Articles by Jason Ferguson

Frame of ‘Mind’: A look back at Prince’s Dirty Mind 30 years later

10/14/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Throughout many artists’ careers, there are watershed albums in which the musician undertakes a stylistic shift that was both unexpected and revelatory.  And then there’s Dirty Mind.  Released in Oc...[MORE]

Personal planning: Attention to detail separates Beach House from the pack

10/7/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Beach House with Vampire Weekend,  the Very Best 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 11 Hard Rock Live,  407-351-5483 www.hardrocklive.com $35-$40 Like most people, Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand of B...[MORE]

Beyond the lighted stage: A born-again Rush fan gets on with the fascination

10/7/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Rush 1-800-ASK-GARY  Amphitheatre, Tampa Friday, Oct. 1 Like many suburban dudes of a certain age, I listened to Rush throughout much of my early adolescence. My difficult years coincided with...[MORE]

The other side of normal: Local art-rockers Telethon settle down and focus

9/30/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Telethon with Alias Punch, the Moon Is a Disco Ball, DJ Tanner, Thor Von Thunderbeats 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2 Stardust Video & Coffee,  407-623-3393 free There’s a long and storied histor...[MORE]

Hopelessly devoted: Young punk outfit Go Rydell get some help from heavy hitters

9/16/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Go Rydell with Rust Belt Lights, Let Me Run 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19 Hoops Tavern, 407-843-5618 free For a Florida punk band with a couple of short tours and a full-length album under its bel...[MORE]

The sore thumb: Deftones remain the one good thing to come out of nu-metal

8/26/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Deftones with Baroness 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27 House of Blues,  407-934-2583 www.hob.com $26.75-$28.75 It’s 2010. Nobody talks about Limp Bizkit, Korn or Papa Roach anymore except as a punc...[MORE]

Strangers among us: Local punks How Dare You withhold the local love for their own sake

6/30/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

How Dare You with Off With Their Heads, the Fake Boys,  Teenage Softies 8 p.m., July 1 Back Booth 407-999-2570 www.backbooth.com $8-$10 They’ve got a full-length album under thei...[MORE]

4th Fest: Both sides now : Orlando’s Great Deceivers take the light with the dark

6/30/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Despite their members’ time in several punk and metal bands, the Great Deceivers are pretty much the exact opposite of a local heavy-music supergroup. In fact, the formation of the band was about as i...[MORE]

Rhythm Nation 2814: Janelle Monáe’s new album makes art fun again

6/24/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Let’s get a few things out of the way here: First, Janelle Monáe’s The ArchAndroid is definitely the best album of 2010, probably the best R&B album of the past decade and almost certainly the sin...[MORE]

Putting some stank on it: Local garage rockers the Empyres pay mind to the genre’s R&B and dance roots

6/9/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

The Empyres with the Woggles, Slippery Slopes 9 p.m. Saturday, June 12 Will’s Pub, 407-898-5070 $10-$12 www.willspub.org Thanks to record labels like Norton and Crypt, the definition of ga...[MORE]

From the heart: Local veteran singer tackles world music

5/5/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Eugene Snowden & Liberation 44 with Rubox Cube, S.K.I.P. 8 p.m. Friday, May 7 Backbooth, 407-999-2570 www.backbooth.com $8 Liberation 44, the latest project from Legendary JC’s sin...[MORE]

DVDs Nuts!: Don’t overlook these lesser-seen OW-approved titles

4/7/2010 | By Justin Strout, Jason Ferguson

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans  This not-really-a-remake of Abel Ferrara’s seedy 1992 film stars Nicolas Cage as Terence McDonagh, a coke-snorting, hooker-banging Louisiana cop on...[MORE]

Personal finance: Former Florida legends Floor briefly reunite

3/31/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

Floor Below & Beyond Box Set (Robotic Empire) 9 p.m. Friday, April 2 Common Grounds, Gainesville www.commongroundslive.com $10 When bands reunite after years of inactivity, the reasons ...[MORE]

When ‘Alive’ committed murder: How Peter Frampton killed rock & roll

2/17/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

It’s a pretty common assumption that rock & roll – at least rock & roll in the form codified by the classic-rock giants of the late ’60s and early ’70s – is dead. That assumption is not un...[MORE]

Orlando’s Attack get that old feeling

2/3/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

The Attack Of Nostalgia and Rebellion (self-released) Orlando punks the Attack would have been hard-pressed to come up with a more perfect title for their (long-overdue) debut...[MORE]

The Summerbird in the room

1/20/2010 | By Jason Ferguson

The Tenant Is Listening EP “Visitors” 7-inch (New Granada) With apologies to the other three members of the Tenant, the first order of business here is: How does it compare to Summerbird...[MORE]

It’s in a box: Spend your gift cards from grandma on these comprehensive sets

12/24/2009 | By Jason Ferguson

It’s Christmas week and, just like every year, you’re in a complete panic. “What do I buy my music-fan friend(s) for Christmas?” you ask. “They’re in the record store/on iTunes/swarming a torrent ...[MORE]

Solving the ’09 problem: The decade closes with stellar last-minute considerations

12/17/2009 | By Justin Strout, Bao Le-Huu, Jason Ferguson

Historically, years ending in the number nine don’t bode well for music. In a way, it’s the screw-off year of each decade, the one in which musical tastes slacken with generic apathy, cultural exh...[MORE]

Anti-Pop: Passage to Indie: Your (nearly) complete guide to Anti-Pop

11/11/2009 | By Justin Strout, Jason Ferguson, Bao Le-Huu

Listen, we don’t have a lot of time or space (thanks … everything!) so here are the basics you need to know. It’s the Anti-Pop Music Festival’s fifth year. As far as headliners go, it’s all ri...[MORE]

More is more: Three members does not equal three instruments with the Low Anthem

10/28/2009 | By Jason Ferguson

The Low Anthem with Blind Pilot 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3 The Social, 407-246-1419 all ages $10-$12 ‘We drive sound engineers absolutely crazy,” laughs Jeff Prystowsky. Pry...[MORE]

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Film review: by Jason Ferguson | 6/11/2009

Man, inflation is a bitch. Back in 1974, when the original, Joseph Sargent–directed The Taking of Pelham One Two Three came out, the subway hijackers only wanted a million bucks for their trouble. ...[MORE]

Angels & Demons

Film review: by Jason Ferguson | 5/14/2009

You know how distracting and annoying it is when you’re at a movie and people just won’t stop talking? In the case of Angels & Demons, it’s the actors who seem incapable of keeping their mou...[MORE]

Hart Gore/Mean Man's Dream

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 12/18/2008

All too often, bands credited with being ahead of their time are, in fact, just making music that nobody really wants to hear. In the case of Dutch band Gore, the sonic sludge they produc...[MORE]

Heartbreaker

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 9/18/2008

In 2006, the debut album from this Lakeland combo blithely glided along the rails of danceable indie-pop that was so in vogue at the time. In the two years since the release of Some Midnight Kiss...[MORE]

Innovative Life: The Anthology 1984-1989

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 9/11/2008

He’s right there, between DJ Yella and Ice Cube on the cover of Straight Outta Compton, and you probably never even noticed. Arabian Prince only got one lead on Compton (“Something 2 Dance 2”); h...[MORE]

El Rey

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 5/29/2008

The marquee bit of news regarding the Wedding Present’s first new album in three years is the fact that Steve Albini is again sitting in as producer … sorry, engineer. Albini was on ...[MORE]

This is Love Psychedelico

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 5/15/2008

It’s never worked before, so why on earth should it work now? Shonen Knife, Pizzicato Five, Puffy Amiyumi … despite their ineffable charms, progressive Japanese pop bands have consist...[MORE]

Could We Survive

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 4/3/2008

“It appeals to the ADD in me,” says singer-songwriter and visual artist Joseph Arthur regarding his decision to release five records in 2008, and the Ohio native is only half-joking. A...[MORE]

Into Abaddon

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 1/31/2008

Into Abaddon picks up where Metallica left off – in 1985. That’s not to say this Oakland quartet is strictly emulating Hetfield & Co. Still, the unabashedly retro stylings on Savi...[MORE]

Till The Wheels Fall Off

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 1/17/2008

Last year, former Hot Water Music and current Draft bassist Jason Black told an interviewer in regards to a HWM reunion: “If we play again, it can’t be half-assed, and the first show s...[MORE]

Lead Music Review review: by Jason Ferguson | 12/27/2007

Who would have ever thought that self-righteousness would one day turn out to be right? That all those sanctimonious punk-rock pricks – we don’t need major labels to get our music out...[MORE]

We Will Gently Destroy You

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 12/20/2007

All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors was a well-regarded but horribly monikered group that unabashedly reveled in their shoegazing influences. The swooning miasma of sound they created during their ...[MORE]

Supawoman

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 12/20/2007

As a member of rising U.K. desi hip-hop crew the Sona Family, MC Hard Kaur made major waves with her turn on “Glassy,” a club-banging bhangra anthem devoted to the pleasures of getting p...[MORE]

Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 12/6/2007

The first thought that comes to mind with this two-DVD/one-CD summary of the Live Earth concerts is, “Something’s missing.” After all, this event took place on 12 stages in various...[MORE]

Tofutopia

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 12/6/2007

While Orlando-based Khann hasn’t (yet) taken to playing Wolves in the Throne Room–style shows out in forest clearings, the crustcore outfit’s path to acclaim has been decidedly di...[MORE]

DVD review: by Jason Ferguson | 12/6/2007

A horror movie based on the abuse at a prison-like “attitude-adjustment camp for troubled youths” starring Diamond Dallas Page (The Devil’s Rejects) and directed/co-written by T...[MORE]

DVD review: by Jason Ferguson | 12/6/2007

This hilarious “documentary” of the run-up to the 1992 New Hampshire presidential primaries is an incisive political film. Not because directors Kevin Rafferty and James Ridgeway deftl...[MORE]

Pixar Short Films Collection

Film review: by Jason Ferguson | 11/29/2007

In many DVDs, the commentary tracks and bonus documentaries are of interest only to diehard fans of the film. In the case of the Pixar Short Films Collection, the commentary and appended feature &...[MORE]

This Is England

Film review: by Jason Ferguson | 11/29/2007

Set against the backdrop of the financially and emotionally drained England of the early ’80s, This Is England is a tale of sweet, humane, well-rounded and entirely believable characters. Th...[MORE]

Sweet Earth Flower: A Tribute to Marion Brown

Recording review: by Jason Ferguson | 11/22/2007

Many fans of His Name Is Alive may be struck by the oddity of their favorite dreampop act delivering an album of cosmic free-jazz. But HNIA main man Warn Defever’s studio, Brown Rice, isn&rsq...[MORE]