Do you remember the gents who covered “Sweet Child O’ Mine”? Well, now they’d better begin looking over their shoulders… heavy competition is on its way. Just look at this version of “Comfortably Numb”.
As some commenter aptly put it… “Comfortably Numb? More like uncomfortably dumb”.
The Beastie Boys Have Turned To Tumblr To Promote Their Latest Song (“Make Some Noise”)
The Beastie Boys have chosen to release their newest song (“Make Some Noise”) online, well ahead of their next album (which is yet to be named). That’s nothing new. However, what makes this prerelease special is the service the boys have gone for.
You see, they are not sharing the song via MySpace or Facebook. They aren’t even sharing it on YouTube. Rather, the service they have chosen is no other than Tumblr.
That’s certainly big news for the microblogging platform – or is it? If you take a good look around, you will learn that the service is growing by a quarter billion impressions every week. It was only natural that some rock stars would begin taking to it to promote their art.
What do you think will happen next? Are more and more artists going to begin following suit? Or will they just stick to Facebook and MySpace for promoting ther music? Comment, people!
Born In Chicago, Andrew Bird Is An Multi Instrumentalist Who Is Better-Known For His Skills When Playing The Violin
For those of you who are not acquainted with him, this is a video of multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird doing what he does best. He doesn’t run out of steam for the entire duration of this composition (20 solid minutes).
Just for the record, I discovered Andrew when listening to My Morning Jacket’s “Z”. He handled strings and woodwinds there, and gave everything a true air of magnificence.
Having once founded and captained a band named The Bowl Of Fire, Andrew is currently a solo artist.
Name: GigValley
URL: http://www.gigvalley.com
I can’t help but wonder what’s in store for rock & roll biographies. I mean, up to today every single one I’ve read (from Dave Marsh’s “Before I Get Old” to Chris Twomey’s “Chalkhills And Children”) devoted a copious amount of pages to how the band members met, and how they fought against all odds to pinch a record deal.
But today, social networking sites have everybody rocking to a very, very different beat. The trials and tribulations musicians used to go through (and that we read about time and again on bios) are going to disappear for good.
Trying to get a band together? A couple of posts on Facebook will get you started, and in 8 out of 10 cases take you more than halfway through.
Looking for a way to contact some record execs or A & R men directly? A handful of updates on Twitter might just put you face to face with the right industry names.
And a visit to a site like this one is going to get you ahead even faster than that. Continue reading
The Last Time Marie Fredriksson & Per Gessle Had Played Uruguay Was In 1992.
The mythic Swedish duo set foot on Uruguayan soil after an absence of 19 years.
The show was dynamite from start to finish. And nobody could have guessed it – I think that’s what made it all the more remarkable. The first time Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle came around, the show wasn’t particularly brilliant – Marie’s vocals weren’t really on, and the rainy weather ruined everything for the public (it was allegedly Roxette’s first show ever in which rain came down).
But last night, the band was to take no prisoners – from the opening combo of “Dressed For Success” and “Sleeping In My Car” to the closing “Listen To Your Heart” and “Church Of Your Heart”, they held everybody entranced.
The backing band was impeccable – the bassist made everybody stand up when he played a candombe beat, and guitarist Christoffer Lundquis provided one of the truly memorable interludes of the night when he played “La Cumparsita”.
Still, the defining moment of the show came at the end of “Perfect Day”. When the applause had faded and Marie was staring into the crowd, my great friend Madelaine shouted “We love you Marie!!”. Marie smiled, and breathed into the microphone, “You know what, we all love you too”. The venue exploded.
What incredibly inspiring people… what a show they put on, how they left every single one of us energized. Hopefully, this isn’t the final time we are seeing them around. I sincerely hope younger Uruguayan generations get to see Marie and Per like we did last night. Everybody deserves to see artists who are clearly this passionate about what they do in the flesh.
When the show ended, many were chanting “Dressed For Success” through the aisles. People were playing the videos they had shot using their mobiles into the buses that took everybody home.
As we were leaving, my friend Madelaine remarked her face was hurting from having smiled so much.
I can honestly tell you she wasn’t the only one.
Rebecca Black was the invariable focus of attention for a good part of March. Her sudden rise to fame, the questionable quality of her song “Friday”, the polarised (and highly-charged) reactions that it caused (including some surprising covers)… it was recently announced that “Friday” has become the most hated song ever. If anything, these events show us that nowhere are the definitions of what is acceptable and what is not modified as quickly as on the Internet.
Of course, I also found time to keep on writing about artists from my country, Uruguay. On March, I wrote a really moving piece about the debut album by Laura Chinelli, “Historias De Invierno”. And I also covered the release of Picnic’s debut EP, “Amigos Imaginarios”. Check the review – it comes with a download link.
Finally, the music startups that I covered were Jog.fm, Music Lunge, Like.fm and Find You Some Vinyl. If all goes well, on April I am publishing interviews with Find You Some Vinyl’s Lucas Hravobsky and Music Lunge’s. Sergio Giles. And I’m also starting a feature in which I’m interviewing Uruguayan artists that have taken residence in foreign countries (or plan to do so soon), and foreigners that have come to Uruguay to nurture their art. I’m going to interview people who are really passionate about what they do, and I’m sure I will be able to show you what makes this country and all its people so special.
Never one to lose relevance, legendary music service Billboard has announced the launch of a paid service for young bands that want to track their sales and fan activity.
This service goes by the name of Billboard Pro, and it has been in beta since January.
Bands that sign up for Billboard Pro are provided with a heat score that determines their ranking on a chart of its very own named “Uncharted”.
And bands get the chance to be mentioned in the Billboard Bulletin, as well as having their songs rotated on the weekly playlist found on Billboard’s website.
This service can be tried for free for a full month. Once this trial period comes to an end, a membership will cost you $ 99/year.
Radiohead's "The King Of Limbs" Gets Its Own Newspaper
The reviews for “The King Of Limbs” weren’t exactly glowing, and for the first time in years Radiohead has a really hard album to market. The band’s latest promotional push involves the creation and delivery of a newspaper that can be had for free at selected locations the world over.
This newspaper features stories, poems and illustrations by worldwide artists, and digital copies have also begun surfacing at selected locations (see here).
It’s all very nice and novel, but it seems to me the most noteworthy ramification of the album so far is the clip featuring Thom Yorke’s hiccupped dancing from the “Lotus” video. In case you haven’t seen it…
I don’t know about you, but the more I listen to “The King Of Limbs” the more I feel like dusting my copy of “The Bends”. And no amount of paraphernalia is likely to make me change my mind, I’m afraid.
The whole Internet is immersed on a debate regarding the merits of Rebecca Black. On the one hand, many critics denounce her for having lowered the tone beyond all recognizable limits. On the other hand, an artist such as Lady Gaga calls her an outright genius.
I wonder what people on either side of the argument will say when they get to watch this video. Created by Disasteradio, it shows us that there is always some new pit to fall into.
The song is called “Gravy Rainbow”. Disasteradio’s album can be downloaded for free from its bandcamp profile. You look for the link at your own peril – I am not including it here. Having shared the video for “Gravy Rainbow” has been debilitating-enough…
Hoy quería presentarles el primer libro publicado por un compañero del taller de escritura al que asisto. Se titula “La Nieta Menor de Ofelia”, y ha sido publicado por Rumbo Editorial. Es una historia muy humana, con una moraleja excelente.
Comparto con ustedes el texto que el poeta Javier Etchemendi aportó para la contratapa del libro.
Una novela de las relaciones humanas que explora el difícil tema del amor filial.
Un libro arborescente que se interna en el seno de una familia y en el conflicto de la llegada de un hijo que no ha sido planificado.
Una historia que pone de manifiesto la circunstancia de que en la vida las decisiones nunca son perfectas, porque las personas no lo son. Y porque la vida no requiere de perfección sino de humanidad.
Es pues un libro rebosante de humanidad y de ilusión; la misma ilusión que nos impele a los mayores aciertos y equívocos. Un espejo donde reflejarnos y tal vez reconocernos o tan sólo la ocasión para imaginar. Porque un libro es como un collar de ámbar con la promesa de una vida en su interior.
La Nieta de Ofelia es la ópera prima de Jorge Nocetti. Un trabajo legítimo donde queda demostrada la pasión de su autor por la escritura y por la comunicación.
Enhorabuena, por este libro y por la experiencia, siempre turbadora, de la escritura.