Critic's Notebook

Tiesto as part of Ultra Music Festival 2012 at Bayfront Park March 23

​Since the 1980s, the sounds emanating from the house music capital of Chicago to the west and the techno capital of Detroit to the east have met and cross-bred in the Midwest. These were the hybrid sounds that DJ-producer Kate Simko soaked up as a rave kid. And they have…

Tango music is so sexy that women’s juices flow as soon as they hear its sultry sound. The music — born of a mix between African and European influences in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay — has been leaving dance floors sticky, hot, and wet since the 1890s. The…

Here’s a quick break from the pre-Winter Music Conference hoopla to give you some local music news. Sweat Records has announced the lineup from its third annual Sweatstock on April 21, which also coincides with Record Store Day. Headlining the party is Miami’s favorite electro-pop act Afrobeta along with local…

UK disco-house crew Crazy P has been rocking the scene for two decades. But in 2011, they finally started to get massive international recognition for their irresistibly groovy vocal tuneage. Fronting the band is charismatic chanteuse Danielle Moore, who joined Crazy P founding members James Baron and Chris Todd in…

Do you support the Occupy Miami movement but hate living in a half-abandoned Overtown apartment complex? Are you and/or your friends “dying to get arrested” in the name of socioeconomic equality but are short on bail money? Or do you just hate douchey frat boys who support Mitt Romney? If…

A Swedish, citrus-spiked cocktail — the official drink of electronic dance music and the inspiration behind Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell, and Steve Angello’s latest single. Landing EDM’s liquor-soaked spaceship in the town of Åhus, Sweden, these Mafia men have joined forces with Absolut to create “Greyhound,” the group’s fifth single and…

Originally the brainchild of Berlin tech-house veterans M.A.N.D.Y., Booka Shade, and DJ T, Get Physical Music has been going strong for a full decade ago now. In fact, Winter Music Conference 2012 marks the label’s ten-year anniversary, as well as its return to Miami for yet another highly anticipated annual…

Despite the fact Rihanna’s breasts offended an Irish farmer last year, the 24-year-old singer showed ’em off last night in the Big Apple, just six days before one of Ireland’s most celebrated feasts, St. Patrick’s Day. According to Media Takeout, “Rihanna was spotted in NYC last night” wearing little more…

Admit it, you’re turned on by the new Miley Cyrus, the one who loves penis cake and can’t stop exploring her sexuality, the girl who takes bong rips and sexts rock stars. But a braless Hannah Montana in daisy dukes and cowboy boots? Fantasy complete. Earlier this morning, TMZ posted…

The ever-rolling bass waves created by the tectonic booty claps of Miami in the 80s have tsunamied through space-time and crashed across Canadian borders. Low-end marauder and fresh-coast connoiseur Ill Gates is proof. And for his first-ever Miami show at The Vagabond on March 15, the Toronto native (who recently…

Record fairs are like hypercompetitive, cut-throat, life-or-death archaeological digs. But instead of some swarthy scientist digging up the missing link between man and ape or some rugged Indiana Jones type discovering lost civilizations, you’ve got über-nerds frothing at the mouth, damn near ready to shank a motherfucker over a mint-condition…

What do bass and barbecue sauce have in common? Well, they’re the main ingredients of Dirtybird’s infamous Golden Gate BBQ parties. Of course, Dirtybird is the beloved label of San Francisco DJ-producers Claude Von Stroke and Justin Martin. And it’s home to some of the most sleazetastic, fun-loving sounds in…

When in Rome, you shuffle through the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum with a tour group. Guided by a dopey ex-pat, you learn the condensed histories of these places, take cliché family photos, and drop serious Euro coinage on overpriced gelato. When in Miami, however, you drop a hundred bucks…

Juan Luis Guerra — he’s an Afro-pop institution, a Dominican merengue y bachata icon with over 30 million records sold and a Brinks truckload worth of Latin Grammy and Latin Billboard awards. But most impressively, the dude’s mad tall — like six feet, six inches tall. And in the Spanish-language…

Last time we saw The Casualties in Miami, the circle pit opened up wider than Bicentennial Park. It spread from Biscayne Bay to the Metro Rail and swallowed up everything from manatees to high-school girls, giant tattooed heshers, spike and leather punks, hardcore kids, metal mamas, stoner crusties, skateboard hooligans,…

Ricardo Arjona isn’t your average Latin pop star. Don’t expect to catch him staring longingly into the camera or frolicking in the surf with some leggy beauty in his music videos. If you’re hoping for a heartthrob, look elsewhere — though we’ve been told he has a certain rugged appeal…

Former Experience and Band of Gypsys bassist Billy Cox met Jimi Hendrix when they were stationed together at the same army base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Legend has it that one rainy night, Billy heard a guitar screaming in the service club. So he went inside and introduced himself to…

We probably don’t need to tell you that the Brits rule electronic dance music. London, specifically, has been an EDM capital for decades, and the scene doesn’t ever seem to stop flourishing there. Artist collective and label Air London, for example, has become synonymous with top-notch underground tech-house. And its…

Who’s got the funk? On Thursday, March 8, you’ll get a chance to find out as Poplife, Super Music Group, and Gotta Dance Dirty bring a two-room, eight-act electronic extravaganza to Grand Central in search of the perfect beat. Think of it as a little Winter Music Conference warm-up party…

See Crossfade’s righteous, nine-part guide to Marley Fest 2012, AKA Nine Mile Music Festival. About 13 spliffs after writing about Stephen, Damian, and Julian Marley dropping out of the Nine Mile Music Festival, we here at Crossfade decided that this alleged cancellation wasn’t true. We became convinced it was all…

Since bursting onto the scene with “O Let’s Do It,” the Billboard Hot 100’s 62nd best song on April 3, 2010, Waka Flocka Flame has been going “hard in da muhfuckin'” record industry. At 25 years old, the Atlanta rapper has established himself as one of the hardest working artists…