Road Warriors

Although Motion City Soundtrack originally started about 10 years ago in Minneapolis, things have recently picked up for the quintet. One reason: an official seal of approval from Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, who fell for the band’s high-powered, punk-inflected, Superchunk-esque rock. Hoppus even produced the band’s second album, Commit This to…

Earth, Wind & Fire

From the tight-songwriting-and-flashy-pants black hole of old Seventies space-junk, Earth, Wind & Fire rises, touring every year with such predictability you could set your calendar by it. Last famously recognized during the apex of a medley in the kid-flick Happy Feet (“Boogie Wonderland”), EWF has bestowed upon the planet classics…

The FIU Laptop Ensemble and Sam Pluta

In recent years, conceptual electronic music has come a long way, with young artists using their tweaked computers to rearrange traditional sounds. But it’s often a lonely business, with laptop jocks building this nascent genre mostly alone, in home studios. But the FIU Laptop Ensemble reveals the music to be…

Michael Dixon Band

Michael Dixon and his crew don’t get off “the rock” — that’s Key West — very often. “This is our first trip to play Miami,” says Robin Menard, the band’s sax player and resident hot chick (a SPILF, beg your pardon). “We had a gig in Fort Lauderdale last month…

Planet Rock

These days, there seems to be nothing trendier in rock than a green tour. Even if you’re not being environmentally friendly on the road, you’re at least joining the fight to build awareness of global warming. To celebrate Earth Day this April 22, we thought we’d take a look back…

The Chronicles

The public has heard Dr. Dre’s records and seen him on television, but few really know how he got there. That is, except for one man: Bruce Williams, Dre’s personal assistant/go-to guy for almost 15 years. As Williams says of himself in his new unauthorized look into the world of…

Boy Prostitute

One of the trends in punk rock that I happen to enjoy very much is how influences shape a 30-plus-year-old genre. C’mon, there’s only so much one can do with three chords, right? Well, Miami’s Boy Prostitute has definitely taken cues from the Ramones’ playbook and injected the chords with…

Cat Shell

When you first pop in Cat Shell’s debut disc, Cat’s Outta the Bag, you can’t help but notice the retro sound of the lead-off track, “I’m Torn.” It’s full of simple and subtle guitar work, winsome sax, and the alluring vocal style that Shell is turning into her trademark. Although…

The Pinker Tones

Barcelona, Spain-based duo the Pinker Tones uses its nonconformist Catalan background as something of an excuse for its unconventional approach toward music. On their third full-length, Wild Animals, Professor Manso and Mr. Furia channel their eccentricities through electronics with a decided pop bent. Straight-up pop anthems such as “Happy Everywhere”…

These New Puritans

On early single “Elvis,” These New Puritans promised to tell their secrets. Yet Beat Pyramid, their debut record, is as inscrutable and cryptic as hieroglyphics. The album’s 16 tracks take the listener on a labyrinthine journey full of false starts, dead ends, and unexpected detours. There are scattered, overt references…

Fifth Annual Miami Music Festival

All right, all right, so this is billed, officially, as a celebration of local music culture of all genres and scenes. But it takes place at famously freewheeling Churchill’s and is curated by the infamous Notorious Nastie. And it goes down, um, April 20. That’s 4/20, and past experience shows…

Today is your LAST DAY to get (free!) tickets for Bacardi B-Live

Last year, local liquor giant Bacardi threw its hat into the music-event ring with the first edition of B-Live, an all-day, rum-fueled shebang at Bayfront Park’s ampitheater. It featured a host of unexpected artist pairings, including headliner Paul Oakenfold playing live, accompanied by a full orchestra. Although the event was…

Memorial Services for Cedella Marley Booker Tonight

If you want to go pay your respects to Mother Booker, the eclectic mother of reggae legend Bob Marley, all the info that you’ll need is below in the press release. –Jonathan Cunningham Cedella Marley Booker Memorial Service for the South Florida Community Set for April 15 at Fairchild Cedella…

Review: Iron & Wine at Revolution

Iron and Wine April 12, 2008 Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale Better Than: A cellarful of John Henry. Saturday night at Revolution, the 999 other keen-eared indie music types in attendance formed, perhaps, the best-behaved bunch of rock club attendees I’ve ever encountered. The object of their focus: Sam Beam, the man…

Last Night: Juanes at the American Airlines Arena

Ivon David Rojas Click here to see a slide show of the concert. A vociferous crowd nearly blew the roof off the building Saturday night with an impromtu, pre-concert rendition of Juanes’ Me Enamora that shook American Airlines Arena. Over 20,000 voices sang along to a skit on dual video…

Eminem to Perform for Mandela?

That sounds like an odd performance request, but according to this story, he’s onboard to perform at the Mandela’s 90th birthday party this summer. The article doesn’t speak too highly of Eminem and you can almost hear the detractors and gay rights activists who will probably jump all over this…

Jenny Laura Takes El Exito

Jenny Laura was thrust on stage to sing Gloria Estefan’s ‘Mi Tierra’ minutes after arriving at CocoWalk in Coconut Grove Wednesday night for a quick sound check. But her crystal clear chops did more than put a smile on the sound engineer’s face – they also helped the Columbian singer/songwriter…