The Corner 3 New Year’s Eve Ball

The local alt-rock trio Corner 3 formed only in 2007, but the band is based on a longtime friendship, begun when the trio’s members were students at Columbus High in the Eighties. Frontman/guitarist/keyboardist John Lopez and bassist/vocalist Rick Sanchez began their music collaboration while still in school, and over the…

The Italoboyz

The Italoboyz’ moniker is slightly misleading on a couple of levels. First, it’s slightly so because although Marco Donato and Frederico Marton hail from Italy, the two have been based in London since about the turn of the millennium. Neither do they play, as one might assume, Italo disco, or…

Lanzallamas Monofonica Perform at the Van Dyke this Fri.

(Photo via Lanzallamas’ Myspace page.)Formed in 2006 by former Suenalo percussionist Fabi Patiño, Lanzallamas Monofónica epitomizes what is often described as the “Miami Sound” – a hodgepodge of musical influences from the South Florida melting pot. “Lanzallamas is a project that I created based on my experience in Miami,” explains…

Sam Friend Returns to the Vagabond this Friday, Bougie’s on Monday

Currently based in Seattle, prodigal Miami troubadour Sam Friend returns to the Vagabond this Friday for a little soul-soothing in his hometown. The UM School of Music grad eschews the tropical-funk-fusion or synth-driven weirdness of so many of his local peers for a more straightforward, rollicking approach. In the jangly…

Virgins Revitalize Orlando’s Punk Sound

Virgins Miscarriage (Kiss of Death) It seems like just a few months ago, Sam Johnson was wandering around Orlando, telling people that his longtime band, New Mexican Disaster Squad, was ending, but that he had a new thing cooking — and maybe this next band would be recording some demos…

Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers

You don’t need a half-wit music critic to tell you it’s been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demolished by a Midwestern…

Random Sort-of-Florida-Band Album Review: WAUMISS, WAUMISS

WAUMISSWAUMISS (Little Ramona Records)The Carrboro, North Carolina-based duo WAUMISS traces its roots back to Florida, to a series of early-Nineties Tampa and St. Petersburg bedrooms that produced many beautifully skewed pop songs. The musicians who comprise WAUMISS became two of many who wandered beyond their original Florida circle, but remained…

Streetlight Manifesto Announce Gig at Culture Room, Feb 6.

New Jersey’s Streetlight Manifesto deserve a couple props, first, for still carrying the torch of third-wave ska as it was largely played at its tail end in the late Nineties: in a group of many, many musicians, and with a heavy punk edge. Second, this is impressive because the band…

Blowfly Entertains Kids on Cable Access Television

  If you know anything about Blowfly, the self-proclaimed Original Dirty Rapper, then you know he’s one of the last people on earth who should be talking to kids. The legendary Miami songwriter, who used to perform under his given name, Clarence Reid, has spent the latter part of his…

Top Americana Albums of 2008

Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn’t nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn’t feel right stuck in the category. Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen Trapper’s fantastic Furr…

Dayglow Party Returns to Space on Friday

It’s time for that once-a-year event that’ll leave you bright and shiny and glowing. No, I’m not talking about the wonderful feeling you’d get buying me all sorts of awesome Christmas presents —  it’s the Dayglow party happening at Space. And okay, I sort of lied. Though billed as a…

Corner 3 to Perform at Bougainvillea’s on New Year’s Eve

The local alt-rock trio Corner 3 may have only formed in 2007, but the band is based on a longtime friendship, begun when the trio’s members were students at Columbus High in the Eighties. Frontman/guitarist/keyboardist John Lopez and bassist/vocalist Rick Sanchez began their music collaboration while still in school, and…

Top 10 Reissues of 2008

It’s time to rank the best of what went around and came around again. BILLY JOEL The Stranger (Columbia/Legacy) As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man’s deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell – and, occasionally, rock. “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” and…

The Top 10 Most Preposterous Rap Songs of 2008

Hip-hop A-listers including Rick Ross, Akon and Plies were caught grossly exaggerating their gangster credentials this year. (Turns out they were painfully law-abiding. The horror!) But even if your favorite rapper wasn’t caught in a lie, you can bet he or she put out a hilariously absurd record or two…

Katy Perry Concert Date at Revolution Changed

(Insert bad joke about Katy Perry being “hot and cold” about when she wants to play Ft. Lauderdale. )Whatever; the basic facts are thus: Katy Perry was originally scheduled to play Revolution as part of her debut headlining tour on Monday, April 27. That date has now been moved two…

Sevendust to Play Long-Awaited Club Gig at Revolution Next Tues.

Known for dark melodies laden with churning guitars, chunky riffs, and lead singer Lajon Witherspoon’s haunting timbre, Sevendust carved its niche in the alt-rock/nu-metal landscape some years back. The release of the band’s third record, Animosity, in 2001 is largely regarded as the quintet’s breakthrough into mainstream popularity. Still, by…

Top Hip-Hop Albums Of 2008

A couple of weeks ago, an expert on the Harry Potter series told an audience of high school kids how lucky they were to have this Big Shared Experience–these seven books and 41,000 words in common. What does Harry Potter have to do with hip-hop in 2008? In an age…

Saturday Night: Touane at Blue

Touane with Punisher, DJ NovaSaturday, December 20, 2008Blue, Miami BeachBetter than: your average DJ set in a favorable venue.

Minimal techno is a bit of an acquired taste, much like straight liquor. Verse and chorus are the requisite ice and soda mixer most social drinkers need in their music cocktail, chords…