Prior to assuming the frayed-ponytail persona, and long before the superstardom he snared in the Seventies, Willie Nelson was just another strait-laced, short-haired Nashville tunesmith cranking out hits for others. His songs — “Crazy,” “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Hello Walls,” and “Night Life” among them — went on to…
Metalcore representative Killswitch Engage combines a blitzkrieg bottom end that hunts with the springing fury of Pantera, labyrinthine Scandinavian metal melodicism, and agile yet sophisticated structures that showcase the band’s hooks with more enthusiasm than a high school trophy case. The band’s sound is anchored by Berklee College of Music…
“Bossa nova is the language of my life,” Brazilian bossa nova singer Luciana Souza says by phone from her home in Los Angeles. Her latest project, The New Bossa Nova (Verve), sees the 41-year-old reinterpreting contemporary songs by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Sting, and James Taylor in the genre…
In the dozen or so years since the breakup of his band Black Janet, Jim Wurster has produced a steady stream of exemplary albums, both solo and at the helm of his Americana outfit, the Atomic Cowboys. In the process he has established himself as one of South Florida’s most…
Kate Nash’s debut LP, Made of Bricks, was released last summer in the UK, where she became an overnight sensation; both the CD and single “Foundations” charted at number one. The 20-year-old from a London suburb pals around with Lily Allen, to whom she’s frequently compared. Yet unlike Alright, Still…
Call it an amendment to Godwin’s Law: As online reviews of Vampire Weekend accumulate, the probability of a comparison involving Paul Simon’s Graceland approaches one. It’s a lazy game of connect the dots, really. Graceland traces a MOR-shattering pilgrimage, in which Simon spent 17 days recording in South Africa, cheesing…
Mahjongg’s webspace prose reads like passages from a rave manifesto (“make love energy,” “spawn a soundtrack for a new community,” etc.). But Kontpab’s multilayer tapestries of detuned synthesizers, piercing drum ripostes, and abrasive, effects-laden vocals are hardly elevating or unifying. Label it rave music for the wretched. The opening to…
Like his reportedly shady past, Los Angeles glam-rap sensation Mickey Avalon’s live shows are fast becoming legendary among jaded clubgoers. Live, he has smashed a bottle over his head and engaged in not-so-simulated sex with a sultry back-up dancer. At gigs on his home turf, there have been fights, a…
JJ Grey & MOFRO Saturday, January 4th 2008 Bamboo Room, Lake Worth Better Than: Tearing up a hot bowl of grits on a cool winter morning in Florida. The Review: After just a few notes, anyone witnessing JJ Grey in action can’t help but notice how strong his stage presence…
Editors Louis XIV, Hot Hot Heat, and Editors Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale Tuesday, January 8, 2008 Better Than: Seeing all three bands together at an even smaller venue The Review: Last night’s show at the Culture Room marked the first stop of a tour by rising indie-ish stars Louis XIV,…
I guess I’m in the mood for feathered hair and strange accents from the United Kingdom, so I will move from Birmingham, England’s E.L.O. on to Swansea, Wales’ Badfinger. Truly one of the great power pop acts of the Seventies, stateside they’ve been somewhat forgotten. Or, when they are remembered,…
Taking it back to the Seventies for this one, to the inimitable Electric Light Orchestra. Let’s try to ignore their bloated Eighties stuff like the Oliva Newton-John collabo “Xanadu” — does Seventies pop goodness get much better than, say, “Livin’ Thing?” I’m a particular fan of this strand of their…
Various Artists Well Deep: 10 Years of Big Dada (Big Dada) Longevity in hip-hop is increasingly rare, so milestones should be memorialized. Enter Well Deep, two CDs (31 tracks total) marking the first decade of U.K.-based indie label Big Dada. An offshoot of the quick-cut quarry known as Ninja Tune…
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings January 3rd, 2008 Culture Room Better than: Watching the Dap-Kings back up Amy Winehouse. Last Thursday night, a soul music extravaganza took place inside of the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings played to a sold out crowd and let music…
The King is Dead, Long Live the King Louis XIV, no longer royally blue BY JONATHAN GARRETT Jason Hill, frontman for the San Diego-based band Louis XIV, knows what it’s like to be hated. On March 30, 2005, a none-too-complimentary review of his band’s major label debut appeared on Pitchforkmedia.com…
Rihanna’s new boss? Now that Jay-Z has stepped down from the Def Jam presidency, the label might need a new president, but could that position end up going to Chuck D? It’s hard to say. If the label ends up hiring a new figurehead, it’ll probably be Jermaine Dupri or…
Via Miami Nights… Here’s the first part of the lineup for this year’s Ultra Music Festival, which is celebrating its tenth birthday, and is repeating this year as a two-day event. No surprises on the names here, except acts like Justice get moved to headlining slots. Part of me, however,…
Four years ago today RJ Lockwood, a Miami DJ, was found dead in his Overtown apartment at the age of 27. The Miami DJ was described as not “malicious enough to have enemies” by one of his old friends. Police initially dismissed the case as just another drug overdose by…
Better Than: Medieval heat torture. The Review: Candyland, the hyped-up party of the year, was NOT what I expected. In previewing the party, the New Times was told that the party was to be, “the best of the best.” Therefore, I was anticipating Disneyland fireworks. I have seen Culture Productions…
Over the past few years, year-end critics’ lists have multiplied faster than the worry lines on Ben Bernanke’s brow. Mark our words, the Internet and your local Barnes & Noble’s magazine rack will be brimming with head-spinning, eye-glazing permutations of praise for the following albums: Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible, the…
Goldie at Laundry Bar If there’s a face – okay, a set of grills – most closely associated with drum ‘n’ bass, it’s Goldie’s. The founder of Metalheadz, a label at the forefront of the genre’s development, Goldie — a.k.a. Clifford Joseph Price — stands as a monument to the…
Well 2007 is over, done and almost forgotten. So stop looking back on the year that’s past and take a look at what you have to look forward to from the music world in just the first couple months of 2008. Here’s a look at some of the first albums…
