Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Introducing Niki And The Dove


Niki and the Dove is a new Swedish duo consisting of Malin Dahlström and Gustaf Karlöf and I couldn't be happier of coming across this magnificent musical project. Although I first heard of Niki and the Dove when I came across their mind-blowing music video for their single "The Fox", the Swedish duo debuted about 2 years ago with "DJ, Ease My Mind". After listening to this and 2 additional singles that were recently released ("Mother Protect" and "The Fox"), I immediately noticed the mysticism, dark harmonious melodies of the Swedes; and how their music appears to be influenced by The Knife/Fever Ray's music. Yes!!! I can't deny it; I think I peed my pants a bit of emotion. Niki and the Dove will surely be featured here on this blog many other times as this fantastic duo is definitely bringing together some fierce synth sounds with some melodic vocals and beats. I haven't been this happy since.... well, let's say a very long time. Check out ther latest music video for "The Fox" and etc below





And watch an acoustic version of Dj, Ease My Mind here

Thursday, February 9, 2012

New Oh land - Speak Out Now.



Although Oh Land has all the elements to become significantly popular here in the U.S., her popularity has not increased as much as I wish. Oh Land made her US television debut performence on David_Letterman on 2 March 2011 performing her single "Sun of a Gun" which gave her some incredible buzz. Pop stars as Sia and Katy Perry couldn't help notice Oh Land's talent and asked Oh Land toured North America and Europe as their supporting act. Check out Oh Land's new video





And don't miss checking out the absolutely epic live performance of Audition Day

Monday, February 6, 2012

My 5 cents...



We all watched the Superbowl; some for the game and the rest of us to watch Madonna’s half-time performance.  I think that we all agree that it is definitely amongst the top best halftime shows ever; however, I couldn’t help to notice some similarities to other live performances from other artists and I made my comparison which I posted on facebook.  To my surprise, a friend of mine whom is a relentless fan of Madonna got extremely offended and called me a ‘hater’ and even asked me to unfriend him, which is what triggered this post. 

In my opinion, Madonna’s performance was over the top, flashy and entertaining as is expected for a Superbowl’s half-time show and I loved it.  However, because of the lack of originality I found by comparing it with Kylie Minogue’s Aphrodite tour (see below) and the similarities of Madonna’s new single with Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girls, I was slightly disappointed.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Madonna but come on!!!  We are talking about Madonna, The Queen of Pop, and we always expect to be surprised and amazed with some new trend; it just didn’t do it for me this time.  Although I was not surprised by Madonna’s performance, I was surprised that objectivity has been lost when it comes to her name, especially amongst my people, the gay community.

Madonna 2012



Kylie 2010-11

Apparently, we live in a super sensitive, insecure, and uptight society where one is called a "hater" for just speaking your mind and having an opinion. How dare you say X or Y musician’s latest single sucks? It seems to me that the industry and my gay community is blinded with this mindset, and if you don’t like Madonna, Katy Perry or Britney Spears’ job then you are a hater.  Heaven forbid I might be speaking the truth…  This whole episode made me think if I should even consider I need to shut up and not speak my mind in order to fit in on a certain circle of friends or even to simply keep a friendship. 

It also made me wonder who the real hater is.  Is it the person who speaks their mind and provide the facts that support his opinion, or is it the person who hates the criticism and calls you a hater for speaking your mind?  It is clear to me who the “hater” is and those who criticize and have the facts and accurate arguments to support their opinion are not the “hater”.  A ‘hater’ is someone that just simply criticizes without having the arguments to support their negative opinion: they Hate and can never say exactly why.  But hey, this is America, the land of the free and the freedom of speech and even the real ‘haters’ have their place and must be respected even when they have their biased opinion. 



Bottom line is that music is a form of art and some of us who are passionate about music have strong opinions about what happens out there in the music industry. When we listen to a new track or watch a live performance or a music video, we tend to see it as a piece of art.  If we look up the definition of Art Appreciation, we’ll find out that is the ‘knowledge and understanding of the universal and timeless qualities that identify all great art’The more you appreciate and understand about the art from different eras, cultures, movements, styles and techniques, the better you can develop, evaluate and improve your own work. If your interest in art is simply for your personal enjoyment, a greater knowledge of art history and an understanding of elements, such as composition and technique, should increase your appreciation of art and enhance the pleasure you derive from looking/listening at it.

The reason I’m somewhat disappointed of ‘my gays’ is because as homosexuals, we are fighting for a better world in which tolerance is valued and bullying is ‘eradicated’.  However, within our own community, we tend to be the most intolerant people with our own diverse groups and we even bully ourselves constantly.   It should not be ok for anyone to feel that you can’t speak your mind because your friends will go off on you simply because they don’t like your opinion.  In this case, the fact that Madonna is “The Queen of Pop” should not be the excuse to not being objective when it comes to critic her job.  If it sucks, then it suck; if it was copied, then it was copied and if it was amazing, then it was amazing.  This Madonna Superobowl's performance was amazing and entertaining, but not so much original or mind blowing. And because I have an opinion about something I am passionate and something I'd say I am somewhat literate, I will give my opinion even when it does not make me popular amongst those I know.  If someone can't agree to disagree or respect your opinion, then it just simply should not be your friend after all. 





Fortunately, a few out there still see things objectively as proven by SNL’s writers on the skid in which Kristen Wiig impersonated Lana Del Rey.  Yes, because Lana Del Rey’s performance has been negatively criticized (including me) but SNL’s skid (Watch SNL's Kristen Wiig as Lana Del Rey) reminds us how biased the industry and critics have become. 

Kristen Wiig as Lana Del Rey:
“Based on the public's response, I must have clubbed a baby seal while singing the Taliban national anthem."
“no serious musician would ever change their name.  Except for Sting, Cher, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Jay Z, everyone else on hip hop and of course, Bob Dylan”
"The music stage on 'Saturday Night Live' is hallowed ground, and I failed to reach the high bar set by past guests like Bubba Sparxxx, The Baha Men and Shaggy."

Friday, February 3, 2012

M.I.A. - Bad Girls (Official Video)


With her rumored upcoming performance on the Super Bowl for her collaboration with Madonna , M.I.A. just released the video for Bad Girls and she is reminding us what this bad girl do so well. Her rhymes are pure perfection and the twisted synth beat is super contagious. The truth is that we know that Madonna will only carefully select what trends she wants to incorporate on her albums, and this time, once again, she got it right by collaborating with M.I.A. But who is the baddest girl between Madonna and M.I.A.? Tough one but I'll dare to say that these days, it is time for M.I.A to shine as the baddest.


Watch New Miike Snow's Video

Miike Snow, the trio of superproducers Bloodshy & Avant (Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg) and Andrew Wyatt will release their new album Happy to You March 27 via Downtown/Universal Republic. A video was released a few weeks ago for one of the new album's track (The Devil's Work) but now that they have released the video for Paddling Out, it all makes sense as The Devil's Work is a continuation of Paddling Out's video. Both tracks are excellent and I am expecting this album to be exceptionally good. Check the two videos below. "The sun is gone completely; I used to lie thinking clouds aside here and which was dust." and check out this mix with some of Sweden's greatest artists including Miike, Robyn, The Knife, Lykke Li, etc. In support of the new album, the duo will head out on a North American tour-- the full schedule is below
Miike Snow:
 03-13 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-23 Miami, FL - Ultra Music Festival
04-10 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
* 04-11 Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
* 04-12 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
* 04-14 Indio, CA - Coachella
04-21 Indio, CA - Coachella
04-24 New York, NY - Terminal 5
* 04-27 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
* 04-29 Boston, MA - House Of Blues
* 05-01 Toronto, Ontario - Sound Academy
* 05-02 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis Theatre
* * with Penguin Prison

Waterfalls short video

Photography - Scenery

I love photography and have taken some cool photos. I guess I think I have a good eye for this...I might be wrong. LOL Check out the gallery below to see some of those photos

San Sebastian (my hometown) pics slideshow

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Culebra, PR pics slideshow

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