Author Archives: Emilio Pérez Miguel

The First Video From “Angles” (The New Album By The Strokes) Is Released

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It Took The Strokes 5 Full Years To Release A New Album, But “Angles” Is Coming To Stores At The End Of March

It Took The Strokes 5 Full Years To Release A New Album, But “Angles” Is Coming To Stores At The End Of March

After a five-year hiatus, The Strokes are back in town with a new album (“Angles”), and a sparkling video to go with it.

The first song on the album (“Under Cover Of Darkness”) has been chosen as its first promotional side. The clip has already been watched more than 900,000 times. Here you have it:

Not bad. Not at all. Yet, whether “Angles” will make people forget “Is This It” (the band’s spotless debut from 2001) or just bring it to mind time and again is the question that the press has been asking incessantly.

“Angles” is slated to be released on March 22 in the US, and March 21 in the UK…

Jog.fm – Music To Listen To While Running, Walking & Cycling

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Jog.fm

Name: Jog.fm
URL: http://www.jog.fm

Jog.fm is a site where you can get music to listen to while you are exercising. So far, three different activities are supported: running, walking and cycling. In all three cases, music is found simply by specifying your actual kilometer time for Jog.fm to come up with a suitable playlist.

Alternatively, you can browse through these playlists that other people have favorited and download the ones which are more popular directly.

And in addition to providing you with music to enliven your trots up and down the city, the site features a route planning application. This will let you add points one by one until you have devised a route that will test your endurance to the limit. Or (if you are a bit like me) one that will take you through all the trendiest spots in town. As long as you are exercising as intended, I suppose that it makes no difference, right?

Right?

FTR Fanzine: Another Way To Learn About Uruguayan Bands

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I have been writing about unsigned and independent Uruguayan artists for over a year now, and the feedback I get makes it clear you enjoy the coverage. So, it’s only fair to assume you would like to know even more.

ftr for the retarded

Well, those of you who understand Spanish can check this new fanzine. It is named FTR (“For The Retarded” – talk about self-deprecating humor!), and it’s devoted to Uruguayan artists that are yet to achieve mass recognition. And the site is worth a try even if your understanding of Spanish is not spotless – you will still get to listen to all the MP3s that are featured.

I know, I know, that feels like going to the librarian and asking him for books that have big pictures only. Hey, but in the same way a picture paints a thousand words, the MP3s which are included on FTR convey all that is said on the actual posts. Just follow Bob Dylan’s immortal advice: “Don’t think twice, it’s alright”. Continue reading →

“Born This Way”, The Latest Video By Lady Gaga Premieres On Vevo

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Born This Way Is The Fastest Selling Song To Have Hit The iTunes Store

Born This Way Is The Fastest Selling Song Ever On iTunes

The newest video by Lady Gaga has just premiered on Vevo, and if it doesn’t shake the ground from beneath Justin Bieber’s feet (her main online competitor) then nothing will. “Born This Way” is already the fastest-selling single on iTunes, and the video has been viewed over 7 million times.

The battle for online supremacy rages on and on…

Month In Review – February 2011

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This month I published one of the better-received posts of the blog, both locally and internationally. I am talking about the review of Erika Chuwoki’s debut EP, “La Corporación”. Everybody remarked how enjoyable it was, but I felt bad afterwards for having slammed my beloved Badly Drawn Boy in the process, and I even wrote a post to counterbalance the criticisms I leveled at “Born In The UK” afterwards. Not that I sleep better at night or anything like that, but respect where it’s due. When taken as a whole with the music videos that were shot, the album certainly has its moments.

Also (and as announced in January) this month saw its fair share of interviews: two with entrepreneurs whose startups I have already reviewed (Josh Roberts from Bandhack and the whole TuneCrank team), and one with legendary Argentinean guitarist (and founding member of Uruguayan rock band Níquel) Pablo Faragó. You can read that interview both in English and in Spanish. Continue reading →

MTV’s Digital Show To Be Named The OMAs

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Get Ready For The OMAs

Get Ready For The OMAs

MTV has just announced the name for his upcoming digital music awards show.

The show will be called The O___Music Awards (OMAs), and it will begin airing on April 28.

As you already know, this show is focusing on digital music and social media. The exact categories and nominees are yet to be announced by MTV. Continue reading →

Vote For Your Favorite American Idol Using Facebook

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From Next Thursday On, You Will Be Able To Vote For Your Favorite American Idol Using Facebook

You Will Now Be Able To Vote For Your Favorite American Idol Using Facebook

American Idol is about to unveil a dedicated Facebook page letting fans vote for their favorite contestants.

The idea is that they will be allowed to cast their ballots up to 50 times during the designated voting period for each broadcast.

This comes across as a really appealing alternative to the clogged lines and busy signals that most of us have experienced when trying to vote for “our” idol. Not to say that anything which keeps these relentless SMS marketers at bay is nothing short of heaven-sent.

If all goes well, online voting will be implemented for the very next installment of American Idol (March 1).

Eminem Becomes The Latest Artist With A Billion Video Views On YouTube

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Eminem (The Most Popular Living Person On Facebook, With Over 29 Million Page Likes) Has Finally Reached 1 Billion Views On YouTube

Eminem (The Most Popular Living Person On Facebook, With Over 29 Million Page Likes) Has Finally Amassed 1 Billion Views On YouTube

Some thought that Michael Jackson was going to become the next artist with one billion video views on YouTube, and join Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber in that most exclusive of clubs.

Well, things have turned out quite differently. Somebody got there first.

This week, Eminem crossed that threshold.

And that is surprising only if you haven’t really been paying attention.

Eminem: 1) Has 29 million fans on Facebook, 2) Has 3 million followers on Twitter, and 3) Topped the Billboard’s Social 50 chart along with Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. Besides, Eminem was the prevalent face in the recent Super Bowl commercials. Continue reading →

Badly Drawn Boy’s “Promises” and “Nothing’s Gonna Change Your Mind” (Videos)

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Badly Drawn Boy

Badly Drawn Boy

Poor Badly Drawn Boy. I gave him some stick when reviewing Erika Chuwoki’s debut EP, “La Corporación”. Rather, the latest album that he had released (“Born In The UK”) got the stick. I really adore the guy.

And I just feel I have to say that “Born In The UK” has some really good songs. “Promises” is one. “The Times Of Times” is another. And so is “Degrees Of Separation”.

Plus, there are a couple of songs like “Nothing’s Gonna Change Your Mind” whose videos turn them into something largely more appealing.

See it for yourself. I have embedded both the videos for “Promises” and “Nothing’s Gonna Change Your Mind” below. I’m sure you’ll more than enjoy them.

Weren’t it for dreck like “Welcome To The Overground” and the title track, “Born In The UK” would have been a more than decent album. Sigh.

La Corporación (Erika Chuwoki) – Uruguayan Independent Artist

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OK, I know I’m giving myself away big time here and tarnishing what little reputability I had to begin with, but… can you guess which album I have heavily rotated every day at my office for the past two months or so? Badly Drawn Boy’s turgid “Born In The UK”.

Don’t get me wrong – I admire the guy so much that if there were a Badly Drawn Boy plush toy it would be right there in my pillow every night. And if it came with interchangeable wool hats, then I would be the happier for it (jeez… talk about tarnishing one’s reputation! How far will this go?). But that particular CD is one of the biggest misconceptions ever since someone gave Scarlett Johansson the go-ahead for “covering” Tom Waits.

And now that I have brought the wool-hatted composer from the British Isles to mind, what I want you to imagine is what would happen if he went clubbing one night, met Syd Barrett at some mad one, and tripping out of his arse he crashed the night at Lou Reed’s. And recorded an EP before passing out. If you could indeed imagine the whole scenario, then: A) You need immediate assistance, and B) You will know what to expect from the debut EP that has been issued by this new Uruguayan artist going by the ceremonious name of Erika Chuwoki.

Erika Chuwoki

Erika Chuwoki

“La Corporación” [The Corporation] is a five-song EP. Moving within the stylistic parameters insinuated above (which the band aptly terms “pop psicobélico”), the album finely interweaves personal and collective appreciations on life, love and every single thing that goes “bump!” in the night. Yes, my little grasshoppers, that includes sex – the crash of romantic crushes is studied enthusiastically on “Amar El Mal” [To Love Evil], one of the noisiest, more memorable cuts of the whole disc.

Plus, the EP has a song named “Aguante La Puta Que Nos Parió” (an obscenity I can’t translate because merely looking for an English equivalent makes me blush and cry in my tea) – the kind of title that only Harlan Ellison’s psychopath music twin could dare use on an album cover. The phrase, incidentally, is not mentioned on the song once. As if the band were inviting a snicker in the finest rock & roll tradition, and then defying the snickerers by saying, “You morons, you judged something by the cover and not by its actual content”. Placenta, pleasure, placebo indeed… Continue reading →