Miami Music Blog

If you missed it, and it's your kind of thing, you missed out: NeckFace's Devil's Disciple opening at O.H.W.O.W. was one of the best parties on Halloween. And Busy P's set at the afterparty at Poplife didn't disappoint, either. As much as we wanted to hate on it and find the track selection stuck in 2006, Pedro Winter has updated his style and can definitely still get a crowd moving. (Click for our slideshows of the opening and the afterparty at Poplife at Electric Pickle.)

The confluence of everything hipster-ish at both segments of the evening was a little mind-boggling -- ironic costumes, a bustling skateboard ramp, street art, free beer, and so on. But it was a good time, and, if you didn't make it inside, it was documented all over the Internets.

Here's a before-it-happened video, of NeckFace painting the outside of the haunted house he designed for the opening only. It's from YouTube user meetlouiz.

If you spent the earlier part of the decade at places like Piccadilly Garden, Soho Lounge or I/O Lounge--all now deceased venues--you are familiar with Peaches. Along with acts like Felix Da Housecat, Miss Kittin, Larry Tee and Tommie Sunshine, she's is pretty much responsible for ushering in the electroclash era. In her latest album, I Feel Cream, she delves a bit back into those roots that made her popular with the underground set. Friday, she is set to take the stage at Revolution and show why at 42 years old and four albums later, she is still on top of her game.

Above is the recently release video for the title track from her latest release. At first it sounds like Peaches at her most reserved, but listen carefully and you'll see that she's just as nasty as ever.

Dimebag Darrell lives!

Every last tiny speck of brain matter splatted against the Columbus, Ohio stage he was riffing on when he was killed by a crazed gunman may have already been sold on Ebay, but the legend of Dimebag lives on through recorded documentation of his music.

The video above features Dimebag Darrel shredding with Pantera in West Palm Beach in 1997. According to the upload description "rex, vince and phil kick ass too!"

  

There is no better Halloween song than The Misfits - Halloween. The Fiend Club will be out in force when the band, featuring Danzig's brother Jerry Only, and Dez Cadena, and Robo from Black Flag, hits Culture Room on December 4th. Here are the lyrics to The Misfits - Halloween.

Bonfires burning bright
Pumpkin faces in the night
I remember Halloween

Dead cats hanging from poles
Little dead are out in droves
I remember Halloween

U-Tunes is a musical competition show produced by college students for the University of Miami's television network. The show is a joint venture between the School of Communication and The Frost School of Music.

This episode, the season premiere, features the band Ex Norwegian, a Miami indie band who has a song critiqued by a three-person panel of local music industry professionals.

Log on to umtv.miami.edu/U-Tunes for more info, to stream the show live, or to view other episodes, or click here to catch up with U-Tunes on Facebook.

Earlier this summer, ¡MAYDAY! released its Technology EP, which is available free for download via Bandcamp. Off that release, the guys have decided to release a video for the track "Red Carpet Affair." The video features Brooklyn musician and artist Andrew Strasser, a.k.a. Bad Brilliance, who was in town during the summer while preparing his exhibit, "Bad Brilliance in Miami," at the Bas Fischer Invitational. Check out the video, which was filmed mainly at Transit Lounge in Miami, above. And after the jump, a bonus video of Strasser's teaser for his exhibit.

Jacob Katel

Three sixths of ¡MAYDAY!

​Last Friday, Miami live-action hip hop group ¡MAYDAY! brought six band members, keyboards, amps, monitors, guitars, drums and a sound guy named Monkey to a WDNA studio further cramped by a show host, engineer, intern, and 3 separate camera folk.

The occasion was the real time broadcast of Sound Theory Live, the Friday night show on 88.9 FM (streaming live on wdna.org) that puts local bands live on non-commercial, community FM radio playing and talking about their music.

Show host Carlos Garcia is always looking for musical talent of all genres to feature on his show so if you're interested or know someone who is, then reach out to soundtheorylive@gmail.com.

Here are some pictures and a video from ¡MAYDAY! on Sound Theory Live.

Well, the contemporary flouting of respect for copyrights has provided one great thing. If you miss some big club or music event, you're sure to find it on the Internet, somewhere. "Amateur" videographers and photographers are as good as the pros these days, and YouTube now has HD, so.... I missed the Junior Boys at the Vagabond last Saturday thanks to the flu (boo), but I got to catch, this morning, at least one song, thanks to YouTube user ZManBarzel. Here are the boys doing "Teach Me How to Fight," which, yes, sounds sexy as hell, just like our reviewer said. The picture quality is impressive; ZManBarzel surely knows how to use his zoom in an economical and classy way. Most importantly, the sound is awesome. Enjoy the video below.

Also, not local, but it looks like this person attended the Sonar Festival this year (lucky), and got some similarly good video of Little Boots an Fever Ray. Check them out here.

Tallpree is a Soca artist from Grenada who's song "Wicked Jab" has been tearing up the streeets. Here is an interview with Tallpree live from Carnival Miami 2009.

Here's the song. Where's the Miami style remix? Get to work.

When disco revivalists Glass Candy performed at the Vagabond back in September we were told they were surprised by the turnout and audience response. But with sweet hooks and silky production, how can you not fall in love with the duo? Well, while surfing the web this weekend, we stumbled across videos of Glass Candy's performance of "Miss Broadway" (above) and "Candy Castle" from September's Vagabond show. Now you yourself can witness what was (personally) one of the best performances we've seen in 2009.

photo from myspace.com/murderousrampage444

​Watch out Zombie Strippers, Murderous Rampage has just released a video for their song "Programmed to Kill." And the topless zombie chicks are way more brutal than Jenna Jameson (no matter how much Nietzsche she reads). They don't strip, they just want to kill you.

Or maybe just kill their creator (think The Terminator), played by MR frontman and horror aficionado Tommy Newman. The "Programmed to Kill" video starts off with a sleepy Newman dozing off amid his many life-size zombie mannequins. (Creating the undead mannequins is actually a real-life hobby of Newman's. He has them throughout his house). The protagonist dreams he's being chased by three of his bloody, half-naked, come-to-life creations, and therefore attempts to flee. But the zombies are just too damn clever. Not-much-of-a-spoiler alert: There's a shower scene!

Pushed on by fist-pumping choruses, gutteral, shouting vocals, straight metal riffs, special effects, and the never-satisfied thirst of the undead, Murderous Rampage's video for "Programmed to Kill" is as brutal and artful as you can get on no budget. Another fun fact: The make-up took over 3 hours. (Though they must have saved time on costuming, the zombie women don't have much of a wardrobe!)

See the video after the jump.

We've already said plenty about Danny Daze, so we'll keep this short. Above is a video interview with the Miami DJ/producer did for Scion Radio 17. In it he talks about his side projects DiscoTech and Señor Stereo. He also talks about how he got his start DJing and how he manages to keep sane despite having to cater at times to a mainstream sensibility.

Here's a quick video we shot of the world famous Pointer Sisters at last night's opening party for Prelude, Barton G's new restaurant at the Arsht.

The Pointer Sisters have sold a lot of records for songs like "Slow Hand," "How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)," and of course "I'm So Excited."

OrganicArma is one of a handful local bands who won a spot to play an official CMJ showcase through SonicBids. Their CMJ debut took place last Tuesday at the Ace of Clubs, on Great Jones Street in the East-ish Vilage. Here's a quick video probided by the folks at SonicBids, with a few seconds of performance and an interview afterwards. It looks like, for this gig, they eschewed much of their usual costumes and make-up, and performed as just a duo instead of a trio. Still, in the half-minute we get here, it seems like they managed to build up a pretty good groove.

Here goes a video of Miami live-band-hip-hop-improvisation group The Cornerstoners playing a party at the 2am Warehouse.

The audio is mastered low on this video so you'll have to turn your speakers up, but the mix is nice, with a great stereo field. Listen with headphones, you'll be right there with them.

Log on to myspace.com/thecornerstoners  for more info.

Duece Poppi is a veteran Slip-N-Slide Records artist you may have never heard of, but dude is a serious operator that has behind the scenes ghost written more tracks than Casper with a pen and pad.

He's got a new album coming soon, and this song "My White Friends" is set to take over the pop music airwaves.

This video features Duece talking about, participating in, or featuring some great white stereotypes like skateboarding, monster trucks, keg parties, sky diving, snorting coke, rich parents, manicures, OMG!, Travis Barker, and a Rolls Royce.

It's a funny video.

Enjoy.

 

photo from kingbeehive.com

​Finalists in New Times' 2009 Battle of the Bands, Miami group King Bee plays heavy alt-rock that feeds off a bluesy underbelly. The scruffy trio are masters of the subtle build-up, hitting their stride with wail-out sessions that creep up faster than you can say crescendo.

I caught the last song of their show at Propaganda September 25. I was amped because I figured it portended similarly good, or maybe better, music to come. But I was sorely disappointed in second act Noble Rocket as well as in closing band and over-hyped act The Beauvilles, whose performance made me giggle uncontrollably. (Am I the only one who feels like the vocalist/guitarist's theatrics are forced?).

King Bee is releasing an EP later this month and its third album, To The Moon, some time in January. They shot a video for one of the singles coming out titled "Balls." The video, inspired by David Fincher's A Perfect Circle video for "Judith," won the Audience Award at the Florida Music Festival's Independent Film Jam and was highlighted on the $99 videos website, a site for creative DIY videos made with less $100. Watch the video after the jump.

B.O. and Gunline Entertainment rep Richmond Heights, Peerrine, South Dade, goon muzik, and tearin' ya ass. Here's what Big O had to say about his song "Tear My Ass," after the jump.

Lotus House Thrift (203 NW 36th St., Miami) is a Wynwood extension of Overtown's Lotus House Women's Shelter. It is a thrift shop that specializes in selling clothes, furniture, electronics, and household goods to help fund shelter meals, housing, health services, job training, and more. I bought a Sony amp there for $10. Check 'em out.

Here's video of some ladies from Lotus House singing "Lean On Me" at last Saturday's grand opening. Log on to lotushouseshelter.org/thrift.html for more info.

Some Journey diehards don't like the fact the band still performs under its original name, but with replacement Arnel Pineda, a Filipino former cover band frontman, on vocals. Still, it seems like most fans just want to hear the songs performed live, and well, whether Steve Perry is along for the ride or not. Here's a video of Journey playing at Hard Rock Live last Thursday, from YouTube user thawood2176. Of course, the video's of "Don't Stop Believin.'" Pineda hits all the notes here, but it barely matters, as the song now functions basically as a mass singalong whenever it's played.

 

Gear Wire is a Chicago based news and video site covering music and audio technology. This recently uploaded video finds Gear Wire in Fort Lauderdale's Modern Music (320 E. Oakland Park Blvd.) talking about Fender Stratocasters made in America, Japan, Mexico, Korea, and China.

Find out what these guitar store Van Halens think about Mexican guitars and listen to some blues rockin'.

Wisin y Yandel were one of the first breakout reggaeton success stories. Now they're claiming they're not reggaeton, just pop, or Latin hip-hop, or whatever. Fair enough. Nobody wants to be associated with a one-dimensional genre, and the survivors are all stepping up their game and trying out new styles. WyY have benefited from the sonic expansion, and still remain popular enough to pack the American Airlines Arena last Thursday, and spur fans to post the party all over YouTube.

It doesn't get more pop than a collabo with T-Pain, and Pain himself popped up for an appearance at the concert. Here's a snippet of that from YouTube user LoFuelte305.

Jacob Katel

Mecca aka Grimo flanked by Betty Jean and Jessica Donette, regional co-directors of the United Haitian Students of Florida

If you thought all Miami hip-hop stood for was balling out, popping pills, selling crack, hitting licks, fucking hoes, and killin fools then you were wrong.

The local rap game has rallied behind the cause of TPS (temporary protected status) for Haitians in the United States. TPS  is granted to "aliens in the United States who are temporarily unable to safely return to their home country because of ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions" according to a US government website.

Haiti was struck a series of devastating blows when four hurricanes ravaged the island in 2008. 

If you haven't heard of Casual Sax & The Saxual Revolution, you've probably been in some kind of soap operatic coma for the last few years. Induce and Sven Barth compromise the duo that found viral success after Perez Hilton featured their video for "Baby I'm Black (From the Waist Down)" on his site.

Soon after they release videos for their tracks "Whorer Core" and "Klaus' Tour de Pants (AKA Klaus' Disco Train)." And with no signs of slowing down, they've just released the video for "24's & More" from their debut album The Blow Sven Theory. The track features Poplife's Jake Jefferson, who is credited as Spicy Bro on the album.

If you can't get enough of the duo, their debut album album is available for purchase via iTunes.

[via The Smoking Section]