Chicago native Common (AKA Lonnie Rashied Lynn Jr.) has often been dubbed “hip-hop’s Renaissance Man.” His socially conscious music has won him Grammys, been utilized by Barack Obama, and survived the phases of an often fickle music industry. Buddy’s acting chops aren’t too shabby either. He’s graced the silver screen…
For a certain kind of music snob, there’s nothing more annoying than all that saccharine radio pop stuff called bachata. At best, it’s elevator muzak. At worst, it sounds like a sad baby wailing over a karaoke tape full of stuttering guitar, bongo, and maracas. But there are millions of…
Television is a magic medium. It’s also evil. And sometimes shitty. But really, who thought that Ricky Martin and the Roots would ever hook up? No one. And yet, thanks to TV (and the fact that Questlove’s crew decided they needed a day job), we’re all gonna get to watch…
If you can believe it, there was a time, commonly called back in the day, when a female with a microphone could be cute, dirty, sexy, funny, and smart. This was before Lil Kim and the boom of the MC slut. And back then, the undisputed rap scene queens were…
After 14 years of playing music together, the White Stripes are calling it quits. A statement on the band’s website claims that the breakup happed for “a myrid of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band.” The White Stripes’ disbanding was expectedly unexpected. The…
After sorting the mail, painstakingly assessing the applications, arguing viciously about their merits, getting drunk, sleeping it off, and then agonizing over the decision for weeks, we here at New Times are finally set to announce our 2011 MasterMind Awards finalists. In the sound category, we’ve got Harvard-educated hip-hopper Black…
“Techno is a music that uses imagination to develop the fantasy of what the future can be,” says Carl Craig, waxing poetic. But his sound is just as informed by the past as it is by the future. Part of Craig’s unique contribution to Detroit techno are his forays into…
One month, a week, and three days ago, Crossfade dropped the awesome bomb that Swedish House Mafia would be bringing Masquerade Motel back to Miami for an Ultra week explosion of overindulgence and excess. At the time, we only had a date, March 26. There wasn’t (and still isn’t) a…
In 1983, French composer Yann Tiersen was a newborn post-punk convert on the cusp of adolescence. He had been studying classical violin for six years and he was finally fed up. So he destroyed his instrument, smashing it to bits. “It was really personal. I never wanted to be an…
What are you doing tonight? Wanna go scream about stuff like anger, aggression, and fratricide? Well, ditto local punk crew Nobodys Hero. So here’s a tip: Drag your wild ass up I-95 to Fort Lauderdale’s Revolution Live ’cause there’s gonna be a pit party and these 305-ers will be ratcheting…
Now preparing its third annual WMC installment, Brit label-cum-artist collective Air London will be landing in Miami on March 22 with another stellar international lineup. Last year’s sold-out showcase at the Electric Pickle boasted a hefty array of international talent, and this time Air London will be returning to the…
Myrna Kincaid anxiously shifts her weight from foot to foot, hands clasped under her chin as she monitors Johnny and Billy, her five- and nine-year-old sons, playing together. These two boys aren’t into touch football or in-line skating, but strumming acoustic guitars, playing harmonica, and singing classic country and rock…
Unfortunately, the rabidly anticipated Ultra week edition of Swedish House Mafia’s Masquerade Motel is still 59 days away. So all you overeager party people need to just chill and figure out a positive way to spend those megawatts of pent-up energy. Sure, you could set the Stockholm trio’s certified crossover…
There are two main reasons why musician Dino Felipe started making clothing. The first was he didn’t have money to buy new clothes, so he turned his T-shirts inside out and revamped the shit out of them. He likes to squat when he sits, and the position made holes in…
Hey film lovers, get your cigars and spectacles out ’cause Churchill’s Pub is turning into a fancy movie house tonight. Sorta. The occasion: A screening of self-described film tramp Bill Daniel’s Sonic Orphans: Lost and Found Music Films 1965-87. It’s gonna be an experimental (and mostly silent) film night…
The era of the big-budget rock video seems distant indeed. Actually, the era of the big-budget video for any genre seems distant, save for a few megawatt hip-hop and pop productions. Still, the best directors are adapting their style to smaller budgets and even smaller (laptop) screens. And instead of…
The Jacob Jeffries Band has been going strong since its inception some five years ago. And the crew continues to forge ahead, gathering Jacobians (a term for followers the band’s frontman may not have realized he was coining on Facebook just last night) with each and every stop, gigging relentlessly…
As conference approaches, if someone is “winning” the battle of the dueling electronic music weeks in March, it’s definitely Ultra Music Festival. That’s not to say Winter Music Conference will be a total dud. In the coming weeks, though, as Crossfade starts to reveal our findings, you’ll see it’s painfully…
Four weeks and a few days ago, we here at Crossfade notified all party perverts that Made Event’s Sunday School for Degenerates would be expanding its deviant dance marathon from 24 to 36 hours. At the time, there was no official lineup announcement. So we waited … And finally, Made…
Shroud Eater Thunder Noise (Self-Released) shroudeaterrocks.com Well, the people asked for it and here it is: our beloved Shroud Eater’s first full-length effort, Thunder Noise. And I can tell you whole-heartedly that it continues the savagery and unrestrained stoner metal doom laid out in 2009’s self-titled EP. Nothing short of a…
Commonly known as Miami’s most underrated band among local music insiders, King Bee has been a finely tuned and respected enigma for years. These bearded rock ‘n’ roll workhorses have put out three albums with a fourth on its way. They have an award-winning video, a brand-new booking agent, and…
Ever since he made the break from Rikers back in November, we’ve been so hyped about Lil Wayne’s inevitable trip across these United States that we could barely sleep. Or shit. Our goggles have been locked 24/7 to Weezy’s blog and Twitter feed. And this afternoon, all that obsession finally…
