With a sound like warm melted butter in songs that defined the “quiet storm” slow-jam genre, the voice of Anita Baker ruled the airwaves during the ’80s and early ’90s. From the moment the Detroit native released Rapture in 1986, Baker became a mainstay on R&B radio. Songs like “Caught…
Disregarding genre pigeonholing (i.e., ignoring all the drum ‘n’ bass-specific high-hat mayhem), if Random Movement’s sound were to be correctly placed in a hypothetical spectrum, it would be next door to The Orb. Originally a collaborative d’n’b effort between Jack Sheets (DJ Shapeshifter) and Columbus, Ohio native Mike Richards (also…
The obvious similarities between Secondhand Serenade, hailing from the suburbs of California’s Bay Area, and homegrown sensation Dashboard Confessional are impossible to ignore. Like Dashboard Confessional, the name is a framework for a shifting project led by a singular talent; John Vesely is to Secondhand Serenade what Chris Carrabba is…
You should know what to expect from a Guttermouth show. If the band’s name doesn’t spell it out, its reputation certainly should — there’s a reason the guys were banned from Canada, after all. Guttermouth is amazingly adroit at crafting Nineties-American-style punk rock in the vein of bands such as…
When Return to Forever disbanded in 1977 after going through four lineup configurations, the quartet’s core members went on to develop stellar, fruitful careers. Al Di Meola experimented with an acoustic trio alongside Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin, among many other projects. Stanley Clarke continued to revolutionize the bass…
This just in: Thousands of college students’ favorite jam act, O.A.R., will hit the appropriately jammy outdoor setting of Mizner Park Amphitheatre on Friday, October 3. Opening acts are Between the Trees and Matt Hires. Tickets cost $30 in advance, $32 the day of the show, and are available through…
Here are tonight’s highlights in live music around town, in case you’re already getting the itch to go out and do something. — Arielle Castillo *Sebastian Bach, Poison, and Dokken at the Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. Seriously, Bret Michaels must really love South Florida — he played here…
Raina McLeod Janelle Monae performs at the Florida Room at the Delano Thursday night. Janelle Monae Thursday, July 17, 2008 Florida Room at the Delano, Miami Beach She came out from behind a curtain of strobe lights and fabricated smoke, but all of the faux atmosphere in the world couldn’t…
For a band that is considered a side project of the members of Miami-based Locos por Juana, Xperimento has done quite well for itself. In the six years since the group’s inception, it has earned a Grammy, been voted best local band by New Times, and even landed once on…
Adam Goldstein is DJ AM, best known for his short-lived engagement to celebutante Nicole Richie. Or maybe the paparazzi shots of him walking around all lovey-dovey with Mandy Moore. Or his gastric bypass surgery. Or the Hollywood club he owns, LAX. Or the private shows he’s played for Leo DiCaprio,…
Dweezil Zappa can’t stop talking about his late father. “Frank’s music just needs to be heard,” he says. Alongside brother Ahmet and several of Frank’s former sidemen, Dweezil now re-creates his dad’s music on the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, featuring material from the elder Zappa’s mid-Seventies heyday. “People tell me…
It’s ironic, of course, that consistency, longevity, and predictability have come to be the hallmarks of “true punk,” but that’s where we are more than three decades after Johnny Rotten blew his nose all over things. As Jello Biafra recently sang, there’s all these bands singing their “hits from the…
Ari Justin Rothenberg Gym Class Hereos performing at the Warped Tour’s Miami stop at Bicentennial Park. Vans Warped Tour Saturday, July 12, 2008 Bicentennial Park, Miami It was hard to say whether any band or artist stood out most on this year’s Vans Warped Tour. The sounds varied from the…
Juan Luis Guerra Saturday, July 12, 2008 American Airlines Arena, Miami Roaring airplanes – on dual screens – and luggage towing flight attendants on stage, albeit uninspiring production tools, were clear indicators that Juan Luis Guerra could not be far behind. And while his mere presence seconds later was welcomed…
Dave Matthews Band Saturday, July 12, 2008 Cruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach Better Than: Eating, drinking and being merry with a side of chocolate-covered weed brownies. After what seemed to be the perfect return to West Palm Beach by the Dave Matthews Band Friday night, fans wandered back to the…
I just got word that Miami’s favorite girl band, A.K.A. is playing a show at the Vagabond tonight which is sure to be a good time. If you’re not hip to them yet, go and get acquainted. They were just voted best female band by the New Times (since when…
Jose D. Duran Gravy Train!!!! perform at White Room Thursday night. Gravy Train!!!! with Mission Veo and Jose El Rey Thursday, July 10, 2008 White Room, Miami Better than: Er, gay porn I suppose. Gravy Train!!!! (yes, the exclamation points are part of the name) are one of those bands…
Charles Sweeting There’s a good chance that you’ve been hearing his new hit, “She Bout It” a few times a day if you’ve listen to Power 96 lately. His name doesn’t initially seem ready-made for stardom but his sound definitely is. And when you think about it, if you’re a…
Electro DJ N-Ter is from Croatia, a fact that instantly incites curiosity among history dorks about how he survived the small European country’s bloody civil war. He’s the wrong tree to bark up, however. “I can say that my generation doesn’t care much about politics. My generation is trying to…
The last time the Miami rockers of Shufly got some extended New Times love was in 2001, when it was duly noted that a bunch of teenage girls found them hot. That’s not a hard thing to believe when you’ve got singer Scott Smith’s soap opera waif-stud looks. Then there’s…
Looks like everyone’s favorite Hassidic reggae singer/rapper might just outlast his novelty status after all. But that doesn’t necessarily make it safe to go back in the reggae waters for anyone aspiring to stand out based on his, uh … demographic makeup alone. On one hand, it’s unfortunate that Matisyahu’s…
I’d be willing to wager that, in 1995, more Americans knew all the words to The Nanny theme song than to Coolio’s chart-topping rap single “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Both were cultural phenomena in the mid-Nineties, but no pop single has the broad-spectrum appeal and mass distribution of a major TV sitcom…
