The scaling back of this past Art Basel Miami Beach was noticeable, with fewer freebies and lower-key events. So it’s safe to assume that the final big event of the “season,” Winter Music Conference, is going to look a little different overall this year, too. It’s doubtful that megawatt DJs…
via www.myspace.com/theblacklipsIf you are thinking of attending the Black Lips show at Churchill’s on Friday, March 27, you should probably buy presale tickets — the show is most likely going to sell out. The source for online tickets, however, has changed. Promoters New Art School were previously selling them through…
Justin MartinFriday, January 23, 2009White Room, MiamiBetter than: Anything I have heard live in quite a while.Given the inordinately low temperatures in Miami last week, Friday turned out to be a fairly adequate night for clubbing alfresco in the White Room patio. By 11 p.m. you could hear the deep…
Celine Dion Friday, January 23, 2009American Airlines Arena, MiamiBetter Than: Going To VegasCeline Dion. She of the fabulous legs. Celine Dion. She of the non too subtle emotions. Celine Dion. She of the rubber faced camera muggings. Celine Dion. She of certifiable stardom.Truth be told, they don’t make ’em like her…
It’s been just over 20 years since a one-eyed rapper from the unlikely London neighborhood of South Wimbledon released what would become one of the most pivotal hip-hip albums of all-time. Entitled The Adventures of Slick Rick and featuring the cautionary “A Children’s Story,” the LP not only highlighted the…
Pure crusty hardcore aggression, 305-style, hits the eastern seaboard on the heels of a No Idea split with Religious as Fuck. Mehkago NT is an admixture of some of South Florida’s best known, most notorious HC/punk/sludge/metal musicians. The band features members or ex-members of DNME, Torche, Shitstorm, Tyranny of Shaw,…
I first discovered Joshua Radin through the 2006 Zach Braff chick flick The Last Kiss — don’t ask why or how I ended up watching it — but after one listen I was hooked on “Star Mile” and the whole We Were Here album. To be fair, he probably owes…
Neo – honky – tonker Wayne Hancock’s nickname is “The Train,” and though it may appear convenient to give the native Texan the moniker simply because of the Dr. Seuss-style rhyme one can play with his first name, Hancock has earned an allegiance with perhaps country music’s greatest symbol of…
Scion House Party with The Juan MacLean, Still Going, Induce and Jessica Who?Wednesday, January 21, 2009The Vagabond, MiamiBetter than: Crouching near your heater for warmth.People huddled at the entrance of The Vagabond Wednesday night with a sense of urgency to get inside. Maybe it was the dip in temperature or…
Sloane Peterson features members of sludge demons Consular, including Andrew Santalucia, of the informal venue Andrew’s House of Pain. Now they’re getting their act together, courtesy of Dan over at Financial Ruin Records. It will be “Knots” backed with “Telephones.” The band churns out sloppy, hard driving tunes with nice…
San Francisco DJ/producer Justin Martin has enjoyed increasing success since co-founding the auspicious Dirtybird label with Claude VonStroke in 2005. Despite his international acclaim and A-list accolades, he keeps both feet firmly planted in the underground scene, where his edgy yet melodic brand of techno has gained loyal following. This…
Critical respect has been a long time coming for the Eagles, who didn’t help their cause much with last year’s mediocre double disc, Long Road 0ut of Eden, which, despite (or maybe owing to) being available only at Wal-Mart, wound up as one of 2007’s top-selling albums. The quintessential Americana…
On the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s current Southern tour, the 16-piece band is focusing on the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. The New York-based label founded in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis became seminal for musicians such as Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock, who…
There is little left to say about the singular Celine Dion that anyone who has ever been near a radio or TV set doesn’t know already. If you love her, you probably know all about her recent past, in which she held court in Las Vegas for five years. You…
Nobody in Miami has been a bigger booster of local quartet The Jean Marie than Lolo Reskin of Sweat Records. So where else would the band celebrate its latest album release than at The Vagabond’s Friday party, which Lolo helps throw? So this edition celebrates Annie Jump Cannon, the group’s…
It’s easy to crack a joke at ol’ Rod the Mod’s expense. Sure, sadly, the lingering image many casual music fans have of him is of his latter-day, slightly bloated, warbling version. But the man is a legend, a holdout from when frontmen were rock stars instead of disposable pop…
If the number of online photos depicting a young violinist next to smiling, modestly dressed girls is any indication of classical music stardom, Joshua Bell is off the charts. One could argue, too, that the admiration from students of an art that requires hours of practice a day is more…
Critical respect has been a long time coming for the Eagles, who didn’t exactly help their cause much with last year’s mediocre double disc Long Road Out of Eden — which, despite (or maybe due to) being available only at Wal-Mart, wound up as one of 2007’s top-selling albums. The…
If the quantity of photos available online depicting a young violinist next to smiling, modestly dressed girls is any indication of classical music stardom, then Joshua Bell is off the charts. One could argue, too, that the admiration from students of an art that requires hours of practice a day…
It’s puzzling why people who are hell-bent on blowing the minds of other people via so-called “noise music” so often also seem hell-bent on blowing their sonic victims’ olfactory senses. So weird smells aside, the International Noise Conference is the place to see and hear shit that you will not…
Animal CollectiveMerriweather Post Pavilion(Domino)On Strawberry Jam in 2007, experimental noise-making weirdos Animal Collective glided on the outskirts of dreamy indie-pop. Fan fave “Peacebone” even flirted with a sunny melody that exposed a heart beneath all the usual digital flotsam. The band’s ninth album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, is still frolicking in…
If, thanks to a debacle over RSVPs, you missed the Panda Bear solo show during this past Art Basel Miami Beach, cheer up. The entire Animal Collective trifecta has just announced a large-scale national tour in support of the group’s latest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion. Despite the band’s large-scale popularity…
