Micky Cohen
Micky Cohen is a young Uruguayan artist that’s produced by Miguel Campal, and this is the video for her newest single, “White Flag”. The song is included on Micky’s latest EP, and you can listen to her full discography on her MySpace profile.
You’d might also be interested in checking her Facebook fanpage.
Micky Cohen's Newest EP, "White Flag"
Mal Yo
They say that revenge is a dish best served cold, but sometimes you just have to strike while the iron’s hot… That’s what these nice folks from Mal Yo (remember them?) have done. All through the summer, we were subjected to Michel Telo’s “Ai Se Eu Te Pego”, a song that our charming Brazilian neighbors more or less force-fed the whole continent. Just for the record, I must say the song isn’t half bad. It’s just that listening to it even when you’re scuba diving is enough to make you sick. And so, it’s payback time…
Thanks to our three sonorous crusaders, “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” has now become “Ay Que Me Quemo” [This Is Bleeding Hot], and you can watch the full clip below.
Does the melody ring a bell? Well, it should. There’s an English language version of “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” that’s called “If I Catch You”. Chances are you have already listened to it. But just in case…
You don’t need to.
You don’t need to listen to Josh Ritter singing with his eyes dancing on a horizon of fire and brimstone “inside this gilded cage a songbird always looks so plain” to have an idea of the entrapments an artist has to avoid as he goes his way. You don’t need to walk on the bare hum of a stage night after night to understand how anxiety can first paralyze a performer, and then bring out the best on him. And you don’t need to be a creator to understand that the most compelling works come from the greatest struggles – struggles that pitch a person both against himself, and against the very plateaus he is set to conquer. You don’t need to sample one such struggle in the flesh to know how that feels, and the eventual statures it can let you reach. You don’t need to.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
And if you’re going to do it, then this album by Uruguayan artist Gino Tunessi is ideal. Not perfect. Ideal. Because it’s pure zeitgeist. It isn’t named like it’s named for nothing. Through a very personal story, it ends up speaking of the difficulties performers aiming to break through to larger audiences have to face nowadays. Its every note rings with the contradictions that arise from having something like the Internet to make your work publicly available, and the feeling which comes from failing to get the support needed to promote your music right on your homeland. And that’s a common story for people all over the world, of course. It happens in Uruguay, and it happens everywhere there are artists that have something to communicate.
Recorded in 2009 and issued in 2010, “Struggle” was written in its entirety by Gino and produced by Álvaro Sánchez. Gino also co-produced the album, and all instruments were played by him and Álvaro.
Gino Tunessi
On the whole, the sound of “Struggle” is gentle but it doesn’t lack bite. Acoustic instruments take center stage, and polite nods to artists such as Beck abound, with sound effects that end up playing a truly melodic role. Continue reading
Cancionero Azul [Blue Songbook] is a website that gives you free and 100% legal music downloads from all over Ibero-America. And that includes Uruguay. Artists that I hope to review in 2012 such as Ismael Collazo and Martin Barea Matos have all made their albums publicly available on CancioneroAzul.org. You can download Ismael’s “Rincones” [Corners] and Martín’s “Odisea En El Parking Planetario” [Odyssey In The Planetary Parking] at absolutely no cost on this well-designed site.
For its part, those of you who want to have your own music featured on CancioneroAzul.org should read this page.
As one of the few sites with this scope and depth, Cancionero Azul comes highly recommended. It’s not every day that you get to sample music from Spanish-speaking countries this accurately and legally.
The Music Video For Laura Chinelli's "Llévame" Was Shot In Casa Blanca (Paysandú)
The best song from Laura Chinelli’s “Historias De Invierno” has now got its own music video. Shot in Paysandú, the clip for “Llévame” has Laura trying to hitch a ride on a road, only to end up succeeding in the most unexpected of ways…
The video has been directed by Salomón Reyes for Saladero 19.
La Medio Siglo
La Medio Siglo’s first music video.
The song is “Normal”.
From their debut EP, “Altos Con Rulos” [Tall And Curly]
It’s a wry look on consumerism and transcendentalism.
It comes with audience participation at the end.
It’s on its way to dethroning Michel Telo’s “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” on the charts.
And you watched it here first.
Laura Chinelli
One of the most endearing Uruguayan albums of 2010 has just become available online. Laura Chinelli’s “Historias De Invierno” can now be downloaded in its entirety here.
The album (which was produced by Laura’s long-time collaborator Fran Nasser) was originally featured on MusicKO in March, 2011. People in the US and elsewhere could always listen to some of its tracks on Laura’s MySpace profile, but this is the first time that most of you will get to listen to songs like “Más Allá Del Tiempo” [Beyond Time].
Find attached the videos for the tracks that top and tail the album, “Ya No Más” [Not Any More] and “Sueño Profundo” [Deep Dream]:
"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”…
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.
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