Wondering what’s new in the Miami music scene? Sweat Records founder Lolo Reskin checks in with an update…

Things are looking particularly sunny for Florida bands these days.  A few years ago Jacksonville’s Black Kids made it big with their upbeat indie pop sound that recalled The Cure at their most playful.  Just before their atmospheric rise we had them play at our old “Circa Saturdays” party in November ’07 for a price that is now all but a memory as they’ve gone on to tour the world and play all the biggest festivals.

Recently, West Palm Beach’s Surfer Blood have started climbing the ranks.  A string of CMJ (College Music Journal) shows brought them a lot of new fans and some major press in the New York Times.   An 8.2 rating on the stingy-yet-influential Pitchfork website pushed them farther up the ladder and now they’re on their way to tour Europe and their fantastic debut “Astro Coast” has completely sold out of its first run of CDs and LPs.  We recently hosted Surfer Blood’s homecoming show at our weekly Fridays at The Vagabond party and a great time was had by all (pics here).

We also collaborated with FTL’s IronForge Press and Miami’s own aqua artists Morphologic to make a beautiful silk-screened art poster to commemorate the event – and yes you can pick one up at Sweat! So, J-ville…West Palm…it’s now only a matter of time before the hype trickles all the way down to the MANY amazing bands here in South Florida.  In fact, it’s already happening.  Here are just a few indications:

• ANR have a song featured in the trailer for the new Michael Cera film “Youth In Revolt”
• Cuci Amador of Afrobeta collaborated with Calle 13 for their massive hit “Electro Movimiento” – the album went on to win Best Album at the Latin Grammys and the video has been viewed nearly 3 million times on YouTube!  Afrobeta will also be playing a headlining slot at March’s Ultra Music Festival
• Rachel Goodrich’s “Lightbulb” was featured in a national television commercial for Crayola’s Glow Dome toy
• Members of ¡MAYDAY! can be seen rocking out as Lil Wayne’s band in the video for his hit “On Fire” (video outtake here)
• Dancefloor composer extraordinaire Panic Bomber was featured in Trax, France’s largest electronic music magazine

Not to mention people like Otto Von Schirach, Blowfly (the naughty alter-ego of Miami soul singer Clarence Reid) and others who, while not overtly famous here, still pack shows in Europe and all over the states.  At Sweat we’re also FAR outselling local releases over national titles and seeing an overall heightened interest in these bands from our backyard, as it should be.

Last year the NY Times ran the article  In South Florida, a Tropical Bohemia in the Makings, which put a spotlight on a few of these artists and some local musical institutions.  As Michael-John Hancock of ANR said in the article, “I have faith that eventually the international respect being paid to the art scene will carry over to the music scene.”  Couldn’t have said it better myself.