working in a slipper store to save enough for her concert tickets, heavily discounted airfare (she knows somebody in the industry), camping…

The Stage Miami Closing, Considering Move

The Stage Miami opened its doors at 170 NE 38th St. on November 11, 2010. But after almost five years and countless classic club gigs from famous folks like Ty Segall, St. Vincent, and Wu-Tang’s Ghostface Killah, as well as nearly every notable local band, the venue is vacating its Design District…

Tomas Diaz Talks “Suky” and Going to Cuban Jail for Rock ’n’ Roll

“Suky” is a song, a dance, and a worldwide phenomenon by Miami’s own Tomas Diaz.  The international singing sensation went from jail in Cuba for playing dangerous music to backing Bruce Springsteen, touring with Phish, co-founding Spam Allstars, and recording his new solo project. He recently inked a deal with…

Barron Machat, Founder of Hippos in Tanks Label, Died in Miami Car Crash

As the co-founder and CEO of New York/London/Los Angeles-based record label Hippos in Tanks, Barron Machat earned a reputation for fostering internet-era experimental pop that blenderized New Wave, R&B, techno, avant-garde noise, and other far stranger sonic strains. Launched with Travis Woolsey in 2010, Machat’s label helped boost underground electronic phenoms…

Why Miami Still Needs Record Stores

The CD seems destined for obsolescence. Sales continue to decline. Profits too. And people are starting to discover that crusty old coffee-table coasters can be conveniently replaced with compact discs. But vinyl is booming. For the seventh straight year, the format’s sales have increased. (In 2014, there were 9.2 million…