In 1995, Timothy McVeigh blew up an Oklahoma City federal building; umpteen thousands were slaughtered in Bosnia and Rwanda; O.J. Simpson was acquitted of double murder; Forrest Gump beat out Pulp Fiction for the best picture Oscar; and Mickey Mantle died. But there was a tiny bright spot amid all…
If there is one sound that unites young South Floridians, it is Eighties dance music. Indeed, if you talk to a native twentysomething about music, you will likely hear zealous preaching about the great legacies freestyle, Miami bass, and electro have bestowed upon youth culture. Robert Guertin, who produces electro…
“Why did Bush knock down the towers?” asks Jadakiss on “Why?” Currently at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, it’s probably the first Top 40 song in history to directly accuse the President of the United States of launching a terrorist attack on his own country. Perhaps Chuck D.’s…
On their first five albums, the Old 97’s explored the different sides of their multifaceted muse. Starting out with hard-bitten rockabilly twang, the group transitioned to power pop on its 1997 major-label debut, Too Far to Care, then recycled Brit-rock references on 2001’s Satellite Rides. But on Drag It Up,…
The French group Phoenix’s second full-length, Alphabetical, is the followup to its 2000 debut, United. That album cemented its place as one of the cooler bands, the kind whose music is used in thoughtful, arty films and for trendy designers’ fashion shows. But with Alphabetical, Phoenix has arrived at an…
Two years ago, the campy New York-based quintet Scissor Sisters took Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” to the dance floor, shoved the prog rock chestnut in a box, and sent it express bound for Bee Gees country. Though fans of the group lumped them into the electroclash scene, they wisely avoided…
Tadd Mullinix (sometimes known as Dabrye, here referred to as Cotton, and never to be confused with the similarly named blues guitarist) knows that retro electronics are becoming passé. It’s not enough to rehash, so on his first album as Cotton, The Dancing Box, he rearranges history instead. The delirious…
On French duo M83’s debut album, Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts, twelve sharply defined, high-energy instrumentals are in full bloom, and absolutely euphoric. “Run Into Flowers” rushes over you and freezes your brain with synthesizer arpeggios and orchestral string samples coordinated into a reach toward the heavens. Meanwhile…
M. Ward’s spooky blend of parched, hollow-eyed American Gothic, insurgent noise, and ambient atmospherics has garnered him increasing attention of late, thanks in large part to the seductive lure and haunting melancholia offered up in his third and most recent album, last year’s exceptional Transfiguration of Vincent. Although the sound…
Freestyle, that much-maligned stepchild of Latin pop, has always generated polarized reactions in people. At one end of the spectrum is the Cover Girls, whose kinetic “Inside Outside” still garners spins at local bass and electro nights. Then there’s K7, whose “Come Baby Come” is one of the more obnoxious…
Soca music hasn’t had a lot of luck finding its way to the rarefied realm of MTV’s Total Request Live, but Jamaican-born singer Kevin Lyttle’s jam “Turn Me On” just cracked the Top Ten, beating out Jessica Simpson’s stomach-churning single “Angels.” The dance-ready single from his self-titled debut is just…
Break out your videotape of Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (the one you stole from Q Records in 1989), because according to Grand Buffet’s Website, www.grandbuffet.com, the Pittsburgh-based rap duo is going to be doing a lot of smashing this year; in the South, in Canada, and in their “second favorite…
On first examination, one may have to double-check the front of F’s @#S! to be sure it doesn’t say Spinal Tap II: The Punk Rock Years. With song titles like “I Wanna Kill,” “Life Sucks,” and “We Are the Hate,” it’s interesting to note that punk’s nihilistic attitude, which was…
Running a club on South Beach is not easy. Ask anybody who has worked at Nerve Lounge. Since its inception last March, Nerve has grown into a venerable hangout, a place where the dress code is lax and getting in is hassle-free. It’s a intimate place that has bred successful…
Tuesdays, Churchill’s Pub; Fridays and Saturdays, Soho Lounge The 22-year-old DJ Lolo has been rocking parties since high school, bringing her mix of indie rock and electro-pop to parties such as Poplife and Revolver (where she was one of its first residents). These days, in addition to a day job…
Less than 24 hours before he appeared at a July 14 press conference at the Mayan, a nightclub in downtown Los Angeles, to announce the nominees for the 2004 Latin Grammy Awards, Gabriel Abaroa, president of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, talked about his organization’s signature event…
One of the founding fathers of the South Florida underground music scene has finally returned home. Since moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 2002, Frank Mendez, who URB magazine named as one of twelve DJs to look for in 2000, has been a sorely missed presence in a city that he…
“You let me know when we’ve made it,” says drummer Josh Garza, a passenger in a van headed for Cleveland, where his band Secret Machines will perform tonight before a cross-country haul to Seattle. He’s not talking about arriving at their destination but rather about the feeling of success that…
As any grindcore, thrashcore, hardcore, or fucking-heavy-as-hell-core fan will attest, there’s something absolutely exhilarating about being pulverized by fast, bludgeoning, ear-shattering, nerve-decimating, synapse-shredding guitars, kick drums, and guttural howls for a CD’s entirety. It can leave you completely drained, as if you’ve spent 45 minutes sprinting through a cornfield with…
It’s been a little under four years since Veni Vidi Vicious was released, and by all accounts the Hives have prospered. Since they owe heavy thanks to the “garage” explosion of late 2001 for their major-label deal, it seems like a tall order to produce a successful followup. But the…
A spongy dew of Pabst damping his beard, Vancouver’s Stephen McBean makes a puerile, halfhearted pass at the confessional intimacy of lo-fi country and Iron & Wine’s bedroom mobiles via his band’s self-titled long player. As its namesake implies, this loose outfit aspires to jocose insinuation and infatuation with sex,…
Long Gone Before Daylight, the Cardigans’ fifth effort overall and the domestic version of last year’s European-only release, is every bit the twilight affair hinted at in its title, amply stocked with the same sort of languid, lovestruck ballads that catapulted Norah Jones to fame two years ago. “Communication,” “And…
