Arturo Sandoval’s 2003 release Trumpet Evolution is perhaps the most aptly titled album he, or many others, for that matter, have ever dropped. It’s not only a fitting title for what the listener finds on the record–19 lush jazz tracks that span the history of the genre–but a very accurate…
Folk Nation isn’t just a street gang.According to Wikipedia, “It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer.”Folk is the music of ramblers and wildcats, grifters and coal miners, killers, thieves, pimps, train hoppers, hitch…
Tony BennettFriday, January 8, 2010Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, MiamiBetter Than: The BestThe new songs are “lousy.” That’s what Tony Bennett said from the stage of the Arsht Center during his sold-out show last Friday night. And Tony Bennett knows about song. As I pointed out in my…
Somewhere between blues and alternative, there’s a particular sound, and that sound is King Bee. But whether they’re churning through dark riffs in the key of D minor or driving through bluesy, tube-driven leads, their sound is distinct and immediately recognizable–perhaps because there simply aren’t any bands like them in…
JJ Grey & Mofro, GalacticRevolution, Fort LauderdaleSaturday, January 9, 2010Better Than: Being stuck on a boat with “suspicious liquids.”The Review:This past weekend marked an annual ritual: the end of the Jam Cruise, which always floods South Florida with musical talent. Though sometimes this place feels like a musical black hole,…
Few artists in the world of electronic dance music can take credit for the sort of self-styled signature sound that has made Mark Farina one of the most original and idiosyncratic DJ/producers of the last twenty years. As a house music veteran with old ties to the Chicago, Detroit and…
We barely survived the freezing temperatures that blasted through South Florida over the weekend. Our 1920s apartment building isn’t equipped with central heating, and our local Target sold out of space heaters. Well, let’s just get to everything you missed over the weekend, because our fingers feel like they are…
Click here to view photos from this event.Holy KimotoWith Kyle Hollingsworth, Michael Travis, Jason Hann, and Steve KimockWhite Room, MiamiFriday, January 8, 2010Better Than: The enticing, aromatic blend of kryppie, kind bud, and sour diesel wafting through the air. The Review:The debut of Holy Kimoto this past Friday night at…
Does anyone else hear the words “Coconut Grove” and “festival” in the same sentence and automatically think DTB (day time boozing)? There’s nothing wrong with that, and the reaction is well founded. After all, who hasn’t enjoyed an icy cerveza while chilling beneath the warm glowing sun, with the sweet…
Since everyone’s already buzzing about Ultra, we might as well grapple with the fact that the rest of the WMC announcements are going to be trickling in any day now. Actually, the Shelborne finalized its plans back in early December, but we were waiting to post them until we got…
Small in stature, big in bass, Miami dance music legend DJ Craze chats with New Times about new projects, the rise of dubstep, and how killing the dance floor is the truest form of safe sex. He plays White Room on Saturday, at Embrace’s Arcade party.DJ Craze. Saturday, January 9…
Click here to view a slideshow of photos from the event.MatisyahuThe Vagabond, MiamiWednesday, January 6, 2010Better Than: Your best friend’s bar mitzvah.The Review:Hassidic reggae/hip hop hero Matthew Paul Miller, a.k.a. Matisyahu, dropped into the Vagabond Wednesday night for a last minute private acoustic set, hosted by Birthright Israel NEXT Miami…
Between Air and this, the Fillmore Miami Beach is landing some OMG-worthy shows this spring. Yes, Jeff Tweedy and company play Miami for the first time in forever on Monday, March 2010, in support of last year’s self-titled album. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, January 8, at 10 a.m. Both…
It’s easy just to think of Electric Pickle as the home of Poplife and various underground techno and house events. But besides Champion Sounds Wednesdays, which focuses heavily on hip-hop, soul, and funk, there’s another night that veers from the usual four-to-the-floor program: Stop Drop N’ Roll Thursdays. In fact…
Ever like a song on a band’s MySpace enough that you want to be able to hear it anytime, without going online?How about digitally recording live radio broadcasts as they’re streamed on a radio station’s website? Wanna do that? Wanna record streaming audio for free on a mac?All you need…
This Fort Lauderdale-based act usually plays small Broward and Palm Beach venues such as the Bubble and Propaganda, so this outing below the Miami-Dade County line is a rare treat. Although the band is technically a three-piece, Sweet Bronco’s driving force is curly-haired Chris Horgan, who often plays, under the…
If you’ve ever been to Lochloosa, you’d wonder why JJ Grey is always singing about it. It’s up in Florida lake country, past nothing and halfway to Hawthorne. There might be a Hardee’s there. But there’s something in Grey’s voice when he sings that song about his hometown. There’s something…
French producer/DJ Bob Sinclar (né Christophe “The French Kiss” le Friant) was born in ’69, as it says literally in the title of his most recent full-length. You need to sample only a small cross section from his decade-plus of throbbing tracks to understand his promotion of this double-entendre-imbued birth…
Favoring a pounding prog-house sound as shiny and at times as sleazy as the city he now calls home, Paris-to-Miami transplant Cedric Gervais has a reputation as a DJ who plays it both uplifting and up-thrusting. Growing his following since 2003, this big-room fixture favors blissfully breezy Ibiza-style tracks buoyed…
It’s common knowledge — electropunk provocateurs Alicia, Russ, and Martin of Kill Miss Pretty are possessed by an unnatural compulsion to “groove your tooties off.” Usually, they’ll just do you metaphorically with music, tossing off some slinky sex magick like “El Gato,” “Girlfriend,” or robot porn instrumental “Bas” to get…
I first heard of Hamburg-based producer H.O.S.H. (a.k.a. Holger Behn) through a mind-blowing 2008 release called “Radar” — a collaboration with esteemed producer and Diynamic labelmate Stimming. This insidious little banger blends delectably nuanced and understated tribal rhythms with weird distended pitch crescendos and a smiting climatic jazz organ breakdown…
The Fort Lauderdale-based act Sweet Bronco usually plays small Broward and Palm Beach County venues like the Bubble and Propaganda, so this outing below the Miami-Dade County line is a rare treat. Although the band is technically a three-piece, Sweet Bronco’s driving force is curly-haired Chris Horgan, who still plays…
