Skampida

MP3: Skampida — Casteneda

From Bogota to Boca Raton, Skampida has been performing its Latin-influenced ska sound since forming in 1998.

The band, which came together in Colombia, moved to South Florida 18 months ago. The aim was to play and land a record deal, said guitarist Juan Pablo.

Since arriving in the States, Skampida has performed more than 80 gigs in New York and South Florida. Its shows feature a diverse fusion of reggae and folkloric rhythms intermingled with hip-hop, punk, gypsy influences, cumbia and champeta.

Skampida’s energy hasn’t gone unnoticed: The band was voted best local rock band for 2006 by New Times.

Members were also nominated for best ska and reggae band and best live performances in 2004 by Shock magazine. The group won an award for best ska and reggae video from Much Music in 2005.

Pablo is joined by band members David Mujica on bass and lead vocals, Esteban Rivera on keyboards, Pedro Vega on saxophone and Nacho Segura on drums.

In between performances, the band is working on completing its second disc at what Pablo calls “a fancy studio in Miami.” Its first CD, Stereoblaster, was released in 2004. Visit skampida.com.

Alexx Calise

MP3: Alexx Calise — My Song

If music were a meal, then Alexx Calise’s childhood was like dining at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

“I was brought up with a smorgasbord of different artists,” Calise said. “My family is extremely musical. They raised me on blues, jazz, rock, new age, world music.”

Listening to her parents’ extensive music collection and watching as her dad played the James Bond movie theme on his guitar has greatly contributed to Calise’s career trajectory. A former entertainment writer for several publications, Calise is putting journalism on the back burner to pursue the life of a rock ‘n’ roller.

Calise describes her original compositions as a reflection of her persona — passionate, biting and with an edge.

“I write from life,” said Calise, whose musical influences include Buck Cherry, Aerosmith, Heart, Joan Jett and Stone Temple Pilots.

Calise is completing her debut CD, Morning Pill. She began writing songs for the album in 2003. Visit alexxcalise.com.

– Beth Feinstein-Bartl

Aboriginal

MP3: Aboriginal — Love Hate City

With influences ranging from Led Zeppelin to the Beastie Boys, it’s hard to put a label on Aboriginal.

“We don’t follow trends,” said Helms De Armas, drummer for the five-member band. “We’re making our own sound. It’s honest. There’s no mask.”

The Kendall-based group has been honing its sound for seven years. De Armas, who goes by the stage name Helms1, describes Aboriginal’s music as “urban experimental.”

Other members, and their stage names, are: guitarist Andres Morales (Mono), vocalist Miguel Kitrell (Discrete), bassist Rodolfo Keyloun (Habbibi) and Gianni Perocarpi (DJ Geography) on percussion and keyboards.

“We fuse hip-hop vocals with live instrumentals,” De Armas said. “There’s rock. There’s jazz. There’s Latin. There are so many different styles that we use. You can’t sum it up in one description.”

Whatever it is, Aboriginal intends to reach more listeners with plans to release its first CD this summer. The disc’s title, 4.656%, uses the address of their Miami recording studio.

“As a joke, we added the decimal point and a percentage sign,” De Armas said.

One of the tracks on the debut, Love/Hate City, is dedicated to Miami.

“It’s about what people perceive Miami to be and what Miami really means to us,” De Armas said. “It’s where we grew up and how we’re a bunch of musicians trying to make it in a city saturated with glamour and glitz. It’s kind of hard.”

Love/Hate City is on a three-song sampler CD the band gives away to fans at concerts.

“We’re pretty known for our live shows,” De Armas said. “I don’t think there’s a venue in Miami that we haven’t played.”

Aboriginal has ventured into Broward County, too. Past dates include Young Circle Park in downtown Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale’s Poor House.

On the Web, visit myspace.com/aboriginal.

– Beth Feinstein-Bartl

Zune.net | The Good, The Bad & The Queen – Artist Profile Page

The Good, The Bad & The Queen began life in the Aphrodisia Studios in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2004. Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) and guitarist Simon Tong (The Verve) had travelled to Lagos to record with veteran drummer and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen (Africa 70, Fela Kuti). Working with local musicians, the trio recorded an album’s worth of material. Back in England, Damon was finishing off Gorillaz’ Demon Days album and the project went on the back burner.

By the time they came back to it−and when Damon gave the recordings to producer Brian ‘Danger Mouse’ Burton−feelings about the record had changed. “When Brian came on board it really started to become, The Good, The Bad & The Queen. I started writing about this area−West London−and coming to define here and why I think it’s such a special place to live,” said Albarn.

The final collaborator to come in to the studio was Clash bassist−and West London native−Paul Simonon, and the album was finished by early summer 2006.

The result is a record specific to a place and a time but with a background that is geographically wide-ranging and stretches far back into a glittering musical past. The Good, The Bad & The Queen traces a journey from the English music hall tradition, over to West Africa for Afrobeat, zigzagging through the West Indies and its reggae and dub, back to England and London’s punk scene, all the while taking in a strand of British beat music from the ’50s right through to Britpop.

Preview and download their self-titled album, The Good, The Bad & The Queen, on Zune Marketplace today.

Dainamite and Gaby

MP3: Dainamite and Gaby — Quiero Sen

Dainamite and Gaby infuse their mix of reggaetón and Spanish hip-hop with bilingual lyrics and positive messages.

“I believe in having the music so that everyone of all ages can enjoy it,” said Julio Santiago (Dainamite). “I want to prove that music can be positive without cursing, denigrating women and talking about drugs.”

The men are both from Puerto Rico and now live in Miami. They merged their talents 8 months ago. Gaby Quintana provides vocals. Dainamite is the rapper, producer and composer.

“[Gaby] has an original voice,” Dainamite said. “I like that people are enjoying our music.”

Dainamite (pronounced dynamite) had been performing as a solo reggaetón artist for 12 years before deciding to team up with Gaby. The pair is working on a bilingual CD, due out early next year. It will include romantic ballads that have a Spanish/r&b beat written by Dainamite. The disc is being created at his production company and recording studio, YC Entertainment.

Fans can get a preview by downloading several songs from trackfinders.com.

Visit the duo at prfiestas.com, myspace.com/dainamiteandgaby and elhood.com/ycentertainment.

– Beth Feinstein-Bartl

Activities and techniques incorporating music stimuli play potentially rich and varied roles in therapy for people with autism. Relaxation Music therapy techniques can, for example, facilitate and support the desire to communicate ; break patterns of isolation and engage an individual in external experiences ; reduce echolalic responses impeding functional language use ; decrease stereotyped motility patterns ; teach social skills and facilitate increased language comprehension .
Music therapy provides relation with an instrument which could have been an obstacle. Digital Music and musical experiences provide immeasurable kinds of relationships which can be the key to successful therapy with autistic persons. As an individual progresses and relationships begin to form, music therapy provides an effective means of teaching social skills as well. With Free Music Download available online, it can be highly effective in shaping and reinforcing appropriate, social behaviors. Autistic people perceive sounds more easily or readily than verbal approaches. The awareness of digital music in relation to the individual’s own actions motivates communication.
As the autistic individual begins to display communicative responses, music can be used to encourage speech and vocalizations. Music therapy has also proved useful in reducing instances of noncommunicative speech patterns which impedes progress in learning functional language skills. Being one of the relaxation techniques, use of Music is initially aimed at decreasing these behaviours, or breaking stereotyped motility patterns.
The autistic individual can begin to exercise perceptual processes, and learn to relate to tactile, visual, and auditory stimulation through manual exploration of instruments. The positive effective responses of these individuals enhance their participation in other activities designed to facilitate social, language, and perceptual-motor functions. Music therapists contend that their Inner Peace Music settings are conducive to ensuring that the client is deriving pleasure from the experience. Therapy is not just a process of using an individual’s strengths to improve his or her weaknesses; it is also a process of refining and improving the individual’s strengths. For those autistic individuals demonstrating an aptitude for digital music, the world of online music can provide a socially valued arena for the expression of competence and the attainment of self-worth.

Dr Julie Trudeau invites you to enjoy her online music natural health products. JOIN her love affair with the philharmonic vibrations of the Music of the Spheres. Buy her digital Music online and make a big difference in your life!

To know more about digital music visit Dr. Julie