It’s difficult to say which is more awesome: Rachel Goodrich’s catchy song “The Black Hole” or its low-fi video. In it, she sings while kneeling on her friend’s unmade bed; she’s wearing, for no real reason, a ladybug costume and a pair of sunglasses. Meanwhile, her friend Jon Estes plays…
Regardless of if you’re headed to the Pearl Jam show tonight in West Palm Beach, within the next two weeks, you’ll be able to buy or download a live bootleg of the concert to your computer or Verizon cell phone. Known for their ability to stay one step ahead of…
Last year’s Rock the Bells was headlined by Wu-Tang Clan, with all nine living members onstage (until Meth jumped into the audience). Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s son, “Young DB” was up there, carrying on his father’s legacy. This past January, I spoke with Raekwon and Ghostface about the future of the…
Lil’ Wayne Tha Carter III (Cash Money/Young Money/Universal) Possibly the most anticipated hip-hop release since Jay Z’s The Black Album, Tha Carter III is Lil Wayne’s 6th studio album and the final in the Tha Carter Trilogy. There’s been much hype surrounding this release seeing that many of the tracks…
Either go to college or you’ll end up like this deer. No pressure. Michigan based rocker Ted Nugent has sharp a message for high school graduates this year. The highly vocal 59-year-old conservative recently penned an Op-Ed piece in the Detroit News that he wants to circulate throughout the country…
Stevie Nicks Saturday, June 7 Hard Rock Live Better than: Watching Stevie Nicks 10 years from now. The body of Stevie Nicks turned 60 last month. Her voice has been 60 for a while. Maybe it was all that coke in the ’70s, or maybe it was that her vocal…
Little Brother with Double-O of Kidz in the Hall Paid Dues Tour Saturday, June 7 Club Cinema Better Than: Believing hip-hop is deceased. It would be great to say the hip-hop extravaganza known as the Paid Dues Tour went off without a hitch this past Saturday night. The vibes were…
Photo Courtesy of VBS.TV/VICE Films When it comes to documentaries, it takes a lot to make me say, “holy shit.” You put enough news headlines in front of someone’s face and, unfortunately, real life stories become less and less shocking. But Vice Film’s “Heavy Metal in Baghdad” had me holy-shitting…
…And so is the band’s whole tour, apparently. Here’s the official scoop: “YES CONCERT SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 1 AT HARD ROCK LIVE HAS BEEN CANCELED HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The Yes concert scheduled for August 1 at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has been canceled…
Yesterday evening, 99 Jamz’s K. Foxx and numerous hip-hop blogs announced that Lil’ Wayne had finally gone Hollywood and checked himself into rehab for drug addiction. The news wasn’t that hard to believe after Wayne’s admitted dependence on cocaine and syrup, and since a Styrofoam cup full of sizzurp seems…
I was originally supposed to write about the new Van Morrison album, Keep It Simple (which was released April 1), a few weeks ago, when other deadlines got in the way. Then a funny thing happened: The characteristically modest yet meticulous Simple shot to number 10 on the Billboard 200,…
Brazilian singer-songwriter Djavan got his start in the late Seventies while playing modern sambas with a clear bossa nova vibe. Over the years, he has expanded his musical palette by incorporating sounds from jazz, blues, and the Brazilian northeast. His resulting unique style boasts a sophisticated sheen but also remains…
The San Francisco-based house DJ duo of Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden celebrated its “Best American DJ” award at this year’s Winter Music Conference in novel fashion: They broke up the act. They went out with a bang, too, slaying the Pawn Shop crowd with a five-hour set March 28…
It’s certainly impressive that Steely Dan masterminds Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have contributed such a staggering group of hit songs to the canon of modern music. One imagines that, even after civilization collapses, jazzy classics such as “Reelin’ in the Years,” “Bodhisattva,” “Any Major Dude,” and “Peg” will continue…
With his turnip hairdo and a voice that evokes an infusion of wanderlust and yearning, South Florida’s Shawn Snyder could be Adam Duritz’s forgotten sibling. The tangled emotions Duritz puts forth with Counting Crows share much common ground with Snyder’s introspective musings. Still, Snyder’s confessional style is clearly borne from…
Who knew music this shit-hot could come from a mountainous Norwegian town known as “The City of Rain”? Following in the footsteps of fellow townsfolk Röyksopp, Kings of Convenience, and Sondre Lerche, Fredrik Saroea (vocals, guitar, and keyboard) and Ketil Mosnes (backing vocals, bass, and keyboard) formed Datarock in 2000…
Since 1996, it’s been all about the music “every damn night” at 1342 Washington Ave., the home of Jazid. This unwavering ethos has attracted a loyal following to the venue, turning into South Beach’s longest-running nightclub. For some perspective: It has survived six Miami Beach mayors, four presidential elections, and…
The local boys of Social Klash make sweet electro- and Britpop-inspired melodies, effortlessly swapping English and Spanish lyrics as well as crafting a cool, unique sound the band members describe as electro en español. Their confessed passion for Eighties bands such as The Cure and Depeche Mode is instantly palpable,…
In case you haven’t heard, Camila is the Mexican rock act of the moment. The band’s 2006 single “Abrázame” — a catchy Spanish ballad reminiscent of Oasis’s “Wonderwall” — climbed to the top of the charts throughout Latin America. The group’s follow-up chart-topping debut album, Todo Cambio, brought the band…
Thanks to sad coincidences, the latest albums from both Bun B and Prodigy — not so much parallel narratives as subtle varieties of disturbance—stake out oddly similar territory in this weird year for hip-hop. One man has to go away; another has to go it alone. Prodigy’s 25th hour is…
Most producers who supervise reclamation projects for aging stars make the mistake of trying to contemporize the artist’s sound — the equivalent of dressing your eightysomething Uncle Jake like a 21st-century club kid. Not so Roots drummer Amir “?uestlove” Thompson, who helmed the Al Green comeback platter Lay It Down…
The best DJs are those who have, of course, an extensive knowledge of music — but often what’s more important than depth, necessarily, is an accompanying breadth. Members of the iPod generation rarely want to hear hours of even their favorite musical style any more — but they do want…
