When Art Basel was imported to Miami Beach from Switzerland in 2002, the annual visual arts fair raised the profile of Miami’s already thriving creative community. But now that Basel is booming, and has become a lucrative international feeding frenzy for collectors, some of the locals are feeling left behind. What’s next for them, and for Basel?

Worldwide stardom beckons Amy Macdonald, whose debut album, This is the Life (Decca/Mercury), a collection of rolling troubadorian melodies laced with a touch of the gothic, has already sold over a million copies in Europe. Unlike another famous Brit bird named Amy, or even Macdonald’s fallen idol Pete Doherty, about whom she penned the lambasting track “Poison Prince” (layered with accusatory lines like: “You’ve given up, you’ve given in/ Another sucker of that slime”), Macdonald is not letting angst rule her life. Fresh from a Caribbean holiday and newly engaged, she is greeting the press in New York, and excited about seeing her idol -- Bruce Springsteen -- perform across the river in his home state. “It’s cool that things get started over here,” she says.

Brazilian Girls, New York City (Verve Forecast). As the title of their art-groovy third album suggests, Brazilian Girls make music for urban spaces: airports, nightclubs, deserted streets. The trio -- only one of whom is female, and Italian -- are residents of New York City but citizens of the world. There are songs here in four languages, about “St. Petersburg,” “Berlin” and a plethora of cities name-checked in “Internacional.” Riff genius, immaculate drummer and fashion diva: The Girls resemble Blondie more and more every year. And that’s a good thing. -- Evelyn McDonnell