Not since Simon & Garfunkel repackaged “El Condor Pasa” with English lyrics has a Peruvian export scored as much play in el Norte as 31-year-old singer-songwriter Gian Marco. Sure Susana Baca’s treatment of Afro-Peruvian tradition makes her the darling of the world-music crowd and alt-rock act Libido has been making…
Celebrities Are Different from You and Me Yes, they can skip the velvet rope: Regarding Brett Sokol’s “Kulchur” column last week (“Oops, She Did It Again!” April 25), what’s the big deal if underage Britney Spears goes to a nightclub? As if Brett didn’t know that everywhere in the world…
Sometime past midnight a heavily tinted black Mercedes pulls up to the gate of Circle House, the posh private North Miami recording facility owned by reggae veterans Inner Circle. The driver cracks the window and extends an arm to activate the intercom, his long dreads brushing across his dark skin…
Britney Spears is many things to many people. To her label executives at Jive Records, the midriff-baring singer is a recording artist who pulled in more than $35 million last year. To the advertising honchos at both Pepsi and the Dairy Council, she is the nymphet pitchwoman whose “I’m Not…
Everglades Restoration: It’s Now the Big Boys’ Game And the little guys are needed more than ever: Joe Podgor and his record as a leader in Florida’s conservation community are worthy subjects for New Times. But fundamental changes within Florida’s environmental movement in the early Nineties primarily account for Joe’s…
Few have led the life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll bigger or brasher than singer-songwriter Charly Garcia. Yet 30 years after his first bid as founding father of Argentine rock, the 51-year-old rockero is still as out of control as ever — and still recording as prolifically as…
Hooked: I Killed a Hammerhead But I was young and foolish and under the spell of Mark the Shark: I was glad to see Mike Clary finally bringing to the public the issue of killing South Florida’s sailfish and sharks (“Hooked on Death,” April 11). Many years ago ignorance led…
If you stand outside Miami Beach’s City Hall and listen carefully, you’ll hear the distinct sound of gnashing teeth, followed by the anguished turning of calendar pages. “We’re not doing anything other than Memorial Day weekend for the next two months,” groaned Christina Cuervo, Beach assistant city manager, at a…
Korda’s Last Will and Testament Desperate acts of a revolutionary with second thoughts? Kirk Nielsen’s excellent article on Alberto Korda’s photographs and the disputes over rights to his work (“Blowup,” April 4) was brimming with delicious ironies that mimic the Cuban revolutionary experience. Imagine my sense of naughty delight at…
The signs have been there. Urban marketers talk about “skate kids” rather than black kids. The Olympic snowboarders, America’s sweetheart punks, plug into the gnarliest music ever aired at that august competition. And then a soundtrack for the “extreme” video game SSX Tricky shows up in the mail: Run-D.M.C. throwing…
CORRECTION: On February 14 New Times reported on a plan to protect Miami-Dade County’s drinking water by levying a fee on the rock-mining industry. In the article, “Pollution Solution,” New Times noted that County Manager Steve Shiver scuttled the proposal after meeting this past July with a particular lobbyist for…
A Window to the World We at Radio Martí are proud to provide an opening in a closed society: Every year Kathy Glasgow rakes Radio Martí over the coals. I’m not sure what her deal is, but no matter who is in charge of running the station, Glasgow feels the…
Los Muñequitos de Matanzas are no strangers to Miami International Airport. These rumberos have been favorites on the touring circuit at U.S. college campuses and concert halls since 1992, and more often than not that means spending an hour or four at MIA, pushing carts packed with congas and costume…
“Is there a Banana Republic here?” Manolo Blahnik calls out to a nearby Neiman Marcus staffwoman inside the Bal Harbour mall. Turning briefly to Kulchur he gushes, “I love Banana Republic!” Then he begins hollering out again: “I need underwear! Can you go to Banana and bring me twenty pair?”…
As this year’s legislative session came to a close, lobbyists for Miami-Dade County’s rock-mining industry were up to their dirty tricks again. On March 15 an amendment was quietly added to House Bill 1535. It would have stripped local residents of the right to sue the industry for damage to…
Yes, I’m Ashamed of UM And yes, the sinner should pay, but don’t kill the golden-egged goose: I will admit I am ashamed of what happened at the University of Miami. I believe Andre Johnson, Hurricanes wide receiver and Rose Bowl co-MVP, should be suspended. I also think New Times…
Dean Fields and Emily Easterly never knew each other back home in ole Virginny, though both songwriters sat with a guitar on many a stool around Richmond and sang. Their paths didn’t even cross on campus at the University of Miami’s music school, where both enrolled last fall. The two…
All in the Family Feud The fire department, like the nation, is strengthened by dissent: Regarding Mike Clary’s article “Caution: Flammable Substance” (March 14), going against the status quo, especially after an act as despicable as September 11, always appears tasteless. Yet it is courage such as that expressed by…
Reading the warning that precedes ¡Caliente!: A History of Latin Jazz, I get the feeling that Luc Delannoy is ready for rocks to fly. “An author who lives in the United States and publishes a history of Latin jazz ought to have politically correct ideas,” he begins. “His survival depends…
MEMORANDUM March 7, 2002 To: Michael Satz, Kathy Rundle, South Florida prosecutors, police officers From: CES Re: Misplaced priorities It has come to my attention recently that you law-enforcement types have lost respect for a little something called the truth. No, this isn’t 9/11-related. Cops have been hassling reporters and…
Anonymous Annihilation Even football stars should know their detractors: Kirk Nielsen’s story about University of Miami football player Andre Johnson (“End Run,” March 7) had more quotes from ghosts than The X-Files. Next time you want to write a piece that butchers a twenty-year-old kid, Kirk, why don’t you get…
Guy Primus is what the Reverend Al would call one smart Negro. Elegant in his powder-gray suit and meticulous quarter-inch trim, the handsome young exec can whip through a PowerPoint presentation with the assurance of an Ivy League prof. He boasts two degrees from Georgia Tech. A Harvard MBA. Even…
