The Disco Biscuits play on the final day of Ultra, Sunday, while two side projects play Saturday.

More: In Concert: How to survive Ultra

Last year, The Disco Biscuits’ appearance at Ultra Music Festival wasn’t quite what they wanted. Guitarist Jon Gutwillig broke his wrist just before the show, and he had to be replaced for the show by friends of the band. By all accounts, it was a good show, but it wasn’t the full experience expected.

So this time around, the band wants to fully immerse Ultra and Miami’s Bicentennial Park into the full Bisco experience, so to speak.

Not only will the Philadelphia-based group be playing a full set on the festival’s final day, but two of the group’s side projects, Conspirator and M80 Substation, will also be playing sets. And the Biscuits will play a post-Ultra party on Sunday night at Miami’s Grand Central club.

“It’s going to be nice to be able to slather Miami with the full Biscuit show,” said keyboardist Aron Magner in a telephone interview.
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By JORDAN LEVIN

One of the world’s major dance music weekends will split in two next year.

The Winter Music Conference and Ultra Music Festival, electronic music events that draw tens of thousands of dance-happy fans from across the United States and beyond for nights of parties with the world’s top DJs and electronic music acts, have set separate event dates for next March.

WMC will hold its event March 8-11. Ultra will stick to the end of March, but will expand from two to three days — March 25-27. Ultra’s producers made the announcement just hours after WMC announced its dates on Tuesday.

WMC was launched in Miami Beach in 1985 as a conference and forum for the then-obscure niche of electronic dance music. Over the years it has spun off hundreds of satellite events and parties, helping forge South Beach’s reputation as an international nightlife destination.

Robyn opens her show at the Fillmore Miami Beach. (Christina Mendenhall / rhythmscene.com)

Photos: Robyn at the Fillmore Miami Beach

There was once a time when Swedish electro-pop sensation Robyn was a direct competitor with the squeaky clean pop stars of the mid-90’s (namely a couple of girls named Britney and Christina). Since then, we have all learned that those girls aren’t so shiny and that although Robyn seemed to have disappeared of the planet (at least in the U.S.), she has continued to make music and evolve into the dance icon she is today.

Friday night, Robyn kicked off her U.S. tour at the Fillmore on Miami Beach. And although the crowd was a bit on the thin side, those who did who did show up were clearly there to dance their butts off.

By the time the uniformly dressed backing band took the stage, everyone in the venue seemed to rush forward just to be closer to the all the action. When Robyn finally emerged from the wings, I suddenly felt like I had been transported to a hopping gay club.
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Elly Jackson of La Roux performs at Fort Lauderdale's Culture Room. (Christina Mendenhall / rhythmscene.com)

Photos: La Roux at the Culture Room

What’s not to love about the U.K.’s latest electro-pop export, La Roux? The music is catchy and infectious and certainly dance-able. They are a “duo”, but there is one pretty clear (and pretty cute) face of the act, Elly Jackson. But there is just one tiny thing, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Last week, La Roux was in Fort Lauderdale to keep their promise to make it here after the show’s original date was cancelled due to Elly’s bout with bronchitis turned pharyngitis.

The sold out crowd showed up in full on La Roux gear complete with skin tight multi-colored leggings and over the top eye make-up. The nearly 50 minute set was packed with their entire catalog and plenty of love both given and received by Jackson. Everyone danced and sang along with every single song and the vocals from the crowd definitely overpowered Elly’s still healing voice.
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The original: Lady Gaga wears the 'meat dress' at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

Poll: Will you still wear a ‘meat dress’ costume?

The Lady Gaga meat dress is sure to be a Halloween hit this year, but butchers are warning against going “whole hog” — or steak, as it were.

Yahoo! reports that the “meat dress”, popularized after Lady Gaga wore a dress made of meat to the MTV Video Music Awards, is the most sought-after Halloween costume of 2010.

Butchers in New Jersey and New York had a slew of reasons not to construct a full-blown garment made of beef, including:

• sanitary concerns

• the chance it’d fall apart, with no connective tissue

• the price: depending on the cut of meat, it could run anywhere from $250 (according to NJ.com) to almost $2,000 (according to news.com.au).

• no insulation: meat gives you almost no protection from any weather elements.
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Kim Schifino and Matt Johnson -- aka Matt and Kim -- play a fun set at Fort Lauderdale's Culture Room. (Christina Mendenhall / rhythmscene.com)

Photos: Matt and Kim at Culture Room

“This is one of the most exciting shows we’ve played in a while, so thank you!” – Matt Johnson

For the past six years, Brooklyn-based duo Matt and Kim have been showering fans with their dance punk sweetness. When they hit Fort Lauderdale’s Culture Room for a sold out show Thursday, the confections these two created surely would’ve made Willy Wonka jealous.

It’s not a secret that Matt and Kim are known for their high-energy, hip-hop infused shows. And Thursday’s show was no different.

From the moment they stormed the stage and took their appropriate places on their special little platform in the center of the stage, the pair instantly elevated the fun meter. The entire set was littered with Matt doing handstands on his keyboard and Kim climbing on just about anything she could get to; including an epic walk across the hands of the crowd. Balloons with drawings of their faces were passed out to fans, and eventually, the Culture Room got lost in the sea of red, white, blue, yellow, and green.
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Kim Schifino and Matt Johnson, aka Matt & Kim.

More: Directions, nearby dining

Monday, Kim Schifino, the female half of the dance-pop duo Matt & Kim, reported on Twitter about a show in Oxford, Miss.: “Big Freedia just killed it on stage! I’m already sweaty & i haven’t hit a drum yet. These next few shows are going to blow my mind.”

And that’s perfectly OK with both Schifino and Matt Johnson, who pride themselves on putting on high-energy shows – something they’re hoping for Thursday when they play Fort Lauderdale’s Culture Room.

“Luckily, we’re the kind of band where our reputation definitely precedes us,” Johnson said in a telephone interview from New Orleans. “That was a pretty crazy show.”
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James Murphy leads LCD Soundsystem at the Fillmore Miami Beach. (Christina Mendenhall / rhythmscene.com)

Photos: LCD Soundsystem at Fillmore Miami Beach

They came wearing leopard print, studded dresses, combat boots, flannel shirts, and five-inch heels. They were from all walks of life and had the t-shirt to prove it. But Wednesday night, they all had one thing in common: They were all there to dance their butts off courtesy of LCD Soundsystem.

The more fans that trickled through the doors of the Fillmore, the more the energy in the building rose. James Murphy’s project was clearly one of the most anticipated shows from the past few months. And at the end of the night, many in the crowd were convince it was one of the best shows of the year.

Even though Murphy is responsible for nearly every sound on LCD’s three full-lengths, six other musicians appeared onstage with him Wednesday night (including Florida’s own Pat Mahoney). Throughout the set, the musicians would often switch off between the electronic driven instruments and more “traditional” ones like electric guitars. From cowbells to bongos to wood blocks, there were more instruments onstage than a full orchestra has in its arsenal. In bringing the LCD sound to the stage, Murphy’s show was well orchestrated. Each musician seemed to know their place and depend on their leader for direction.
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James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem.

More: Directions, nearby dining

Five things you should know about LCD Soundsystem, visiting the Fillmore Miami Beach on Wednesday:

• LCD Soundsystem is a one-man group on record only: James Murphy does sometimes tend to play every instrument and sing on his three critically acclaimed albums, but if you want to have a high-energy live show, you can’t do the same thing. So Murphy brings a strong group of solid musicians with him on tour, including Pat Mahoney on drums and keyboardists Gavin Russom and Nancy Whang.

• You might know Mahoney from before LCD: Mahoney spent time as a DJ in Orlando and Miami prior to his days as drummer with LCD. He said he enjoyed his time here and still loves to perform DJ sets from time to time, which he occasionally does with and without Murphy.

• Murphy’s in charge of his own record label: The LCD main man heads up DFA Records, along with co-founder Tim Goldsworthy. DFA’s other artists include Black Dice, Hercules & Love Affair, The Juan MacLean and Yacht.

• LCD is really close with Hot Chip: Even though Hot Chip is British and LCD is U.S.-based, these two groups are closely linked. Hot Chip’s Al Doyle has played with LCD’s live show, and DFA releases Hot Chip’s recordings stateside.

• Murphy says LCD is on its “last tour” and has released its “last album”: This Is Happening, which has received a lot of critical acclaim and hit the Billboard Top 10 when it was released, is supposedly the last full album for LCD Soundsystem, and he’s also stated in the past that this is LCD’s last tour. Prefix’s Andrew Winistorfer, who quoted BBC Radio’s interview with Murphy where he discussed LCD’s finality, surmises that Murphy started LCD well into his time as DFA boss, and that if This Is Happening is LCD’s last LP, Murphy’s found a heck of a way to go out on top.

By MICHAEL HAMERSLY

DJ/producer Ian Carey has really been around, starting in Baltimore in the early ’90s, living in Amsterdam, Spain and now West Palm Beach. But wherever he goes, he creates big-beat dance-floor bombs, spinning for huge house-music labels such as Hed Kandi, Ministry of Sound and Defected, and has sold more than 10 million records. Check out his anthemic sound Saturday night at SET, with Chicco Secci opening. Carey talked to Miami.com about his history and what we can expect from his set.

How did you get into DJing and production?
I grew up in the music industry, really – my father ran a live sound-reinforcement company, sound and lighting, so we toured all over the States with different rock and country bands back in the ’70s and ’80s. So I kind of grew up around music equipment and things like that, and I had a basic understanding from a young age, and the DJing thing kind of was easy to pick up after having that background.

How would you describe your sound?
Right now I guess house music, and my artist stuff would be in the commercial or mainstream house realm, where the goal is to make records that work well in nightclubs and also on radio.
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