A very cool venue on a very cool street is hosting the Christian faithful Saturday night, when local young believers are coming to Coastars Coffee Bar to make music and social justice. We'd go just to see how husband-and-wife team the Vegas and their flock blend in with the hipsters of Propaganda next door and the blues fans from the Bamboo Room down the street.

The show is in support of END IT, a coalition of organizations that work to disrupt and eradicate slavery in all its contemporary forms -- human trafficking, child labor, the global sex trade. Step one, and the purpose of the Coastars show, is to raise awareness, let people know that slavery still exists, with an estimated 27 million men, women and children in its grip worldwide.

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Ian Witlen

It seems like the majority of holidays these days exist for the sole purpose of playing on Americans' addiction to buying pointless things and feeding the hungrier-than-ever corporate beast. But not Record Store Day.

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Remember back in December when electronic veteran DJ Shadow created a stir in our social media feeds after promoters at South Beach's Mansion nightclub kicked him off the decks at his own headlining show, claiming his music was "too future" for the crowd?

The accomplished and unanimously respected DJ never got to finish his set, and immediately took to Twitter to make his stance clear: "I don't care if I get kicked out of every rich kid club on the planet. I will never sacrifice my integrity as a DJ...ever #AllBassesCovered."

That's where Proper Dosage's Gaurav Khanna, Rene Aguiar, and Eric Carbonell got the inspiration for their new monthly party, Too Future, which takes place every third Monday of the month at Original Fat Cat's in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Their goal is to bring underground roots, dubstep, and drum & bass sounds to Broward County.

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Is screamo the new classic rock?

Think about it. The genre is over twenty years old. In the '90s, "twenty years ago" was the '70s. And isn't that when the grand genesis of "Dad Rock" took place? Y'know, following the bloating of psychedelic rock into arena-sized blowcaine music, but preceding the sudden drop down into the sewer of punk. Are you following so far?

Good. Now we've got to figure out where a band like South Florida's emotional post-hardcore Secret Arms fits in.

We're thinkin' somewhere between City of Caterpillar and Moby Grape.


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Gruff stormtrooper of doom

I think it goes without saying that Serum is one of the best local hip-hop artists. Also one of the most prolific, he is rapidly winning in the "most likely to give it away for free" category.

See also:
- Download Serum's New Hip-Hop EP Daydream of Nightmares for Free
- Video: Serum "Brainstorm Troopah"

Case in point, here's a neat video directed by Fort Lauderdale's TheMayhemRevolution promoting the EP Daydream of Nightmares that he dropped (for free) back in June.

Stijn Beats produced this track, and it complements Serum's gruff vocals in a paranoiac sci-fi-synths kind of way that fits nicely with the Wellsian subject matter of cruelty and human interference.

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It goes without saying that in South Florida harbors a diverse pool of immigrants. We are in a constant state of flux, with different ideas anchored in life outside our world intermingling with our own. Many Diasporic communities meet in our little tip of the US, usually with excellent results.

Chilean-born DJ Manuvers has been calling this area home for a long time, as does glitch hop-bass scene queen Yarlen. It's no surprise that their new EP, The Drive Home, comes to us via Discos Pegaos, a digital label based out of Santiago de Chile. I can almost smell the Mapocho in it.

Just kidding.

What I do smell are some ambient, bassy concoctions that are perfect for the current and upcoming Florida summer heat. This album really does drive you home. And it does do in the way that a good mixtape gets the job done, or rather, works like an EP should: all killer, no filler.

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Yes, that's a sunglasses wearing pineapple

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Paranoid, jazzy, awesome.

Serum is rapidly becoming one of our area's most prolific hip-hop personalities. I'm talking Tupac postmortem prolific. He can't seem to slow down or isn't at all interested in taking a breather. That might not bode well for his cardiovascular health, but shit, we'll be reaping the benefits like gangbuster.

Here we find the young MC continuing his explorations into the darker side of hip-hop's possibilities. I sense a spiritual connection with Kool Keith and the exciting atmosphere of the underground hip-hop of the late '90s. I'm also a big fan of his delivery, which, given the muted gruffness of his voice, comes through like jangled hiccups from beyond.

That might seem a little weird, but it fucking works.

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