Still reeling from all the tragic losses the local punk rock scene suffered during 2010, this year opened with another shot of pain when esteemed scenester Jose “Boner” Faria passed away in a vehicular accident January 8. He had not resided in South Florida for some time. But he certainly…
Chicago native Common (AKA Lonnie Rashied Lynn Jr.) has often been dubbed “hip-hop’s Renaissance Man.” His socially conscious music has won him Grammys, been utilized by Barack Obama, and survived the phases of an often fickle music industry. Buddy’s acting chops aren’t too shabby either. He’s graced the silver screen…
Crossfade’s favorite shock rocker, Alice Cooper, turns 63 today. And even though he’s probably out at some exclusive country club working on his celebrity golf game, we like the image of vintage Alice that involves prop blood, live chickens, and nightly decapitations. So to celebrate AC’s birthday, Crossfade decided to…
For a certain kind of music snob, there’s nothing more annoying than all that saccharine radio pop stuff called bachata. At best, it’s elevator muzak. At worst, it sounds like a sad baby wailing over a karaoke tape full of stuttering guitar, bongo, and maracas. But there are millions of…
Television is a magic medium. It’s also evil. And sometimes shitty. But really, who thought that Ricky Martin and the Roots would ever hook up? No one. And yet, thanks to TV (and the fact that Questlove’s crew decided they needed a day job), we’re all gonna get to watch…
Normally, if you wanted to spend your Thursday night getting drunk off Cîroc while paying a pretty girl for 10 minutes of therapeutic body contact, we’d give you directions to King of Diamonds, Goldrush, or our ex-girlfriend’s apartment. But tonight, we’re gonna suggest you head over to SoBe’s Vita by…
Whoa, have you heard Nicki Minaj’s remix of “Hold You,” the sexy hit single by smooth reggae dude Gyptian? If the answer is no, then you are way, way, way behind the game (and potentially celibate) ’cause this lusty little tag-team track totally dominated the Summer 2010 baby-making season. Oozing…
We don’t have to tell you that Miami’s got a fantastic, flourishing music scene. And if you’re wise enough to be reading Crossfade regularly, we’re sure you already know it. Now there’s a new television show that you are most definitely going to want to check out. Miami Music Television…
If you can believe it, there was a time, commonly called back in the day, when a female with a microphone could be cute, dirty, sexy, funny, and smart. This was before Lil Kim and the boom of the MC slut. And back then, the undisputed rap scene queens were…
Quest is one of those hip-hop artists that you just love to follow because he’s evolving with each and every new track. You get to see him grow in front of your eyes. At only 20 years old, Quest has taken the hip-hop blogosphere by storm. And while he teased…
Cleaveland Jones just might be the ideal Miamian — the alpha Floridian, if you will. And if there’s any doubt that he’s as fitting a face as the MIA could want, consider his new album Tao Jones, a happy marriage showcasing reggae, soul, and samba in perfect spiritual harmony. “Eastern…
In 1983, French composer Yann Tiersen was a newborn post-punk convert on the cusp of adolescence. He had studied classical violin for six years and was finally fed up. So he destroyed his instrument, smashing it to bits. “It was really personal. I never wanted to be an instrumentalist and…
In 2010, deep house was the sound of the electronic dance music Zeitgeist, and German DJ-producer Nick Curly played no small role in bringing it to the forefront of a transatlantic scene. In just a handful of years, Curly helped put his hometown of Mannheim, Germany, on the EDM map…
At the dawn of 2011, Jimmy Eat World is one of the few early-’90s indie bands to blow up without getting bashed for selling out. The group’s longevity — it’s lasted nearly 18 continuous years, with new studio albums appearing every two or three years — has fed both its…
Naming a band can be tricky. That said, Xperimento doesn’t seem to have had that problem. Its moniker perfectly encapsulates the group’s free-form, no-holds-barred approach to making music with razor-fine precision, and brandishing its M.O. like a banner. “It’s definitely not your typical Miami band,” says lead vocalist Camilo “Tumbao”…
Unfortunately, the rabidly anticipated Ultra-week edition of Swedish House Mafia’s Masquerade Motel is still 52 days away. So all you overeager party people need to just chill out and figure out a positive way to spend those megawatts of pent-up energy. Sure, you could set the Stockholm trio’s certified crossover…
It’s not surprising that the majority of Yonder Mountain String Band’s record catalog is culled from live performances. A foremost proponent of the so-called “new grass” phenomenon (think the Dead or Phish), the band couples guitars with banjos, bouzouki, and mandolins to spur the communal enthusiasm. Investigate YMSB’s last album,…
As an Iranian-American teen caught up in Washington, D.C.’s ’80s music scene, Ali Shirazinia became a fan of hardcore and New Wave. But when that decade died out, the kid switched, like a lot of ex-punks, to electronic noise. He learned to DJ, eventually adopted the stage-name Dubfire, and cofounded…
When Rick Ross lumbered onto the national stage in 2006, he was something of a blank slate. Though he was a protégé of EPMD’s Erick Sermon who had signed to venerable Southern labels Suave House and Slip-N-Slide, his story was largely unknown. His debut, Port of Miami, didn’t fill in…
After 14 years of playing music together, the White Stripes are calling it quits. A statement on the band’s website claims that the breakup happed for “a myrid of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band.” The White Stripes’ disbanding was expectedly unexpected. The…
Miami native Mike Marsh is no stranger to South Florida’s music scene. After all, the Dashboard Confessional drummer grew up here, cutting his teeth on Rush covers while still a student at Sunset Senior High. And eventually, the trio of Marsh, guitarist Klaus Ketelhohn, and bassist Chris Drueke gelled to…
As long-standing staples of the international EDM scene, German DJ-production duo Tiefschwarz have spanned the last two decades’ worth of popular sounds — from soulful deep house and gritty electro house, to dark minimal techno and back again. Perhaps it’s their adaptability and undying commitment to the cutting-edge that has…
