The newish local nonprofit S.A.F.E., dedicated to forward-thinking dance music events with no bullshit and no guest lists (omg!), continues to impress. There was that crazy Richie Hawtin one-off last December, a gig by Matthew Dear this summer, and the latest coup, M.A.N.D.Y. at tiny Circa 28 two weeks ago…
Over the weekend, I had the treat of heading over to Nassau, Bahamas to cover the Millennium Countdown 8, a mammoth three day concert broken up by genre. The line-up for the first evening, somewhat strangely tagged “International Night” was stacked with stellar acts like Morgan Heritage, Etana, Sanchez, and…
Score another point for Miami in the good fight to keep quality dance music coming down here beyond WMC. The latest coup? Why, the only East Coast appearance on the current tour by white-hot Italian producer/DJ duo Crookers, who skip down here straight from Toronto. What’s even stranger is where…
So former childhood star Malcolm-Jamal Warner is in town and performing a bit of soul music and spoken word poetry tonight at 88’s Dueling Piano Bar inside of the the Hard Rock. A lot of folks don’t know that the actor known as Theo Huxtable from the Cosby Show to…
Although the pairing of Joe Satriani and Mountain initially seems a bit incongruous, this double bill should have guitar enthusiasts wetting themselves with excitement, provided that fans from each camp keep an open mind. Satriani and Mountain’s Leslie West, of course, have each made an indelible impact on the public’s…
Chromeo’s Dave 1 (the four-eyed Semite behind the mike and guitar) and P-Thugg (the gold-chained, do-rag-clad Lebanese behind the analog synths and talk box) have been “crossing the Gaza Strip of Sexxx Jams” to further a goal only two Canucks with disco-size balls can dream up: putting the fun back…
Characterized by spare, repetitive house beats, the work of self-described minimalist DJ Paco Osuna is based on an insistent throb — the idea here is to move your body until you reach an exercise high. More than that, however, Osuna imbues his music with a dreamy component that never veers…
If you hear similarities between the Afro-Peruvian music performed by New Jersey resident Eva Ayllon and the rhythms brought from Cuba by the late Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, you are on the right track. Peruvians have borrowed a lot from Africans taken to South America as slaves during the…
In the three years since the release of his eponymous debut EP, big-room-house DJ/producer Dirty South (a.k.a. Dragan Roganovic) has impressed the who’s-who-complex of international DJs, producers, media, and music lovers with his otherworldly knack for dishing out high-energy dance-floor bombs. Born in Eastern Europe and relocated to Australia at…
Even in 2008, Tommy Lee embraces the road warrior lifestyle with an energy that would make rockers half his age collapse, panting. About a year ago, he hit the road with DJ Aero to spread the word of their electro-sleaze DJ/production project. They criss-crossed the country, hit the Winter Music…
Here are some more bands whose live shows were among the highlights of this year’s CMJ Music Marathon. The Bronx: This confusingly named L.A. band is hardly new, having played a major stage on the length of this past summer’s Warped Tour. But they continue to retain the obsessive devotion…
This year’s CMJ Music Marathon, held last week in New York, delivered yet again another onslaught of new, now bands trying to be next year’s big thing. This year’s edition of the marathon, featured no, as it has in recent years past, real megawatt reunions or U.S. debuts. Much of…
Gloria Estefan Friday, October 24, 2008 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood Better Than: The Santiago de Cuba Carnival Who can pack a crowd of Gringos and Latinos equally in one South Florida concert arena? If you guessed Gloria Estefan, you are right. Step to the head of the…
The biggest concert to hit Nassau, Bahamas all year is right around the corner and anticipation is building up for it. The Millennium Concert 2008 is scheduled for Oct 30-Nov 2nd and features three nights of top notch music acts plus a night of fashion and partying. The line up…
I just got the good word that Cape Verdean singer Anané and her husband, New York house legend, Louie Vega, are playing a show together in Miami two weeks from now. The show is set for November 6 at the Florida Room inside of the Delano Hotel, and sounds like…
Named for the sacred, otherworldly power of the jaguar in Mayan lore, this Mexican four-piece inadvertently proves that commercial forces have completely co-opted indie-rock vocabulary. After years of indie bands flirting with pop here in the States, it was only a matter of time before someone took it to another…
Cut Copy and Hercules & Love Affair have been burning up dorm-room dance floors. Then there’s the rise of the more richly histrionic LCD Soundsystem, not to mention the textured Burial and grotesquely distorted Justice. It all makes Omaha quintet The Faint’s simpler mind-meld of angst and beats seem more…
Although this 78-year-old Chicago transplant has not made many recordings under his own name for more than a decade, eclectic multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan needs little introduction. A legendary figure in his hometown up North, he made a name for himself there in the mid-Fifties as he performed with the likes…
No jam band worth its salt ever repeats a set list, and this is a rule that these Georgia Music Hall of Famers take close to their hearts. Never in the 22 years since Widespread Panic’s inception have the bandmates performed a duplicate concert, painstakingly going through their canon of…
The title of Gloria Estefan’s latest album, 90 Millas (90 Miles), alludes to the physical distance between her native Cuba and the United States. It’s no surprise, then, that lyrically she continues her peaceful activism in favor of democracy on the island nation. These include beautiful ballads such as “Cuando…
At this very moment, in a dorm room far, far away, the MGM lion is roaring for the third time just as some guy named Alec presses play on his Panasonic CD boombox, ushering in the confusing opening silence of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon over the black-and-white…
Tiffany Rainey MIA Skatepark’s Matt Cantor quizzing some kids on their multiplication tables (seriously). DJ Z-Trip at the Habitat Skateboard Demo Saturday, October 8, 2008 MIA Skatepark, Doral Better Than: Lurking on Lincoln Road Z-Trip who? Though sponsor Fuji Film probably shelled out a pretty penny to get the King…
