Reggae diehards may not appreciate American kings celebrating the voodoo kisses of Jamaican queens, but addicts of Kelly’s crackpot enthusiasm won’t bother debating how his paean to exotic ass-shake compares to “Welcome to Jamrock.” Smart people watch the Cartoon Network and CNN, you know…
After years of being eclipsed by dancehall’s organized noise, the one-drop riddims of roots rock reggae have made a triumphant return to the Jamaican charts. Leading the charge is a generation of adherents born after Bob Marley’s death in 1981. Togetherness Records’ Untouchable Concert wisely features a blend of past…
Joss Stone is spoiled. She lunches with Tom Cruise, plays Elton John’s Oscar party, and now gets to hit the stage with the Rolling Stones for their latest tour. Then again, it’s probably to be expected considering the preternatural pipes she was blessed with; her smoky voice cleans the clocks…
Since the emergence of shoegazers such as My Bloody Valentine, an entire generation of bands has attempted to latch onto that sliver of ethereality that aligns the thick clouds of careful cacophony. The path of guitar wash leads to the palace of wisdom, apparently, and Jucipher does its best to…
San Francisco has long been the bastion of slinky, soulful house music, and homegrown hero Miguel Migs is one of its biggest proponents. With a strong background in songwriting and performing, the Santa Cruz-born DJ fell into the NorCal dance community in the late Nineties, after a stint as a…
Considering Oscar G hails from a town as exfoliated as Miami, it’s odd that the DJ/producer chooses to kick off his Made in Miami two-disc mix with a crepuscular track as introverted as Shani featuring Razor Cain’s “Adrenalin (Kut Mix).” Indeed, it takes five tracks of pointillist beats and bass…
Young people have managed to escape the confines of their three-bedroom, two-bath dwellings and congregate as teenagers do Saturday nights somewhere free from parental supervision. This evening the destination of choice is a rock show at the Roxy Theatre, a defunct movie house in a strip mall near the Florida…
After Carnival’s sequined costumes have been discarded and the body glitter has been scrubbed off, Ash Wednesday restores a sense of calm to the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Most Trinis recuperate from the week-long celebration by washing away their sins in Maracas Bay or receiving religious recompense…
Sounds Ecléctico isn’t the first compilation to try to translate the Latin alternative spirit for a wider English-speaking audience, but rarely has the case been made as clearly or as forcefully as it has here. Featuring an all-star lineup and recorded at Santa Monica’s KCRW, Sounds Ecléctico juxtaposes the electric…
Raucous yet refined and exuding an air of dry-clean-only danger, Franz Ferdinand is prepackaged red meat for the indie nation — safe, popular, and oh-so-polished. The Scottish quartet’s eponymous 2004 album included swaggering come-hither manifestoes such as “Take Me Out” and “Michael” and was injected with the kind of clever…
Behind one of his several pen names, Detroit techno dealer Matthew Dear excels as Audion, pushing distant, machine-sounding atmospherics over skeletal beats on Suckfish. Dear plumbs even darker caverns than those explored on his previous effort, 2004’s Backstroke, and the swap-out of vocals for brief, deeply coded snippets of spoken…
Alicia Keys must have been doing a lot of performing before the taping of her performance on MTV’s Unplugged, because her voice sounds horribly strained and stressed on Unplugged’s first track, the anthemic “Karma.” But Keys’s voice warms up as the set progresses, and by the time she reaches “A…
The people’s diva, Mariah Carey, will endure anything for a hit, including the deluge of grease from DJ Clue’s Southern-fried “Shake It Off” remix. Jeezy gets Popeye’s chicken grime all over Mimi’s couture, while boss man Jigga uses his sixteen bars to figure out alternate hooks, all catchier than the…
Late-century alt-rock might not be the new electroclash, but it damn sure sounds more macro. Falling somewhere between Lush’s “Leaves Me Cold” and Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence,” the new Ladytron single proves that the line between dance-pop aloofness and pre-Nevermind college goth is a DSL connection…
It’s safe to say no one was begging for a cover of Taste of Honey’s disco classic “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” but R&B singer Valentine turns in a smart urban update that bears only scant resemblance to the original. The certain highlight is the guest spot from West Coast hip-hop veteran…
New York rapper Santana’s infectious inflections course throughout his songs, and now he has a backing tune that can match wits with his vocal catchiness. A whistled hook and saucy rhymes are rough enough for the fellas and cuddly enough for the ladies: a winning combination to solidify his rising-star…
Ivy Queen might call it bachaton, but I prefer reggaebachata. Regardless of the name you give it, there’s no denying that OG Black and Master Joe know how to hit all the right booty buttons on “Mil Amores.” Dance to this hip-hop tropical mix and try not to hurt yourself…
Gangsta rap demigod 50 Cent recently hypothesized that Kanye West’s popularity stems from a backlash to G-Unit’s pop-cult blitzkrieg of the past few years. Fiddy figured that fans were growing tired of his own gratuitous violence and ridiculously exaggerated masculinity and wanted a kinder, gentler, more metrosexual take on hip-hop…
Cuban singer Luis Bofil recently walked through a hotel lobby at a Latin music conference and proclaimed he alone was worth the conference’s price of admission. Combining his baritone vocals and contagious energy, Bofil approached anybody within earshot and offered an on-the-spot promo. None of this behavior is particularly surprising…
Her destiny, it seems, was sealed the moment she left Mozambique to live in Mouraria, an old working-class Lisbon neighborhood where fado was a second language. Fado, the Portuguese blues idiom that has made Mariza a singing sensation with audiences worldwide, means destiny or fate. And for Mariza part of…
Introduced to DJing by Mani (bassist for the Stone Roses and Primal Scream), New Order bassist Peter Hook initially resisted the temptation to follow in the footsteps of bandmate Bernard Sumner, who has been DJing for years. But as part of Factory Records’ biggest act of the Eighties, Hook helped…
Daddy Yankee’s combustible hit single “Gasolina” has driven him to international stardom. The 28-year-old Puerto Rican reggaeton celeb opens up to New Times about his upcoming Miami show and other subjects. What makes your concerts different from other reggaeton shows? My fans can expect a lot of energy, a flashy…
