You’d never expect such a nice girl to have such a mean moniker. Then again, you’d never expect such a nice girl to slam such heavy tech-house either. According to Ms. Vicious, the name came from “old partner Andre Ramos. We produced experimental techno and house together under the name…
During the Eighties as half of Skinny Puppy, Nivek Ogre (or just Ogre, or Kevin Ogilvie) created a much-imitated, arresting blend of industrial and hard rock, belched forth amid bewildering onstage theatrics. A showman from the beginning, Ogre quickly used his theater of the horrifically absurd as a platform to…
Nearly three decades ago — in 1981 to be exact — two inimitable forces of indie nature collided to create a concoction of modern disco spirituals entitled My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. There was no “indie” then, per se. But the two men responsible for the album, David…
I prefer to let my music do most of the talking,” announces Miami-based singer-songwriter Deblois Milledge as she appears at the door of this reporter’s house armed with a guitar, a mandolin, several CDs, and a promotional DVD. She slips the latter into her laptop, and out flows a sampling…
There are quite lofty aspirations apparent in naming a concert Bossa Nova: Celebrating the First 50 Years. Anyone other than sensitive, crafty guitarist/bandleader/host Oscar Castro-Neves would be hard-pressed to pull it off. Castro-Neves, the breeze in this concert’s sails, is the type of veteran acoustic guitarist who draws beautiful sounds…
Writing about Lil Wayne this late into 2008 is a difficult challenge — mainly because there’s almost nothing left to say. The popular 26-year-old rapper grabbed the hip-hop world by its balls roughly a year ago with a series of free mixtapes that kept the blogosphere on fire with commentary…
For the first time since the 1980 Drama tour, British supergroup Yes is touring without frontman Jon Anderson, who fell ill after an asthma attack a few months back. In fact, because of this incident, the band’s original plans for a 40th anniversary tour with the “classic” formation (Anderson, Chris…
A Chromeo DJ set, Crookers, MSTRKRFT, and now Switch? Whoever is responsible for the string of bookings at Heathrow Lounge deserves a gold star, because it’s getting ridiculous. Switch, born Dave Taylor, is the U.K.-based whiz responsible for producing dance-floor staples for artists such as M.I.A. (“Boyz,” “Jimmy,” and “20…
Who let these guys on TV all in one night? No clue, but they deserve a gold star for making the evening boob tube schedule just a little bit more full of major LOLs. First up tonight, if you get Mun2 (actually, relatively few people do, so check your cable…
Yesterday I was hanging in the studio with Jim Jonsin, the local producer extraordinaire who produced two of the biggest hip-hop tracks of the year, Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” and T.I.’s “Whatever You Like.” We were basically chopping it up about music, the industry, his upcoming five Grammy nominations, his production…
It’s been well-documented that rapper DMX is having possibly the worst year of his life. At last count, he’d been arrested seven times in 2008 alone for charges that range from identity theft and animal cruelty to drug possession and failure to appear in court. As of this afternoon, DMX…
After much Internet gossip and rumor-mongering, the folks behind Langerado announced they would release the first phase of the festival’s 2009 lineup yesterday morning. That didn’t happen, with a delay as organizers “finalized last-minute details.” Still, this morning they’ve come forward with a few names, several of which will be…
Listen up: With all of the hush-hush hullabaloo around Langerado’s revamped location and lineup in 2009, there’s going to be a lot of attention on the festival and its new incarnation. So wouldn’t you, member of a fledgling local band, want to get in on the action? Of course you…
South Florida’s favorite reggae sound system, Black Chiney is at again. They just released a brand new free mix project full of the hottest tracks coming out of Jamaica at the moment. But in typical Black Chiney fashion, the songs are mashed up with solid hip-hop tracks at just the…
Curtis Mayfield’s voice is like a salve. No matter what you’re ailing from, sometimes listening to Curtis can be a cure-all. On a day like today, where motivation to keep moving forward is limited, here’s an oldie-but-goodie from one of soul music’s greatest singers. –Jonathan Cunningham…
As half of Skinny Puppy, Nivek Ogre (or just Ogre, or Kevin Ogilvie) created, in the Eighties, a much-imitated, arresting blend of industrial and hard rock, belched forth amid bewildering onstage theatrics. A showman from the beginning, Ogre quickly used his theater of the horrifically absurd as a platform to…
Miami’s favorite Latin – rock – cumbia – whatever mash-up band, Locos Por Juana, has finally got its due from the awards gods. The Locos have finally scored their first Grammy nomination, in the category of Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, for La Verdad. Note that this is in…
Hah! Ultra is sounding better and better! Looks like the organizers have also flip-flopped their booking M.O. this year. Since the festival’s expansion into a two-day affair, things have generally gone more experimental the first night, with the classic dance music titans taking over the second day and night. Not…
So if you didn’t attend any of the art fairs this past weekend, you missed out on plenty of visual stimulation. This year, Scope definitely was my favorite fair, not only because the work for sale was superb, but their commitment to inviting local artists and musicians to take part…
Prefuse 73 with Eliot Lipp and PG 13Sunday, December 7, 2008Heathrow Lounge, Miami BeachBetter Than: Any of the usual Sunday night mainstream hip-hop club nights. One of the many cool things about Art Basel is all the cool music acts that it brings down to our sandy shores. Case in…
MSTRKRFT with Pauly Crush and Jessica Who?Saturday, December 6, 2008Heathrow Lounge, Miami BeachBetter Than: Ninety percent of the other Basel parties during the week.Art Basel brought plenty of musical performances during the week. Unfortunately, most of them were invite-only or secret parties no one knew about. But Saturday night, Heathrow…
Art Damage with Panda Bear and No Age Friday, December 5Karu & Y, Downtown Miami Better Than: Everything happening that night on the planet Earth if you happen to take Pitchfork or College radio charts as the gospel. The Review: The rumors of a No Age/Panda Bear double bill during…
