Monthly Archives: November 2011

“This Is Not A Test” By The Bear Season (Video)

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"This Is Not A Test" Is The Bear Season's Latest Single

Yet another music video from a young Uruguayan act, and yet another excellent one. You can tell it’s almost Christmas, can’t you?

The band is The Bear Season (featured recently on MusicKO), and the song is “This Is Not A Test”. It’s the A-side of the band’s latest single, an all-acoustic affair that you can get for free here. And I really, really like it. Musically, it’s an exciting change of tack. I’ve always carried a torch for the softer side of the band, ever since I heard this unplugged version of “Infinity” (from their debut EP, “Do It”):

“Infinity” was (and still is) my favorite track from their debut EP, and (when unplugged) the song’s just dazzling.

And the same can be said about this new cut. Moving, heartfelt, poignant… “This Is Not A Test” is all of that. It’s the kind of song to play in order to get laid on a first date. Make sure to keep a copy at home, and another at the car. Like Macca used to sing, “no more lonely nights”…

PumpYouUp – Free Indie Electronic Music

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Name: PumpYouUp
URL: http://www.pumpyouup.com

Visit PumpYouUp.com when you’re in the mood for some music to rock your body to. This new site’s devoted to free electronica, trance, dubstep and techno. In all cases, we’re talking about quality selections, handpicked by the site’s creators. The idea is to include songs that aren’t too long for their own good, and which aren’t that weird either.

So, songs can be searched used a dead-simple interface. This lets you have songs found without having to sign up for an account or anything like that. It’s all done on the fly. Continue reading →

“El Piso Se Va A Manchar”, The Newest Video By Vincent Vega

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Following a major cosmic alignment and a launch party after which every day was like Sunday, Vincent Vega has released its newest video clip. It’s for the song “El Piso Se Va A Manchar” [The Floor’s Gonna Get Splattered], one of the better compositions from their debut album, and a live staple.

The video for “El Piso Se Va A Manchar” uses live-action footage which has been rotoscoped to produce an animated look (a bit like A-ha’s breakthrough video, “Take On Me”). It details a couple’s split, with Matías and Mauricio seen playing in the background as the events are unfolding.

The clip has been directed by María Noel Silvera and Sebastián González Majo.

GarageBand Comes To The iPhone And iPod Touch

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iPhone and iPod Touch Users Can Now Run GarageBand On Their iDevices

After having been introduced on the iPad earlier this year, Apple’s GarageBand has become available on the screens of iPhone and iPod Touch users everywhere. It costs $4.99 (iTunes link), and much like its iPad counterpart it lets you plug in your electric guitar and mic to record yourself playing. Plus, the app comes with touch instruments like keyboards, drums and basses. And tons of sound effects are also included, along with a sampler and more than 250 professional loops you can use as backing for any song of yours.

These are the full features of GarageBand, as listed by Apple itself.

• Create custom chords for Smart Instruments
• Support for 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
• Reset song key without transposing original recordings
• Transpose songs in semitones or full octaves
• Additional quantization options for recordings including, straight, triplet and swing
• New audio export quality settings for AAC and AIFF (Uncompressed)
• Arpeggiator available in Smart Keyboard
• Adjustable velocity settings for Touch Instruments
• Numerous enhancements, including automatic fade out and improved audio import options

Myxer – A New Social Radio Emerges

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Name: Myxer
URL: http://www.myxer.fm

If Marconi were around today, he would be decidedly proud to see what’s becoming of his beloved creation. Spending some time with Myxer alone would make him stand ten feet tall. Myxer is a site that takes online radio as we’ve always known it, and puts a marked social element on it.

Myxer is a desktop and mobile service that lets you listen to music with all of your friends online. You listen to songs with all of them, and you get to discuss what’s being played by using a live chat.

Moreover, a tool named “Song Stories” is provided. This lets you do something which is quite novel in itself: creating a video where you can explain what any song means to you, and have that video shared with all of your contacts.

As a service, Myxer is totally free. You can use both the web application and any of the mobile apps without having to start pinching your pennies. Both iPhones and Droids are supported to the same extent.

This is Myxer’s promotional video, as featured on YouTube:

Rebecca Black’s New Single Is Released: “Person Of Interest”

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"Person Of Interest" Is Rebecca Black's Newest Single

One of the most-discussed (and also most-reviled) figures of last year is back for more. Internet artist Rebecca Black has just released her third single. It’s called “Person Of Interest”, and it revolves around the relationship of a girl (played by Rebecca) with a Justin Bieber look-alike.

As you can see, it’s a much better effort than her debut, the widely-despised “Friday”. Yet, that hasn’t stopped haters for voting it down on YouTube. As of the time of writing this, it has received no less than 75,000 dislikes (almost twice the number of likes it has got).

And the comments the video has received are primarily negative, with people picking on her lyrics, her singing, her looks… That can’t be helped, of course. It’s hard to think of Rebecca shaking her legacy anytime soon.

And you? What do you think of Rebecca’s newest song? Is it a step forward, or is it basically more of the same? Just to refresh your memory, this is “Friday”:

Dario Zampetti (Veenue) – Interview (Part 2)

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This is the final part of my conversation with Dario Zampetti from Veenue. Read it, post it to Facebook and Twitter, and show everybody what being one step ahead is like!

And just in case you’ve been out of touch recently, you can find the first part of this interview here.

 

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

I started to play guitar when I was 11years old. I have studied with teachers as great as Donato Begotti, owner of the Rock Guitar Academy in Milan. My first album was Eric Clapton “unplugged”, then Smashing Pumpkins and today Queens of The Stone Age.

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a clip on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

Luckily there’re not videos around of me playing with my old bands : ) One of my funnier moments was with a “rage against the machine” like band. We’re used to perform without t-shirt and covered by colors (body paint). Like the “blue man group”. Very funny!

Musical likes and dislikes? Favorite artists?

I love Muse, QOSTA, RED HOT, GORILLAZ and many others. I listen to lot of Italian music, too. Continue reading →

Dario Zampetti (Veenue) – Interview (Part 1)

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Dario Zampetti from Veenue (just featured on MusicKO) is today’s interviewee. We talk about his startup (one of the most original I’ve seen in a while, actually), and then about the music he loves.

Thanks a bunch, Dario!

Full Name:
Dario Zampetti Age: 32
Startup: Veenue ltd
Position: founder & CEO

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?  

The veenue idea was born after a rehearsal with my friend and business partner Massimo. We were always surprised about how hard it was to find people to play music with.

“How can we find them?”, we thought.

And after a little while, the idea was clear: to build a search engine for musicians (what they play, how they look, what they like) and try to let them to play music together even if they’re far away from each other.  I believe the most distinctive aspect of Veenue is the way everything’s approached. The idea to be free to search for people without any border, and to be free to play real music with them.

What was the original launch date?  

3rd of October 2011

What has been the response so far? In which countries has it been more successful?   

It’s still too early to say. Veenue is a simple idea, but the adoption of the whole system is not. It’s not like when you ask someone to write a text or email, we’re telling musicians that they can play together if they record a video.  As it’s not a very common approach, we need time, marketing and good reviews to spread it : )   Continue reading →

Veenue – Collaborate With Musicians From All Over The World

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Name: Veenue
URL: http://www.veenue.com

Do you remember the video I posted earlier this year that brought together 100 different musicians playing Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”? If you watched it back in the day, then I’m sure you do. That video was certainly impressive. The effort made by the folks who put it together was nothing short of titanic. I’m sure that many of you felt like being involved in something like that. And who could have guessed that you would be able to do it this soon?

Veenue is a music collaboration platform. It lets you connect with artists from every corner of the world, and create songs together. You do that by shooting and uploading videos of you performing. These are then used to create a “full” clip.

And just to add a little spice to how the site works, on Veenue you can become part of competitions which are sponsored by world-renowned brands. The first contest will start on the 3rd of October, and it will close on the 31st of March. Sponsored by Volkswagen, its winners are going to be invited to a studio in Berlin to record the song they have made together. And they’ll also get to produce a music video for the song.

Obviously, it’s still to soon to know how far this platform can go. We can’t know just yet if it will become the kind of social service people such as David Fincher end up making movies about. But the site is surely original, and you can use it without having to read a manual that would take half the Amazonia to make. And that’s just about the rightest way to kick things off, really.

Vincent Vega – Uruguayan Independent Artist

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Vincent Vega's Debut Album

The matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. Because the truth is inexplicable, puzzling, mystifying. Well, it must be for this fellow who keeps on emailing me, asking why there’s never any guest posts on MusicKO, why it’s always me and the belly of the beast running the show.

OK, look. I did try hiring some folks to write stuff for this blog. I asked those who were interested to submit some capsule reviews, to see what they could do. And someone named Elbo Ludo sent three in. Two were a cut and paste affair, straight from the All Music Guide. The third and final one, now, was a short piece on a Uruguayan artist I’d never heard of in my life. That artist was named Vincent Vega. And that’s what this gentleman came up with:

Vincent Vega (pronunciation:[bjœːɳ ɵlˈveːɵs]): Named after actor Vincent D’Onofrio and Vega (the Spanish cage fighter from the “Street Fighter” franchise) Vincent Vega is a Uruguayan duo that had a chance to rise to prominence when they were commissioned by director Rob Marshall to write a song for the film “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”. The resulting track (“Huevo Maraca”) could be heard as the end credits were rolling. But since the vast majority of the people in the theaters always left by then, the duo’s pyrotechnical contribution to the film went largely unheeded by audiences, unaware of the credibility of what they would have heard had they stayed around.

So much for having guests authors on MusicKO, then.

But the silver lining (because there’s always one) was that I became really curious on this duo that went by the name of Vincent Vega. Hey, I’m always up for anything that could send people tripping as much as to write a review like the one I just shared with you. And you know what? After having been to a couple of their gigs and getting to know the guys personally, I must say their compositions are not only tasteful but truly resonant.

At its core, Vincent Vega is a duo made up of Matías González and Mauricio Sepúlveda (Dr. Gonzo & Mr. Vega to friends and foes). They’ve been around since 2008, and in November 2009 they released an eponymous album, which you can download for free.

Vincent Vega (Mauricio Sepúlveda & Matías González) At A Recent Gig

Their influences include artists as celebrated as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Big Star and Wilco. And their main Uruguayan touchstone seems to be Eduardo Mateo, one of the seminal artists in the development of popular music in this country. Continue reading →