Singer/producer Dwele’s debut album, Subject, is an exploration of the many idiosyncrasies that exist between lovers, set to a lush backdrop that is neither annoyingly contrived nor forcefully retro. His subtle, smooth numbers utilize an array of sounds and instruments. Sometimes his creativity catches you off guard, like the surprisingly…
With all the Brazilians living in South Florida, you’d think the local music scene would be teeming with the sounds of samba, tropicalia, bossa nova, and rock em portugues. But while heavyweights like Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso occasionally pass through our territory, the only local Brazilian act of note…
Instead of Lo Que Te Conté Mientras Te Hacías la Dormida (What I Told You While You Were Pretending to Be Asleep), this album should be titled What We Played While You Were Ignoring Us. With only three albums, La Oreja de Van Gogh (which translates to, you guessed it,…
Over the past two years the Funk Jazz Lounge has hosted numerous soul singers of varying quality, from relative unknowns to burgeoning stars like Dwele. But this week’s showcase should be a keeper: Maya Azucena is known for putting on exciting, dynamic performances, thanks to a promising self-released CD, Maya…
Aquabooty’s promoters weren’t taking a shot at art appreciation when they wrote “Fuck Art|Let’s Dance” on a well-circulated flyer for their Saturday-night house party at the Marlin Bar. But in using the old New Wave mantra, they made an interesting observation. In its second year, Art Basel was as much…
At White Dreams, a party thrown by Care Resource at the Miami Seaquarium last Friday, the men were so attractive it was hard to tell who stood out. Though everyone was welcome at this party, it’s clear that the majority of them were men of a certain ilk. Muscular, well-groomed,…
The sun is setting on the recent seventeenth annual Fort Lauderdale Blues Festival and funk legend/rap innovator Clarence Reid, a.k.a. Blowfly, is pacing backstage. The tall, lithe, 58-year-old Reid has spent the afternoon waiting for Solomon Burke, the 400-pound, 62-year-old King of Rock and Soul. Burke, who is headlining the…
As a onetime Bounty Killer protégé and Scare Dem Crew member (alongside Harry Toddler) from Kingston’s rough Seaview Gardens district, Elephant Man likes to gruffly bark radio-unfriendly lyrics over the ruggedest ragga riddims available. When he calls himself a “bad man” every minute or so, it’s tempting to believe him…
The release of Kinky’s sophomore album, Atlas, perpetuates Mexico’s domination over the rest of the Latin American rock scene. It reflects the band’s determined search for an organic dance rock sound that feels way more vivid than the original set of loops, samples, and prerecorded songs it presented on its…
It’s been twelve years since Kevin Shields released the masterpiece Loveless with his band My Bloody Valentine. Since then he has sworn many times to return with a followup, but didn’t resurface until one of Hollywood’s most promising directors, Sofia Coppola, lured him out of his studio with new, ambient…
Too many goofy, tie-dyed Deadheads ruined the noisy improvisational meltdown of the Grateful Dead. Too many burned-out suburban dreads and frat-boy pot dealers sanitized the group’s countercultural roots into boring classic-rock nostalgia. That’s why punk-rock stoners had to go to Germany for their psychedelic freak-out music. That’s why kraut rockers…
After a schizophrenic few years spent releasing Red House Painters albums alongside solo albums, Mark Kozelek returns with a new band: Sun Kil Moon. Despite the name change, his deep-rooted ardor for Seventies rockers and vocal similarities to Neil Young remain apparent. No fancy synthesized augmentations weigh down these tracks,…
Indie music veteran Ted Leo may be too hip for his own good. The East Coast rocker was retro before it was cool, leading the mod/punk band Chisel from 1990-1997 and paving the way for the rise of newcomers Mooney Suzuki and Delta 72. His next band, the hard-rocking Sin…
The FTAA rolled into town last week, and with it came truckloads of thoughtful, peaceful, smelly individuals with something to say. Miami played host to a muddy spectrum of grassroots activists: old retirees, blue-collar workers, and America’s bleeding heart, college students from the Pacific Northwest. But we weren’t very gracious…
Gil’s Café is a quaint Miami Beach locale with sidewalk seating, a bar area, and a small dining room that caters to any form of diner. It serves an eclectic treatment of Brazilian favorites like rodizio and picanha steak. Add a carafe of caipirinhas to the dimmed lights and the…
Two years ago when vocalist Lila Downs performed for 430 people at ArtSouth Sanctuary in Homestead, who could have guessed that she’d soon be singing with Brazilian legend Caetano Veloso before a televised audience of millions at the 2003 Academy Awards? Not to mention a cameo appearance in Frida and…
Trends, fads, and other promotional scams: I read somewhere that “fads are transitory customs or objects widely adopted by the public with great enthusiasm.” The truth is that all cool stuff has to become a fad in the first place if it is to become cool at all! Every lasting…
Several evenings ago, P.M. and I stood in the lobby of an enormous luxury apartment building just outside downtown Miami as he talked to me about three different major labels he was currently in discussions with over a recording contract. Standing next to us by the elevator was a middle-age…
At one point on her new album This Is Not a Test, Missy Elliott defines her style as “old-school rap to old-school R&B.” That’s pretty accurate. Back in the Eighties, when George Clinton and Roger Troutman ramped up their funk and disco with synthesizer machines and vocoder, then cut down…
Ursula Rucker has singlehandedly introduced quality poetry and spoken word to the electronic music community through her collaborations with 4 Hero, King Britt, and Jazzanova. Judging by the top performances she coaxes out of these artists as well as the Roots and Little Louie Vega on her new album, Silver…
Miguel Depedro has an easy job. As Kid606 he’s the enfant terrible of the electronic music world. With the release of his 2000 album Down With the Scene and a subsequent compilation of bootleg N.W.A. remixes on his own Tigerbeat6 label, he came spitting and cussing into a placid techno…
Ever since he founded the techno label Plus 8 with good friend Richie Hawtin, John Acquaviva has been known as a DJ’s DJ. Over the years he has vehemently voiced his contempt for fellow disc jocks around the world who take a linear approach to music, the ones who strictly…
