Music

Flo Rida shows off his Jimi tattoo at Sunset Place Thursday night There is just something about Missy. As I approached Ms. Elliott last night at Sunset Place for a special screening of Step Up 2, I felt my knees turning into Jell-O. Our eyes made contact; my heart began…

Let’s begin with one impressive fact: The Blind Boys of Alabama have been performing for 69 years. Formed in 1939 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind, this soul/gospel group has only continued to be a powerhouse in the genre. And yes, three of the vocalists and the drummer…

Overlooked amid the hoopla surrounding the recent Mitchell Report — former Sen. George Mitchell’s investigation into the use of steroids and human growth hormone in Major League Baseball — was the release last month of the Quayle Report. The culmination of an eight-year, $77-million investigation headed by former Vice President…

Anyone who’s ever worked in the music industry is probably aware of the massive difference between the executives who release records and the consumers who buy them. But no one has ever captured this disconnect as irreverently as Dan Kennedy does with Rock On: An Office Power Ballad (Algonquin Books…

In the early Eighties, the Go-Go’s were considered the quintessential California girls, mainly thanks to sunny New Wave songs such as “Vacation” and “We Got the Beat.” But times are (somewhat) different now for the quintet, comprising vocalist Belinda Carlisle, guitarist Charlotte Caffey, bassist Kathy Valentine, drummer Gina Schock, and…

Every music geek has made at least one. The romantic mix CD is a sure-fire way to woo a would-be lover’s heart or, if your goals are more base, just get laid. But the wrong song choice can make the entire project backfire. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, here’s…

You might not know The-Dream’s name, but you’ve heard his work. The former Terius Youngdell Nash, along with production partner Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, penned a number of 2007 smashes, including Rihanna’s monster hit “Umbrella,” Mary J. Blige’s jubilee-filled single “Just Fine,” and J. Holiday’s R&B anthem “Bed.” Dream’s own first…

Nostalgia isn’t always a bad thing in rock. No, it doesn’t always result in great art, but it can sound pretty bitchin’ blasting from a car stereo. Such was the case last year, when, in an era infatuated with New Wave revivalism, a surprisingly soulful slab of guitar rock arrived…

From its debut to this third album, Hot Chip has traveled an uneven path. The British quintet started out experimenting with sound sources and working entirely beyond conventional parameters, but by its sophomore effort had become bizarrely electro-pop conformist. Now, on Made in the Dark, the band bests itself by…

“River and ocean, a wave in my heart/We got your money, now we’ll make a new start.” And so the Whigs do. With Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith) helming the boards for its major-label debut, the Athens, Georgia-based rock band sounds immense. On the opening track, “Like a Vibration,” Parker…