Sunday afternoon marks the latest installment in an informal series of in-store performances at Sweat Records. It’s a nice change of pace in (gasp) daytime activities. Taking the store’s cozy stage this time is brand-spanking-new local quartet Avondale, purveyor of sweater-warm and comfy, acoustic-guitar-driven pop. The backbone of the group…
In case you didn’t already know, the mayor of Miami is not always Manny Diaz. Although Diaz is a nice fellow and knows a lot about politics, he can handle only so much authority and essentially presides over the city from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. But as nighttime approaches,…
Let’s see … a show at Churchill’s, a MySpage page headline that reads, “Fuck it up for the kids!” and a band name involving the word destroy. It’s a safe bet that Tuesday’s extravaganza at the premier rock dive in Little Haiti should include plenty of true punk-rock rowdiness, some…
Alicia Keys has finally learned how to breathe. Coming off seven years of heavy international touring, an ever-increasing number of film roles, and high-level charity work, the 27-year-old seems tranquil, just before launching on a high-profile arena tour with fellow crooner Ne-Yo. Perhaps it’s the Zen-like calm she’s acquired after…
On a recent Sunday, instead of trying out my awesome new driver at the golf course, I’m trying to herd the Heavy Pets into making just a little sense for the sake of a phone interview. Because, man, are they wasted. So stoned that their manager, Alex, handles half the…
It’s Tuesday night in Miami Beach and the pan-Latin popsters of Feneiva are in the middle of a well-attended live set at Jazid. Over cool Brazilian beats and electric guitar licks, long-and-sandy-haired singer Fabian Hernandez gets the crowd moving with a fresh blend of funk, rock, and assorted breezy tropical…
Not one to forget the eight years he lived in Miami, New York rapper Nickel is holding two CD-release parties, one here and one up there. The occasion is his debut LP, The Journey of Plato the Orphan, 65 minutes of head-jerking beats and nervously clever flows hammering out a…
In this week’s issue of the Miami New Times, for my Suicide Blonde column I spoke with JWL B and Shunda K of the Tampa-based electro-rap group Yo Majesty. Click here to read my explanation of why they’re one of the most punk rock things out there right now. But…
I miss Franz Ferdinand. Yes, unfortunately the Scottish quartet has continually suffered massive overexposure of all its singles. But that’s because you absolutely cannot fail with top-notch, hooky, angular U.K. rock that works as well on a dance floor as on a concert stage. Luckily, to fill in that gap…
Critical Miami recently pointed out Pitchfork Media’s pretty unforgiving review of Trilla. Yes, that’s a decimal point — on Pitchfork’s sort of infamous 10-point scale, I’ve never understood how reviewers arrive at the exact number. Why is it a 2.4, and not a 2.6 or a 2.3? Is there some…
Logan Fazio Erykah Badu and the Roots Mizner Park Amphitheater, Boca Raton Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Better than: Listening to Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” on the radio for the umpteenth time. You never know what you’re going to get when you see the Roots concert. The band has roughly 14 years…
It seemed like this trial would never happen, but as of yesterday, R Kelly’s child pornography trial finally began in Chicago. The famous R&B singer has managed to delay this trial numerous times to the point where the 14-year-old girl he’s accused of performing lewd sex acts on camera with…
2008 Keeps on getting better for Rick Ross. MTV recently dropped their “Hottest MC’s in the Game” list and it’s already causing a stir. There are a few questionable picks on the list and I’m not sure if I agree with any of it based on the order. If you…
Sayre Berman Duran Duran Mizner Park Amphitheater, Boca Raton Monday, May 19, 2008 Better Than: Just about every other show in the last six months by a band existing for more than fifteen years. The Review:Last night Duran Duran, now at some 28 years and running, managed to achieve nearly…
Last Friday night, the gossip hounds at CNN were going on and on about actress/troublemaker Lindsay Lohan. There’s nothing new with that–except the talk was all about her cameo in the new N.E.R.D. video for “Everybody Nose.” According to the folks on CNN, the song is all about partying and…
Ivon David Rojas THE POLICE CRUZAN AMPHITHEATRE SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2008 Better Than: What’s better than sitting in traffic for three hours? Somewhere in Palm Beach County there is a sadistic concert-hater who said, “I know, let’s close half of Southern Boulevard out by the Fairgrounds – that way it…
The Square Egg, once upon a time, was one of THE best live acts going in Miami, with a live hip-hop/jazz/soul kinda thang that has yet to be paralleled in quality in this town. But eventually, as too many people do, frontman Lee decamped to Brooklyn – boohoo! Luckily, though,…
There’s no ignoring Ben Taylor’s musical lineage: With James Taylor as dad and Carly Simon as mom, Ben’s prowess in songwriting and performance is proving itself to be as impressive as his parents’. Yet his unique style is less hippie and more hip-hop. Ben’s set to open up for mom…
Tomorrow afternoon and evening, snag a free spot to learn some of the latest hands-on electronic beatmaking programs with George Acosta, Miami boy and legendary trance and progressive house DJ. (In 2007, Acosta was voted America’s Best DJ in DJ Times magazine. Also, remember those days at the Mix afterhours,…
If there’s one thing the self-satisfied, liberal, tofu-munching, cappuccino-sipping, in-vitro-fertilization-using coastal elite hate, it’s FOX News. The Rupert Murdoch-owned channel even has the audacity to declare itself “fair and balanced,” which is approximately as accurate, liberals would argue, as Paul Wall calling himself African-American. Which brings us to the coastal…
Fiyawater Covert Propaganda (self-released) www.myspace.com/fiyawater Hailing from the culturally diverse hub of South Miami-Dade’s Perrine (P-rrine!) comes the hip-hop duo Fiyawater, comprising rhymers Ne’Pom and Spit, with production work by Investigative Reports. Here you have 14 tracks serious on the minimalism flanked by a throwaway intro and outro. The stripped-down…
Speak to anyone in their fifties about Carly Simon and their eyes flicker. It’s like asking today’s youth about Jay-Z or Radiohead, a musical powerhouse that changed the trajectory of boomer culture. Simon’s life story is made for daytime television, from her early rise in her hometown of New York…
