News & Updates — Miami

The brand new record from Miami’s Spam Allstars is chock-full of tropical electro space-funk spiced with a heady dose of Cuban flavors. Instant Trans-Oceanic beach party! Download card with the extra bonus track "Agua de Poço" included! The six-piece Spam Allstars have been at the forefront of Miami's creative musical blending for twenty years. Founded by turntablist/producer/engineer DJ Le Spam to create electronic descargas, those compelling improvisational Latin jams, but this time with funk, electro & hiphop elements. Through the course of six albums, international touring, interesting collaborations with the likes of Phish side project Vida Blue and Rumberos de la Ocho, and a...

One of the Miami greats, Clarence Reid was a top songwriter and producer for many artists ("Rockin' Chair" and "90% Of Me" by Gwen McCrae, "A Woman Will Do Wrong" by Helene Smith, "Clean-Up Woman" by Betty Wright, "Sound Your Funky Horn" by KC & the Sunshine Band, "Freak In, Freak Out" by Timmy Thomas) as well as his own great cuts ("Nobody But You", "Masterpiece"). Really, there are just too many to mention here. Later he became the party-record superhero Blowfly, a persona he toured with until his death in 2016. Here's perhaps my personal favorite tunes he recorded...

Check out Jose Conde's new video! It's been a long time coming and the dream has been realized! Check it out. Ola Fresca bandleader and the project's visionary, Jose Conde: "In 1998, almost 20 years before the historic re-opening of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, I wrote a song called “Puente a Mi Gente” (Bridge to My People). Now, through the mediums of video and audio recording in a new arrangement of this song and a 6 minute video clip, the cultural bridge visualized in the song has been built! "Puente a Mi Gente" features Cuban musicians...

Among the many beautiful things about sound & music is that it can supplement your life's routine in so many different ways. Whether you look at (or hear or make) music as artistic expression, ritual, relaxation, protest, celebration, dance release, mathematical composition, entertainment, fashion, comedy or even as background sound, there is no wrong way to appreciate music. It fills our lives with joy or aggression, songs about love and hate, constructions of rhythm and noise, harmony or disruption. Only a high-minded snob will pooh-pooh somebody's artistic creation. (Although they are certainly out there, usually in the form of talentless...