Monthly Archives: November 2011

Sonic Youth Comes To Uruguay For The Very First Time

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Sonic Youth Playing The Second Night Of The Festival Primavera 0

Sonic Youth Playing The Second Night Of The Primavera 0 Festival

Yesterday, Sonic Youth played Uruguay for the first time in their three-decade career. The legendary New Yorkers headlined the second night of Primavera 0, a new music festival that’s brought many international acts to the country for the very first time. Just last week Beady Eye made a great Uruguayan debut, setting the opening night of the festival ablaze along with Uruguayan rockers Astroboy.

And yesterday, it was Sonic Youth’s turn to play to a Uruguayan audience for the first time. The crowd was decidedly different this time around, with much older folks in attendance. The show itself started too early (7 PM on a weekday) so I wasn’t surprised that the venue was half-empty when it all began. The Teatro de Verano became slowly crowded as the two openers played their sets.

Banda De Turistas

Argentinean band “Banda de Turistas” played tightly and with determination, while Uruguayan alt rockers “La Hermana Menor” ran through a set that had the audience captivated for most of its duration. They lost it towards the end, with most people where I was criticizing the slow songs they used to close their performance. And it didn’t help that some idiot in the audience kept shouting insults at them whenever the music stopped.

La Hermana Menor

Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley and Mark Ibold  came onstage at 10:00 PM. Sonic Youth played a set that included highlights from all over its career, but (as it was only suitable) the emphasis was put on the band’s older compositions. They included songs from the closest they came to a commercial peak such as “Teen Age Riot” (from the Daydream Nation album, their major label debut from 1988) and newest cuts like “Sacred Trickster” and “What We Know”. Both kind of compositions were received rapturously, and the band did all their trademark tricks. Although they used no water bottles, screwdrivers found their way in and out of their guitars, and strident passages were used to interconnect different songs. Continue reading →

PlaylistHQ – Create Playlists For Upcoming Concerts

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Name: PlaylistHQ
URL: http://www.playlisthq.com

PlaylistHQ is a simple but slick web tool that lets you create playlists for any concert that’s coming up soon, and that you plan to attend. You can create them, and then you can have them shared with all the music nuts that you’ve befriended on Facebook. What better way to convince them that missing any upcoming concert would be a mistake they’ll live to regret forever and ever? What better way to ensure you won’t have to attend a concert on your own, and be unable to go to the bathroom because someone will take your place?

PlaylistHQ uses the Spotify API to get all its data, and once they’ve been created playlists can be searched both by location and by Songkick username.

When having concerts displayed by location, the site lets you view a calendar with all the concerts that will be held right where you live. Or where you would love to live. If you have got an incurable fixation with London, you can see all the shows to be played there as the month runs its course. And then go cry in the corner for having been born on the bayou.

If there’s something to be said about the site, is that it’s decidedly minimalist.
But not that such a thing is a bad thing, of course. Just look at Andy Summers. See how far he got? The guy’s the embodiment of success! Revered by guitarist young and old! A paragon of musical expressivity! (Checks the “Synchronicity” album)... shit, he was the one who wrote and sang “Mother”. Dammit. Next time, I’ll be more careful with the examples I choose…

Beady Eye In Uruguay

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As you know, the one band that made me become interested in music was Oasis. So, when I learned that Beady Eye (Liam Gallagher’s new outfit) was to headline the first day of the festival “Primavera 0” I didn’t have to think it long before buying the best ticket I could.

The way things turned out, I managed to make it to the very first row. Words fail me to describe how I felt when I saw Liam take the stage.

Beady Eye Rocking The First Night Of The "Primavera 0" Festival

Just imagine what it’s like to stand this proximate to one of the most emblematic members of the band responsible of making a music lover out of you.

Liam Gallagher Playing Uruguay For The First Time

And I must also praise the opening act, Astroboy. That’s a band I really disliked back in the day, and I actively criticized it. Yet, time has let me see their transcendence within the Uruguayan scene. Their music sounded nothing short of celebratory that night. They played with real precision and determination, with an honesty and integrity that could prove the biggest nay-sayer wrong.

Astroboy

And you know what? Next Tuesday, the headliner is no-one else but Sonic Youth. They’re not a band that I’m crazy about, but the chance to catch up with such a legendary performer is not to be missed. Even if the show is only half as exciting as this one, it’ll be worth every cent.

Month In Review – October 2011

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October’s highlights included the release of Pablo Farago’s “Mantras” (a compilation of some of his finest work, as recorded over the past ten years), a post on electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram, and an article about the day Manhattan thought Radiohead would play a free concert. If anything, that post is worth a good look because it showcases how quickly a mere rumor can spread online nowadays, until everybody is repeating something that is plain wrong as if it were the gospel truth.

And as far as websites for music lovers were concerned, the startups I reviewed on October included ListnPlay, LyricStatus and MyDjSpace. And the one iPad app that I got to feature was WildChords, a game from these great folks at Ovelin that lets you learn to play the guitar. And by “great folks”, I mean it – just look at the interview they gave me! Thanks, guys!

And fans of Joy Division should check what happens when our favorite Mancunians meet some playmobil…

On November, I’m certain to review Vincent Vega’s self-debut album. I know them personally, I’ve been to a good couple of their shows, and I’ve pogoed with delirious abandon right at the front, along with the horde of misfits that follows them through light and shade.

Well, not really. They are an acoustic duo, and their live shows could perfectly be the recipient of a Nobel peace prize.

Vincent Vega

But I’ve been there, and I’ve greatly enjoyed their music throughout. I’ll be delighted to feature them on MusicKO this month. Check the blog later next week to read about them!