The claptastic Diwali riddim transcended fashion last year to become one for the ages. But before you wear out your Greensleeves Diwali compilation (number 27), why not accessorize it with a pair of frivolous twelve inches? If you can find it, begin with a black-label mash-up featuring Missy Elliott’s “Work…
La reina de la noche, the queen of nightlife, is out there somewhere. In the shadows just around the corner from the long lines, noisy clubs, and pompous velvet ropes, she blossoms like an unexpected rose in the barren desert in the hours between 12:00 and 5:00 a.m. Just as…
When you think of Pink Floyd, if you think of it at all, overblown stage shows and progressive rock clichés undoubtedly come to mind. And so does Dark Side of the Moon, the album that spent an astonishing 724 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart of top-selling albums. But when…
Coldplay is a band you carry like an umbrella through the inclement weather of the soul, which may be why lead singer Chris Martin spent Coldplay’s first video (for a song called “Yellow”) on a gray beach in a rain jacket, singing high and low of the stars that shine…
What does Jon Secada’s latest album have to do with the types of cuisine in China? When the vocal powerhouse traveled to the People’s Republic last year as co-writer of a song for the Beijing Olympics, he ate everything in sight — unlike his traveling companions and fellow songwriters. “Emilio…
Have you ever looked at a photo of Everything But the Girl and assumed that the band’s name has everything to do with the way singer Tracey Thorn looks? Well, truth is the sophisticated pop-dance British duo didn’t adopt that name after listening to repeated rejections from record labels. Actually,…
It’s been a great year for reissues. The resurgence of interest in overlooked post-punk classics has led to the re-release of Cabaret Voltaire’s entire back catalog, as well as Soul Jazz’s In the Beginning There Was Rhythm, a collection of seminal recordings from such early Eighties artists as the Slits,…
Once upon a time way back in the early Nineties, a clan called Wu-Tang formed, with GZA “at the head.” Two years after its seminal 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang, the Clan issued its twin classics: Method Man’s Tical and GZA’s Liquid Swords. Each album placed urban and kung-fu mythology…
I’m into poetry. I wrote a few lines. Don’t worry; I offer just a few. This one details the passing of time: “The past is thirsty and the present is an athlete with no feet.” Do you like it? How about this one? “In the branch of hell there are…
Something about visitors makes the whole sleazy ordeal of dime-store thrill-seeking oh so wonderful. Witnessing the maddening circus of low-rent nightlifing through the eyes of out-of-towners can make it seem fresh and novel. There is always a new something opening and way too many upstart promoters to keep up with…
Seems like every joint on the Beach these nights is blaring a Latin dance, trance, or get-in-my-pants tune from behind velvet ropes; not much reason to slow down and take a listen on the way home. On a Thursday night, though, there’s something strange booming out of the Marlin Hotel…
Ever since Tommy Iommi invented doom rock, drugged-out bands all over the world have done their best to outsludge one another. Outfits like Godflesh, Eyehategod, and Sleep ruled the Nineties doom scene with drop-tuned guitars, shrieked vocals, and plodding tempos, leaving burnouts, metalheads, and ex-punkers drooling happily in their wake…
Another New Year is on top of us. Dropped down on our unsuspecting sunbathing bodies like the dead weight from Father Time. You’ve scribbled down pages of self-improvement resolutions knowing full well that, like that ridiculous flowered shirt Mom gave you for Christmas, they will be discarded shortly. You’ve outgrown…
Suddenly, during the spring of 2001, Hotel Costes was everywhere. Everywhere that mattered. Almost simultaneously, the groovy yet relaxed rhythms spun during and after dinner in the lobby of the lush four-star Parisian hotel by French DJ Stephane Pompougnac could be heard over the chatter at well-appointed brunches on Key…
Riding atop a crafty indie dream, Babasonicos finally had its own Miami experience — with the usual elements, good, bad, and ugly — on December 16 at Lola. The Argentine experimental alt-rock group performed an almost unannounced gig dominated by the sense of general relief that comes with the last…
Okay, so your depraved decadent lifestyle just hit a low point last night on New Year’s Eve, and now you’re nursing a mean hangover and you’re sure your soul is beyond salvation. Take heart and set the New Year straight with some soul-cleansing chants from the monks of Drepung Loseling…
Confetti and noisemakers. Tiaras and party hats. Dick Clark and Times Square on the tele. Waiting for the ball to drop. The madness that is New Year’s Eve is here again. All things are equal for a few good hours of partying. When the ball drops the VIPs mingle with…
There are many ways to understand why Mexican alt-rock band Café Tacuba decided to end a long recording hiatus with another set of covers instead of original songs. Exactly why depends on who’s talking. Bassist Quique Rangel jokingly concedes that even when the band doesn’t consider the strategy of coming…
It isn’t news that Delanuca (the independent label owned by Miami-based distributor DLN) has been releasing some of the best Latin alternative discs in the past two years. Classics, newcomers, obscure, local and international, good or bad, it doesn’t matter — if DLN can get hold of it, it does…
Be forewarned, America: Fashionable guys in skinny ties are once again running amuck in the musical landscape. “I wish I had an explanation for it,” shrugs mop-topped Steve Bays. In just three years, the Hot Hot Heat frontman/pianist and his bandmates have transformed from obscure British Columbian synth-punkers to the…
Jamaican singer Capleton is no pop star. Blessed by his conscience lyrics, potent rhythms, and rousing live shows, his fans refer to him simply as the prophet. At a time when so many Jamaican stars are chasing the U.S. dollar with songs that share the beats and bling-bling ethos of…
For most folk the holiday season is a time to spend with friends and family. Gift-giving murmurs in the air while annoying cousins from your father’s side of the family come into town. Christmas dinners are stodgy spreads of hams, stuffing, pies, and tender birds. Chestnuts roasting on an open…
