John Legend and the Roots Team Up for Wake Up!

​John Legend and The Roots are each talented in their own right, and they’ve teamed up for a collaborative album called Wake Up! to be released next Tuesday. The album is a funky ’70s soul throwback, and takes direction from legends like Marvin Gaye and Nina Simone. Special guest collaborators…

Inside Afrobeta’s Crib with Jesse Jackson

I recently stopped by Afrobeta’s beautiful downtown home recording studio to drop off a LeBron CD, and to check if they needed a guitarist for their tour. I love Afro Beta, and if I could work with any local band it would be them. You should have seen them at…

Local Motion: Young Livers – Of Misery and Toil

Young Livers Of Misery and Toil (No Idea Records) www.noidearecords.com I believe that the great and sorely missed Thomas “Pig Champion” Roberts was the butt of the Poison Idea joke of record collectors being pretentious assholes. That much is true dear readers, but I’m not as much a pretentious asshole…

Iron & Wine Show Announced at the Fillmore Miami Beach

via his MySpace page​We like to lay claim on musicians whenever we can. If they’ve lived in South Florida for more than a few months, went to school here, had a girlfriend from here, or even their dog lived here, we like to think they’re ours. So it should come…

The Best (and Worst) of the VMAs — with Some Miami Touches

Photo by Getty ImagesChelsea Handler as a Lady Gaga-esque house​We were expecting quite the spectacle at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. In lieu of last year’s Taylor Swift acceptance speech interruption, Kanye’s apologetic tweets, and her tweets suggesting she was going to interrupt him this year, we thought there…

Rebirth Brass Band Dumps the Funk at Fall for the Arts

For a minute, Fall for the Arts felt like a street festival in the French Quarter. With a sweaty crowd all hopped up on fried chicken, foie gras, fish tacos, frozen lemonade, and lukewarm beer, the Rebirth Brass Band of New Orleans launched into shout-alongs of “Who Dat?” and honked…

Last Night: The Agency at Transit Lounge, September 11

The Agency at Transit Lounge, MiamiSaturday, September 11Better Than: I could have even hoped.The Review:If you read my Q&A with drummer Mike Marsh earlier this week, you know I was pretty psyched to see this show. Having attended high school (or various high schools, as the case may be) in…

Last Night: Crystal Castles at Grand Central, September 11

Photo by Ian WitlenAlice Glass of Crystal Castles performing live at Grand Central, Miami.​Click here to view photos from Crystal Castles at Grand Central.Crystal CastlesSaturday, September 11, 2010Grand Central, MiamiBetter Than: Your old-school Gameboy.Let’s discuss the elephant in the room: Why didn’t local artist Panic Bomber open for the Toronto…