Photo by Max Reed

It seems strange, but in almost ten years of record releases and world tours, Bloc Party had never played Miami until last night.

A celebration was in order, so Absolut vodka teamed up with artist Agustina Woodgate to transform Soho Studios into an interactive wonderland of booze, rainbows and great tunes. It was called Absolut X, and much hashtagging was encouraged.

It was a great party, apparently so great you had to show up an hour and a half early just to make it in.

See also:
-Bloc Party's Russell Lissack: "Whatever Type of Music Tends to Be Popular Is Irrelevant"
-Absolut X Miami with Bloc Party at Soho Studios: The 70-Photo Slideshow

Via statigr.am/love_for_edm

It's not often you get the chance to go back in time.

Well, technically speaking, the laws of physics might make this impossible. But that's just one more reason why the Digitalism show at Bardot was so special.

When Jens "Jence" Moelle and İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi took the stage (because the Midtown Miami club had to build a stage just for the German duo), it was almost like we were back in 2007 all over again. For a sweet hour and a half, things were good.

See also:
-Digitalism on EDM in America: "Las Vegas Is Getting Bigger Than Ibiza, It's Supercool"

Via statigr.am/strictly_q

Walking up the stark stairwell toward the Garret's dance floor, we asked the legendary DJ Craze just where in the hell he got the idea to make a pig his label's mascot. He said it all comes back to something Klever once said.

"I don't play that fast food music," he said. "My tunes are slow roasted."

That's the credo of the whole Slow Roast label family, and it's definitely the calling card of Miami's newest monthly for real music lovers.

See also:
-DJ Craze on Slow Roast Thursdays: "Fresh New Music Instead of the Same Old"

Via facebook.com/Mike.Shannon.7777

Get your uhntz-uhntz on with Mike Shannon.

Why hello there, Friday!

We've been waiting for you all week. And now that you're finally here, we're throwing a two-day bash especially for you, one that consists of music, concerts, and booze.

The best part? It won't cost us more than 10 bucks.

In your honor, Friday, here are the ten best music-related things to do under $10 this weekend.

See also:
-Six Best Parties on South Beach This Week
-Five Best Concerts in Miami This Week

Photo by Liliana Mora

Face it, you have no idea what Cinco de Mayo is about. No, it's not Mexican Independence. But you know what? It doesn't really matter. We're just happy to have an excuse to drink all the tequila, Corona, and Dos Equis we want, and get the chance to shake our asses to some moombahton.

For everyone who wasn't slayed by day drinking, Grand Central was the get-down. This party was so big, it was Cinco de Massive. We had moombah coming out of our eyeballs, and there was a fat dude in a Santa hat.

Like, what more could you want out of a holiday?

See also:
-Cinco de Massive at Grand Central: The 46-Photo Slideshow
-Pepe Billete on Cinco de Mayo and Immigration: "Pobre Mexicanos, Se La Clavan Sin Vaselina"

Photo by Liliana Mora

Naughty by Nature's Treach taming the wild beasts of Brew at the Zoo.

Big-booty girls backing that ass up onstage with Uncle Luke and bros wearing shorts, screen T's, and neon orange, green, and yellow sunglasses while dancing to Naughty by Nature were the kind of animals that filled the grounds of Zoo Miami for Miami New Times' Brew at the Zoo.

Luke, Naughty, and Pangea Tribe provided the soundtrack as beer-fed party people took a break from all that Sam Adams and brewskies from the Homebrew Alley to jam to some old-school tracks.

See also:
-Uncle Luke's Top Ten Booty Jams of All Time
-Brew at the Zoo 2013 at Zoo Miami: The 74-Photo Slideshow
-Naughty by Nature Talks Partying With Uncle Luke and Drinking Brew at the Zoo

Via instagram.com/AustinPaulMusic

Kastle and Austin Paul: "We up."

Mainstream pop music's become so overly sexualized. Entertainers like Rihanna, Trey Songz, and Chris Brown present sex in a really cartoonish way, at times verging on pornographic.

Meanwhile, the underground seems to be maturing, bringing the real sexy back. Last night at Bardot, Kastle and Austin Paul brought the kind of sexy that makes you want to dance close to somebody, not just dry hump on a dance floor.

See also:
-Pharrell on Miami's Austin Paul: "The Future!"

Photo by Ian Witlen

Better than: Dalis Car live.

It was nice seeing Peter Murphy channel some of the primal strangeness of Bauhaus, even though all his original cohorts were probably somewhere in England, sipping their tea and not giving a shit.

The music will exist, and it came quite alive on the Grand Central stage last night, thanks to a self-deprecating and enthusiastic performance by Murphy and his longtime backing trio.

See also:
-Peter Murphy at Grand Central: The 42-Photo Slideshow
-Peter Murphy Talks Meth Arrest and 35 Years of Bauhaus: "I Was Never a Punk"
-Peter Murphy: "Bauhaus Was the Seminal Moment in That Time; Joy Division Was Not"

Photo by Sayre Berman

Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell.

Alice in Chains
Fillmore Miami Beach
Thursday, April 25, 2013

Better Than: Well, The Essential Alice in Chains.

"C'mon, it's the first gig ..." Alice in Chains axe man Jerry Cantrell deadpanned when he and his band screwed up the opening bars of "Down in a Hole," a 20-year-old top ten hit. "Fuck."

Last night, Cantrell and crew kicked off their latest U.S. road trip at the Fillmore Miami Beach after a few years away from the rock circuit, following the release (and subsequent tour) of 2008's Black Gives Way to Blue. And aside from the "Hole" miscue, there weren't any "big mistakes."

See also:
-Alice in Chains at Fillmore Miami Beach: The 28-Photo Slideshow
-Alice in Chains Talks Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, a "Jab at Ultra-Right Religious Conservatives"

Via Recloose's Facebook

Virtuoso is one phrase that comes to mind to describe Recloose, AKA Matthew Chicoine.

Also, master turntablist (not a credential you hear much in this era of laptop "DJs"), multi-instrumentalist producer, band leader, and even music academician molding the minds of electronic dance music's next generation of DJ-producers.

Of course, on international dancefloors, Recloose is among the most hotly tipped veterans of house and techno, boasting over a decade's worth of releases on beloved imprints like !K7, Planet E, Sonar Kollektiv, and Delusions of Grandeur.

See also:
-Pearson Sound on Commercialized Dubstep: "Inevitable Once It Increased in Popularity"