End-of-the-day cocktails at Chris Blackwell’s Marlin Hotel set the tone for an easy evening before the night grind. The sour apple martinis are a little bitter, but our barman Eddie can fix that with a dash of Apple Pucker. Eddie is “famous” in that South Beach kind of way. The…
Mix Master Mike ain’t no record player. He’s a cold-blooded wax-killer. There’s a big difference. “I’m not about knocking other DJs for what they do but to me it’s two different worlds,” says the Frisco turntablist. “What I do and what someone like a trance or techno DJ does are…
Malian vocalist and composer Salif Keita was an early victim of the dreaded West African Bombast Virus. This insidious disease can have devastating effects on an artist’s songwriting ability, directly attacking the tasteful-arrangement gene and bloating the neurotransmitters responsible for crafting succinct musical statements. Symptoms include an acute depletion of…
What happens when Santa Claus lands his sleigh in North Miami? A whole lotta elves ditching the North Pole for the Dirty South. Either that or it’s time for Quick Hit Records’ annual hip-hop holiday. Although the Quick Hitters might be better known for rattling windshields with the thug threat…
When Olga Tañon was a teenager, her beloved dance instructor made her spend hours in front of the mirror, dancing with her reflection until she could see herself generate enough energy to entrance a stadium. Sitting with Tañon in any given hotel room along Collins Avenue (and we’ve sat together…
If we’ve told you once, we’ve told you a thousand times: Go see Juanes! And if you haven’t been paying attention, then know that Juan Esteban Aristizabal is the earnest kid who came out of nowhere (okay, out of Los Angeles) to sweep the second Latin Grammys with his 2000…
Fernando Perdomo’s friends jokingly refer to him as Chewbacca. And with his formidable height, unruly brown mop, and sometimes copious facial hair, the musician does bear a slight resemblance to the cantankerous Wookiee from the Star Wars epics. However, given the gentle Perdomo’s penchant for seamlessly appearing and disappearing from…
CHARACTERS: Russell Simmons: He is 45, wears a white baseball cap, a T-shirt with the words “40 Acres and a Bentley” on the back, and a sweatsuit manufactured by the $300 million clothing company, Phat Farm, he started a decade ago. Russell, teeth as white and big as freshly minted…
Art Basel’s almost here, so it’s time to check in with those crazy art kids again. Clubbed crosses not just to the other side of the causeway but the other side of the tracks to the Vulcan’s Lair Gallery, all for the cause of culture. At 9:00 p.m. there isn’t…
Go electro till you puke at the Revolver party when Miami’s favorite digital sound lab, the Schematic Music Company, invites you to Gorge! Binge! Purge! And if you don’t know about the duo behind Schematic, take note: Romulo Del Castillo and Joshua Kay have been flicking off the music industry…
BEGIN TRANSMISSION Question: First of all, what is your mission here on Earth? Answer: vhgflvpfodfuosijckzxmclks djfkljfkldxjfkldjfkdjfkldsjfk lsjfkldjflksdjfjslfjdlkjfkl sjflkjdsflkjsl jfkljfkldxjfkld Translation: Earthlings have an unfortunate habit of self-destructing … of not giving themselves an outlet to release their pent-up frustrations and angst, which can be fatal, not only to themselves, but…
Don’t forget about the band, Alex Lora begs in his squeaky voice, not even if you cut your hair, get a job, wear a three-piece suit, get married, or get liposuction. Don’t forget about the band, Mexico, the first band and for so many years the only rocanrol band, El…
As odd as it may sound, the leader of Argentine rock band Divididos (the Divided) now believes that dividing everything makes no sense. Ricardo Mollo, singer and guitarist in the hottest power trio of the Nineties, has been reading Indian Zen master Osho on the creation of a “new man”…
It seems ages since Miami’s Nuclear Valdez stole the limelight with its 1989 single “Summer,” only to fade out of the national attention that promised to break the band into bigger and better things. But after the sophomore 1991 Dream Another Dream, the band lost some of the momentum built…
Once upon a time Pearl Jam seemed to live for a reaction, a trait that catapulted it to the forefront of grunge. The band blazed its brand of arena-rock for the sole purpose of shoving it in listeners’ faces. The faithful hung on every power chord and deep Eddie Vedder…
Yusa’s debut CD points to a Cuban singer/songwriter genre that doesn’t fit snugly within either the romantic strains of the Buena Vista Social Club orbit or the confines of modern salsa. Juan Carlos Formell’s last couple of albums pointed to this emerging genre, and the island has always produced its…
You have entered a subsistence eked out in greasy late-night food pits and smoky bars filled with lonely whiskey-drinking viejos. There are also the girls from Milwaukee and the club kids filtering in. They have shadowed you for the last ten years. The company you keep defines you. The column…
Uber remixologist Judge Jules mixes hard — house, dance, trance — putting his own spin on tunes from Paul Oakenfold to Beat Pusher in his latest triad release, Tried and Tested. Known as the People’s DJ, Judge is a host on BBC’s high-profile Radio One show, where he was responsible…
A film of Nat Chediak’s life could well begin in his study in Key Biscayne, amid the souvenirs of his sweet moments in film and music. There several pictures frame a widescreen TV and shelves of CDs, among them a photo dedicated “with friendship and admiration” from the great cinematographer…
My heart of hearts shouted Pele, Pele — full of power, with one foot in Africa. How great to be a beautiful people who dance, dance, dance. How great to make music. The power comes from that stone that sings Itapoa; it speaks Tupi, it speaks Yoruba. Caetano Veloso sang…
Down NW 60th Street near 10th Avenue, a group of old-timers play dominoes under a tree, complaining about the weather. Across the street young men in braids lounge on lawn chairs, rousing themselves each time a car slows at the corner. A couple of blocks north, school kids in khaki…
Although transnational, contemporary, and based on the Cuban son, salsa is often assumed to be Puerto Rico’s national song. Enter Plena Libre, purveyors of Puerto Rican pride and promoters of plena, a traditional Boricua music style that remains little-known to mainstream audiences outside the island of Borinquen. “We’d really like…
