“Limbo” by Majorette (Music Video)

majorette banda uruguay

This is the first video clip by Majorette, an ascending band from the city of San José.
The song is titled “Limbo”, and you can find it on their first EP, an eponymous work that can be freely donwloaded here.
The members of Majorette are Martín Curbelo (vocalas and bass), Mathías Briccola (guitar), Andréz Pérez (piano, sequencers and backing vocals) and Ismael Geribón (drums).

The video for “Limbo” was directed by Elisa Barbosa, and edited by Ismael Geribón. It was shot on Capurro (San José).

I’ll do my best to review the band’s EP soon. I have had it for a long time already, and every song has been clearly labored at with patience and a lot of dedication. If “Limbo” sounds like your cup of tea, then you can’t go wrong with the remaining songs on offer. Get their EP here at zero cost, or tune into their soundcloud profile.

majorette EP

Tatú Vudú (Uruguayan Band)

tatu vudu deespacio

Tatú Vudú was started in 2007 by friends Diego Bustamante and Marcos Meerovich, and after years of playing in Montevideo (and after multiple personnel changes) the band managed to release its debut album in late 2012.

Entitled “Deespacio”, it was published by Uruguayan label Perro Andaluz, and the band made it available as a free download right from the very beginning.

Currently, Tatú Vudú is Diego Bustamante on voice and guitars, Marcos Meerovich on guitar, Federico Araújo on keyboards, Carlos Silva on bass and Andrés Lena on drums. Continue reading

An Interview With Bananas, a Young Uruguayan Band

NoQuieroSerNormal is a superb new blog where you can read about up-and-coming Uruguayan artists. It’s run by Gabriel Skrilec. And from now on, you’ll be able to read the interviews posted there on MusicKO, duly translated into English. The first one I’m translating is the one Gabriel conducted with Bananas, a band that has recently come together. Click here to read the original post (in Spanish).

Enjoy!

bananas uruguay
Who are the members of “Bananas”, and how long have you been around?

Bananas are Rodrigo Curbelo on guitar and vocals, Pablo Martín on bass and backing vocals, Nicolás Bello on drums, and Rodrigo Hurtado on synths and keyboards. The band was formally started on late September/early October 2012, although a previous line-up did exist (Rodrigo Hurtado was not involved back then).

bananas

Continue reading

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

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

Los Oxford (Uruguayan Independent Artist)

Los Oxford

A band whose members have really interesting musical backgrounds, Los Oxford grouped together in 2003. I became aware of their existence a long time ago, as one of their members got in touch with me and requested a review when I wrote about another Uruguayan band, Soundays.  And I have always meant to write about them.
And now, the moment has come like sudden rain. Some things are just meant to be…
I have always meant to marry Colbie Caillat, for example. But that’s yet to materialize.
I mean, I know it’s within my reach. It’s meant to be. Just the other day I came across this pearl of wisdom on Facebook, and it renewed all these hopes which were starting to falter:

imposssible

And if you need any more proof… Elvis Costello married Diana Krall!!! What else is there to say? C’mon!

Elvis Costello Diana Krall

OK, that’s the inanity out of the way for today…

The story of Los Oxfords goes a bit like this:

The band was started in 2003, in Montevideo (Uruguay). Continue reading

Flanger (Uruguayan Artist)

flanger rock uruguay

You need more than Chuck Norris to save the world. You need people with courage, determination and a lot of heart. People who know the meaning of the words “sacrifice”, “honor” and “integrity”. People who would die for their ideals, and more.
While we keep looking for them, I’d like you to become acquainted with this new Uruguayan band. They’re called “Flanger”, and they’re a quartet which plays hard rock & roll. And they manage to do that in spite of their tender ages!
Don’t believe it? Well, this is the guys at their best:

Their influences obviously go from this:

To this:

The band is made up of Nicolás Pastorini, Fernando Pastorino, Martín Neme and Luis Canobra. I can’t remember who plays what right now – let’s just assume they’re all multi-instrumentalists who give Eddie Cochran a run for his money, right?
Right…?

Nicolás Pastorini sings and plays the rhythm guitar, Fernando Pastorino is the lead guitar player, Luis Canobra is on bass and Martín “Tincho” Neme beats the skins. They’re all remarkable musicians, yet their lyrics still have a long way to go. Continue reading

Marvin Bridge & The Haddocks (Uruguayan Independent Artist)

marvin bridge

More sights and sounds from Montevideo, the Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2013!
This new band is called Marvin Bridge & The Haddocks. It’s made up of Nikolas Araujo on drums, Martin Lyon on guitar, Max Ruano on guitars and vocals and Rafa Martinelli on bass.

Before going any further, I must tell you something: this band was new when they originally got in touch with me. That was about the time our national soccer squad was casting an almighty shadow over the whole of South America, so go figure…

Well, the fact I took my time to review Marvin Bridge & The Haddocks was actually a good thing. Because they have released their best work ever in the interim, an EP called “Abadejo” [Haddock]. Every cloud has a silver lining…
A leopard cannot change its spots…
And nothing lasts forever.
Except Pi.
3.14159
265358979323
84626433832795
02884197169399375

Dude. That shit goes on and on and on…

Anyway, this band was started in early 2011, and they lean a lot on 60s rock & roll and psychedelia. But their music also takes some detours along the way, and genres such as reggae and psychedelic-folk are visited more than recurrently.

Their influences include The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Marc Bolan, The Pixies. I mean, they’re evident. They surface at every turn, in a magnificent outpouring. Any discerning person would name these bands the first time around he listens to their music.
I just didn’t copy and paste that bit from their Facebook fanpage. And I didn’t forget to delete the comma between “Marc Bolan, The Pixies” and make the sentence read “Marc Bolan and The Pixies” to hide such an egregious maneuver, either. Continue reading

Gonzalo Bouzout Issues “El Camino Bajo”, His First Solo Album

gonzalo bouzout el camino bajo

With the release of “El Camino Bajo”, Gonzalo Bouzout (the former singer for Lapso, and a current member of Pilotos En Caos) launches his solo career in earnest.

The 10-track album can be downloaded for free on his website, and (in general) it’s a more acoustic-derived work than his previous output. Though Gonzalo is joined by a three-piece band, the focus never strays too far away from his singing and playing, and the overall mood is a gentle one from top to bottom.

In all honesty (and leaving aside the fact I’ve always held his music in high esteem) I think this is going to be one of the standout Uruguayan albums of 2013.

A full review of “El Camino Bajo” is forthcoming. I encourage you to get the album now, and see how much it resonates with you.

And this is the video for the song “Puerta Al Sur” [Gateway To The South]. It’s not my favorite track on the album by any stretch, but (when you add a visual dimension to it) the song acquits itself much better:

Gonzalo Bouzout – Puerta al sur from Gonzalo Bouzout on Vimeo.

“Volver Al Futuro”, the Debut Album by Les Enfants (Uruguayan Artist)

(English translation of an article originally posted on Cooltivarte.com)

Les Enfants Uruguay
Jorge Luis Borges once claimed that dreaming was the oldest aesthetic activity which ever existed. That is the first lesson any creative person actually learns, or (at the very least) the one he ratifies when he intends to tell his own stories, and set down an imaginary rhythm that could move as many people as possible. The beauty that is veiled from perception by the tedium of routine and by these memories that sorely search for oblivion becomes visible only in these lands we dream on. The world of dreams is the world of creativity in its most crystalline expression.

And you know what? Immersing yourself in such a world is not that difficult. What’s difficult is bringing out what you manage to find there, and having it applied to reality in a way that retains its charm intact, and that doesn’t leave you uneasy, looking at your hands as if trying to remember what you could create with them whilst you were dreaming.

“Volver Al Futuro” [Back To The Future] is the first album by Les Enfants, and it manages to showcase what happens when both worlds become perfectly interconnected. “Volver Al Futuro” is the stage in which dreams and reality become all and one.

The band was started in 2008, and its five members decided to pick a French moniker since they reasoned a name in French would be more memorable in a scene where English names are legion. But they also went for one such name because they still see themselves as children in many senses, specially when it comes to all ludic activities.

Les Enfants Volver al futuro

In essence, Les Enfants are a rock-pop band which uses synthesizers to enrich their music. It’s evident that bands such as Primal Scream, The Killers, The Smiths and The Flaming Lips have been a great influence on their sound. And so have been a handful of South American bands such as Soda Estéreo and Virus.

Martín Vallejo acts as the band’s vocalist, and the songs are created collectively. Martín brings his different drafts to each and every rehearsal, and they all work together to shape both the lyrics and the music.  Martín is likewise one of the two guitar players in the band, along with Mauro Bolatino.

Roberto Suárez handles all keyboards and synths, whereas the band’s rhythmic section is made up of Javier Gorgoso on drums, and Rodrigo González on bass. Continue reading

“Spinning” and “Ghost Train” by The Creeping Ivies, a New Scottish Duo

creeping ivies scotland

A Scottish duo that has just issued their first album, The Creeping Ivies is singer/guitarist Becca Bomb and drummer Duncan Destruction who have ganged together to do just what their stage names suggest: “play wild rock & roll!”.

I suppose they are aware this decimates their chances of opening for Taylor Swift in the upcoming Red Tour of Europe.

But they obviously take that for granted. That’s life for you and me – learning to cope with voluminous loses…

Oh, don’t get me started.
I know what I’m talking about.
I’ve had my share of misfortunes, I have.
For example, I never got to be Prom Queen. But I didn’t put my head into an oven because of that.
I did try to hang myself, though. But I didn’t find a tree that was short enough. Someday I’ll tell you the whole story… Continue reading