Maybe it's the Martian blood moving through his veins. Or maybe it's the fact that his DNA has been warped by microwaving too many frozen burritos. But Otto von Schirach is not like the rest of us. He's the mind behind sonic slabs of weirdness such as Spine Serpents From Sperm Island, Oozing Bass Spasms, and Magic Triangle. He oversees his own label, Triangle Earth. And his best friends are two dudes named Mr. Feathers and Alligator Jesus. Those, however, are just surface distinctions. In order to truly understand the inner awesomeness of Otto, you must witness one of his solo destruction sessions from the inside. So crack open your skull, look deep into the eyes of the 305's strange bass ambassador, and focus on his pupils, swirling like ultrablack whirlpools slowly swallowing the bluish-gray seas that surround them. It'll take a minute. Maybe two. But once you get locked onto his wavelength, the low-end vibrations of this particular human being's psychic energy are unbelievable. Your ears will bleed. The speakers will get shredded. And your internal compass will be sent spinning at 1,000 rpm. Welcome to the Bermuda Triangle. This is the strange zone that Otto von Schirach calls home. And there's no going back.

At 33 years old, Aristh Delgado's resumé is something that would make most DJs green with envy. Under the alias Craze, he's been declared the World DMC Champion three years in a row — a record that has yet to be matched by any other DJ in the world. Time magazine named him "America's Best DJ" in 2001. And this very publication awarded him "Best Hands" in the 1999 edition, saying, "Those ten fingers weave just as magical a spell as any set of vocal cords." Those talented hands take him all over the world, so when he mans the decks at a local club (most likely the Vagabond or Electric Pickle), it makes for a sweet homecoming. But what gives Craze the push this year is the founding of Slow Roast Records with L.A. DJ Kill the Noise. Under the imprint Fool's Gold Records, the label serves helpings from both its founders as well as Codes, Klever, and Miami-based Señor Stereo. No denying this Nica boy has done pretty well for himself.

Society is getting to the technological point where grandmas soon will crack and hack open laptops and then call themselves electronic musicians. But you must respect someone who still hails from the analog arts. Enter Entresol, AKA Eduardo Rivadeneira. Using a variety of synthesizers, drum machines, and other electronic odds and ends, he composes lush dream beats that sound as if they're made out of pastel clouds and neon bubbles. Drawing on Krautrock, New Wave, classic disco, shoegaze, and IDM, the music defies fads. It's not tranquilized enough to be chillwave, yet far too up in the cosmos to be standard feet-on-the-floor dance. With the release of his first EP, Formal Matters, and a string of high-profile opening sets for like-minded national touring acts, Entresol and his machines have certainly been noticed in Miami. It's only a matter of time until the rest of the world catches on.

As an official guitarist for Sábado Gigante with Don Francisco, Lindsey Blair has played alongside Puerto Rican reggaetonero Daddy Yankee, but it was Wes Montgomery who got him started on the guitar, and jazz is where his heart is. The Indiana native studied the form at the University of Miami for his bachelor's and master's degrees, and he has toured with Maynard Ferguson and played with Dizzy Gillespie. He also has collaborated for years with Gloria and Emilio Estefan and scored a gig onstage with Miami Sound Machine for Super Bowl XLI. But it is his current stint with local supergroup 7Crossing where his powerful, blazing Latin jazz truly shines.

There is something satisfying about feeling like you know something that has eluded others. We'll let you in on a little secret: A band called Little Beard has been playing all over Miami since around late 2008. It consists of Michael Lee on guitar/vocals, Sarah Attias on vocals/keyboards, Edwin Beauchamp on bass, and Mario Fabregas on drums. Together they create a lo-fi sound that is surprisingly rich and textured. We cannot fathom why they haven't been scooped up by a major indie label. They are Pitchfork-ready without being hackneyed. They transcend the dreaded Hipster Runoff-coined genre known as chillwave. They are just, well, fucking adorable. From the cutesy name to the enchanting songs, Little Beard has a big sound. It isn't difficult to catch them live, because they regularly play around the 14th Street corridor, including the Vagabond, Eve, and Bar. Or check out their self-titled, four-track EP at littlebeard.bandcamp.com.

In summer 2010, a street-level consortium of local players — including SoFla swag supplier Last Rights, Fort Lauderdale producer Numonics, the C9 family, and Miami rap crew ¡Mayday! — drew up a mission statement ("Combine South Florida's best up-and-coming hip-hop talent with the best up-and-coming national talent") and launched the Rising monthly concert series. They were attempting to rally the 305's independent operators, club hustlers, and studio thugs. In effect, it was a scene-wide call to arms. And the first order of action was a July showcase at Wynwood's EZ Street Gallery starring Young Jeezy signee Freddie Gibbs alongside a few of MIA's finer mike manglers. Another gallery gig with Curren$y came next. And then the Rising took up residence at Transit Lounge, bringing heavy hitters such as Co$$, N.O.R.E., and Freeway to the Brickell bunker's back-yard stage. But no doubt the Rising's most major coup was its December concert at the University of Miami with Wiz Khalifa, the skinny, tattooed Pitt city rapper who only a couple of weeks later was named The Source's 2010 Rookie of the Year. The OJ was spiked. The weed was sweet. And the rolling papers were free. After exporting its brand to SXSW in March, though, the consortium took three months off to regroup, re-up, and reorganize. But June 17, the Rising returns. One change: The series has left Transit, shifting a few blocks south to PAX. Otherwise, the mission remains the same.

The Overthrow is a creative collective made up of party terrorists. It is a favorite among the city's glamorously debauched, and with good reason. No other local crew blends the fallen upper crust with the fabulously down-at-the-heels in settings that go beyond the usual ho-hum club décor, playing exciting underground soundtracks. To wit: Basel Castle, one of the best late-night parties during this past edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. It was one of the few public opportunities to employ the bizarre building where the Overthrow makes its headquarters; it's a castle-shaped structure in Wynwood complete with faux drawbridge doors and gargoyles. Inside was a twisted artist's carnival. While one room of the club sold macabre prints and limited-edition T-shirts, the drunk and disorderly could amuse themselves with a mini-midway of artist-designed games (alas, no carnies). Up-and-coming hip-hop/club crossover acts such as Rye Rye and Theophilus London worked up the crowd between cabinet-rattling dubstep DJ sets while dirt-cheap booze kept the party lubed till the wee hours. High- and lowbrow never met so sweetly in the middle.

There are a lot of reasons to love Lil Daggers. The neo-psychedelia meets punk is infectious in a gangrenous kind of way. And putting their sound to video only makes you realize they are worth losing a limb for. British-born director Matthew Prickett takes "King Corpse," a sloppy rock 'n' roll track off the band's self-titled debut, and makes it the soundtrack to gritty Miami street scenes. In the video, a hooded figure enters a convenience store, lifts some bottles of beer and cheap booze, and darts out the door. The shop owner runs after the figure in a sort of Wile E. Coyote-Road Runner scenario, minus the faulty Acme traps. The chase leads the viewer through a tour of dilapidated areas such as downtown and Overtown. Suddenly it ends when the shop owner can't keep up with the mysterious thief. But then comes the twist, which we won't reveal to you here. Just go watch it now. Click here to view the video on YouTube.

A love of words and wine is pretty much the job description for every position at New Times, so we're predisposed to like this event. In fact, we're drinking wine right now. Moreover, we are three sheets to the Caribbean sea breeze. So this makes us experts on open-mike nights. So we'll fulfill our second job duty before we pass out. Try these words: American Legion. Veterans organization. Harvey's by the Bay. Artists. Wine. Guitars. Indie musician guest stars from Portland. Wine. Breeze. Poetry. Community. Membership cards. Laid-back. Acoustic instruments. Dance. Stirring for your soul. Every Wednesday.

It can be hard keeping up with so many fulano de tals in the music biz. They show up, play a couple of local venues, and head off to more lucrative shores before you get a chance to memorize their names. Not so for the actual Fulano de Tal. The '90s rock en español band did the hometown proud when it became one of the first U.S.-based groups in the genre to sign a major-label deal. And the frontman — a New York City-bred, Miami-based Cuban-American — instantly went from fulano to Elsten Torres when he began penning songs for the likes of Julio Iglesias Jr. and Alejandra Guzmán, and then scored a Grammy nomination for an indie-distributed solo release, Individual. Nowadays, you can catch him on local stages performing bilingual folk music to the tunes of acoustic guitars and violin. The name of the group is Hey Elsten. You might want to memorize it.