Madball (photo via the band’s Myspace page)Beyond the unending, dentist-office-like whir of hundred of tattoo needles buzzing on and off, the Miami Tattoo Expo will feature another soundtrack — an impressive lineup of local and national musical acts. While other South Florida tattoo conventions have relied mostly on rockabilly cover…
One gets the impression that if there were eight days in a week, DJ Affect would be spinning each and every one of ’em. Hell, it’s a bet he’d be spinning every day of the week if there were 10 or 12 or 20 — that’s how driven the cat…
Sayre BermanBilly JoelFriday, January 2, 2009 Hard Rock Live, HollywoodBeing a piano man in a rock ‘n’ roll world can be a precarious proposition. Unless you have the cool of, say Jerry Lee Lewis, with the attitude and swagger to match, it’s tough not to look like a dweeb sitting stationary…
Ian WitlenNew Year’s Eve Overthrow with DJ Tamara Sky Wednesday, December 31, 2008 Heathrow Lounge, South Beach Better than: Ringing in the New Year wearing the played out all-white uniform of post-Diddy South Beach parties. Way too many times South Beach club parties end up being more hype than substance…
The party’s over.They finally figured it out. After 24 months, New Times realized that it has been paying me to party hard with music celebrities. They’ve been shelling out cash for me to dance at night clubs, to hang out at rock concerts, and to simply dive in and write…
The naked body of Amanda Lepore, the world’s self proclaimed #1 transsexual, is about as good of a metaphor for change as any so it was suiting that the first sight of 2009 that the crowd at The Raleigh’s Burlesque New Years saw was Ms. Lepore clad only in balloons…
On the corner of Breakbeat and Bass, in the town of Danceville, there hangs a cat whose scratch is surely as deep as the hiss of some vintage vinyl. I’m not talking about some throwback turntablist trying to revive the art of the back-cue, mind you — hell, most of…
Trying to make a New Year’s resolution stick is like trying to get all of your friends to call you by a self-appointed nickname. (Dudes, from now on, call me “Shatterstar.”) This year, I’m gonna buckle down and really stick to my resolution. Of course, I say that every time…
Luz Marina Coincidencias (Cacao Música) www.cacaomusica.com Venezuelan singer/songwriter Luz Marina makes her debut for Cacao Música with 14 tracks of heavy-breathing soft numbers full of sexy insinuations and personal moments. It works. “Noche a Noche” (“Night to Night”) and “Cómo Dueles” (“How You Hurt”) were a little more my cup…
You thought we were done examining the past year in music? No way! What are music critics to do around January 1 without a little navel-gazing over the previous 12 months? In last week’s issue, we listed the tops in dance music, indie rock, Latin rhythms, and preposterous hip-hop. This…
Metallica Death Magnetic (Warner Bros.) Five years after their last comeback, they did it right. Combining the punishing thrash of their early glory years with the thick, bluesy grooves of their Nineties output, the members of Metallica reclaimed their throne as America’s kings of metal. Songs such as “That Was…
Billy Joel The Stranger (Columbia/Legacy) As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man’s deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell — and, occasionally, rock. “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “Anthony’s Song (Movin’ Out)” remain priceless snapshots of Annie Hall-era NYC, the title track bares…
Kanye West 808s and Heartbreak (Def Jam) West’s fourth album almost completely dispensed with rapping, thereby perplexing and vexing scores of fans and supporters. The music itself was low-key, chilly techno that featured West’s Auto-Tuned croon as the most prominent element; inevitably, what support West loses from his fan base…
With six Grammys and hundreds of millions of records sold worldwide, Billy Joel has a pedigree that’s impossible to ignore. And time seems to have done little to dampen public enthusiasm for his oeuvre: Friday’s gig at the Seminole Hard Rock kicks off not two, not three, but six total…
There’s something a little Sheila E. about Tracy Young. Her steadfast, stoic presence when she’s doing her DJ thing reminds you of Prince’s bongo-smacking concubine in her Arsenio Hall Show heyday. For both women, that temple-of-steel impenetrability is/was their greatest weapon in a male-dominated world. On face, Young — Miami-based…
Ahhh, the sweet sounds of classic Seventies California pop. No one has ever embodied that sound more than the Doobie Brothers. And now that the style the Doobies perfected has become a musical archetype (see modern artists such as The Autumn Defense, Beck, and so on), it’s all too easy…
Despite being a cool, downtown NYC jazz act with roots in the early Nineties avant-garde scene of John Lurie and John Zorn, no one loves Medeski, Martin & Wood like the patchouli-loving, Birkenstocks-on-the-weekend hippie in the next cubicle. MM&W’s supersonic organ funk jams with DJ Logic in the Nineties forever…
1. CarcassNecroticism (Earache)Arguably grindcore’s finest hour, Necroticism captures Carcass hitting previously unheard-of heights of technical proficiency with such jaw-dropping skill that the album sounds absolutely fresh 16 years after it came out. Rarely has a grind band achieved the thrilling, epic majesty of classical music, but Carcass took the cake…
Logan FazioSouth Floridians tend to complain that they are often overlooked by music tours, but 2008 was definitely a busy and surprising year for the area’s live music scene. Radiohead kicked off their world tour at Cruzan, while Madonna ended the U.S.-leg of Sticky & Sweet tour at Dolphin Stadium…
6. Jesu Why Are We Not Perfect (Hydra Head)Technically not a heavy release, but how can we discount Justin Broadrick, founding member of both Napalm Death and Godflesh? Fed up with the single-minded bludgeoning of those classic acts, Broadrick’s intention from the start in forming Jesu was so that he…
Boris(Photo via Boris’ MySpace page.)Was 2008 another renaissance year for metal? Well, yes — but the point should be moot by now. Whether metal is “in” or “out” during any given year, the music has gone through a creative revitalization every year — especially when you consider heavy music and…
Fallen From the Sky(Photo via the band’s MySpace page.)Pat yourself on the back for attending Saturday’s early-evening, all-ages extravaganza at Revolution. It’s sponsored by Music Saves Lives, a California-based group on its way to nonprofit status that aims to “create opportunities for people to save lives with simple contributions, and…
