After Having Leaked In December 2010, The Official Video For Kanye West’s “Monster” Has Finally Been Issued
Way back in December, the video for Kanye West’s “Monster” was mysteriously leaked online. People immediately complained about the gory nature of the clip for what is unarguably one of the strongest cuts on “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” (it features Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Justin Vernon).
Well, the clip has finally been released in its official form. And you can watch it below. But if you found the leaked video hard to stomach, just keep your distance – the finished video for “Monster” is even gorier than the clip we all had watched last winter. Heads falling from shoulders are the least shocking thing you will see here.
In fact, Kanye went as far as to add a disclaimer that goes “the following content is in no way to be interpreted as misogynistic or negative towards any group of people. It is an art piece and it shall be taken as such.”
OK, you’ve been warned. If you’re not the faint-hearted kind, check the video now:
There’s something that I have always wondered… just what did happen to Igor (the blue donkey that acts as Winnie The Pooh’s dear friend) to look so despondent? I mean, the poor thing looks as if a meteorite the size of Australia hit him squarely in the forehead and his brain fell out his left ear.
My theory is that poor old Igor listened to Tom Petty’s “She’s The One” album and his faith shattered. Like mine did when I listened to it. Because it wasn’t a proper album by any stretch. Petty had just two truly good songs which were “Walls” and “Angel Dream”. And to be fair, they were not just good – they were plain terrific. The things is, he built absolutely everything around them. The rest of the album is just the lapse of time that lies between these two songs. Or these four songs, to be more accurate – Petty included two different versions of each to pad the album out. And that was just atypical, not to mention disheartening. He had never done something like that before.
Well, last night it looked as if I was going to finally review “She’s The One”, and such a prospect was not really an upside one. Because I adore Petty, and I would hate having to pan him. Yet, a sudden twist of fate brought me into contact with the guitarist and singer from Suburbio [Suburb], a Uruguayan band with a tight, nice take on rock fusion. The guy’s name is Nicolás Sanchez, and he has just finished recording his first solo song. It is called “Lejos” [Far Away], and it is a nice acoustic track that stands as an interesting stylistic detour from his work with Suburbio. It is going to be part of his first solo album (which he is going to begin recording on November).
And around August, Suburbio is also meant to start working on its first album. (Listen to the band here.)
Below you can listen to “Lejos”. I have attached both the original lyrics and a translation into English.
Oh, and by the looks of it I am more likely to win the Wurlitzer prize than to review “She’s The One” now. I will review “The Last DJ” instead. Which is spotty by all reckonings. But at least it is an actual album.
LEJOS
Lejos de todo lo que no me hace bien.
Prefiero escaparme, no quedarme a ver
Lejos cierran las heridas del ayer
Pero las marcas no se borran de la piel
En la distancia encuentro aire otra vez
No siento el frío y me acostumbro a estar bien
Era verdad el tiempo nos hizo mal
Hay cosas que nunca se pueden arreglar
Era verdad el miedo nos hizo mal
Hay tantas marcas que no se pueden borrar
En mi balanza pierde peso lo que das
Estando lejos no se si quiera regresar
La soledad regala calma otra vez
No siento el frío ya no quema en la piel
Era verdad lo que brillaba ya no brilla mas
Algunas luces se terminan de apagar
Era verdad lo que quemaba ya no enciende mas
Algunas cosas no se pueden arreglar
Es que ahora entiendo no esta mal
Salir a respirar
Verme de afuera es ver lo que sentí
Es que ahora entiendo no esta mal
No querer regresar
Verme de afuera es ver como seguir
Intento seguir…solo intento seguir.
FAR AWAY
Far away from all these things that do me no good
I choose to run away rather that keep on watching
Far away yesterday’s wounds can heal
Yet the scars do not fade from your skin
In the distance I can find air once again
I feel no coldness, and to feel nice is OK
It’s true, time did us wrong
Some things can never be fixed
It’s true, fear did us wrong
There’s so many scars that you can’t erase
What you can give weighs nothing on my scales
I’m far away, and I don’t feel like coming back
Solitude gives me calm once again
I don’t feel that coldness which could burn my skin
It’s true, what was shining now no longer shines
Some lights go out once and for all
It’s true, what was burning now can no longer start
There’s some things that can never be fixed
Because now I understand, there’s nothing wrong
In feeling what I felt
To look at me from the outside is to feel what I felt
Because now I understand, there’s nothing wrong
In not wanting to come back
To look at me from the outside is to see how to carry on
I try to carry on… I just try to carry on
"A Treasure" Is Neil Young's Latest Album. It Covers His American Tours of 84/85.
Canadian legend Neil Young is releasing a live album on the 14th of June that chronicles his US tours of 1984 and 1985. Named “A Treasure”, this album is going to feature six previously-unreleased songs, making for a total of 12 tracks of the master singer/songwriter at the top of his game.
This is the first video to have been distributed to promote the album. The song is “Amber Jean”, and it was performed live on Nashville television on September 24, 1984.
Despite What Some Think, Spotify Isn't Coming To Facebook Yet
The rumor that Spotify and Facebook have become partners has been spreading like wildfire. And it has also been written off for what it is – a rumor. According to what some people have been saying, Spotify has partnered with Facebook, and users of the social network will shortly be able to stream music right from their profiles by merely clicking a button.
Sounds good, right? Well, but it is something that is not happening until Spotify launches in the US. As you know, Spotify is striving to appease record companies in the States so that it can (finally) bring its services to Americans. It has begun taking measures that have met with acrimony such as limiting the access people can have to music for free, for example. But that hasn’t been enough – it is said that two major record companies are still reticent to give the European streaming service the go-ahead to land in America.
Until that happens, you can rest assured Spotify isn’t coming to Facebook.
A new Uruguayan record label has launched. It is named NADIEQUIERE Discos (official page here, Facebook fan page here), and it has some bands I already covered on MusicKO (such as Casablancas), and other bands like The Bear Season that I’ve always meant to review but that are still on the pipeline because I’m as peripatetic as Ryan Adams. You know, I actually look a lot like Ryan – the only differences are that he has tons of hair, that he can sing and that he can play guitar. Oh, and that he has dated Winona Ryder.
The label also has a good handful of artists that are completely new to me, which isn’t surprising because (as those fabtastic Swedes sang) “I’m living in a box but I come out when opportunity nox”. I hope to get to know them better soon…
In the meantime, give NADIEQUIERE Discos a look (official page, Facebook fan page – whatever excites you more). Of course, you need to understand Spanish to read these pages. But if you don’t, that shouldn’t be that much of a problem. I mean, how many people who are regular opera-goers know Italian? Eh? And how many people could make sense out of the wreck that Tommy was narrative-wise when it was first issued? Poor Pete Townshend, I read he did almost 1,000 interviews to cover those narrative deficiencies. Lessons learned, kids? Do things right the first time around.
I see many people have visited MusicKO as of late looking for information on how to play the 30 Day Song Challenge on Facebook. The post I recently published where I highlighted my 30 days of music seems to have motivated that.
I recall that I also had trouble getting started, so I decided to write this post. It basically tells you what to do in order to start posting videos once you have liked the page itself on Facebook.
This is the way it’s done:
1) Log in to Facebook.
2) Go to YouTube, and look up the video you want to post for that particular day.
3) Click on “Share”.
4) Click on the Facebook icon. This will open up a pop up (E, a separate window) that you will use to post the video to Facebook. This is done by addressing 30 Day Song Challenge (@30 Day Song Challenge), and then pasting (or typing) the information for that specific day (as found on the “Rules” section of the 30 Day Song Challenge page). This is the step that can confuse people. Look, a picture is worth a thousand words:
This Is How Videos Are Posted To Facebook When Playing The 30 Day Song Challenge
There. It wasn’t that tricky, was it? But we all definitely agree this info should be provided on the 30 Day Song Challenge page itself.
Tonall is a social network for musicians, but the instruments are the real stars of the show here. Why? Simply because connections on Tonall are made based on which instrument one plays.
If you become a user of Tonall you will be able to review the instrument you play, and wax romantic on its sound, its appearance and all these things that makes your eyes go misty when you think about it. The idea is that others will both get to know you better thanks to such reviews, and (which is every bit as important) get to realize if such an instrument would be a good fit for them.
And as it is only suitable, users of Tonall can buy and sell gear – a marketplace is provided to these purposes. It is browseable (and usable) by any single person who signs up for a Tonall account. That costs nothing, by the way. As long as you can speak English then you can jump aboard.
It fills me with joy to announce that today MusicKO has become two years old.
An enormous “thank you” to all the readers and to all the these bands that are a never-ending source of inspiration, and which motivate me to keep on writing and writing even when my job and other activities take up most of my time.
Special thanks to all the Uruguayan artists that contact me and ask to be included on the blog. You always thank me warmly for the posts afterwards, but you have no idea how much I get out of it, the feeling of joy and realization that washes over me whenever I manage to cover a new Uruguayan act.
To quote Richard Thompson… “I’ll never give it up”.
