The booming rhythms of drum ‘n’ bass are not meant to be just heard — they’re meant to be felt as well. The vibrations sent forth from mega amps invariably inspire dancing, and Photek’s music is no exception, despite its classification as “intelligent” drum and bass. Since the early Nineties…
To say that Mr. Tyner “tickles the ivories” would be akin to suggesting that his old bandmate John Coltrane “toodles the horn a bit.” Not just a massive understatement, in other words, but an outright mischaracterization. In fact, Tyner pounds the keys with a savage precision, particularly with his explosive…
The hard-rocking members of Torche have been back in South Florida for two weeks or so, and they’ve been filling their time with decidedly softer pursuits. Guitarist Juan Montoya spent a recent weekend morning helping out at a garage sale. Frontman Steve Brooks took a day trip to Busch Gardens…
Long before the birth of modern boytoy crooners, long before Justin would volunteer to bring sexy back, long before sexy would need bringing back, women by the scores (pun intended) excitedly tossed bras and panties at a stage occupied by a curly-haired hunk of singing beef named Tom Jones. Possessed…
The least known and perhaps most talented son of Bob Marley is finally stepping into the limelight. Though Stephen Marley is usually working behind the scenes on his family members’ projects, his long-awaited solo effort, Mind Control, lives up to its musical lineage with eleven tracks of pure roots-rock-reggae. Marley…
Ozomatli’s latest effort, Don’t Mess with the Dragon, is a fusion of Spanish rock, hip-hop, reggaeton, and funk, the perfect crossover release. The nine-man Ozomatli has put together a dozen tunes for the group’s fourth full-length CD, most of them happy dance tracks. The opening song, “Can’t Stop,” is polished…
There’s something rather, uh, funky about neo-Eastern European music. Not funky in a Clyde Stubberfield backing up James Brown kind of way, but then again, when you combine a Slavic blend of accordion, tuba, darabouka, and clarinet with the trombone, it’s hard not to smell the funk in the air…
Kings of Leon are commanding quite a racket these days. Made up of three brothers — sons of a Pentecostal preacher — and their cousin, the band has been hailed by some as the savior of Southern rock. Their third album, Because of the Times, is an ironic little mixture…
What has six legs, a big Afro, and is forever compared to Led Zeppelin? If you guessed Wolfmother, you’re right. In this instance, though, we’re talking about the other six-legged, Afroed Zep disciples, New York’s Earl Greyhound. The trio’s debut album, Soft Targets, has been building up a head of…
“A lot of people have found their way into learning about music through smooth jazz,” saxophonist Marion Meadows observes of his chosen genre. “It does seem to draw on new ideas, and it gets people to later dig harder material.” A West Virginia native, Meadows himself studied classical music as…
Danish guitarist, composer, and bandleader Pierre Dørge admits that he requires a bit of effort from his audiences when they come to hear his New Jungle Orchestra perform. Not that his troupe (which debuted in 1980) makes experimental music by any definition. Adventurous, yes, but there certainly exist greater challenges…
It’s getting harder and harder to figure out what the kids are listening to these days. Case in point: Ratatat. Does the Brooklyn duo of Mike Stroud (guitars) and Evan Mast (synthesizers) make nouveau electronica? Or instrumental hip-hop? Or lo-fi IDM? Or alt-hop trance? Whatever you call the stuff, it’s…
There’s no shortage of bands composing ditties about love and loss in bustling alternative music sweet spots such as London and Brooklyn. Even so, if an indie group is capable of producing gorgeous modern ballads while residing in sleepy strip-mall South Florida, you can bet the players are tapping into…
His face inevitably looks familiar, like someone you’ve met at a real estate function on Brickell. Or he might’ve been that lousy waiter from Cafeteria on Lincoln Road. Or maybe he was the lucky bastard who nabbed the last parking spot on Washington Avenue. Whatever the case, you just know…
Imagine a planet where two of your favorite artists from various genres are constantly smashed together on one track. Rick James and Busta Rhymes. Sean Paul and the Temptations. Arrested Development and Jay-Z, for Christ’s sake. It’s an odd world, but Brooklyn’s funky DJ collective the Rub pulls it off…
Following the critical acclaim garnered by the 2005 simultaneous release of I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, Bright Eyes seems eager to confirm its status as indie overachievers. With anticipation building for a followup, the band’s mainstays — boy-genius Conner Oberst, joined by Mike…
Victor Jara was one of Chile’s top folk composers, educators, and political activists until the time of his murder in 1973 during a military coup. On a newly released CD, Chilean vocalist Francesca Ancarola has found an amorous way of paying tribute to the fallen songwriter by revisiting his work…
Detroit rappers/producers are entering an age of acclaim. Now that late Motown rapper/producer extraordinaire J Dilla is getting posthumous props all over the globe, the rap world seems hungry for anything with an authentic Detroit sound. It’s a fine time for former in-house Slum Village producer Black Milk to release…
One great thing about classical music is that it can take the wan populism of Oprah, the decaffeinated blandness of Good Morning America, and the incessant pablum of Jay Leno — and render them all irrelevant. When the Utah sibling piano quintet the 5 Browns appear on these shows (armed…
Local punk rock vets the Crumbs and Stay Hitt will help support Tuff Luvs, visiting from Mississippi, at Churchill’s on Saturday. Back in 1992, the Crumbs took over the garage at drummer Chuck Loose’s house and turned it into “Garageland,” a place for kids to party on the weekends while…
Futurepop pioneers VNV Nation bring their 1984 imagery to Studio A on Thursday for an all-ages show. The band, made up of Londoners Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson, has taken its time in becoming electronic music’s next big thing: They’ve been together since 1990. But let’s back up a second,…
Anybody who was around during the South Beach boom of the early Nineties will remember Nil Lara, and the incendiary shows he put on — virtually every week, it seemed — at the legendary and now-defunct Stephen Talkhouse. A Cuban-American who spent much of his childhood in Venezuela, Lara led…
