Monthly Archives: September 2011

How Does REM’s Michael Stipe Use Tumblr?

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Pretty much like you and me, that’s how. Just take a look at his personal Tumblr, “Confessions of a Michael Stipe”. He abides by the same rules as any old Joe. The frontman of the “fathers of alt rock” has no special privileges or treatment of any kind when it comes to the creative work he makes public there.

"Confessions of a Michael Stipe" Is The Official Tumblr Of REM's Iconic Singer

Stipe has recently remarked that his personal Tumblr actually represents the “real” him – it’s not subject to people’s preconceptions, and no record company exerts the slightest influence on what he decides to publish.

Stipe also says he picked that name because of its ironic value. “This might not be the Michael Stipe that you think you know,” he said, “this is actually me”.

Freddy Mercury Gets One Of The Most Remarkable Google Doodles Ever

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Freddy Mercury Would Have Become 65 Years Old This September

The candidate for the most impressive Doodle of the year became available earlier today as the Google homepage paid homage to Freddie Mercury on what would have been his 65th birthday.

Set to the music of “Don’t Stop Me Now”, the Doodle (embedded in its entirety below) references some of Mercury’s most emblematic moments. These include him dressing in drag for the “I Want To Break Free” music video, and there are subtle nods to “A Kind Of Magic” and “Innuendo”, the last Queen album to be published in Mercury’s life.

He died on the 24 of November, 1991, less than 24 hours after issuing a statement in which he confirmed the barraging rumors that he was HIV positive.

Willie Nelson Covers Coldplay’s “The Scientist”

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Willie Nelson Has Just Covered Coldplay's "The Scientist" As Part Of An Awareness Campaign For Chiplote

Ask people in South America to name some emblematic country artists, and one they’re sure to mention is Willie Nelson. His long, unstoppable career and his cross-genre collaborations (sometimes with best-selling Latin artists like Julio Iglesias) have made him one of the better-known country musicians in Spanish-speaking countries. And as far as Uruguay is concerned, the composer of “Red Headed Stranger” must be one of the most popular country performers ever along with Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers and Alabama.

I think the video embedded below does nothing but underline the versatility which has made Nelson so popular worldwide. It’s a cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist”, recorded as part of an awareness campaign for Chiplote.

The video (which depicts a farmer who regrets turning his organic farm into a factory farm) has clearly been created to highlight the importance of sustainable food, and also to emphasize the focus on natural, organic products in Chiplote’s restaurants. It’s interesting to point out how this clip (which has been named “Back to the Start”) is similar in approach to Coldplay’s original video, in which everything is told in reverse order.

Willie’s version of “The Scientist” is being sold in iTunes, with $0.60 of each download going straight to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.

Month In Review – August 2011

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The best post of the whole month was undoubtedly the review of La Medio Siglo’s debut EP, “Altos Con Rulos”. La Medio Siglo is an emerging Uruguayan funk/rock band, and (as evidenced by “Altos Con Rulos”) they seem to have quite a bright path ahead of them.

I also managed to upload the newest videos of two artists that were previously featured on the blog: Laura Chinelli’s “Si Me Pierdo” and The Blueberries’ “London Eye”.

On the startup front, I covered the following five services: MPlayr, Nogeno, JamCloud, Restorm and MuseSpring. And while I only managed to conduct one interview in the whole month, it was a really enlightening one with Jason Grunstra from JamCloud.

And those of you who are always wondering in which ways music will be marketed and presented in the future might like to check the first app album ever, as released by Bjork.