Give Orlando-based DJ/producer Baby Anne a gold star on two counts. One, for still carrying a torch for Florida breaks, our state’s woozy, psyched-out spin on electro that reached its heyday in the late Nineties. Two, for being one of the few females to do so in a scene ruled…
Apparently some talented people can literally make art just by taking a dump. Wait, don’t go yet. “I’ve written several songs on the toilet,” Latin superstar Marco Antonio Solis reveals. “One of them is ‘La Venia Bendita,’ which came about while I was traveling from Mexico City to Cancun.” The…
Being Jesse Jackson may not be easy, but it sure seems fun. Chicks come out of the woodwork, cats hang thick by your side, and songs slide straight out of the sky. Sure, sometimes you gotta hit up a scribbler for a ride to the gig, maybe even a meal…
Finally it’s here in all its two-disc, 29-track, guest-star-studded glory: Underground Kingz, the most anticipated album out of the South this year and the most eagerly awaited Texas rap release since Scarface’s The Fix in 2002. Not since 2001 have we heard a whole album’s worth of “country rap tunes”…
Unlike many of his rap contemporaries, Rashid “Common” Lynn has matured artistically — but he had a head start. In 1992, when he released his debut CD, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, under the name Common Sense, he was already sage beyond his age, and since then, his work has…
Rapper/chatter/singer M.I.A., Sri Lankan by way of the UK, continues on Kala to explore the combination of her Eastern roots and Western upbringing that she began on her splashy entry, Arular. Traveling to southern India for inspiration and a collection of indigenous sounds, she has taken, say, a 2000-year-old Tamil…
The heavy hitters celebrated on Kompakt’s Total 8 don’t eclipse bright entries from the underexposed. Winners from a lesser-discussed bunch, along with Rex the Dog, Jürgen Paape, and DJ Koze, compile another worthwhile collection of techno from the revered German label. Two discs dutifully serve a handful of purposes. There’s…
This self-labeled “Cuban surf-rock” band has a curious history. A few years ago, Miami-born founder Jorge Navarro conducted academic research on how to use music as an educational tool for teachers who work with Hispanic students. While he was at it, he came up with the concept for his band,…
Jah Jerry It’s come to the attention of Crossfade that Jerry Hines, founding member of legendary Jamaican group, the Skatalites, has died. The guitarist, who passed away last Monday in a Jamaican hospital, was 80-years-old. Better known as Jah Jerry, Hines helped push the sound of ska forward long before…
Wherever his musical endeavors take him from this point forward, Marco Antonio Solis will forever be credited for greatly influencing norteno and tejano music all over Mexico and southwestern parts of the United States. Just 12 years old when he started improvising on an array of instruments and developing a…
“I said it’s here, it’s here, it’s here, it’s here.” The dude seems to release new material every 6 months and today, Mr. Talib Kweli BK MC, has another LP for hip-hop lovers to consume. Eardrum is in record stores today and while I haven’t heard it yet, I’d love…
London’s favorite rock’n’roll screwball, Pete Doherty, of Babyshambles is escaping jail time despite being arrested for suspicion of drug use recently. Apparently the cops didn’t get him to court within 24 hours of his arrest. Not quite sure how that happened. Maybe a few extra quids in the cops pockets…
The “World” section at your local music retailer is just a way to pile together all the stuff that isn’t from America or the UK. It really isn’t fair that Bossanova joints can be found right next to some Riverdance jams, but English-born Sri Lankan M.I.A.’s latest, Kala, truly deserves…
Rachel Brown Jazziz Lounge August 15, 2007 Better Than: Listening to pillow-talk R&B on the radio Last Wednesday night, sultry singer, Rachel Brown showcased her long awaited debut CD, Love, Life & Relationships at Jazziz Lounge in front of a packed audience of fans and industry-types. The locally based R&B…
Peter Frampton And The Doobie Brothers Hard Rock Live August 19, 2007 Better Than: The usual recycled vintage radio rock acts. In a night that gave classic rock fans a double shot of live and loud, the question hovered over the crowd like a waft of pot smoke. Should Peter…
The Legendary Max Roach At work In sad news, great jazz percussionist Max Roach passed away yesterday at the age of 83. He’d been sick for some time according to reports and died on Wednesday in a Manhattan hospital. Roach was one of the well noted innovators of bebop jazz…
Marisela Verena Marisela Verena has never sat down to compose a song – or sing one for that matter – with the idea it’s going to climb the charts or end up getting regular airplay. It’s the message she’s trying to convey to the masses that concerns her most. “I…
Argentine-born artist Diego Jinkus knows his way around his axe. Seriously — even when he’s rocking out, his fingers are fluttering up and down his guitar’s neck with hummingbird speed. His chops have even garnered him coveted sponsorships from both Godin and ESP guitars. But Jinkus is no long-haired metal…
It was pitch-black. It was long and slick. It was hard and secure. It bounced in every direction yet never appeared out of place. It kindled enough swagger and confidence to ignite a copycat trend throughout the world’s salsa hubs, which is still evident to this day, among a horde…
First off, this isn’t exactly a new project by the fresh-out-of-prison Jamaican singer Jah Cure. The recently released True Reflections is more of a greatest-hits compilation of tunes that Cure has cranked out over the past eight years — most of which he recorded while behind bars. True Jah Cure…
As world events keep taking dark turns, Junior Senior continues to get happier. On its second long-player, humorously titled Hey Hey My My Yo Yo, the Danish duo is practically giddy in its effervescent good mood. Hey Hey fizzles and pops with all the ingredients necessary for a good time…
Melissa Young promises she doesn’t usually yawn this much. “I have a serious case of insomnia,” Young, more commonly known as hip-hop artist Kid Sister, says over the phone. The Chicago native has been up all night, working on outtakes for albums by hip artists like Chromeo and the Cool…
