Uruguayan label Esquizodelia Records has just released two cool compilation albums. These feature one song apiece from each artist on the label. You can get them on Esquizodelia Records’ website, absolutely for free.

A lot of genres are covered, and you are bound to find something interesting there for sure. And once you do, you can listen to even more music from these artists – the full albums can also be downloaded for free.

What do you think about these artists? Which one seems more promising to you? Leave a comment below and let everybody know!

RequeteLOCO:

1. DDD3 – Gaby Cows
2. Uoh! – ( L )
3. Siameses R.I.P – On the cremation of Chogyam Thungpa Vidyadhara
4. Relacionessexuales – Whiskeria
5. Fiesta Animal – Trafico de niños
6. 8 – Deep Flamba
7. Psiconautas – On my own
8. La Mugre Roja – Rock n Roll pt.II

RequeteFANTASTICO:

1. 3Pecados – Sin titulo 3
2. Solar – Uno menos
3. Genuflexos – Dance
4. Disaster – Leave my head
5. Lucas Meyer – Encontrar la explicación
6. Millonesdecasasconfantasmas – Hoy
7. El boulevard de lulu – Y de a poco
8. Roly Chamber – Cars

As I am sure you’ve noticed that MusicKO now has got a “Questions & Answers” section. The idea is to feature not only questions about the artists that have got a category of their very own, but also questions concerning bands and performers that are yet to be covered on the blog. Of course, if you have any questions that you’d like answered just drop me a line. I’ll do my best to help you out, the address is emiliomusicko [at]gmail [dot] com.

This month I covered a frankly superb Uruguayan band named El Cardenal Sebastíán. This is the review. And check their songs on their MySpace profile.

And I have begun reviewing Joni Mitchell’s oeuvre, too. That was the one artist I added to the blog during August. This is the introductory page, and here you can read the review I wrote of her “Hits” album.

The startups that were featured during the course of the month were Double Lyrics, Music 180 and The Melody Master.

And the month’s interviewees were David Trejo (from Mixest) and Thomas Veitch (from The Melody Master). Besides, I sat down with the guys from the Uruguayan band Mal Yo for a full interview.

MTV Teams With Foursquare For The Upcoming VMAs

Interested in attending the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards ceremony on September 12? Well, chances are you might be able to do it for free. All you have to do is start following MTV on Foursquare and check in to music venues between August 30 and September 5. The one who gets the best score (IE, the one who gets to check in to more venues) is the one attending the event.

Location-based networking is as hot as it has ever been. Facebook has recently premiered its “Facebook Places” service, and many were surprised to see it did Foursquare no harm – it actually gave the pioneer location service a big boost.

MTV has been actively looking for ways to stay fresh in the face of the technology people are using today. Not so long ago Chicago resident Gabi Gregg was appointed as the network’s official Twitter DJ. The Foursquare alliance is nothing but a logical step. Will it be a fruitful one? We’ll see.

Name: Double Lyrics
URL: http://www.doublelyrics.com

I am sure very few among us can claim to have a favorite lyrics site. I mean, there are a zillion of them out there. Personally, I have always been keen on the AZ Lyrics website because it is lightweight, the lyrics are arranged album by album, and (yes, I know I am fastidious) the punctuation and the use of capitals is fully accounted for. As a non-native speaker of English, I always print the lyrics to all the albums that I buy that don’t include them. A site like AZ Lyrics lets me get them quickly, and create a Word document with them painlessly.

Still, I am always looking for alternatives. And I must say that the Double Lyrics website has got a lot going for it. For starters, whenever you carry out a search you get results that are sorted by relevancy. You don’t get a jumble of links that might be what you needed or something completely unrelated. The most relevant lyrics are ranked by the site’s engine and featured on top, while the ones that will probably have nothing to do with your query are relegated to the bottom of the list.

Also, users can both review and rate lyrics. That is nothing new (many sites let users “comment” on lyrics, and fans take advantage of that opportunity to review them), but its usefulness is not questioned by anybody – you will have a bigger chance of finding what you are after in that way. And once you have found it, a well-written review can always let you figure out what a cryptic song is all about. For example, how many are really aware of all the possible interpretation of Cat Steven’s “Moonshadow “? How many are aware of the cancer interpretation, the Vietnam chopper interpretation…? Only fans are. And if given the chance to review a song and illuminate everybody else, they are likely to do it.

The site can also be used without having to register first. You will even be able to submit your own version of any song without having to sign up or anything like that.

The definitive lyrics site on the Internet? I wouldn’t go that far. There are too many sites of this nature around. A mighty useful site with a lot of well-thought features? Yep. That’s definitely more like it.

Jimmy Page Played On The Who’s First Single “I Can’t Explain/Bald Headed Woman”. Producer Shel Talmy Used Him Extensively In Those Days.

Yes, it is true. He played on their debut single, “I Can’t Explain/Bald Headed Woman”. The single was produced by Shel Talmy. He was famous for barring bands from playing on their own records, and for using session players to get the job done instead. The Kinks (the first British hit band he produced) had to put up with that for quite some time.

When The Who went into the studio to record their first single, they found themselves outnumbered by session men. These included a trio of singers named The Ivy League, and a young (but already legendary) Jimmy Page. Talmy used him in all his sessions whenever possible.

Page was supposed to play the lead both on “I Can’t Explain” and “Bald Headed Woman”. However, in order to play the “I Can’t Explain” riff a twelve-string Rickenbacker was needed. Page didn’t have one. Townshend did. And he would have lost an arm before lending it to Page. So The Who’s frontman was the one who played the lead, while Page strummed along.

The B-side, now, was a different story. The song “Bald Headed Woman” was written by Talmy, and in those days it wasn’t uncommon for a producer to have his songs placed as B-sides in order to earn some extra cash. As a matter of fact, The Kinks had recorded “Bald Headed Woman” under similar circumstances. The song required a fuzztone effects box, which Pete Townshend didn’t have. So, Jimmy Page did end up playing the lead on a Who song after all.

“Hits” Was Issued In 1996. It Anthologized The Songs That Could Be Deemed As “Classic” Joni Mitchell. A Companion Album Named “Misses” Captured Her Most Experimental Side.

The success of the “Turbulent Indigo” album (1994) led Joni Mitchell to a true commercial resurgence. Suddenly, a whole new generation was interested in the music the Canadian performer had created over the three previous decades. Reprise (Joni’s label at the time) moved fast to meet that demand, and Mitchell agreed to the release of a “Best Of” package provided that she could also release a compilation of quasi-hits. That was how the “Hits” and “Misses” albums came to be.

Joni Mitchell reminds me of Bob Dylan in the sense that even in their heydays both performers landed a comparatively small number of bonafide hits. In the case of Joni Mitchell, a Top 7 hit was as hard as she would hit the charts. The song was “Help Me”, and it is obviously included here along with her other three Top 30 hits: “Big Yellow Taxi” , “Free Man In Paris” and the infectious “You Turn Me On (I’m A Radio)”, one of her most joyous compositions.

Of course, quintessential tracks like “The Circle Game” and “Both Sides Now” are featured, and they sound as sharp as ever.

“Blue”, Joni’s breakthrough record (and my favorite album of hers) is represented by “California”, “Carey” and “River”. I must say that while both “California” and “Carey” (an alias for James Taylor, her flame at the time) are very good songs, they are not the songs that give “Blue” its edge. The songs like “River” do it; songs which are sparser instrumentally and that provide some of the most intimate moments not only of Joni’s career but also of the whole decade.

The album has one rarity in Joni’s version of “Urge For Going”, the first song she ever wrote. Recorded in 1968, it was never made available on CD before. It was first issued as the B-side of “You Turn Me On (I’m A Radio)” in 1972.

“Hits” is a compilation which showcases the approach that gave Mitchell her most recognizable tunes. The drum machines and sequencers that marked/marred her ’80s output are nowhere to be seen here. Neither are jazz compositions, although the influence can be felt on “Free Man In Paris” (a song written about David Geffen, the future head of the label Joni would sign to). You must get “Misses” if you want to listen to the full story. Yet, everybody will tell you the same. That part of the story can be obviated. Some might go as far as telling you that it can be completely negated. I think that is taking it too far. But I can’t deny that the Joni spotlighted on “Hits” is the only one that truly captivates me of the two.

Los muchachos de RostbiF se presentan en el Pepsi Bandplugged de este año, si pueden pasen y dejen su voto por ellos en la página del certamen. ¡Vamos que se vota en menos de un minuto!

¡Arriba, muchachos!

Lady Gaga Is Now The New Queen Of Twitter

Acrimony arose when Britney Spears became the most popular Twitter user ever, displacing Ashton Kutcher in the process. Like him or loathe him, Kutcher has always offered fans a personalized experience, answering their queries himself and interacting with them on a tangible way. On the contrary, Britney’s Twitter account has always been the kind that is kept by a marketing team from day one.

Well, Britney’s reign as the Queen of Twitter is over. She has just been toppled by Lady Gaga. How much of an improvement is that? Not that much, to be frank. But at least she is more engaging than Britney.

And we shouldn’t really complain – by the looks of it, Lady Gaga will be dethroned before too long.

Justin Bieber is racing his way to the top.

Gulp.

As the Goo Goo Dolls sang, “I wanna bulletproof myself”.

Joni Mitchell In The '70s

The music industry can dent anybody’s enthusiasm and willingness to make art. But a true artist always keeps at it, not only because it is the only valid form of expression he knows, but because he realizes there comes a point his public needs him to articulate how they feel. It becomes something wholly reciprocal; they need each other, they feed off each other and they motivate each other to do their best.

That is the true moral that arises from Joni Mitchell’s career – a career that has seen wild commercial up and downs, but that has had Joni true to herself and to every single one of us.

Joni Mitchell was born Roberta Joan in Fort MacLeod (Canada). The year was 1943. She showed a precocious interest in music, studying first the piano and then the guitar. Yet, at age nine she was stricken with polio. That made playing the guitar difficult from that point onwards, and that was one of the reasons Joni developed the unique tunings she would be renowned for in her career.

She has defined herself as a “rebellious teenager”, and upon growing up she intended to attend art school in Calgary. She attended classes only for one year there before moving to Toronto, where she met a cabaret jazz singer named Chuck Mitchell that would become her husband in 1966. Together, they headed for the US to seek their fortunes as musicians. The marriage fell apart in 1967, and Joni went to New York City to launch her solo career in earnest.

Before ever releasing her debut album, other artists began recording her songs – Tom Rush sang the very first song she ever wrote, “Urge For Going”, and Judy Collins made the poignant “Both Sides Now” popular long before Joni did.

Joni’s big break came when she was discovered by David Crosby, who convinced his record company (Reprise Records) to sign her up. They did, and Joni’s first album (known as either “Joni Mitchell” or “Song For A Seagull”) was recorded and issued. Public interest began picking up, and a heavy schedule in support of both her debut and the follow-up record (“Clouds”, 1969) made the press take notice as well.

“Ladies Of The Canyon” was issued in 1970. It became her first gold record on the strength of “Big Yellow Taxi” (a top 30 hit) and her own version of “The Circle Game” (the song had been recorded long before by both by Tom Rush and Buffy Sainte-Marie).

But Joni became a true sensation with the release of “Blue” in June 1971. The album set the scene for the confessional music that was so popular in the ‘70s (as exemplified by albums like Dylan’s “Blood On The Tracks”), and it featured all the ingredients that would make her a legend in the exact proportion: her trademark guitar playing, her hypnotizing contralto vocals, lyrics that were incredibly personal and yet completely relatable… “Blue” was followed by the mega successful “For The Roses” (1972) and “Court And Spark” (1974). Together with “Blue”, these albums marked her commercial peak. “For The Roses” yielded “You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio” (it hit # 25) and “Court And Spark” included her only Top 10 single ever, “Help Me” (it peaked at # 7).

“Court And Spark” was also notable because Joni began introducing elements of jazz into her music, and (beginning with “The Hissing Of Summer Lawns” in 1975) she would embark on a period of experimentation with the genre that gradually alienated her original following. And it must also be mentioned that she made no fans among jazz lovers. Her 1979 collaboration with legendary jazzman Charlie Mingus was especially disdained, and it was her first album not to go gold since the ‘60s. The narrow-mindedness of the public frustrated Joni to no end, and the ’80 were to be times of commercial apathy. Although she revisited her pop music roots, albums like “Dog Eat Dog” were marred by synthesizers and production values that were entirely at odds with her traditional approach to music.

The ‘90s saw a true comeback in the shape of the “Turbulent Indigo” album (1994), and the decade was occupied by plenty of parallel projects. Several compilations of different nature were released: a “Hits” and a “Misses” album, an album of jazz standards, an orchestrated anthology…

Joni Mitchell Playing Live In The Late '90s

Come the year 2002, and Mitchell announced a retirement based largely on her discontent with the music industry. However, she issued “Shine” in 2006, an album that hinted at the intimacy of some of her best work.

But Joni’s retirement became permanent upon being diagnosed with Morgellons Syndrome in 2010. She has announced her intent to leave the music industry and focus all her efforts on using her prominent position in society towards benefiting people who live with such a syndrome.

That doesn’t mean she won’t make music any longer, of course. The context will be different. Joni has looked at everything from both sides now. She has felt everything from both sides now. She knows that every circle game comes to a close. But that’s just right in the end. A closure is the only way something new can come to be. When her work is done, when the circle she has created is finally perfected, so many will start drawing their own based on what she did. So many have already started doing it, actually. And that’s the ultimate testament to an unparalleled life of art, passion and belief like the one that she has led.

This post finishes the coverage of social media songs that was started yesterday. Just turn up the volume and enjoy. And share it with your friends, dammit – we are talking about social media! ; )

6- Badges Like Us (The Foursquare Rap)

A service that many of you have just become acquainted with by the introduction of Facebook Places, Foursquare is the king of location-based networks. As such, it has got its own rap.

7- Everybody Tweet

What can be said about Twitter? To many, it was destined to steal Facebook’s thunder. Well, it didn’t. But it did inspire this nice ditty.

8- Chatroulette Song

Did you think the service that gave birth to Merton the Improptu Piano Player among others was not to be the recipient of a song?  Well, you have another think coming. Jon Lajoie came up with the “official anthem” for the random chat site (which is relaunching today, by the way).

So, what where your feelings about these songs? Couldn’t agree more? Felt there were omissions? Well, leave a comment below and let us all know!