It’s mid-March, which means it’s time for Carnaval Miami’s legendary Calle Ocho street party. The free event — this year celebrating its 30th anniversary — attracts more than a million people from all over the world, making it the largest Spanish-language music festival in the nation. It all began in…
Mike Relm is single-handedly introducing turntablism to parts of middle America on his second stint with Blue Man Group, opening its current production, How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.1. With between 7,000 and 12,000 people at each show, it’s the San Franciscan’s biggest gig. He’s already a YouTube celebrity…
With another St. Patrick’s Day upon us, we’ll once again don the green, approximate some lame Irish accents, and prepare to ingest massive amounts of oddly tinted beer. Worthy pursuits all, but why not add some music to the mayhem? The Irish music of today effectively merges irreverence and tradition…
Like neo-folk songster Devendra Banhart, London-born singer-songwriter Jeremias grew up in Venezuela, a country that once counted with a high population of hippie expats. And like Banhart, he loves to write roots music, except that in Jeremias’s case, the tunes are sung solely in Spanish. Although love, betrayal, and redemption…
Fort Lauderdale’s Jolly Badfellow boasts an old-school punk style something like Jabbers duking it out with early Green Day. But there’s a real knuckle ball: the upright bass played by a dude who calls himself Elvis Munster. Never underestimate guys with silly-ass stage names lugging around unwieldy instruments. Munster keeps…
Three-fourths of this high-energy quartet hail from South Florida, including its charming, boyish frontman Marco Argiro. All legs and arms, the natty 25-year-old doubtlessly inherited his impeccable style from his father, longtime proprietor of atelier Moda Mario, on Fort Lauderdale’s swanky strip of Las Olas Boulevard. And the entire band’s…
Saturday night’s Eclectic Sounds Unite event at Studio A is something of a locals-only extravaganza, featuring an unlikely mishmash of Miami-bred acts playing everything from reggae-injected punk (Music Is a Weapon) to rock en español (Tereso). Among the up-and-coming standouts are Astari Nite and Rimsky. The former, helmed by the…
The difference between a cover band and a tribute band is the difference between a slut and a prostitute: One plays with all sorts of people’s stuff simply because it’s fun; the other plays with particular people’s stuff simply because it’s a profession with a paradigm. But tribute bands can…
The Bonzo Dog Band, an eccentric Sixties British group with a penchant for silliness and satire, once released a song whose title begged the theoretical question, “Can blue men sing the whites?” That is, of course, a twist on the age-old argument about whether white musicians, who never experienced the…
If you’ve never owned a vinyl album, I feel very sorry for you. Plainly put, you’ve never actually enjoyed music in your life — you just think you have. In truth, your life is a decrepit bowl of suck, and you have no chance at happiness. Kill yourself. One of…
Today’s pop scene would be a much poorer place without the Nineties rock en español explosion that brought bands like Aterciopelados, Maldita Vencidad, Café Tacuba, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, and Todos Tus Muertos to American audiences. It was a movement that has helped spawn a whole new musical culture that goes…
Though this Somalian-born singer-songwriter shares a few vocal similarities with Shakira, she has a distinctive style. Not unlike the Colombian pop star, Saba mixes traditional elements from her native country with contemporary European-influenced instrumentation. Throughout the disc, she celebrates her heritage, singing mostly in the Xamar Weyne dialect that mixes…
It’s Grammy weekend, and Fat Joe, the self-described “Susan Lucci of the Grammys,” is boycotting the festivities. He’s in L.A., but he’s not going to the Staples Center’s main event this year, because he’s sick of losing out to the “booji backpackers,” those conscious rappers who, he says, run a…
Since the Bo$$ of the city has a new album out today, it’s only right to show Rick Ross some love on CrossFade. His long-awaited album, Trilla, is in stores now so go get it if supporting local artists is important to you. Sure, that’s a mixed bag cause Ross…
By Andy Vihstadt Jenna Bush loves R.E.M. If you’re bummed about having to sit this year’s SXSW out, NPR’s got you covered. At midnight on Wednesday, you can stream R.E.M.’s performance at Stubbs and on Thursday, tune into Yeasayer at 2:30 pm and Vampire Weekend at 4 p.m. Later that…
R.E.M. March, 8, 2008 Langerado Better Than:Realizing that your $50 bag of mushrooms failed to induce any hallucinations This morning we read an effusive article about REM’s performance at Langerado. The writer, Leslie Gray Streeter, described the show as “energetic,” and declared that their performance was “the lovely, light-hearted, serious-minded…
Ani DiFranco Sunday, March 9, 2008 Langerado Better Than: A Chocolate Seven-Layer Birthday Cake It’s a funny thing when you feel the “obsession” link with a musician kick in, especially when it’s been a few years since you felt so in love with the music. Such was the case at…
Part psycho, part Jane’s Addiction Blitzen Trapper March 8, 2008 Langerado Better than: A wake-up call from the hippie jam band tenting next door After a night of blustery winds and torrential rain ruined any chance for restful sleep at Langerado, day 3 of the fest kicked off with a…
Tuba Gooding Jr. at work. So the Roots showed hip-hop crews why they always reign supreme this past Friday night at Langerado. The talented Philly-based band was tight, crazy, fun, and definitely experimental as they worked out a few songs from their upcoming album, Rising Down, which is dropping April…
Ben Folds March 8, 2008 Langerado Better than: Whatever and Ever Amen on constant rotation I missed Ben Folds last time he came to town with John Mayer. I figured I couldn’t stomach the fans of pasty folk hipster Mayer any more than I could stomach his music. But I’m…
G. Love and Special Sauce March 7, 2008 Langerado Better Than:All the jam in Welch’s reserves. Forget Umphrey’s McGee and the Disco Biscuits and whatever’s left of the Dead (and that includes you, Dark Star Orchestra), ‘cause when it comes to full fest groove, there is but one band that…
Last Night: Matt Pond PA and The Walkmen at Langerado Matt Pond PA, The Walkmen March 7, 2008 Langerado, Big Cypress Reserve Better Than: A hot-buttered steam bath. Matt Pond PA If there were two more incongruous acts to stage in the swamplands, I can’t think of ’em. I mean,…
