Miami Music Matters

One Man band TEEPEE shoegazes on south beach tonight at Kill Your Idol

Eric Lopez-Zareno is a man who does not know the meaning of the word idle. When the schedules of  his two Miami fuzz/garage/drone  bands (Electric Bunnies and Melted Sunglasses) aren't filling his dancecard, he performs on his own as TEEPEE .His solo work tends to be a little mellower than the full-on Velvet Underground rock of  his two groups, but the man does love to drone ala My Bloody Valentine or The Jesus & Mary Chain (if you hid most of their instruments).  

TEEPEE's stripped down shoegaze rock marks a break from the one man band genre, which is usually held down by amped up roots rockers like Bob Log III or the late Hasil Adkins. But in today's economy, what autuer can afford a rhythm section? It's a lot easier to throw a combo amp and a small keyboard in a car, and it certainly is a lot easier to split the money with yourself than with a band. And when Lopez-Zareno feels the need to play louder, he has his other acts to rock out with. It's a musical win-win.

Tonight TEEPEE is playing the "Rumble" party at Kill Your Idol (located at 222 Espanola Way on South Beach). As Lopez-Zareno is fresh off a solo US tour, expect a few new tricks in his repitoire. He has vowed on numerous occasions to never play the same show twice, so fresh off his first tour - the magic city should see how that mentality developed when it couch surfed accross America.

Earth, Wind & Fire Funk Up The Seminole Hard Rock Sunday Night

Sure, Rodney Dangerfield and his pal the gopher disco danced to "Boogie Wonderland" in Caddyshack. Sure, you've  cringed  as your unfunky aunt shakes her moneymaker to "Let's Groove" at every wedding you;ve attended since grade school. Yes, Earth, Wind & Fire are almost synonymous with "grown folks music" - that particular breed of 70s-80s classic R&B that gets played at Knights Of Columbus jams accross the country.

But to just pigeonhole the jazz/funk/r&b supergroup to their late 70s period is just plain wrong. EWF's early output was as funky as  D-Wade's sweatsock after practice - and they continue to kick out the jams while collecting awards along the way, the most recent being this year's induction into the songwriters hall of fame.

Sunday night at the Hard Rock I'm sure the disco ball will get a good workout as will several hundred pairs of platform shoes dusted off for the occasion. But if you're lucky, EWF will bust out their 1973 hit "Evil" or get "Mighty Mighty" on you. And then, if you are still able to walk without shaking your hips, you should find a witch doctor immediately, because you may be a zombie.

 

 

 

The Getback parties like it's 2001 Saturday night at Sweat Records

 

Back in the first few years of this century, Miami was blessed by an Argentine/Cuban punk band that combined Rolling Stones worship with Ramones-ish power pop. They called themselves Corky, because they thought having a  band name was retarded - so they named themselves after Corky, the lead character's name in  the TV show"Life Goes On."

After a while, they got very popular locally - and decided to shed their retarded name for the more serious nom de guerre "The Getback."  While this name allowed the Argentines in the band to allow themselves to take themselves more seriously,  it worked a little too well.  Life caught up with most of the quartet as they graduated college and got serious dayjobs - save for singer Jose Flores who grew out his moustache, joined the Crumbs and developed a lounge lizard/miami bass alter ego .

As the band members now reside in different cities around the world, they celebrate miami reunions with a recording session or a local gig - and Saturday night's fiesta  at Sweat Records promises to be another in their series of fun filled pogo-dancing affairs.

Here's a video of  The Getback's upcoming record "Mean To Be Mean"  which will be released on local label Livid Records in the coming months. It's a bit mellower and more introspective than their previous tuneage, but  it is reminiscent of  a Ramones ballad on one of their 80s albums.

 

 

Texas Hippie Coalition Bring Red Dirt Metal To Revolution Friday Night

 

The metal world has but a few rules in this post-everything era. The most important one is that for every tight panted, foo-foo hairball hanging on dearly to the early 80s, you must have a cowboy from hell.

But as Pantera, the original cowboys from hell, are no more due to the on-stage assassination of their late, great guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in 2004 - there were few worthy successors to fill Abbott's cowboy boots. Enter Texas Hippie Coalition, a band sprung from the same north texan red clay as Pantera and mining the same  thunka-thunka "groove metal" power chord sound, with a vein of southern rock ala molly hatchet thrown in. 

Friday night's show at Revolution marks THC's South Florida debut. It's the kind of gig all of Davie, Lake Worth and your local jr. high school stoner parking lot would have killed to see back in the 90s. So rip your jeans, go to your uncle's house, steal the keys to his mustang convertible and go get your rock on.

Here's a little acoustic taste of THC to prime your appetite (for destruction)

 

 

Public Enemy brings 'Fear of a Black Planet' to South Florida

Public Enemy, the powerhouse hip-hop group that has provided fiery political rhymes and hard-hitting boom-bap beats for 23 years, will take the stage at the intimate Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Sept. 17.

Currently consisting of authoritative MC Chuck D, court jester Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, DJ Lord, and of course the militaristic S1W troupe, the collective typically performs with a full band.

The show is part of a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of P.E.'s third album, Fear of a Black Planet, which spawned socially- and politically-charged anthems like "911 Is A Joke," "Welcome To The Terrordome," and their biggest hit, "Fight The Power," which also appeared in Spike Lee's 1989 film Do The Right Thing.

Despite Flavor Flav's reality show fame in recent years, Public Enemy tours are infrequent. You definitely don't want to miss out on this opportunity.

Tickets are available now at Ticketmaster for a very reasonable $24, even though pesky service charges will bump that price up by almost $10.

Ex Norwegian gives birth to "Sketch" tonight at Sweat Records

for the past two years, Miami Beach indie pop trio Ex Norwegian has marched to their own drummer. Through sweat equity, roadwork and the magic of the internet  they've  produced some decent results: making a splash at the 2008 CMJ festival in NYC, placing their music on MTV's The Real World (DC edition) and building up a healthy regional following.

Tonight, the threesome is having a release party at Sweat Records in Little Haiti to celebrate "Sketch" their second album. All ages are welcome to hear their post-pixies ear candy, which would have fit right in on 1990s college radio. Every once in a while they veer off into britpop land, which will further endear them to anyone wearing horn rimmed glasses.

 It's the kind of  catchy, inoffensive-but-cool guitar rock you can impress a library science major with - or give as a father's day present so pop can give NPR a rest in the car.  So return that lame tie, and pick up a copy of  Sketch tonight. Or you can order it at the band's webstore,

Less Than Jake Geeks Out At Florida Supercon

 
 

 San Diego's annual Comicon convention has made the world safe for sci-fi/horror/anime/comic nerds everywhere. No longer do they have to wait for Star Wars sequals and Star Trek conventions to wear costumes and speak in languages made up by computer analysts. Thanks to Comicon, there is a whole "con" movement, which has its say tonight at the Florida Supercon at the Doubletree Airport Convention Center starting tonight. It's a magical place where 19 year old Sailor Moons hook up with 50 year old balding comic shop employees in the hotel bar.

It's the perfect setting for Gainsville, Florida ska-punk superstars Less Than Jake  .LTJ burst out of north Florida in the early 90s  with an assortment of characters joining them onstage, from crossdressers, to ninjas to mexican wrestlers. They have always embraced their inner geek, and thus the moshpit in the convention center tonight may make for some of the best people watching in history. One-day passes for tonight are only $20, and on the way into the show you can get your picture taken with legendary wrestler the Iron Sheik or Wayne's World babe Tia Carrere. Party On!

Kaskade talks about Miami from Bonnaroo

Miami Herald video intern Gaby Izarra attended The 2010 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, where she got to chat with house artist Kaskade, a regular at Miami's annual's Winter Music Conference.

Here's her experience, in her own words and visuals:

The 2010 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival kicked off once again Friday with headlining acts that included the legendary Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, Jay-Z and Dave Matthews Band. Music artists of every genre performed in Manchester, Tenn.’s  90-degree heat among flocks of mud ridden fans.

This year an entirely new scene was introduced to the festival with the unveiling of a new stage—the Lunar Stage. Dance music artists, none other than Kaskade, Afrojack, LA Riots and Eclectic Method, took the stage as festivalgoers partied through the night until the music finally stopped in the early hours of each morning.

 Kaskade, a Miami WMC veteran, played his set well into the Saturday night festivities. The Herald caught up with him for an interview where he discusses his latest album, and some important lessons he learned in Miami. 

Against Me! laments teenage anarchy tonight at Sunset Cove Ampitheater

Eight years ago, Against Me!  singer/guitarist Tom Gabel was the poster boy for all that was pure about punk rock. Starting as a gutterpunk acoustic act with a homemade drum kit, the band exploded from DIY single act to Maximum Rock & Roll Poster Boys with "Reinventing Axl Rose" a ragged masterpiece  which included the sing-a-long "Baby,I'm an Anarchist.

But the honeymoon with punk's purity league was short lived, as Against Me! jumped to bigger labels, first to NOFX's Fat Wreck Chords, and then to major label Sire Records. Cries of "sellout" have followed Gabel since 2003, which have only inspired him to make his music as radio friendly as possible. The first single from Against Me!'s new record, "White Crosses" is  "I Was A Teenage Anarchist." The tune reflects on the police beat-down Gabel that radicalized him as a teenager in Naples, Florida. But now instead of calling for the smashing of the state, Gabel opines about his former politics being "too convenient" while the music video depicts one cop smacking him repeatedly with a baton.

While the lyrics to "I Was a Teenage Anarchist"  are soaked in nostalgia like a punk rock episode of  "The Wonder Years ("do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?" the chorus asks)  Gabel and company  milk the sentiment like champs and make the  recollected vision from blood soaked spectacles one might get in a WTO riot seem more rosy than crimson. 

  Tonight, Against Me! open for the Silversun pickups at Sunset Cove Ampitheater in Boca Raton. Anarchy in Boca Raton seems unlikely, but the slam dancing will make an excellent cardio workout for the Hot Topic crew. Sure, the kids might get a few scrapes in the pit, but it's better for them than sitting on the couch all night and hogging the playstation.

 

Tonight @ Grand Central: Poplife Celebrates Another Year Of Entertaining Hipsters With The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Tripping the light fantastic with the Poplife crew on their birthday, wouldn't be right unless they had some fresh musical red meat to throw on the barbie - and tonight's party has just that. Sure, Brooklyn quartet The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart may sound like an 80s throwback to the Cure/Jesus &Mary Chain / The Smiths school of wooing art school chicks with jangly guitars and morose vocals. But they are young, have a cute girl in the band, sing about shagging in the library stacks and make music videos with plushies.  That's good enough to release you from the call of a Blockbuster night. 

So get yourself on down to Grand Central (697 N. Miami Ave). Bring Barbara and Aramis a present for being such a good alternative music impressarios for 11 years. See if you can close the joint down with them. It's good for the soul, if bad for your liver.