Superstar lyric soprano Renée Fleming’s tour itinerary says a lot about how far Miami has come as a cultural destination. Listed are three dates in Paris, two in Vienna, a stop in New York to sing with the brilliant L.A. Philharmonic featuring conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, then it’s off to yes,…
No, it’s not just an extended version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” The Baseball Music Project, founded in 2004, brings together the work of talented historians, writers, composers, arrangers, and performers to present a unique look at the sport. It uses an orchestra, 73 musicians strong, for propulsion…
When you first lay eyes on Jediah, you can’t help but notice the teardrop-shape tattoo on his upper left cheek, not to mention the barrels of two smoking shotguns inked on either side of his neck. “I got a lot of tattoos,” Jediah says, lifting his pant leg to display…
Directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez know a thing or two about music and the movies. Tarantino’s soundtracks have become pop culture staples, while Rodriguez scores his own movies. We sat down with them recently to discuss their new double feature, Grindhouse, and how music affects their creative process. New…
Dear Gods of Rock: Subject(s): Mullets Rock! Too! It’s me, the Mullet. Please kill me. My time on this Earth — hanging off Richard Marx’s head as it sang “Don’t Mean Nothin’,” going to Indigo Girls shows, and bathing in NASCAR exhaust fumes — has been fun, but I just…
Those who think that pop music junkies represent music fandom’s lowest common denominator should read the comments left on iTunes about Avril Lavigne’s cheerleader-chant-from-hell single “Girlfriend.” Namely, this astute one: “The Avril I looked up to was her own person, and proud of it. She wasn’t afraid to act like…
It’s not strange that Prodigy’s second solo release, Return of the Mac, is a gritty, New York-centric quest to maintain order in an increasingly hip-pop driven world. What is surprising is that, after his group, Mobb Deep, signed on with 50 Cent’s crumbling G-Unit empire and dropped the watered-down 2006…
Forget the Foo Fighters — the true champ when it comes to blending melody and mayhem is a tumultuous trio known as Dinosaur Jr. These art-rock heroes were making heads bop and torsos flail back when Dave Grohl was still taking his cues from Kurt Cobain. The group’s bassist, Lou…
The new CD by Phoenix-based industrial metal band the Iris sounds like a sonic blueprint for a band that’s finding its sound and getting hotter by the minute. But the blueprint isn’t new — Marilyn Manson, Deftones, and a dozen other bands drew it. What’s great about The Vanity Fair…
Dyslexic Postcards are a little bit roots punk, a little bit Pink Floyd, and a lotta Spacemen 3. But mostly the quintet is way overdue to release a CD, so catch ’em at Churchills while it’s cheap. “Right now we have nothing for sale but our asses,” says guitarist/singer Joshua…
With machines replacing instruments and songs manufactured on an assembly line, it’s hard to find the soul in music nowadays. But there was a time when bands boomed with rich brass, and singers gained notoriety for their talent without having to compete on a TV show first. This era, known…
In what’s been a Sunday tradition since February, Fourth Dimension once again offer the Jazid crowd a unique blend of reggae, dancehall, dub, and ska. The show is presented by Kulcha Shok Muzik, one of Miami’s better-known record labels. A four-piece outfit seemingly tailor-made for Jazid, Fourth Dimension offers a…
We all know that when people think Chevy, the musical genre that leaps to mind is hardcore rap? Yes, it seems our favorite macho auto company is undergoing what the pros call a little brand alteration. Gone is the down-home, redneck appeal. These days, it’s all about keeping it rizzle…
Jimena Fama, the elegant frontwoman for the electronic fusion band Tango Conspiracy, can call her ensemble of male musicians to task with a quick dart of her piercing brown eyes. But once in a while, the quiet intensity becomes too much. There was, for instance, the gig last summer at…
It felt like deja vu all over again when I first heard Band Marino. Weren’t these the alternative folk kiddies with the Nettwerk Records deal, who sound like Bread, and were doing soundtrack work for Deadwood? Well, no, as it turns out, that’s the Format, from Arizona. The whippersnappers in…
Back in early 2003 the Killers were just another name littered in the demo piles of A&R departments across the country. Few people in the music industry knew much about the Las Vegas-based rock group, or if it would amount to anything beyond a four-man band with a heap of…
A remastered reissue of an out-of-print underground hip-hop classic, Ruff Draft is the late, great J Dilla at his creative apex. It took him a week to turn the whole thing out, but that was more than enough time to unleash a maelstrom of lo-fi breakbeat jams that paid tribute…
After a six-year recording hiatus, Redman returns to the mike with the engaging and stimulating, yet not particularly memorable, release Red Gone Wild. Languishing for more than a year on the proverbial Def Jam shelf, this album is plagued by the same poor promotion that delayed other recent label releases…
Sharon Stone makes another movie, bands of the 1978-1982 epoch reunite, technology advances, trans fats are banned — yet the Fall perseveres, with Mark E. Smith the sole remaining founding member. Tart-tongued leader Smith still rants like he’s got the world’s number, though portions of Reformation find phone-it-in weariness creeping…
Warning: This will hurt, but kindly access your memory banks and retrieve two commercials: “Seagram’s golden wine coooolers/They’re wet and they’re dry/My my my” and that heinous Chili’s bit — not the faux doo-wop tune but the smoky blues number — “Chili’s … baby back riiiiiiibs …” Got ’em? Good…
Be prepared for your teenybopper to hit up the family rainy-day fund: Chayanne’s coming to town, and hormone hell follows with him. The 38-year-old Latin heartthrob, born Elmer Figueroa-Arce, entered showbiz at age eleven when he joined the Puerto Rican boy band Los Chicos. The group set its sights on…
At age 63, Joe Chambers ranks as one of the most notable drummers and percussionists of his generation, and a staple of the venerable (and once-independent) Blue Note label. Not only have his highly imaginative compositions been covered by the likes of Freddie Hubbard and Bobby Hutcherson (with whom he’s…
