Valentina Pecora

Born in 1984, Valentina Pecora is a Uruguayan flute player that made her stage debut at age 10. And ever since 2008, she has been playing frequently both in Uruguay and in Argentina.

Her first solo album was released last year on Uruguayan label Perro Andaluz. Entitled “Simplerio”, it features 11 songs that were written by Valentina. She also recorded and mixed it. I will review the album soon on MusicKO. In the meantime, there’s live performances of two of the better songs from “Simplerio”: “Parámetro Paraíso” [Parameter Paradise] and “Entre Tu Diálogo y Mi Reacción” [Between Your Dialogue and My Reaction]. The band is Valentina on traverse flute and vocals, Julia Melo on guitar, Guillermo del Castillo on bass & electric sitar and Guillermo Loriente on drums & percussion.

For more information, visit Valentina’s MySpace and Facebook profiles.

Parámetro Paraíso

Entre Tu Diálogo y Mi Reacción

Alfonsina Álvarez

A wonderful live performance by Alfonsina Álvarez, a singer-songwriter that hails from the City of Paysandú.
The song is called “Por No Saber Decir” [Because I Don't Know How To Say], and the backing band includes Mateo Moreno (bass), Juan Pablo Chapital (guitar) and Javier Cardellino (drums).

You can listen to more music by Alfonsina on her MySpace profile. And her Facebook fanpage is also a great place for getting better-acquainted with her work.

Name: Plug.dj
URL: http://www.plug.dj

Sharing music videos by cutting and pasting URLs is so Web 2.0. In the age of social media, a new way of sharing music is needed. And you know, Plug.dj might as well take up that mantle. This new site lets you have songs and music videos shared in a virtual setting of its very own. By signing in with your Facebook, Twitter or Google account, you’ll be able to start streaming songs to all of your friends in a really lively setting. Or (to use the expression used on the site) to “start a party”. You’ll have your own avatar, and so will your friends. And these avatars will dance to any song that you play.

What’s even better, Plug.dj comes with a multilingual chat. Anything you type there can be translated into 8 different languages, so that using the site to make new friends is really easy. And the more you use the site then the more features you’ll unlock for your profile. These include new dance steps, strobe lights and laser shows. And also, all-new avatars. In more places than one, Plug.dj resembles a big social game.

And leaving aside how cool something like this is for making new friends, there’s no denying how useful Plug.dj can be to DJs and artists. The former will get to share their latest mixes with everybody, and the latter to release new music videos in the most interactive of settings – one that will encourage new fans to provide their feedback like never before.

El Gallinero is a Uruguayan funk band that's just released its first album after 10 years of touring and gigging

“Empujen” [Push] is the first music video by El Gallinero [The Henhouse], a Uruguayan funk band that has actually been around for ten years. It currently comprises Nacho Cejas, Andrés Arnicho, Gerardo Alonso, Pedro Alemany, Leo Méndez, Juan Olivera, Gerónimo De León and Claudio Martínez.

The clip has been shot at the Centro Cultural Florencio Sánchez (named after one of Uruguay’s most celebrated playwrights), and it features Rubén Rada, one of the seminal figures in the development of Uruguayan music in the 20th Century. Along with Eduardo Mateo, Rada was at the forefront of the “Candombe Beat” movement – a movement that married candombe and murga with rock & roll music.

It’s well-known that one day Paul McCartney wanted to know more about South American music, and he asked his assistants to gather as many albums and singles as they could. And out of all the singers and performers they presented him with, Rada was the one that marveled the former Beatle more.

And as if that wasn’t impressive enough, “Empujen” also features a cameo by… Max Headroom! Gotta love it…

Visit El Gallinero’s MySpace profile to know more about the band. In Uruguay, their debut album has been published by Sondor.

Name: BaxoBeat
URL: http://www.baxobeat.com

More and more each day, social networks are becoming the way in which we catch wind of new stuff. It happens with movies, it happens with TV shows. And it also happens with music, of course. Who hasn’t tweeted a song he’s just discovered, or posted a music video he’s fallen in love with on Facebook? I have done it, you have done it. And so have all our friends. And the result is a mountain of links as big as a small country. Because a fact is a fact: who hasn’t got tons of Facebook and Twitter contacts? If we went by what experts say, we should have no more than about 150 of them. That’s the number normal people can handle, it seems. But no, we’re all born show-offs that have to friend every single thing that moves. And so, we end up having news feeds where the good stuff and the stuff which is insignificant go hand in hand.

And that’s what this new site is here to remedy. BaxoBeat is a service that creates an online library of music links, as posted by you and your social network friends. BaxoBeat lets everybody check his feed everyday, and find nothing but these songs posted by his Facebook buddies and Twitter friends from all over the world. And nothing but that.

As a user of BaxoBeat, you can create a portfolio and share it as publicly or privately as you want. You can let just anybody listen to the same music you listen to, and you can also restrict the access that people have to your music library. Which is important if you claim to listen incessantly to nothing but Lamb Of God and Slayer, when the truth is you also “happen” to listen to a song or two by Maroon 5.

So, this new site allows you to discover new tunes on a daily basis, and share the ones you love with a minimum of effort. And everything’s done almost automatically.

The only drag may be that the site’s invite-only for now. Yet, you can request an invite on the homepage and you’ll get it pretty quickly. That won’t keep you from using what’s undeniably a great tool for discovering the best new music that’s doing the rounds.

Tenacious D, the duo that once proclaimed itself as "greater than the Beatles, the Stones and Zeppelin combined" is back with a new album this May

I’m sure many of you last heard of Tenacious D when they released the film “The Pick Of Destiny” and it’s accompanying soundtrack album in 2006. Both that film and album met with critical indifference, and the subsequent tour was a commercial failure.
But the duo made up by the mercurial Jack Black and Kyle Gass has remained active as a performing unit all this time, and now they’re finally releasing a new album. It’s coming out on May 15th 2012, and it goes by the suitable name of “Rize Of The Fenix”.

To pave the way for their latest record, the band has recently uploaded a mockumentary to its VEVO channel that explains what they’ve been up to until now. It begins with Kyle’s breakdown after the failure of “The Pick Of Destiny”, his subsequent incarceration, and Black’s embracement of the grand Hollywood lifestyle…  but the two former colleagues are reunited before long. I don’t want to spoil it for you, watch the clip below. It’s definitely worth the six minutes it lasts.

Oh, and see how many stars you can spot. Val Kilmer, Dave Grohl (who was the devil on “The Pick Of Destiny”), Tim Robbins… these Tenacious D folks sure know how to keep illustrious company.

Gamepad Nes Punk

There’s two ways to make music using a Nintendo-related device.

The first involves using a Gameboy:

And the second, a gamepad:

Cool, innit?

What you have just watched is 1.1, the first promotional video released by Uruguayan band Gamepad Nes Punk. They come from the city of San Carlos (Maldonado), and they have a debut album on the horizon. 1.1 is its first promotional single.

Gamepad Nes Punk are signed to Nadiequiere Discos, and I’ll make sure to cover their album when it’s released.

And just for the record, Mario sucked ass. Big time. And so did Sonic, and that clueless two-tailed thing that used to dash behind him. The best superhero to ever grace a videogame? Superfrog! Or alternatively, Zool!

Back when games were games, Team 17 meant business.

I was an Amiga guy. Sorry, can’t help it.

Music streaming Spotify shows the world how to put Facebook's new timeline to good use.

So what if Facebook has made its new timeline compulsory? Stop complaining, and make the best out of it. It’s not that hard – all it takes is some imagination. Just look at what these folks at Spotify have done.

They have taken advantage of how Facebook lets you present information year by year, and their page goes back not just to 2006 (the year in which Spotify was actually founded) but to 1001. It doesn’t matter what genre or artist you’re keen on. If it’s had any – any – kind of impact in the history of music, then you’ll find at least a good couple of entries on Spotify’s timeline.

While I don’t know the exact way you feel about the new timeline, the fact remains that complaining won’t make any diference. The new profile is here to stay. Make the best of what is there. Others are already doing it, and if you can’t seem to reinvent the wheel then you can at least at what they’re doing for inspiration.

Astute readers who’re well-acquainted with “The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy” surely remember these immortal lines, spoken by Marvin the Paranoid Android at the climax of the second series:

“Any work that references David Bowie in any way or the other partakes of his genius”.

Everybody knows that. Hugh Jackman certainly did when he signed up for “The Prestige”. He once claimed he became involved with the movie just to be close to Ziggy Stardust. My only question is why did he have to ruin Wolverine afterwards with his towering height (he gives Chewbacca a run for his money, he does) and his wooden face (he gives Orlando Bloom a run for his money, he does). On “The Prestige”, he had Christian Bale and Scarlet Johanson to cover up for his gross deficiencies. But on “Wolverine”, he had to carry all the weight by himself. Bleurgh.

Hugh Jackman. Batman. The Black Widow. Ziggy Stardust. Good.

Hugh Jackman. On his own. Not good. This way to the toilet. And don't step on my toes.

And the boys from Uoh! also knew as much. Their latest album is named “Manuales Ilustrados del Pequeño Tesla Vol2. Hagalo Usted Mismo” [Little Tesla's Illustrated Handbook, Vol. 2. Do It Yourself], in a nod to the brilliant inventor that Bowie brought back from oblivion in “The Prestige”. Poor fella, if only 10% percent of what you can read online is true then everybody and his wife ripped him off. Either that, or the one who wrote the Wikipedia post about Tesla is one of his direct descendants, and he’s had to lead such a destitute life that he’s tattooed a “V” for vendetta on his forehead.

On to this record, now. Personally, I find reviewing it quite a departure for one simple reason. See, “Manuales Ilustrados del Pequeño Tesla Vol2. Hagalo Usted Mismo” is a 100% instrumental album. So, I can’t bob my hair like a character out from “Amélie” and start dissecting its lyrical connotations. There are none. I have to focus on the aural experience.
Fuck you, Hugh Jackman.

And a la Traveling Wilburys, this is the second part of an album that didn’t exist. Whatever you do, don’t go looking for Vol. 1. Look for happiness, look for love, look for a mountain of serenity. Look for whatever you want, but don’t look for the first installment of this record. It’s nowhere to be found. (There is, however, another EP by Uoh! that was released in 2011.)

Seriously, now, I have to admit that this album did sustain my interest in quite a unique way. Most instrumental music I know comes across as secondary, as music that is there to act as the backdrop for something else. But not this album. “Manuales Ilustrados del Pequeño Tesla Vol2. Hagalo Usted Mismo” is remarkable because the music is an independent entity. Listening to it, I never felt as if the music existed to be the soundtrack to some other work. Never.
It’s got five tracks; the shortest clocks at 3:00′ and the longest at 19:00′. And although I found the album really engaging only in spurts (such as the first three minutes of “ANATOMIAE OCCULTII” and the last ten minutes of “Nov.08 04-47 a.m”), the feeling of autonomy was there all along. And it was pivotal to the true enjoyment of the music.

And it’s crystal-clear that the final track (“Nov.08 04-47 a.m.”) pays homage to the line in Taylor Swift’s “Better Than Revenge” which goes “she thinks I’m psycho cause I like to rhyme her name with things“.
Well, maybe not.
But for some reason, it made me snuck into my sister’s room and retrieve her copy of “Speak Now”. Blame it on a simple twist of fate.

“Manuales Ilustrados del Pequeño Tesla Vol2. Hagalo Usted Mismo” is the latest album released by Uruguayan label Esquizodelia Records. Ever since I first covered them in 2010, they’ve more than doubled their number of records. As usual, you can download them for free on their site. All albums come with artwork (this one comes with a copy of Tesla’s handbook, including a series of inventions that would make 80s’ spies proud), and in some cases with lyrics sheets.

So, there you have it. “Manuales Ilustrados del Pequeño Tesla Vol2. Hagalo Usted Mismo”. A key to the highway where nothing but paeans are sung. A question that validates itself between lapses that are neither short nor long. A torch that sets fire to the blackest of nights, and renews the morning.
It’s all of the above. It’s all of the above and more, I swear.
Just don’t make me type that name again.
Please.

This is Esquizodelia Records’ website.

Finishing off the series that was started yesterday, on this post you can find 5 Beatles covers that I find either zany or moving. Or both ; )

I hope you like them too, and if there’s any significant cover that you think I’ve missed feel free to share the link on the “Comments” below.

Yesterday (Walk Off The Earth)

I Will (Jasmine)

This Boy (Andrew Lubman)

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (Natalie Hawkins)

Come Together (Sungha Jung)