Just kidding about the title. Gingrich will never win.

​

Campaign songs aren't anything new. In 1960, JFK used Frank Sinatra's optimistic "High Hopes" during the elections. In 2000, George W. Bush attempted to use Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" (that is, before Petty wouldn't back down on not letting him use the song), Survivor's suing Gingrich for using "Eye of the Tiger," and David Byrne sued Charlie Crist for using "Road to Nowhere." And those last ones are just a few of the many Republicans who've been rejected by the music community.

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​So here we are in the dying days of summer vacation, and if you get paid like some of us around these here parts, chances are your "getaway" these past few months has been on the couch, compliments of your basic cable subscription. We feel your pain and hear your desperate cries for something new so well that we will aid your at-home vacay by sending you out musically to the mysterious and exciting continent of Africa! Exotic? Yes? Gonna cost you an arm and a leg? No.

We here at County Grind appreciate the value of the hard-earned dollar, and through the miracle of the internet we can go back and forth for pennies on the FPL bill. Enjoy a musician for each finger on your right hand that can take you directly to Africa!

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Look at this big ass map!!!

​The economy is in the toilet, and it feels ever-worse waning days of summer. County Grind knows full well how great it is to get away, but since most of us lowly scribes can afford only an armchair and the local library's "travel" section, we bring you the stickiest days' first Musical Staycation Destination: Asia!

Ahh... Asia, the largest continent on the planet, is generally not known for its music. OK, call up your nearest fanboy or otaku and they'll tell you all about anime music and J-Pop shit, but truth be told, Asia is made up of Arabs, Israelis, Turks, Uzbeks, Georgians, Armenians, Chinese, Laotians, Cambodians, Mongolians, Russians, and so many more ethnic groups worth visiting -- via the interwebs, anyhow. Let's have some fun with their music via these five artists!

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​Back in 1978, this sort of story would be no big deal. According to (possibly heavily revisionist) history, the music business used to be a sea of indulgence, hot tubs and all-you-can eat soft serve. Today, rock journalists can only experience such debauchery (and water slides) alongside retirees and young families in places like the Carnival Imagination.

Sure, the inaugural Bruise Cruise featured the talents of the Black Lips, the Vivian Girls, the Strange Boys, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Surfer Blood, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Turbo Fruits, and the Jacuzzi Boys, as well as fine DJ work by Jonathan "New York Night Train" Toubin -- but the success and intrigue of such an event hinged more on how the 380 people trapped on the boat interacted as a whole and with the rest of the passengers.

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Flickr: Nature Snooper

Def Leppard's Phil Collen sure wields a lot of guitar

​No offense to our sister paper, but hey Orange County, Calif.: Sucks to your assmar! When rock music legends want to get married to costume designers 10 years their junior that they met on tour, they naturally gravitate to (where else but) glitzy South Florida.

That's what happened Friday, when Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen, 52, married Helen Simmons at the Palm Beach Ritz-Carlton. The couple met during Def Leppard's 2008 Sparkle Lounge Tour, and live in California's OC.

In attendance at the swank beach wedding?

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The front and back of Fela Kuti's 10-inch EP, which was a Record Store Day exclusive

​Saturday was the absolutely perfect day to run around, buy records, drink a moderate amount of Strongbow cider, and consume a cornucopia of live music. Except: impressive Record Store Day events were planned for both Radio-Active Records in Fort Lauderdale, and Miami's Sweat Records, and there are 27.5 miles separating these two fine establishments. Who needs speed limits, anyhow!

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Countless videos of the Paul McCartney show went up on YouTube almost immediately after the concert. Most of the best come from user dsmpaul, who seems to have been sitting somewhere in the first few rows, and who seems to have uploaded damn near the entire concert in song-by-song clips. More >>

Okay, okay, so this is the last time we'll blog about Artopia for now -- we just really want you to come to the next one, if you missed this time. (We'll give you presents.) Miami New Times' event last Thursday at the Freedom Tower was packed -- who knew people loved free booze and food so much? And between all the chewing and swallowing, there was plenty of visual art, fashion, attention-seeking goths in costumes performance art, and music to check out. Seems like the music part especially freaked out the squares a bit. Otto von Schirach's headlining set was cut short, for unclear reasons to which nobody really wants to admit.

Here's a little clip summarizing the festivities. The local artists you hear during the video are:

0:00 - 1:00: Afrobeta
1:00 - 1:25: BFGF
1:25 - 1:35: Brimstone127
1:35 - 2:35: Afrobeta
2:35 - 3:35: Otto von Schirach

The next Miami New Times event is a Tweet-Up social networking party for all of our friends, fans, and followers on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. It's from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Playwright Pub on South Beach, 1265 Washington Ave. For those two hours it's open bar, so be over 21. See you there.

via @loveonedove

​Over here at Crossfade, when we're home alone, chained to our computers and wasting away from lack of food, booze, and human company, we like to live vicariously through Twitter. (It's also good for checking when to actually pay attention to some long, boring crap like the Grammys.)

And so it was that while Nouvelle Vague was serenading Little Havana last night with its global-lounge versions of post-punk, we hit the tweet crack for the scoop. For just 140 characters a pop, we felt like we were really there. And we learned to be even more paranoid about leaving our cars near the Manuel Artime Theater. (Sorry, @GoEddy.)

Follow us on Twitter at @Crossfade_SFL and let's all procrastinate en masse. Here's a timeline of the evening, thanks to people we stalk follow. One particularly industrious tweeter even uploaded videos practically in real time (see below). From all us shut-ins last evening, thank you.

6 p.m.:

@RoBerTWEETo: http://twitvid.com/D94B4 At theater and look what I bumnped into. Checkout the marquee! Nouvelle Vague w/ Liset Alea

9 p.m.:

@lizawalton: Opening band for Nouvelle Vague is amazing! #RhythmFoundation @marciamartinez http://tweetphoto.com/11632477

@loveonedove: Nouvelle vague lead singers are so quirky & cute! I feel like I'm in the 60's. http://twitpic.com/13oul8

@kevinlcoster: At nouvelle vague! Great, small venue, but smells funny in here!
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While most of the city was freaking out over the Super Bowl, some other legends were in town on Friday night: Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, formerly of the Grateful Dead. In a pretty unusual booking for downtown Miami, the two touched down at the recently revamped Bayfront Park Amphitheater to kick off a tour by their band's current incarnation, Furthur. If you missed it, no worries -- this is a Dead-related band, after all, and taping has evolved into recording video for YouTube. Check out our review of the gig, which includes a full set list, and watch these fan snippets from the show.

From YouTube user RootsLvr, here's a bit of "Terrapin Station," with John Kadlecik of the famous Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra.


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