Local group Aboriginal holds the distinction of being one of the very few bands — if not the only one — that can boast of having opened for both Black Sheep and L.A. Guns. Few acts could, but true to its name, the quintet’s sound is raw and fresh. The…
More than 30 years ago, a lanky Dominican kid with a deep but piercing voice could do no better than third place on El Festival de la Voz (“The Festival of the Voice”). The talent search show, à la American Idol, had been organized by a local artists’ association in…
This time of year most superstar DJs are reclaiming their residencies off the coast of Spain, entertaining the beautiful people summering in Ibiza. Fortunately for Miami, Austin Leeds is a travel junkie, and his tireless schedule brings him to Studio A for a set before he heads off to the…
The deliciously sinister beats of Dom & Roland have been fueling the drum ‘n’ bass scene ever since there was a drum ‘n’ bass scene. Recording for seminal genre labels like No-U-Turn and Moving Shadow (and latterly DRP, for Dom & Roland Productions, home to top artists like Klute and…
If it’s Tuesday, there’s another hidden local gem playing at Churchill’s; this time it’s Self Run Will. These four guys are masters of MySpace self-deprecation, littering their page with admissions that they’re “white trash” and that they sound like “the same old shit.” That would be all well and good…
Hippiefest The Turtles featuring Flo and Eddi, Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals, Mitch Ryder, The Zombies featuring Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent (Time of the Season), Country Joe McDonald, Mountain featuring Leslie West & Corky Laing, and Badfinger featuring Joey Molland Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino August 2, 2007 Better Than::…
Something snapped inside Icon of Coil’s Andy LaPlegua a few years ago. There he was, putting out well-behaved futurepop albums, when all of a sudden his id engineered a bloody coup and demanded he start yanking loud, evil beats out of his ProTools. The success of his debut EP as…
Flutist Huáscar Barradas takes a decidedly spiritual tack to his profession. The Venezuelan virtuoso sees jazz as liberation, and music in general as an art that teaches children values beyond consumerism. For him improvisation is an opportunity to break free of standard musical systems and structures. Barradas knows well the…
In true space-age, dance music-weirdness style, Green Velvet was birthed as the alter ego of an alter ego: that of Cajmere, a.k.a. Curtis Alan Jones, a reigning house music artist of the late Eighties/early Nineties. Cajmere was always a little more out there than the other disco dons of his…
An impressive vocal range, off-the-cuff improvisational skills, and smooth dance moves enabled Oscar D’León to step out from behind the wheel of a taxicab to follow his true love. In the early Seventies, the Venezuelan sonero would sing along to Cuban star Beny Moré’s biggest hits as he shuttled passengers…
Faith Hill & Tim McGraw at the BankAtlantic Center Tuesday, July 23, 2007 Better Than: Watching these two duke it out in a Celebrity Death Match. The Review: Move over Korn, Evanescence, and Flyleaf, the real Family Values tour made its long awaited debut at Sunrise’s Bank Atlantic Center last…
It’s a little past midnight inside the ballroom of a Sunny Isles Beach hotel, as the thinned out crowd seems oblivious to the salsa blaring from the speakers. Nothing the resident DJ standing atop the stage puts on the turntable during a one-hour span did little to arouse the gathering…
Photo by Jeffrey Delannoy Marilyn Manson and Slayer Sound Advice Amphitheatre July 23, 2007 Better Than: A sacrifice Marilyn Manson and Slayer kicked off their “Reign in the Sun” tour at the South Florida Fairgrounds last night. Junior High age Goths in their black Marilyn Manson outfits sweat profusely as…
Raging Geisha’s frontwoman, Erica Sommer, is all about manipulating contrasts. There’s the inherent contradiction of her band’s name. There’s the music, which incorporates equal parts crunching guitar rock and Timbaland-style beats and samples. Then there’s her persona: sweet but fiery, sometimes rightfully PO’ed. See, Sommer is a black woman in…
The Tu Madre party, Thursdays at Cameo, holds the rare distinction of being one of the most unique club nights in Miami. Seriously. It’s Latin-oriented, but don’t think for a minute it’s a night of ho-hum salsa and reggaeton. First the crowd: a few Charo look-alikes, sure, but a lot…
Of the five bands on the bill this Thursday at Tobacco Road, Window is easily the most hardened road dog. The group’s implicit motto is “We’ll play anywhere,” and that it does, from representing the local color at SXSW to providing a backdrop at divey Italian restaurants in St. Louis…
New York City’s Josh Houtkin and Dave Pianka, a.k.a. JDH and Dave P, have been making the smarter cool kids dance for a few years now at their futuristic Fixed party. The sound heavily skews toward electro-house, but the two come from a punk rock background, so their musical policy…
It takes a true dancehall aficionado to appreciate the top-ranking ghetto sounds of Jamaica’s Ninja Man. This is only true because most novice listeners, if they could even understand a word he’s saying, would be scared to death of him. Dubbed as “the original front teet, gold teet, gun pon…
The Format July 24, 2007 Culture Room Better Than: Watching a clip of The Format on My Super Sweet Sixteen. After arriving at the show moments before the door opened, I surveyed my surroundings to see if it met my expectations. Pimped out tour bus, a symbol of budding rock…
Willy Chirino July 21, 2007 Dolphin Stadum A downpour and several rounds of lightning three hours before the first pitch did nothing to deter a large contingent of Willy Chirino’s most loyal fans from heading out to Dolphin Stadium. Whether they are Cuban exiles that arrived in Miami 40 years…
Photo by Santiago Felipe Beyonce July 22, 2007 BankAtlantic Center Better Than: Hating. You gotta love it. The Review: Blue-eyed soulster Robin Thicke was just finishing up his set when I walked into the BankAtlantic Center. So like any good girl on a Sunday night, I head straight to the…
Vans Warped Tour July 21st, 2007 Bicentennial Park 11:00 a.m. Warped Tour is celebrating its 13th birthday this year. The main stages have been appropriately renamed to “Lucky” and “13” for the occasion. South Florida did hit some bad luck, though, with bands such as Alkaline Trio, Mxpx, and Valencia…
