Five hundred people. That’s how many bodies it takes to get Miami’s massive Ultra Music Festival off the ground and running. Five hundred people. From promoters in nearly every major city in the country, to a production staff that ranks among the world’s finest. Five hundred people. All on the…
A 14-year veteran of promoting techno events in Miami, Nelson Fernandez, AKA DJ Nova, has observed that folks tend to arrive in town early for WMC. “They’re always ready to start partying as soon as they get here,” he says, “or, for the locals, as soon as there’s an excuse!”…
The English quartet Late of the Pier is among its homeland’s best, brightest young hopes, boasting all the high cheekbones and music press praise that usually entails. But don’t mistake them for one of the dour, fedora-topped Brit indie groups of recent years. This band makes fun music for the…
It wasn’t too long ago that we were renaming French fries to freedom fries, but Franco-American relations have come a long way. Featuring touches of R&B, soul, disco, hip-hop, and rock ‘n’ roll, the new wave of French dance music is heavily influenced by American sounds. Labels such as Ed…
Trash” might not be the first title that springs to mind when you consider a great pop song. But believe it or not, it happens to be the title of four of the greatest pop songs in history. Really. The first “Trash” came way back in 1973, on the New…
In 1906, an American inventor named Lee De Forest was tinkering in his Council Bluffs, Iowa workshop when he accidentally created an electronic amplification device that could detect radio signals. De Forest wasn’t exactly sure what he had come up with; in fact, he had to have others explain to…
For three years, the folks at NYC’s Made Event have brought to Miami their all-star amalgam of underground overlords. And for each of those three years, their closing party, Sunday School for Degenerates, has proven the ultimate way to close WMC. In 2009, year four promises to be an even…
Trance remains one of those peculiar genres with as many admirers as detractors. For years, even as it climbed international pop charts, some electronic music circles persistently criticized it for being too simplistic and formulaic. Yet trance has not only endured but also thrived, outselling most styles of dance music…
During WMC, there are plenty of poolside rendezvous, eardrum-splitting techno sets, and VIP meet-and-greets, but there is only one Jump n Funk extravaganza. Almost a ripple in time during the seven-day digital festival, JNF is the open-air, twilight party where your two-step gives way to a bowlegged grind as you…
Fedde Le Grande is a busy man. When he’s not collaborating with international music icons or wrapping up his latest record, he’s touring the world, jetting from his home in the Netherlands to remote locales. To say his 2006 single — the homage to the mecca of techno called “Put…
San Francisco duo CyberSutra is fairly new to the dance music scene, but producers Scott Binder and Nathan Heal have wasted no time in making their presence known. Blending the hard edge of electro with the melodic expanses of trance, they incorporate unique vocals by some of the top vocalists…
Fillup Banks is a business visionary with a digital hustle. 305HipHop.com, the successful site he started in 2003 is forging a new era in South Florida independent media production with the launch of Urban Union on March 22nd at 3:05pm. Urban Union is a multimedia production house. Here’s the Fillup…
When Circa 28 suddenly shut down last year, it came as a shock to many. Well its back, er, sort of. We reported about the Electric Pickle taking over the space back February, and just in time for Winter Music Conference, the place is ready for the public. Good thing…
We received word that Get Physical Miami’s event Saturday, March 28 at Charcoal Studio has been canceled. Calls to Charcoal Studio confirmed that it was true. We still are looking into the specific reason why the party was scraped. We did some snooping around on our own and we noticed…
While 2008 was a quiet year for Jean-Baptiste de Laubier — better known as Para One — 2009 promises to be a busy one for the DJ/producer. Laubier will be in town during Winter Music Conference to celebrate that label that pushed him to the forefront of the French-house craze,…
In case you didn’t notice it, Mexican rockers Jaguares canceled their Miami show, scheduled for last Saturday night at the Fillmore Miami Beach. If you didn’t notice, then you probably didn’t have tickets. Or, if you did and you still didn’t notice… give me some of that shit.Disappointed concertgoers found…
Fushu Daiko from MiamiNewTimesBlogs on Vimeo.Fushu Daiko is a South Florida Taiko Drum troupe with a dojo in Dania. According to Fushu Daiko’s myspace, Taiko Drumming is a musical martial art hybrid involving traditional and modern rhythms and movements that developed in the 1950’s.I caught a Fushu Daiko performance recently…
When we last checked in with Dharma, the single-monikered head of the local live electronic band OrganicArma, his biggest project was still more or less a dream. He and the rest of his band had purchased a sprawling warehouse space in Wynwood, planning to turn it into a creative funhouse called…
Just got word that Our House West of Wynwood will be hosting a party during Winter Music Conference. The Allapattah gallery hasn’t been open for long, but it’s quickly becoming a favorite. It’s already hosted numerous parties, include a string of them during Art Basel that we’re easily some of…
Er, I just received this in my inbox. Actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix had threatened the world that he was going to become a rap superstar, but I don’t think anyone took him seriously. Well, apparently at next week’s edition of Dirty Hairy with Craze and Klever, Joaquin Phoenix will be performing…
Used-to-be-local HC/post-HC/metalcore band Shai Hulud have a nice little interview up on Italian music site UnderTheory on their recent tour with Comeback Kid. This interview is a very my-first-zine series of questions in English by Italian cutie, Vale, in a halter top. Things like the band name, music type, and…
This Saturday is the Second Annual Lourdes P. Aguila Memorial Walk-a-Thon honoring La Reina de la Salsa herself, Celia Cruz. The event is being hosted by La Liga Contra el Cancer and will take place at Tropical Park, where community leaders and celebrity residents of our fair city will turn out…
