When did mainstream rap become more relevant than its underground counterpart? Talib Kweli and El-P released self-congratulatory pap this year while Kanye West’s sincere, introspective effort sold a million copies in its first week. Now we’ve got Chamillionaire, whose Ultimate Victory is perhaps the most topical album ever. Though what…
Cuban-born hip-hop trio Orishas are known for rhyming about the daily struggles faced by those living in their homeland, often dealing head-on with touchy themes such as racial discrimination, poverty, and immigration. Even so, there’s one area where Orishas’ MC Ruzzo (a.k.a. Hiram Riverí) refuses to tread. “We are not…
Thankfully I was nowhere near 50 Cent when he learned Kanye West’s new CD was going to beat his. 50 famously vowed to stop making solo albums if he lost their first-week sales battle, and he did lose — by the score of 957,000 to 691,000 — although he had…
In January 2005 the masterminds behind Beatport.com launched Version 2.0 of their online music store. At the time, Beatport was a fairly modest operation, with roughly 14,000 users. But the niche concept had epic potential, even if only a small number of people outside the dance-music community recognized the brand…
Matt White’s story is truly a grassroots one, in both the prehistoric analog and 21st-century digital senses. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin a couple of years ago, the Englewood, New Jersey native headed back to his teenage stomping grounds: New York City. But rather than immediately duke it…
The stars are aligning over Little Havana for a late entry in the running for best local live jazz show of the year. The stars, in this case, are the gifted violinist and composer Federico Britos, the young jazz-singing and double-bass-playing phenom Esperanza Spalding, and white-hot tenor saxophonist David Sánchez…
There’s a number in Fred Cole’s live set in which he addresses head-on the fact that he is Nat “King” Cole’s “baby” brother. It’s a midtempo blues song that encapsulates the challenges of such a distinction, and his performances of it practically overflow with dry wit and self-deprecating humor. Most…
The legendary Vibrators may be getting long in the tooth, but they’re hardly short on energy and O.G. punk spirit. The quartet could school any spikey-haired-come-lately in true road warrior style and longevity: They got together in London in 1976, broke up for a minute around 1980, and reformed in…
“We enjoy each other as people; we get along and play music we love,” Yellowjackets bassist and cofounder Jimmy Haslip says about the band’s famous longevity. “We seem to have a common goal, and that makes it easy to travel and perform together.” Existing for more than 25 years since…
House DJ Pablo Ceballos is another wunderkind story: Kid falls in love with techno, meets mentor, explodes worldwide. During the early Nineties, bands like Depeche Mode and Massive Attack were among those that attracted the then-teenage Ceballos to synth-based music. Soon he began to gravitate more toward house sounds and…
With signature dreads, gold chains around his neck, and a tattoo of his father on his right arm, Ky-mani Marley strikes a presence that is unmistakably, well, Marley. Despite a definite Miami swagger, he speaks softly and with a Jamaican accent. The resemblance to his dad is remarkable. Ky-mani, age…
As Jacob Miller tickled the ivories in the NBC studio, he couldn’t help but look at the screen hanging above him. There was a fair-size crowd gathered to watch him. One audience member, he noted, was a giant anthropomorphic moth. Another was an exuberant woman in a pink boa, who…
With his second solo disc — after previously helming local outfit Legends of Rodeo — Florida homeboy John Ralston builds on the strength of his critically acclaimed debut, Needle Bed. He has created something akin to a seminal milestone. Finding the perfect mix of attitude and ambiance, Ralston crafts a…
Much is made of Plastiscines’ national origin, looks, and gender. Yes, zey are French, which gives them a sort of exotic cultural cachet that would be surpassed only if they were Swedish. And oui, they are très belles, with blunt haircuts and blunter cheekbones that have translated well to the…
A casual listen will obscure the stronger aspects of Delaware-born/Philly-based Hezekiah’s work on I Predict a Riot, the producer/MC’s second LP. The word riot generally indicates that the contents therein would boast boisterous, screeching beats and perhaps rage-lined verses about the music industry, or maybe Dick Cheney. Guess again. I…
Okay, so the Sex Pistols stopped being relevant the first time they reunited (whenever that was — 1996? 1997?) and cheapened their own legacy. But this might take the cake. From a press release: Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Sex…
Not sure if this is true or not, but can’t help but post this link I found on Craigslist today. Someone from Poison is looking to get laid. If you need Craiglist to get the job done, that might be a sign that you’re washed up. –Jonathan Cunningham…
credit: Thierry Arditti [Editors note: The text below is from an evening our theater critic extraordinaire Brandon K. Thorp spent with music critic extraordinaire Greil Marcus. Marcus was in town for a speaking engagement, and following that event, the two went out for dinner. What follows is a detailed breakdown…
Concert Review The Postmarks & Apples in Stereo The Culture Room 9/28/07 Better Than: Standing around with seven thousand of your closest “friends” at last week’s Interpol concert. As far as cool line-ups go, the Culture Room’s double bill featuring The Postmarks and Apples In Stereo was really a match…
The Slackers September 28, 2007 Studio A, Miami Better Than: That place with the good fried chicken with biscuits and gravy and all the fixin’s The Slackers are all about democracy. After a few wise cracks about President Bush and the state of the war, the band was feeling awfully…
The cast of Stomp, that international theater hit starring a motley gang of percussive dancers, performed at Mansion this past Friday as a special addition to the show’s week-long stint at the Carnival Center. The event, billed as “Stomp vs. DJ Ideal,” wasn’t so much a rivalry between a wax…
Perhaps most well known as one half of the now-defunct dreamy pop duo Azure Ray, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Orenda Fink comes to Ft. Lauderdale tonight fronting her new band Art In Manila, which released its debut, Set the Woods on Fire in August on famed Omaha-based indie label Saddle Creek Records (home…
