Photo by Marta Xochilt Perez

We've all been there. And now we totally realize that two months' worth of rolling balls was a bad idea.

But shit ... It was fun. And drugs are what your 20s are for, right?

DJ Laz did it.

"When I was 27 or 28, I did Ecstasy for about a six-week period," Lazaro Mendez says in this week's Miami New Times cover story. "Those six weeks were awesome until I got the next batch."

See also:
-DJ Laz and Power 96 Part Ways
-DJ Laz Talks Returning to Miami Radio: "I'm Still Split 50/50, But My Girl Miami's Gettin' a Little Extra at Bedtime"
-DJ Laz Talks Sipping Hennessy Straight From the Bottle and Drinking on the Job
-DJ Laz Conquered Disability, Tragedy, and Miami's Airwaves; Now He's Aiming Higher

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photo by Michael Muller

Mumiy Troll

​Don't like ink smudges? Didn't feel like battling an insulation-needing bum for a print edition of our humble newspaper? Birdcage in desperate need of liner? No worries, Crossfade's got you covered. Our print music coverage, home of weekly features more in-depth than most of the posts on this blog, is also conveniently available online. Here's what you can check out this week, either around town for free in a "real" copy, or here on the Interwebs.

*A feature on Interpol, by the intrepid New Times Broward-Palm Beach music editor Reed Fischer

The New York indie titans play the Fillmore Miami Beach on Saturday, and we've got the scoop on the band's upcoming fourth, self-titled album. (Oh, and by now we all know drummer Sam Fogarino is a South Florida guy -- so that gets discussed a little, too.) Yes, there's talk of how Interpol's hearts would go on after the departure of longtime bassist Carlos D:More »

Cynic plays at Culture Room on Friday.

​While this blog keeps on trucking with the multiple daily updates, there is, in fact, in a nod to Stone Age tradition still a print music section that comes out weekly. That's where the longer music features live, and we've got at least one in-depth look weekly at a local act or an out-of-towner playing around these parts. More »

Vibe.com

Trina hits up Bal Harbour for some retail therapy

​Over at Vibe.com, we get an up-close look into the daily life of one of South Florida's current musical successes, Trina. Amazin', her fourth studio album just dropped yesterday, so the rapper has been working nonstop to keep her business in check. This extensive photo gallery, A Day in the Life of Trina, has all of the details.

Be sure to check out writer Esther Park summing up the rapper's growth over the past 12 years in this dynamite profile in this week's New Times Broward-Palm Beach. 

Photo by Sean Murphy

SunFest hopefully won't get dirty for Weezer

​Due to our "production schedule" and "editorial standards," Alex Rendon's amazing article about SunFest's New Music Night ran in last week's print edition. Somehow, dude scored interviews with musicians set to play tonight at SunFest: Weezer guitarist Brian Bell and We Are Scientists' frontman Keith Murray. Both had pretty interesting things to say about the festival experience.

Key quote from Bell:

"Festivals like Reading are kind of snobby," he says. "They are not all too receptive to American bands." The last time Weezer took the stage at Reading in 1996, the audience pelted the band with a monsoon of mud balls. Bell envisions SunFest as a happier affair: "Instead of mud balls, I picture a lot more beach balls will be thrown around."

Read the rest of the article to see what kind of impressive prose Rendon throws around, and get thee to the West Palm Beach waterfront this evening to see Weezer, We Are Scientists, These United States (Q&A here), and the rest of a talented group of bands.

SunFest New Music Night, with Weezer, We Are Scientists, Crash Kings, Constellations, These United States, Locksley, and Gringo Star. 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, at Bank of America Stage and Tire Kingdom Stage, Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach waterfront. Tickets cost $30 to $65. 561-659-5980; click here.

Illustration courtesy of Jason Seiler

Royal Flush: Scott Storch

​New Times scribe Gus Garcia-Roberts has a gem of a feature about the rise and complete ruin of South Florida hip-hop producer Scott Storch, who once played John Travolta's role in Grease and can play any top 40 song from the past 20 years on the keyboard. His gifts for eBay generosity (a $20 million yacht for $600,000!) are mentioned here, as well.

In addition to many heartbreaking passages about a still-talented hitmaker who was instrumental in creating pop smashes like Dr. Dre's "Still D.R.E.," 50 Cent's "Candy Shop," and Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River," who got in way over his head, I am still trying to wrap my own head around passages about Storch's grandfather (who later calls Lindsay Lohan a "jerky broad" and probably would love to grumble in harmony with the ShitMyDadSays guy). Find a couple more reasons you should take the rest of the afternoon off and just read this thing already after the jump.



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photo courtesy of Mischa Richter

Gil Scott-Heron

​While we update Crossfade a bunch of times a day, the Miami New Times still features a fresh crop of music news weekly, including features that go into more depth than the usual blog post.

This week, Steve Almond talks with legendary poet / spoken-word artist / musician / proto-rapper Gil Scott-Heron, who granted us a rare interview to discuss his latest album, I'm New Here. Here's an excerpt of the chat:

It's not hard to find recent evidence of those demons in Scott-Heron's biography. Twice in the past decade he's done time in Rikers Island, once for cocaine possession, once for a parole violation. In fact, the very conception of I'm New Here began behind bars. "Richard Russell came to see me in jail," Scott-Heron explains by phone from his Harlem apartment. "I didn't know him, but... he told me what he had in mind, and I said, 'Congratulations. I'm glad to meet somebody who has something in mind.'"

At this, Scott-Heron lets out a burst of muddy laughter. For a man who was imprisoned for possessing a small amount of cocaine, he sounds surprisingly unbitter. "We all do things that we shouldn't, that society disapproves of," he observes matter-of-factly. "Hell, that's a fine American tradition at this point."

Click here to read the rest of the article.

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Freaknik: The Musical - T-Pain & DJ Drama clip

T Pain | MySpace Music Videos

Good afternoon! Broward-Palm Beach's contributions to Crossfade this week were greatly enhanced by Lil Wayne (and his dentist) but we can't ride that pony forever.

Nas is coming! Plus, local art-punks Alexander took over Poor House on Saturday. People who want to make flyers want to put Surfer Blood on them. See here, and here. Stephin Merritt's quotes are still far better than his music.

We found out that Henry Rollins once said: "You want to fuck, own, and kill as much as anyone else. And all that, is what we have in common. One tragic laugh riot. No such thing as heroes, just crazy motherfuckers with good press relations." And then he said just as much on Wednesday night at Revolution. Somehow, Ozzy Osbourne is on our cover. 70,000 Tons of Metal, the righteous cruise outta Miami next January,  just got a lot more Portuguese.

Technically, this was last week, but we still want South Florida bloggers to join our blogroll and reap all of the obvious benefits therein. And, don't forget to watch Freaknik: The Musical Sunday night at 11:30 p.m. on Adult Swim! Back to the grind on Monday.

Courtesy of Nacional Records

Check out a feature on ChocQuibTown.

​While we update Crossfade a bunch of times a day, the Miami New Times still features a fresh crop of music news weekly, including features that go into more depth than the usual blog post. This week, Christopher Lopez gives the run-down on Choc Quib Town, a Colombian urban fusion group playing at Kukaramakara this Friday night. Here's a bit from the feature:

"The idea behind the group," Tostao explains, "was to put our Pacific coast on Colombia's musical panorama. You hear about the cumbia and the vallenato, but the Pacific coast region is hardly ever recognized for its music. So we wanted to put our region on the map musically."

In 2000, they formed the group with that goal in mind. It's one they continue to achieve, though the task of defining the group's sound is not exactly cut-and-dried. "We're not a salsa group," Tostao says, "or a folkloric group or a group who does funk or hip-hop. But rather we're a group that fuses those four main elements."

Click here to read the rest of the article.

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