A remastered reissue of an out-of-print underground hip-hop classic, Ruff Draft is the late, great J Dilla at his creative apex. It took him a week to turn the whole thing out, but that was more than enough time to unleash a maelstrom of lo-fi breakbeat jams that paid tribute…
After a six-year recording hiatus, Redman returns to the mike with the engaging and stimulating, yet not particularly memorable, release Red Gone Wild. Languishing for more than a year on the proverbial Def Jam shelf, this album is plagued by the same poor promotion that delayed other recent label releases…
Sharon Stone makes another movie, bands of the 1978-1982 epoch reunite, technology advances, trans fats are banned — yet the Fall perseveres, with Mark E. Smith the sole remaining founding member. Tart-tongued leader Smith still rants like he’s got the world’s number, though portions of Reformation find phone-it-in weariness creeping…
Warning: This will hurt, but kindly access your memory banks and retrieve two commercials: “Seagram’s golden wine coooolers/They’re wet and they’re dry/My my my” and that heinous Chili’s bit — not the faux doo-wop tune but the smoky blues number — “Chili’s … baby back riiiiiiibs …” Got ’em? Good…
Be prepared for your teenybopper to hit up the family rainy-day fund: Chayanne’s coming to town, and hormone hell follows with him. The 38-year-old Latin heartthrob, born Elmer Figueroa-Arce, entered showbiz at age eleven when he joined the Puerto Rican boy band Los Chicos. The group set its sights on…
At age 63, Joe Chambers ranks as one of the most notable drummers and percussionists of his generation, and a staple of the venerable (and once-independent) Blue Note label. Not only have his highly imaginative compositions been covered by the likes of Freddie Hubbard and Bobby Hutcherson (with whom he’s…
The booming rhythms of drum ‘n’ bass are not meant to be just heard — they’re meant to be felt as well. The vibrations sent forth from mega amps invariably inspire dancing, and Photek’s music is no exception, despite its classification as “intelligent” drum and bass. Since the early Nineties…
To say that Mr. Tyner “tickles the ivories” would be akin to suggesting that his old bandmate John Coltrane “toodles the horn a bit.” Not just a massive understatement, in other words, but an outright mischaracterization. In fact, Tyner pounds the keys with a savage precision, particularly with his explosive…
The hard-rocking members of Torche have been back in South Florida for two weeks or so, and they’ve been filling their time with decidedly softer pursuits. Guitarist Juan Montoya spent a recent weekend morning helping out at a garage sale. Frontman Steve Brooks took a day trip to Busch Gardens…
Long before the birth of modern boytoy crooners, long before Justin would volunteer to bring sexy back, long before sexy would need bringing back, women by the scores (pun intended) excitedly tossed bras and panties at a stage occupied by a curly-haired hunk of singing beef named Tom Jones. Possessed…
The least known and perhaps most talented son of Bob Marley is finally stepping into the limelight. Though Stephen Marley is usually working behind the scenes on his family members’ projects, his long-awaited solo effort, Mind Control, lives up to its musical lineage with eleven tracks of pure roots-rock-reggae. Marley…
Ozomatli’s latest effort, Don’t Mess with the Dragon, is a fusion of Spanish rock, hip-hop, reggaeton, and funk, the perfect crossover release. The nine-man Ozomatli has put together a dozen tunes for the group’s fourth full-length CD, most of them happy dance tracks. The opening song, “Can’t Stop,” is polished…
There’s something rather, uh, funky about neo-Eastern European music. Not funky in a Clyde Stubberfield backing up James Brown kind of way, but then again, when you combine a Slavic blend of accordion, tuba, darabouka, and clarinet with the trombone, it’s hard not to smell the funk in the air…
Kings of Leon are commanding quite a racket these days. Made up of three brothers — sons of a Pentecostal preacher — and their cousin, the band has been hailed by some as the savior of Southern rock. Their third album, Because of the Times, is an ironic little mixture…
What has six legs, a big Afro, and is forever compared to Led Zeppelin? If you guessed Wolfmother, you’re right. In this instance, though, we’re talking about the other six-legged, Afroed Zep disciples, New York’s Earl Greyhound. The trio’s debut album, Soft Targets, has been building up a head of…
“A lot of people have found their way into learning about music through smooth jazz,” saxophonist Marion Meadows observes of his chosen genre. “It does seem to draw on new ideas, and it gets people to later dig harder material.” A West Virginia native, Meadows himself studied classical music as…
Danish guitarist, composer, and bandleader Pierre Dørge admits that he requires a bit of effort from his audiences when they come to hear his New Jungle Orchestra perform. Not that his troupe (which debuted in 1980) makes experimental music by any definition. Adventurous, yes, but there certainly exist greater challenges…
It’s getting harder and harder to figure out what the kids are listening to these days. Case in point: Ratatat. Does the Brooklyn duo of Mike Stroud (guitars) and Evan Mast (synthesizers) make nouveau electronica? Or instrumental hip-hop? Or lo-fi IDM? Or alt-hop trance? Whatever you call the stuff, it’s…
There’s no shortage of bands composing ditties about love and loss in bustling alternative music sweet spots such as London and Brooklyn. Even so, if an indie group is capable of producing gorgeous modern ballads while residing in sleepy strip-mall South Florida, you can bet the players are tapping into…
His face inevitably looks familiar, like someone you’ve met at a real estate function on Brickell. Or he might’ve been that lousy waiter from Cafeteria on Lincoln Road. Or maybe he was the lucky bastard who nabbed the last parking spot on Washington Avenue. Whatever the case, you just know…
Imagine a planet where two of your favorite artists from various genres are constantly smashed together on one track. Rick James and Busta Rhymes. Sean Paul and the Temptations. Arrested Development and Jay-Z, for Christ’s sake. It’s an odd world, but Brooklyn’s funky DJ collective the Rub pulls it off…
Following the critical acclaim garnered by the 2005 simultaneous release of I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, Bright Eyes seems eager to confirm its status as indie overachievers. With anticipation building for a followup, the band’s mainstays — boy-genius Conner Oberst, joined by Mike…
