1 MASHA QRELLA

Unsolved Remained

2 KEREN ANN

Nolita

3 BOOM BIP

Blue Eyed In The Red Room

4 JENNIFER GENTLE

Valende

5 AMON TOBIN

Chaos Theory

6 STARS

Set Yourself On Fire

7 PATRICK WOLF

Wind In The Wires

8 ADAM GREEN

Gemstones

9 SAM PREKOP

Who’s Your New Professor

10 REGINA SPEKTOR

Soviet Kitsch

– Chris Bennett

General Manager, WVUM 90.5 FM

Reality off the courts

Whether on or off the courts, tennis stars Venus and Serena get a lot of attention, and with their new six-episode reality show airing on ABC Family in July, they will be receiving even more. The show will focus on life outside of tennis, showing Venus and Serena with their friends and family. How cute.

Trying so hard to be pc

IMAX has recently rejected a film for viewing in several Southern states about volcanoes because the company is afraid that its references to evolution will offend some of the religious IMAX viewers. Hello? They paid to watch it!

Deaths

Foghat’s guitarist Rod Price died Tuesday at 57 after falling down his stairs. Yikes.

Attorney Johnnie Cochran, known for defending O.J. Simpson, died Tuesday of an inoperable brain tumor. He was 67.

Addicted

So a year after checking into rehab Whitney Houston has submitted to drugs and again returned to rehab. It’s hard to get drug-free, but when you have all those people working for you, can’t someone help?

“Sakpase” is the first thing in a dialogue between two Haitians. Although in Miami people often speak Haitian Creole, little do we understand of the heritage behind this dialect. For those who don’t know, “sakpase” stands for “what’s up.” It’s also the name of Wyclef Jean’s new record label.

After proving himself as a hip-hop artist, Jean has devoted his career to increasing Haiti’s meaning in U.S. culture, paving the way for emerging artists to do the same. One of Miami’s hottest entertainers, Mecca, a.k.a Grimo, has followed Jean’s footsteps with The Creole Hip-Hop Movement. “It’s about time we are respected in whatever it is that we do,” Mecca says. “Haiti’s history is so relevant to this world but the media only lets you see the negative aspect of life in Haiti.”

This light-skinned, multi-talented artist, who has been emceeing since the age of eight, performed at Planet Kreyol’s Mr. and Ms. Planet Kreyol pageant last week. Pursuing his passion in both poetry and rap, he has found a medium to deliver diverse material to the market. The versatility that Mecca brings to the hip-hop world is a breath of fresh air. Although his focus is to cater to the Haitian and French-speaking Caribbean audience, he blends popular rap hooks to his Creole lyrics that attract any audience.

“Nobody will listen to a new artist who brings material in a totally different form,” he says. “By mixing the top 10 hits to my lyrics, the American audience is more receptive to the track, and before you know it, they lean back and two-step.”

His first LP, Kreyol Konneksyon Mix CD Vol. 1, has hooks from 50 Cent, Lil’ Jon and Fat Joe-with a Caribbean flavor. The album also features Wayne Wonder, Pitbull and Wyclef-creating a blend of West-Indian and Latin vibes which have become popular in Miami.

Mecca displays his spoken-word talents in Mecca: Pharaoh to Thug, where he reveals his political consciousness and hopeful spirit on Haiti’s unstable situation: “We as a people need to encourage awareness and some type of solution to help build Haiti forward to the great country it once was,” he says.

More information on The Creole Hip-Hop Movement can be found at www.meccaakagrimo.com.

Nathalie Guillaume can be contacted at n.guillaume@umiami.edu.

As engaging, entertaining and visually-stunning as Sin City is, it feels like something audiences have seen too many times before. Maybe “seen” is the wrong word, since the visuals of the film are by far the best thing about it. More accurately, they have experienced it all before. The plot, characters, rugged action scenes and absurd surroundings are underwhelming as far as the wow-factor goes. At the same time, most people should leave feeling thoroughly entertained and satisfied.

Sin City is a good movie, but many of those awaiting what they hope will be a masterpiece are going to be disappointed. All signs pointed towards it being great. The trailers were exciting, the cast nothing short of amazing, and the comic book it’s based on is an underground favorite.

Director Robert Rodriguez (Desperado) begins the film with a short, dialogue-heavy scene between two characters, as if to tease the viewers who came expecting action. After this short, which is not connected to the rest of the film, comes the beginning of the story. To go into plot details would take forever, given the Pulp Fiction-like feel of the interconnected stories and time-jumping. The basic story deals with revenge, and although it is exciting and fun, it doesn’t come close to the other big recent action revenge film, Kill Bill.

Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino is a friend of Rodriguez, and actually served as a guest director on parts of Sin City. His influence is crystal clear, whether it’s through campy dialogue, absurd action, or even the casting. Tarantino favorites Michael Madsen and Bruce Willis both factor heavily into Sin City, while Antonio Banderas, a Rodriguez standard, is absent.

Even those unimpressed by the ensemble cast and Rodriguez’s previous work had to be interested in the look of the trailers. The film is almost entirely in black and white, except for a few spots of dominant color, like red lipstick or a shiny car. The technology that allowed Rodriguez to do this was revolutionary when he took on the project. Unfortunately for him, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow got an earlier release than his film and utilized basically the same visual style. Sin City is a slightly better film than Sky Captain but loses some of the visual shock factor because of coming out second.

Sin City struggles with its plot and writing and lacks the punch it needs to really stand out on its own. Most of the actors do a good job, especially Mickey Rourke in what will hopefully be his comeback film. But the stories often get so scattered that they lose their appeal, and no matter how cool the film is to look at, it has to be able to back that up as well.

Sin City’s biggest problem is that it sets itself up to be too good. Some good-not-great movies can take their best scenes or best attributes and make an amazing trailer out of them. By doing so, they might build more excitement, but they are setting their audience up for a letdown. Minus the hype, Sin City is a very enjoyable, well-crafted, comic book action film. But no matter what comic book fans might want to believe, it’s not the visionary masterpiece it has made itself out to be.

Shawn Wines can be contacted at s.wines@umiami.edu.

For anyone who likes to keep up with the local fashion scene, Funkshion, Miami’s very own fashion week that occurs in the fall and spring, is the event to attend. Original, creative and used as a platform for emerging and established designers, Funkshion has evolved into a successful event that hasn’t failed to establish Miami as hotspot for fashion.

Coinciding with Winter Music Conference, M3 and other Miami events, Funkshion didn’t fall short, even with so many competitive heavyweights. Capturing the attention of talent, celebrities and local Miami fashion lovers, this year’s Funkshion was unlike any other showcase of runway shows, held specifically in a pod on the beach-yes, the actual beach. Combined with the free samples of Caron, Phyto and usual sponsor Perrier, fashion mavens, models and press were buzzing before the doors even gave access to the all white runway showroom.

As fashion goes, one season ahead of the current, the varied array of showcased designers debuted their fall collections. Presenting designers from almost every fashion style, the four-day event provided at least one statement for every flavor, specifically night three which featured a mix of emerging and established designers.

Rebecca Minkoff, whose designs are fun and flirty yet fantastically classy, personally presented her fall collection which included classic pantsuits, sleek dresses and unique and stylish jackets.

Emerging designer Indashio presented his collection entitled “Rags to Riches,” using tracks by Jay-Z like “It’s A Hard Knock Life” and Gwen Stefani’s “Rich Girl.” The choice of music not only reflected the creations on the runway, they also demonstrated the fusion of music and fashion that Funkshion has boasted about since the very first show in 2002.

Continuing the fashion expos

Pulsing beats could be heard from Brickell Avenue even before rave culture kids and techno die-hards reached the gates of Bayfront Park, amping adrenaline. Ultra, North America’s largest music festival devoted entirely to techno, enveloped the Bayside area last Saturday with 10 stages of pure electronic beats and self-mixed grooves from renowned DJs.

Gates opened at 11 a.m. and the event continued until midnight; the 10 stages divided into the amphitheatre, the sound stage, the future sound of breaks, and other areas, showcased the sounds of Pete Tong, Hybrid, Carl Cox, Tiesto and headliner Moby.

Attracting a wide crowd, the sea of bodies comprised of extremist ravers, South Beach club-goers, ecstasy addicts and seemingly normal techno lovers. All swaying to the beat of the music, some chose to relax on blown-up air mattresses on the lawn, others chose to writhe and jump wave their hands with strangers and friends.

As for the artists, there were over 50 acts, spanning levels of experience, levels of fame and differences of style. As a main attraction of the festival, Paul Oakenfold, Junkie XL, Tiesto and Paul Van Dyk played at the amphitheatre, just as the stun was beginning to set.

Sunlight dimming and special effects lights going wild, Paul Oakenfold took the stage at 6:00 and played for over an hour and a half, switching from slow to fast beats, keeping the crowd energetic. At 7:30 Junkie XL took the stage and aside from his showcase of music, the video background played on gigantic screens was nothing short of a trippy, mystery flick. The wild eyes of the writhing body of the woman in the video kept many people in the crowd transfixed.

All the same, while some were tripping on acid or experiencing the music through ecstasy, headliner Moby put on an excellent show. Switching from electric guitar to vocals to bongo drums, Moby displayed his versatility and talent as an artist. Playing his hits, such as “Southside” sans Stefani and even debuting some new tracks from his new release Hotel, Moby wooed the crowd with just a few notes.

An utterly incredible and unique experience, Ultra is an event that no Miami resident should miss. Whether a die-hard techno fan or just a music lover in general, the beats are general enough that anyone can get into the feel and “move ‘ya body.” Even so, the crowd, the music, the ridiculous nature of watching people on drugs? Well, that’s entertainment.

Joanna Davila can be contacted at j.davila1@umiami.edu.