Throwing it Back–“A Lo Cubano”

Here’s an old school jem from way back in the day. I remember the first time I heard the track, “A Lo Cubano” while I was on holiday in Managua and it blew my mind. The groove is all hip-hop and African via Cuba and Colombia with just the right…

Lost and Found: Nestor J. Gomez

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten one of these Lost and Found requests, but I’ve actually managed to reunite a few musicians (thanks Internet!) so I hope this one works out as well. Steve Satterwhite is looking for a fellow musician who goes by either Nes, Raraavis, or Nestor…

Throwback Tuesdays: Foxy — “Get Off”

Here’s an oldie but goodie from the disco years. Foxy was formed right here in Miami in 1976, led by the Cuban-born Ish Ledesma — and also featuring Tito Puente’s son Richie on percussion!. The group’s big-time hit, “Get Off,” was released in 1978, and hit number nine on the…

Food Court Musical

I may be late to the Internet viral video game again with this one, but it made me LOL pretty hard so I had to share. Of course, the most common criticism of musicals is that in real life, people don’t just burst into narrative song. But what if they…

Letters from the Issue of June 5, 2008

Family Fun How do you say “rip-off” en español?: I read Janine Zeitlin’s article “Adults Only” (May 29), about the La Cosa Nostra Spanish TV show. It’s just a cheap, second-rate imitation of Family Guy. You notice it’s in the same 11 p.m. time slot, but Family Guy is so…

Vampire Weekend: Scary Name, Friendly Music

Sweet, I thought, upon seeing the band Vampire Weekend’s name online the first time. New cheese goth rock! From the first download, though, I realized I was so, so wrong. With their Columbia University pedigree, these guys were more Patagonia fleece than morbid black. And the music sounded, well, like…

Banana Republican – Transit Follies

When it comes to concocting bad government policy, Miami-Dade government officials are head and shoulders above everybody else. Last week, county commissioners Bruno Barreiro and Barbara Jordan floated the idea of asking voters to approve an additional half-cent sales tax to bail out the county’s mass transit boondoggle, otherwise known…

StreetWorks – Mural at the Margulies Collection

Jose D. Duran Mural on the side the Margulies Collection at NW 6th Avenue. So when I woke up last week to find a subject to feature, this was originally what I had in mind. The mural, on the side of the warehouse that holds the Margulies Collection, is located…

Throwback Tuesdays: Yngwie Malmsteen – “Rising Force”

I’ll be honest — I had more or less forgotten about Yngwie Malmsteen’s existence until recently, while riding in a car with a Swedish metal type. “So where does Yngwie live?” he asked out of nowhere. And that’s when I remembered — Oh yeah, that swifty-fingered guitar legend with the…

Letters from the Issue of May 29, 2008

Best? Give It a Rest Another great “Best of Miami” issue (May 15), with a few exceptions, but one glaring fairy tale of note: Best Criminal Conviction of the Past Year. Do you honestly expect us to buy this souped-up crock-o-crap? State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle is a political blowhard,…

Johnny Winton Speaks

The story went this way: Stuck at MIA en route to Houston, flyweight Miami Commissioner Johnny Winton gulped down 16 drinks — wine, whiskey, amaretto, and beer. Then he got loud. Delays stink, he carped. The airlines are worthless. A nervous gate attendant called the cops. When two very large…

Denny’s Adopts Rock Bands

Standing in a weirdly calm commercial kitchen and looking both bemused and amused, Taking Back Sunday frontman Adam Lazzara grabs a tray with two Polish sausages. Then he delivers an important message to the YouTube audience: “Make sure you check out DennysAllNighter.com!” Lazzara, you see, has just scored a coup…

StreetWorks – Sidewalk Art

Jose D. Duran Sidewalk on the corner of NW 28th Street and NW 6th Avenue. Waking up early this morning to realize I had nothing for this week’s StreetWorks meant I had to drag myself out of bed to find something to talk about. I hopped into my car and…

Banana Republican – Hart Burn

In this week’s New Times, I report on an internal investigation of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lt. Lisa Hart, who wasn’t showing up for work yet still getting paid. The investigation is based on an anonymous complaint filed with the Miami-Dade Police public corruption unit. Here you will find a copy…

Letters from the Issue of May 22, 2008

Best or No? In response to “Best of Miami” 2008 (May 15): I’ve noticed a trend in your yearly “Best Of” editions, especially when it comes to the restaurant listings. Whatever the “hot” restaurant or “restaurant-of-the-moment” is in a given category at the time of publication, it appears that particular…

Yo Majesty: “Kyptonite Pussy” and God

LaShunda Flowers, a.k.a. Shunda K, is simultaneously black, gay, devoutly Christian, and the writer of songs such as “Kryptonite Pussy” (refrain: “Yo’ punanny better make that moneyyyyy!”). And the founder of the Tampa-based electro-rap outfit Yo Majesty is totally, comfortably outspoken about all of these things. If punk was originally…

StreetWorks – Miami Design District

While by no means is this in any shape or form graffiti, this mural easily is one of the most identifiable symbols of Miami’s Design District. It has been there for what seems like forever, draped across the posterior of the building which is occupied by retail spaces selling expensive…

Throwback Tuesdays: “Hungry Like the Wolf”

How do you follow up a story on a Duran Duran concert? By hitting folks with a video to one of their most popular songs of all times–that’s how. When they first dropped this Indiana Jones like vid back in the early 80’s, it didn’t seem nearly as weird then…

Lulz for Monday: Some of the Best of the Worst Music Videos

So, who doesn’t want to gently easy into their Monday afternoon with a good 20 minutes of time-wasting bad Internet videos? The smartest YouTube searchers know that the site’s treasures are often found simply by typing “worst” whatever in the search box, or, for a grab bag, just “worst” itself,…

Letters from the Issue of May 15, 2008

The Language of Madness Carlos Suarez De Jesus’s article about outsider art, “Madness and Art” (May 8), was often beautifully written. But on these occasions, it was not: “The mentally ill”: I am not an advocate of this form, whether expressed as “the” Jews, “the” Blacks, or as a stereotype…

Potty Humor

Dale Spitler folds his arms across a fitted gold vest that’s complimented by a matching bowtie. Then the tall, stern-looking man with close-cropped blond hair leads me through a silicone valley of leggy girls with thongs stretched deep into their ass cracks. We end up in his workplace of the…