Click here to listen to a track from Golem. Toss a rock out your window these days, and it seems very likely to bonk the noggin of someone who leads a folk-punk group straight out of a Balkan or Ukrainian bazaar. Perhaps Gogol Bordello madman Eugene Hütz. Or dapper DeVotchKa…
We expect a lot from our indie-ethos, crossover pop stars nowadays, even from a duo as inspired as Gnarls Barkley, a.k.a. DJ Danger Mouse and rapper Cee-Lo. We expect guilt-free yet radio-worthy earworms such as “Crazy,” plus genuine pathos, groundbreaking production and minimal amounts of filler, all of which GB…
Nine Inch Nails main man Trent Reznor makes the most of his recent hard-won freedom on the two-disc, all-instrumental Ghosts I-IV. It’s the kind of record Interscope probably wouldn’t have allowed Reznor to release when he was under contract — not only because it lacks vocals but also because it…
Belying its hideous cover art and silly title, Do You Like Rock Music? is a work of surprising depth and invention. The third album from the pallid, Brighton-based Brits who go by the name of British Sea Power falls squarely within the tradition of big, rousing British rock albums —…
All of my life, my father encouraged me to be open to all good music,” St. Louis rapper Black Spade sings on the intro to his debut album, To Serve with Love. On his MySpace page, he reaffirms his dad’s influence on this genre-defying new work, describing the sound as…
Murder by Death wants to be taken seriously. The Bloomington, Indiana-based quartet has been at it for the better part of a decade, and its efforts are finally starting to see results exceeding the cult status afforded its namesake. New Times caught up with lead singer Adam Turla to discuss…
The fact that this Colombian-born rockero opts not to sing any of his songs in English doesn’t seem to hurt his appeal in the United States. Wherever he goes, his many fans buy out arenas and sing along to every tune, including even the more recent singles from La Vida…
Ah, Todd Rundgren. Where, oh where, oh where to begin? Let alone when. After 40 years in the business of music, place and time begin folding back in on each other, blurring the distinctions of a remarkably distinctive career. Say, for instance, we start with the song “I Saw the…
Mix America’s largest social networking website with its fastest-growing part of the population and what do you get? MySpace Latino, a recently official bilingual subsite of the juggernaut. And just like the original MySpace, it boasts star-studded “secret shows,” to which admission can be gained only by friending the Secret…
There’s a metaphor somewhere in Sam Beam’s hair. Something that equates his newly expansive locks with the richer, full-bodied sound he now peddles as Iron and Wine. Something that correlates the furtive minimalism of his early recordings (done while he was teaching film at the University of Miami and Miami…
Alhough this 30-year-old flamenco singer had been performing in Europe for more than a decade, it was only after his debut solo recording, Amar Duele (Love Hurts), was released when he became a star in his own right. Born Rafael Ojeda in Seville, Spain, Falete boasts a larger-than-life stage presence,…
The Morning Of is a sextet of fresh-faced indie youngsters from upstate New York who have suddenly found themselves waking up on the sunny national stage. Boasting major distribution via their label, Tragic Hero Records (which was recently absorbed by Warner Music Group), these kids are riding a wave of…
Crossing the line isn’t always a difficult task when you’re a ‘shock jock’ personality hosting a morning radio show, who garnered a following by being crude, rude and all things beyond. But two of the most successful at the craft agree there’s tasteful and then there’s tasteless, while defending what…
Just got this press release about an award show party that’s jumping off tomorrow night at Spirits Nightclub. Puerto Rico’s Black Guayaba will be on hand rocking as will a host of other performers. The Annual Billboard Latin Music Conference is being held at the Hard Rock Casino this year…
Last Night: Caribou at the Culture Room Saturday, April 5th, Better Than: Making your own Tie-Dye Shirt. The Review: Pulling into the parking lot of the Culture Room, I felt a little bittersweet seeing all the available spaces. It’s rare when an indie band like Caribou decides to grace S.Florida…
Say Anything, Manchester Orchestra, Biffy Clyro, Weatherbox Friday, April 4, 2008 Revolution Live Better Than: Being spoon-fed dinner in a straight jacket Say Anything lead singer Max Bemis has got enough issues—enough to, well, write a 27-song double disc detailing those issues, which he did in the band’s 2007 sophomore…
Caribou Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale April 5, 2008 Better Than: Having The Amboy Dukes drop by to help you with your homework. First things first. I (and you, if you were lucky enough to be there) have gotta thank Ahmed Gallab of Sinkane, who took over the traps for Caribou’s…
Bret Michaels The Florida Marlins’ Super Saturdays series at Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens April 5, 2008 Better Than: Watching Rock of Love’s Daisy mangle the national anthem Saturday night, sometime during the seventh inning of the Florida Marlins — Pittsburgh Pirates game, the Fish were up 7-3, and the small…
Lucy Orozco Better Than: Being home alone drunk on a Saturday night, listening to Wu-Tang on your iPod. Cappadonna, a lesser known part of the Wu Tang Clan family, was supposed to perform Saturday at Studio A. Instead, club personnel posted a sign at the entrance asking anyone to call…
Bartow, Fl rapper Riskay wrote one of the raunchiest, and funniest cheating songs of 2007. The tune is called, “Let Me Smell Yo Dick” and everybody from the New York Times to Perez Hilton caught wind of the song and wrote about it. She just got back from SXSW where…
While MSTRKRFT was everywhere, again, this Winter Music Conference, a lot of the talk was about when they’d finally release some new material. (The duo’s last full album, The Looks, dropped in 2006). Similarly quiet in recent years, although not, um, really discussed at Winter Music Conference, is rapper N.O.R.E…
The Mars Volta April 2, 2008 The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theatre Better Than: Being cooked in a cauldron of chaos. If it is true, as some rabid fan boys might believe, that you haven’t lived till you’ve been nearly kicked in the kisser by Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s…
