With soaring Bono-like arena vocals and ’80s electropop and rock production sprinkled in with alternative hip-hop sounds, Mr. Hudson’s Straight No Chaser, his sophomore release and first for Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint, is a solid introduction to the British musician for American audiences. Continue reading
Kid Cudi is depressed. The skinny jeans-wearing Cleveland rapper and singer is all doom and gloom on his debut solo album, the brilliant Man On The Moon: The End Of Day, a psychedelic trip into the mind of a 20-something going through his quarter-life crisis. Continue reading
Jay-Z has nothing left to prove in hip-hop, or even music. And he spends much of his time on The Blueprint 3, his 11th studio album, making sure we know that.
Jay-Z’s raps have been on a decline for years, and as with most of his albums, The Blueprint 3 is a mixed bag of innovative and uninspired, although as usual, the good outweighs the bad. Continue reading
From The Miami Herald’s blog, Miami Music Matters
In its first South Florida performance in almost two years, California-based alt-rock group Incubus blasted through a 90 minute set of its biggest hits, fan-favorite album cuts, and a few rarities, despite less than stellar sound.
The first show at Bayfront Park Amphitheater in downtown Miami since a multi-million dollar makeover, the venue’s sound was flat and low — not ideal for a rock and roll show. The band’s songs, which are known for transitioning from whisper-quiet to in-your-face loud, were overly equalized, lessening the impact of the the music’s dynamic range and singer Brandon Boyd’s soaring vocals. Continue reading
From the August 17, 2009 issue of The Miami Herald (web / print)
What do you do when you’re an extremely talented artist who was on the verge of superstardom, but instead fell victim to music industry politics and settled for a small, loyal Internet-based audience? Start a supergroup with three other underdogs, of course. Continue reading
Adrian Ruhi 