With the exception of a handful of songs — most notably 1999’s “Yo Se Que Es Mentira” (“I Know It’s a Lie”) and 2001’s “Dime Corazón” (“Tell Me, My Love”) — Cuban pop balladeer Amaury Gutierrez has enjoyed little commercial success since leaving the communist island more than a decade…
Although he took his musical apprenticeship with the legendary Junior Wells, an evening with Albert Castiglia isn’t just another cruise through the blues. A consummate showman, Castiglia peppers his performances with witty repartee, offbeat and impromptu asides, original songs, and material mined from a diverse classic rock repertoire. The Coral…
Mary J. Blige knows her listeners turn to her for drama, and that’s a problem. Her awareness of her misery-queen status bogs down her seventh album, The Breakthrough, which finds Blige just as invested in autobiography, except now she’s happy. As an album of love songs dedicated to her husband,…
Whether we’re talking about her demonic warble, which soared like a transcendental battle cry above her band’s shambolic, proto-punk arrangements, or her unkempt andro-butch glamour, which enamored legendary homosexual photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, Seventies rocker Patti Smith has made a career of finding beauty in the grotesque. With the help of…
These tracks constitute a genre only if Louis Jordan and Frank Sinatra are part of one called Dad’s Music and Ashlee Simpson and Raffi are grouped in one called Lil’ Sis. Considered chronologically, some other trends emerge: before, during, and after Lil’ Jon had a novelty factor; pre- and post-Caribbean;…
DJ/promoter/ journalist James F!@#$%^ Friedman clearly knows what it is to spread himself thin — it becomes his aesthetic on his DJ mix Go Commando with James F!@#$%^ Friedman. Friedman saws through current dance subgenres (acidic electrohouse, stadium dance rock, bubblegum electro, and revivalist space disco) as if they were…
All rolling, smoldering foam considered, savory see-ya “Broken Drum” stood out as one of Guero’s more thoughtful moments. None of this understated rumble is lost in translation when reclusive electronica idlers Boards of Canada get their sun-blanched mittens on it. Beck’s original dark path of reverberating, deep-sea guitars is switched…
Akon has personality beyond his reedy tenor, which is why he has more hits than Mark Morrison and Kevin Lyttle combined. He also avoids hysterics, but this drab ballad — yet another that deals with social and political unrest in the form of a question — has little to recommend…
A Nate Dogg hook is like an extra-large pinch of Essence of Emeril. His cool-as-the-other-side-of-the-pillow, soulful-stoic menace can kick any well-appointed banger up a notch or three (see Dr. Dre, Snoop, or Obie Trice). But what happens when the assisted superstar relegates himself to the role of assistant? Here we…
Is there any woman who wants to hear that sex with her is like your mom’s home cooking? I doubt further comparisons to cash, adulation from fans, and that new car smell are going to erase the awkwardness of that opener. Neither will “I know you like it as much…
Picture the following gang of hip-hop misfits: two Harlemites — one an imposing 300 pounds with a booming Zeus-like voice, the other cherub-faced and sporting an incongruous nasal twang — who interweave sci-fi imagery into their hyperrealist ghetto tales; a dreadlocked freestyle champ with a socialist agenda and a knack…
On Monday, December 5, police found the body of Ranzer Wallace in a north county apartment complex parking lot. At press time, an autopsy has not been conducted and details of the crime remain unclear, but police are treating Wallace’s death as a homicide. To the Miami rap community, Wallace…
Nuh-uh, Gwen Stefani, that is not your shit. At least, according to Madonna, it isn’t. The never-hard-up-for-material girl recently told USA Today that Gwen has ripped her off. “We work with a lot of the same people. She married a Brit, she’s got blond hair, and she likes fashion,” says…
At a cursory look, dance clubs and health clubs are surprisingly similar. Both share equal space with sleek and lissome and burly and bulky physiques. Both play host to regimented physicality, insistent desire, and chiseled and huffing figures (though admittedly the lighting is better in a dance club). Following this…
Chicago State University Admissions Office August 22, 2010 Dear Sir or Madam: My name is Kanye West. I am writing to inform you of my plans to matriculate at the illustrious Chicago State University — again. Yes, I’m that guy, the one who talked mad shit about higher education on…
As though he can’t contain his own music geekdom, techno legend Carl Craig interjects numerous hoots, hollers, and on-the-spot endorsements throughout his entry in the excellent Fabric mix series. Craig cackles, pointing out the parts he loves, and even quotes First Choice’s “Let No Man Put Asunder.” (“It ain’t over!”…
Antony and the Johnsons’ sophomore album boasts some impressive credentials, specifically the receipt of the prestigious 2005 Mercury Award, the European honor accorded to the year’s best break-out band. Even so, Antony himself remains something of an enigma. Hailing from California by way of New York’s cabaret scene, he has…
Is it good or bad when the most notable aspect of an album is its drumming? Throughout Lindsay Lohan’s A Little More Personal (Raw), the drums give every crisply produced track a welcome jolt of energy. It’s a peculiar element to hail, but imagining this mawkish metapop without the percussive…
Our New Orleans, featuring new recordings by Crescent City musicians, is not only a testament to that city’s talent and durability, but also proves that crisis breeds creativity. Irma Thomas drops her familiar R&B in favor of the Joe Henry-produced “Back Water Blues,” a gutbucket blues with the singer’s spooky…
Bob Marley’s never-before-released song “Slogans” bolsters the late legend’s image as an insightful, dreadlocked prophet who died too young. Composed in a Miami bedroom in 1979, the skeletal track has been overdubbed with slinky guitar by Eric Clapton and wailing background vocals by sons Stephen and Ziggy. The powerful video…
Brown’s voice conveys a boyish sweetness — a trait reinforced by his declaration, “There’s nothing wrong with dancing”— and “Yo” is refreshing when compared with aggro horndogs such as Pretty Ricky. Hard to believe Juelz Santana was quoting “Wait (The Whisper Song)” on his last single…
With a menacing riff highlighting the unspoken influence of grunge on Julian Casablancas’s slurred vocals, the band sounds more like The Vines than “Last Nite.” It’s doubtful this track will inspire anyone who doesn’t already care about The Strokes, unless alt-nostalgia is stronger than it seems…
