It’s a good month for Joy Division fans to maybe think about trying to smile. Sure, the confusing multiple release dates for Control, Anton Corbijn’s biopic about singer Ian Curtis, make it unclear if the movie will ever reach the big screen in South Florida. But fans can thank the…
Liverpool musican Pete Wylie allegedly coined the term optimisery. Definition: The feeling of wanting to fall in love, but knowing the heartbreak that arrives with it. It’s an apt sniglet to describe those individuals stumbling through the fragile hedgerows and into the gracefully darkened, blue-smoky garden of English folk artist…
The story of Against Me! begins in the small college town of Gainesville, Florida, in 1997. There then-17-year-old Tom Gabel would play his angst-filled compositions with an acoustic guitar on street corners for spare change. The tunes were catchy, and his lyrics were about, well, being an angry punk-rock 17-year-old…
No matter how much he shuns the public eye, no matter how many times he threatens to disappear, no matter how tired he might seem, Morrissey will always have fans who flock to him. When the Manchester-born Moz — an eloquent bard of countless slightly dark, bookish, often myopic misfits…
During the making of None Shall Pass — Aesop Rock’s gentler, narrative-heavy new CD on Definitive Jux — the hip-hop MC moved from his beloved New York to San Francisco, got married, and turned 30. “So those were the three punches in the face I took,” he says with a…
Eric Prydz is serious about energy conservation, but that isn’t why he’d love to see airplanes abolished. The Swedish techno DJ/producer is deathly afraid of flying — it’s a wonder he’s making a stateside trip to begin with. Thus it makes sense that he’ll be killing two birds with one…
Shane McGowan would be proud: Irish-inflected punk is alive and kicking with booted feet. The latest heirs to the royal court currently led by the Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly are the members of Flatfoot 56, a quartet hailing from the Windy City. Like any self-respecting Celtic rockers, they’ve got…
This weekend, jazz fans who head out to Sandoval’s will have a unique opportunity. Instead of listening to a sole bandleader doing his thing, they’ll be able to sample two veteran musicians in a coheadlined concert showcasing material from the repertoire of both artists’ long careers. The concept, says New…
Black Moth Super Rainbow: Now that’s a mouthful. Not only does the name resonate like a confusingly translated Japanese cartoon, but also it conjures up elements of science fiction, mythology, and, most of all, sensory saturation. It’s not unlike a midnight walk through Tokyo’s manic, multimedia freak-out Shibuya district. In…
The name Scary Kids Scaring Kids is only partially accurate. They’re really more cute than scary. They definitely are young, though. The sextet from Gilbert, Arizona, formed in 2002, during most of the members’ junior year of high school. Their mothers bought them some of their first pieces of equipment…
“I came back from NY, nigga lost his deal/Felt sick to the stomach, almost lost his meal,” raps Phonte on Getback’s first track, “Sirens.” He’s referring to his duo Little Brother’s exit from Atlantic Records after sales from the group’s major-label debut, The Minstrel Show, failed to meet expectations. Getback…
It’s difficult to know when — or if — the Australian one-man dance act known as Muscles is being serious. Live, ensconced behind a small tower of keyboards and contraptions, he might yell to a mixed-bag hipster crowd: “This is my trance song! Do you all like trance?!” Before anyone…
When your non-music-related shenanigans have paved the way for you as a British musician in the United States, you’re either doing something very right or very wrong. Anyone brushing past pop culture will recognize Pete Doherty as one such example. The erstwhile fiancé of Kate Moss first rose to fame…
When 26-year-old Jamaican singjay I-Wayne emerged in the reggae world two years ago, it was for his highly regarded Lava Ground debut, which somehow instantly gave him next-to-blow-up status among reggae artists. After a solid year of radio spins and moderate touring, the prediction by most music critics that I-Wayne…
The sometimes West Palm Beach resident Killa Cam’ron has a new double mixtape out today. I’m not going to waste a lot of time loving it or hating on it as I’ve only heard a few tracks which didn’t move me in either direction. But here’s a funny post from…
Barring some fourth-quarter cataclysm, Lil Wayne’s Da Drought 3 is probably going to end up as my album of the year, despite it not actually being a real album and everything. It’s tough to articulate just what’s so powerful about Da Drought 3; when I first heard it, I thought…
So it stands to reason that there’s only one American Gangster album that people should be interested in and that’s Jay-Z’s new release. It’s his second full length album post retirement and it’s not getting the greatest of reviews, partly because it’s his second full length album post retirement and…
Jay-Z American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella) American Gangster is one hell of a comeback album. For Diddy. Alongside his production team, The Hitmen, Sean Combs produces the album’s hottest tracks, “Pray,” and “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is),” outshining hit makers like the Neptunes and Jermaine Dupri. As for Jay-Z, let’s hope…
Michael Jackson, even after his loss of popularity in the U.S., continues to be an international icon. His music captured huge audiences around the world, especially during his glory days. Jackson also has lots of impersonators, including an entire Filipino prison full of inmates who choreographed their own version of…
So it’s finally the fourth quarter in the music industry and record companies are desperate for some real sales. CD’s practically have one foot in the grave anyway so whatever dollars record companies can squeeze out of consumers by Christmas is a miracle. But alas, the heralded fourth quarter isn’t…
BY ANDY VIHSTADT CrossFade mixes it up Photo by Bill Sitzmann Last year, Omaha’s Cursive challenged its fans to remix the single, “Bad Sects,” from the Happy Hollow LP. The winning entry earned the flipside on the 12” single, which is finally available this week. Have a listen to the…
Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez American Airlines Arena Nov. 2, 2007 Better Than: Sonny and Cher The Mennifer, or shall we say, J.Ant show is so overwhelmingly over the top, you can’t help but marvel at the star power in all of its pyrotechnics. Friday night at the American Airlines…
