Charlie Pickett, Maggotron Make Spin Mag's List of "The Hundred Greatest Bands You've (Probably) Never Head"

photo by Steve Satterwhite, from New Times archives

James McCauley, a.k.a. Maggotron

​ The latest issue of Spin is on the newsstands, and in it there are a few shout-outs to South Florida. Besides a peek inside Iggy Pop's clubhouse (disclaimer: I wrote it), a couple locals are mentioned in one of the magazine's main features: "The 100 Greatest Bands You've (Probably) Never Heard." It's a series of blurbs on the last couple decades' greatest unsung underground and local heroes, organized with little Zagat-style icons.

Rightfully making the list is Charlie Pickett, whose recent Bar Band Americanus set on Bloodshot Records has helped score him some more of the recognition he's always deserved. The spread's little guide icons mark him as "Ahead of [His] Time" and a "Local Hero," and Spin editor David Marchese says, "Pickett took a half-century of Dixie demimonde, threw it in the feed bucket, and, spurred by a punky band that never stopped snapping at his heels, set it on fire." Pretty accurate description.
The other local guy making the cut here is the far more obscure Maggotron, a Miami guy beloved by foreign electro-on-vinyl nerds, but largely unknown outside of those circles. Spin contributor Chuck Eddy says he "merged planet-boom electro-rap and cyborg chupmunk chatter into bass music, which begat crunk."

It's okay if you haven't heard of him before -- I dug up this old history of Maggotron from the New Times' archives, which you can read here.

You can check out video highlights from the Spin piece here, or read the whole thing by picking up a copy on newsstands.