Tag Archives: Laura Chinelli

“Mirame” by Nicolás Sánchez (Music Video)

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After fronting a rock & roll band called Suburbio for more than 6 years, Uruguayan musician Nicolás Sánchez decided to go solo last year. When he asked me for a review to promote his first single (“Lejos”) [Far Away], little did I know he was actually going to be performing the day I released my first book of prose, “Ayer La Lluvia” [Yesterday The Rain].

“Mirame” [Look At Me] is a song included on his first solo album, “Temporales” ¨[Storms] – an album you can download for free here.

mirame nicolas sanchez

The song is very important to me, if only because it came to define my feelings in the aftermath of writing the book – a time in which lots of people started coming and going from my life.

We shot this clip in order to open up the main event for “Ayer La Lluvia”, held on the 24th of July at the Sala Zitarrosa (one of the most revered venues in Uruguay).
That night, both Nicolás Sánchez and pop musician Nadia Costa played full sets. Their songs actually embody aspects of the book in close detail, so they ended up reenacting the story of “Ayer La Lluvia” onstage in an amazingly accurate way.

The clip itself was directed by Agustín Fagetti Methol, and edited by Félix Pérez. Model Angela Tassano and Nicolás Sánchez himself did the acting. And the female voice you can hear throughout is that of Uruguayan singer-songwriter Laura Chinelli.

Lanzamiento de “Ayer La Lluvia” de Emilio Pérez Miguel (Rumbo Editorial)

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ALL Tapa y ContratapaEl próximo sábado es el lanzamiento de “Ayer La Lluvia”, mi primer libro en prosa. Lo presento en un festival de música y literatura, junto a artistas jóvenes que he conocido desde que nació este blog, y gracias a sitios como Cooltivarte.com y ElDiario.com.uy.

Al igual que “Once” (2009) y “Ten” (2010), este libro es publicado por Rumbo Editorial.

Si visitan esta página con frecuencia, saben el protagonismo que tiene la música en la historia de mi vida. Todo lo que me da, y también todo lo que me quita. Y las canciones de quienes participan en estos eventos encarnan todas esas facetas de satisfacción y de pérdida; estos artistas conviven con los mismos sueños y temporales que yo veo cada día cuando cierro los ojos y trato de decirme que no todo está dicho ni escrito.
Ahora pienso en ellos, y  parezco darme cuenta de que la misma motivación nos conduce por el camino de la creación.
Queremos aprender a decirle “te necesito” a las personas que realmente nos importan cuando todo cambia demasiado como para poder seguir cambiando.

“Ayer La Lluvia” tiene dos partes: una primera sección que comprende once micro-cuentos, y una segunda parte integrada por una novela corta. Todos los textos tratan sobre formas de amor diferentes. En general, el libro está enfocado a un público juvenil.

la medio siglo ayer la lluvia

El primer evento es este sábado a las 19:00. Tiene lugar en la Sala Mario Benedetti de la Casa del Autor (AGADU), donde estaré presentando el libro junto a La Medio Siglo.

Fueron la banda más joven que reseñé en MusicKO, tienen un entusiasmo hercúleo, y una devoción irrefrenable. Y además, fueron quienes le dieron el puntapié inicial a toda esta serie de eventos, Paul Higgs (su cantante) me inspiró a llevar a cabo estas actividades.
Y como en todas las presentaciones, la poeta Déborah Eguren será la responsable de reproducir en vivo y en directo diversos textos  y pasajes del libro, junto Mauricio Trimani en guitarra. Continue reading →

“Llévame” By Laura Chinelli (Video)

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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.

Uruguayan Music For Download: Laura Chinelli’s “Historias De Invierno”

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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]:

“Si Me Pierdo” by Laura Chinelli (Video)

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One of the sweetest songs from “Historias de Invierno” gets a guitar-and-voice treatment for this live performance. I actually like this version of “Si Me Pierdo” [If I Get Lost] better than the one on the original album – the brittleness that lies at its core has a much better chance to come through.

This video was recorded live at El Tartamudo, a well-known Uruguayan venue favored by independent and emerging artists. It was recorded and edited by Cecilia Dulce.

Month In Review – March 2011

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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.

Historias De Invierno (Laura Chinelli) – Uruguayan Independent Artist

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The basic band who recorded “Historias De Invierno” is Laura singing and playing guitar and keyboards, Fran playing bass, drums and sequencers, Nicolás Demczylo handling additional guitars and sequencers, and Álvaro Barneche on cello. Laura wrote all the songs.

“Historias De Invierno” is Laura Chinelli's debut album. The band that recorded it included Fran Nasser, Nicolás Demczylo and Álvaro Barneche.

Is there life before love? Is there a time that exists outside of the prolongation of single moments that come to define us sentimentally? Or must we all live slave to that prolongation of moments, as if caught in an emotional ebb and flow which means all that happens will be validated by what had once come to be, ever and ever again?

Laura Chinelli’s debut album is nestled between all these questions, in a point where eyes are wide open, but often can only stare straight into that night which is not darkness but the blinding light of conscience. The majority of the songs on the album (which has been suitably named “Historias De Invierno” [Winter Tales]) have the singer retracing her steps through bridges that are not even there any longer, or burning with the kind of aching fire that is forever starting and stopping.

Laura Chinelli

Laura Chinelli

In more places than one, “Historias De Invierno” feels like a musical variation on Villiers de L’Isle-Adams’ “Axel” – a story where the memory of love can modify all the present layers of perception. On songs like “Si Me Pierdo” [If I Get Lost], characters can’t see each other any longer. But their reflections still live in their eyes, and will keep on being there in spite of that blinding light which tries to overcome their staying force.

Other songs such as “Debajo De La Lluvia” [In The Rain] are more direct and rueful, very similar in tone and message to the defeatism of a song like Richard Thompson’s “She Sang Angels To Rest”. Compare Laura’s “puedo no volver a ser, puedo no ver, puedo no creer” [I might never be again, never see, never believe] and “Y si hoy soy lo que soy, y si no tengo a donde ir, y si hoy pierdo la razón” [And what if today I’m what I’m not, what if I have nowhere to go, what if I lose my mind] to Richard’s “how do you fall when you have already fell for the best”.

Yet, there are also moments of sentimental victory. The deepest comes as the album is ending with the song “Llévame“ [Carry Me]:

Llévame en tu mente
Búscame en los paisajes que te gustan
Búscame entre la gente
Búscame también en la oscuridad

[Carry me in your mind
Look for me in that scenery you love
Look for me in the crowd
And also, look for me in the darkness] Continue reading →