Tag Archives: Music

Martín Barea Mattos (Uruguayan Artist)

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Martín Barea Mattos is a Uruguayan poet, musician and performer. He was born in 1978, and (to this date) Martín has released four books of poems. His most recent title is “X Hora X Día X Mes”, a collection of poetry he published in 2008. And that also happens to be the name of the band he currently fronts. X Hora X Día X Mes recorded “Odisea en el Parking Planetario” [Odyssey in the Planetary Parking] in 2010, and the band has been playing the album ever since, honing its live act.

I became acquainted with Martín last year, when he was a guest speaker at a poetry workshop I attended. His artistic vision and commitment made a deep impact on all the people who were there that day. And I have wanted to feature him on MusicKO ever since.

A month to this date, X Hora X Día X Mes played a defining gig at the Teatro AGADU in Montevideo. At around that time, Martín was interviewed by Cooltivarte. You can read an English translation of that interview below; the original is found here. It is an excellent way to become acquainted with his work, as he elaborates not only on his role as a musician but also as an artist.

In addition to Martín on voice and guitar, the band is made up of Facundo Fernández Luna on guitar, Pelao Meneses on percussion, Luján Fernández Luna on accordion, flute and vocals and Juan Tolosa on electric bass.

All the photos that you can see on this post come from Cooltivarte’s director, Federico Meneses.


For those who are getting acquainted with this project now, how would you introduce “X Hora X Día X Mes”?

“X HORA X DÍA X MES” is a musical project that keeps the emphasis on what’s being said. The texts themselves are what shape the music. The album can be downloaded at www.feeldeagua.net.

Is there a reason the album has been issued independently? Is that an artistic gesture?

The album has been issued independently because our art is not something that could be labeled as massive. It gives us the chance to do things as we see fit. Artistically, it enables me to lead the course.

At this point, what are your musical references?

Personally speaking, my references go from Charly García and Leo Maslíah to Fernando Cabrera and Darnauchans, and certain stages in the music of Jaime Roos and Caetano Veloso. Throw the Beatles and Kiko Veneno into the mix, and that’s it!

If you had to pick three songs that are representative of your work, and that you would recommend to someone who’s new to it, which would they be?

“Autocracia”, “Para los que Sueñan Despiertos” y “La Verdad de la Milanesa”. Urbanity, waltz and hypnosis. Continue reading →

Radio El Aguantadero: The Shrine For Underground Music In Uruguay

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A radio station that has broadcast for more than two years now, El Aguantadero is unarguably one of the finest places for understanding what the underground music scene in Uruguay is like.

As “El Zapa” (the radio’s host) said on a recent interview, the project was created by him and his good friend “El Pato” because they “were (and still are) eager consumers of underground culture. We believed it was necessary to provide a radial space where all the music we saw at pubs could be brought together. We thought someone had to create a collective medium for spreading and supporting such artistic manifestations.”

You can visit El Aguantadero’s website here. There’s music playing 24/7, and a chat where you’ll be able to interact both with punters and underground musicians who are sharing their work with everybody else. And an index of bands is likewise available here.

You can also catch up with the guys and gals who make up El Aguantadero on Facebook. This is the page.

Casablancas To Release Their Debut EP, “Please Don’t Be Like Me” (Teaser)

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Casablancas are back from the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in their hairs.

Well, not really. They’ve just released a new video to promote their upcoming EP, that’s all. But (if you’re a bit like me) that’s the best possible news you could ever read. I love the guys, they were the recipients of the most badass post I wrote in the history of this blog (more badass than all the characters from The Expendables I & II put together). In an alternate reality, we’re all brothers, traveling through the English countryside on the back of a train, strumming mandolins and singing about love and life with sartorial eloquence.

Their debut EP is going to be named “Please Don’t Be Like Me”. Watch the clip above, wipe the tears of joy from your eyes and then like Casablancas’ page on Facebook. If you send them a message mentioning MusicKO when doing so, you’ll be entered into a competition for a motorcycle like the one you can see below. Talk about badass…

And The Graffiti Award For Best Music Video Goes To…

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Trotsky Vengarán for “Noche de Rock”.

Pretty cool, wouldn’t you say? The winners were the ones who focused on telling a story with humor and enthusiasm, not on creating a technically-complex video.

My congratulations to Trotsky Vengarán, and also to all the other nominees – the quality of the videos that were nominated this time was uniformly high.

In case you are yet to see it, this is the video for “Noche de Rock”.

Noche De Rock by Trotsky Vengaran (Video)

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The fifth (and final) nominees for a Graffiti Award are Uruguayan punk rockers Trotsky Vengarán (MySpace profile), with their “Noche de Rock” [Night of Rock]. The song’s taken from the album “Todo Para Ser Feliz” [Everything To Be Happy], and the music video features cameos from celebrated musicians like Dani Umpi and Rubén Rada.

A to-the-point music video that tells the aftermath of a night of debacle with wry humor, “Noche de Rock” is a good alternative to all the other nominees – they all more or less rely on special effects and fancy editing to get their stories told.

We’ll see what happens this Friday, when the Graffiti Awards ceremony is held.

Just to do a quick recap, the other four nominated music videos are:

“A Donde Van Los Pájaros” by Luciano Supervielle
“Antes del Fin”  by Walter Bordoni
“Cadáver” by ReyToro
“Invierno” by Socio

“Antes Del Fin” by Walter Bordoni (Video)

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This is other of the music videos that are up for a Graffiti Award next week. “Antes Del Fin” [Before The End] is a song by Walter Bordoni, a Uruguayan musician that was born in 1962. His first album was published in 1990. It was titled “El Gol De La Valija y Otros Cuentos”) [The Suitcase’s Goal and Other Stories], after a much-discussed soccer incident that took place in 1933, and that’s an indelible part of Uruguayan folklore.

Walter Bordoni, as depicted on the cover of his second album, "Flor Nueva de Películas Viejas" (1994).

An accomplished piano and guitar player, Bordoni was involved in several artistic groups and collectives. He co-founded an artistic project in 1994 known as “Aguafuertes Montevideana” with Gastón Rodríguez, and the resulting album (published in 1997) still stands as a commercial and artistic highlight.

He is currently a member of the Kafkarudos, a band made up of the collective talents of Gastón Ciarlo “Dino”, Alejando Ferradás, Tabaré Rivero and the late Eduardo Darnauchans.

“Antes Del Fin” is a song is extracted from his newest album, “La Cifra Infinita” [The Infinite Number]. Its music video takes the form of an animated short that corroborates the leaping cadence of the lyrics word by word.

“La Cifra Infinita” has been issued by Bizarro Records, and it has also received two other nominations: one for “Best Production” (Alejandro Ferradas), and another for “Best Popular Music and Urban Song Album”.

This is Walter Bordoni’s MySpace profile. And this is his blog (in Spanish only).

Van Velthoven (Uruguayan Artist)

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Van Velthoven

Fully aware of where he’s come from and where he intends to go, Van Velthoven is a Uruguayan artist with a sharply-defined vision.

From his Facebook profile:

“On his project, Van Velthoven nods to some of the greatest rock/pop artists in history. He pays homage to their aesthetics without losing his musical and artistic personality. The lyrics deal with revolution, the inner self, social issues, nature, power, love… The artist aims to reflect his inner self, and he invites us to walk besides him along the pathway of art in its fullest expression. The idea is that every person who does it will be transported to a different world, a parallel dimension called “Van Velthoven”.

Below you’ll find a video for the song “El Juego de la Muerte” [The Game of Death] in which he is joined by legendary Uruguayan rapper Jazzy Mel.

Van Velthoven’s website is found at www.vanvelthoven.com.uy. This is his YouTube channel. And you can both listen to his music and download it for free on his Bandcamp profile.

 

UPDATE:

A new video of Van Velthoven playing live with his band and Uruguayan journalist Martín Sarthou. The song is named “¿A Dónde Irás?” [Where Will You Go?]:

A new version of “El Juego de la Muerte” (also featuring Jazzy Mel):

And his album “Rey” [King] has recently been issued. I hope to review it soon. In the meantime, take a look at the artwork:

Van Velthoven cover

Van Velthoven back

For more info, head to Van Velthoven’s brand-new Facebook fanpage.

“Parámetro Paraíso” & “Entre Tu Diálogo y Mi Reacción” By Valentina Pecora (Videos)

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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

“Por No Saber Decir” By Alfonsina Álvarez (Video)

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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.

Plug.dj – Create A Party, And Share Your Music With The World

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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.