Pitchfork Gives Torche’s Meanderthal an 8.2

It’s been a swell few months for Torche, since the release this April of its second full-length (and Hydra Head debut), Meanderthal. The record’s garnered raves from the likes of Spin and the British mag Mojo, and been featured in Alternative Press, to name just a few of the many…

The Weekend in Live Music, August 8 – 10

Friday, August 8: *Florida’s only working Joy Division tribute act, 3 One G, plays at the Vagabond. You sort of have to be a superfan to care, but JD superfans are legion, so you should click here to read more about these guys from Winter Haven. *Further north, more tribute…

Matthew Dear at Boutique August 16

Matthew Dear returns to Miami Saturday, August 16, at Boutique. Avant-garde electropop artist/producer Matthew Dear, also known as Audion, returns to Miami next Saturday, August 16 at Boutique (NE 13th Street & First Court, Miami) — er, you know, Pawn Shop Lounge’s Boutique Room. I know! It’s still open! Who…

Common and N.E.R.D. Concert Pushed Back to Oct. 10

Earlier this week, we announced that Common and N.E.R.D. were slated to perform at the Fillmore Miami Beach on September 5th. As of today, that show is officially pushed back to October 10th. I’m sure it was a scheduling issue but there was no reason given for the show being…

Rick Ross Speaks About Shooting at his Annual Be Out Day

Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson, Rick Ross, and State Representative Oscar Braynon II. To confirm our breaking news report (which we had up before any other news outlet in the country), the 2nd Annual Rick Ross Be Out Day was in fact interrupted and tainted by gunfire yesterday. By now,…

Head Spins: Inga Ambrosia

Every once in awhile, I stumble upon a DJ who’s diggable in ways even I’ve never considered. Such was the case when I slipped into the Grove’s Butter Gallery for Alissa Christine’s photo show and got to hear the lady named Inga Ambrosia. First things first: Inga A. is not…

Heat Rave

Summer is in full swing, but we can’t help but wonder why we don’t anticipate the season like we used to. Don’t get us wrong; we’re looking forward to the barbecues, drunken volleyball, and television reruns. It’s just we wish summer rocked like it did when we were younger. Hell,…

Biting Back

Montreal indie-rock quintet Wolf Parade — relentlessly championed by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock — made a huge splash in 2005 with its exhilarating debut full-length, Apologies to the Queen Mary. Three years later, the band is back with At Mount Zoomer. Over the phone, Wolf Parade drummer Arlen Thompson…

Consular

Consular is one of the latest in a line of sludgy, grindy, messy, loud bands arising in Miami with one-word names (Capsule, Shitstorm, and so on). Think music by, and largely for, burly, tattooed dudes with beards — in an epically heavy way. The quintet subscribes to the slow-and-stoney school…

3 One G

If it looks like Ian Curtis, sings like Ian Curtis, and dances like Ian Curtis … and it’s onstage and it’s 2008 and you’re in Florida, well, it’s not Ian Curtis. It’s Aaron Branch, the frontman of 3 One G, the state’s (and maybe the whole Southeast’s) only working Joy…

Bad Company featuring Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke, and Mick Ralphs

In the world of rock, few artists can claim even one enduring ensemble to provide for their pension. Gruff-voiced singer Paul Rodgers can bank on three. His current liaison with Queen seems an unlikely pairing, but it’s a reliable paycheck nonetheless. His first band of note, Free, was a formidable…

Deadmau5

Deadmau5 is doubtless one of dance music’s golden boys. The 27-year-old Ontario-based producer dominated the last edition of Winter Music Conference, rules the download-sales roost over at Beatport.com, and recently snagged two nominations for Juno Awards (sort of like Canada’s Grammys). His dark take on shimmering four-to-the-floor is chameleonic, lending…

Clocks Are Devils

Miami trio Clocks Are Devils has been playing together since 2006, according to the band’s website bio. But it now joins the ranks of other local acts calling it quits before really making a mark (see also the recently defunct Call It Radar). That’s too bad, because this was an…

Rodrigo y Gabriela Prove Their Metal at The Fillmore Miami Beach

Rodrigo Sanchez really wants you to like heavy metal. “Sometimes people don’t even have a minute for metal,” the guitarist notes. “They think it’s too loud, or whatever stupid thing they think.” As half of Rodrigo y Gabriela — the dynamic Mexican duo who became international world-music superstars with their…

Black Kids

Last year Jacksonville quintet Black Kids released a free four-song EP full of electro-tinged dance songs addressing themes of incest and gender ambiguity. Girls went wild — well, bloggers did anyway — and somehow the group got signed to Columbia Records. The band’s debut full-length, Partie Traumatic, contains all the…

Nas

Since his classic debut, Illmatic, Nas has been mostly coasting on his charm, gift for public relations, and skills as an MC. But on Untitled, he’s clearly hoping that by name-dropping big issues (reparations, single motherhood, media control) and dazzling you with his acrobatic flow (“I’m over they heads/Like a…

Various Artists

David Bowie undoubtedly has been through some ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. From Ziggy Stardust to Aladdin Sane, from the Thin White Duke to an oddly mottled chameleon colored by postindustrial dissonance, Bowie and his personas have inspired many and outlasted far more. Now Rapster Records/!K7 strives to find out if Bowie’s songs can…

Pinetop Perkins

At age 95, Mississippi Delta-born pianist Pinetop Perkins is still an active performer and one who is still able to hit his piano’s keys with amazing dexterity. The proof is in this beauty of a blues CD, on which the veteran shares the spotlight with an array of friends and…