Another year goes by

                I still remember last New Year’s day as the fireworks were going off and everyone was hugging each other. When it came time to hug my dad, he whispered into my ear how everything was going to be alright (as he usually does). I remember replying to him with the most sincere “I don’t know anymore” I had ever given anyone.

                2011 had been a strange year for me.  I definitely made some choices which made me question myself more than once, as I felt as if I was both the villain and the hero in my own life’s story. After telling myself over and over again that everything was going to be OK  and checking around to see that nothing had gotten better, I almost gave up every hope of making it out of this very dark and desolate place which was my own mind.

                This year however, was anything but 2011 part 2. In fact, I should just get it out of the way and say that 2012 was by far the greatest year in my existence yet. I did so many things I never, ever, ever, ever though I could do, and more. I faced more challenges, detours, and roadblocks as well, but I have somehow succeeded at every aspect of my life I have set my mind on.

                This year, I became the first person in my dad’s side of the family to graduate from College, an accomplishment I will remind myself, and everyone around me probably until I die, or until I get my master’s. It was by far, the proudest moment of my life. Here I was 7 years after coming into the USA, without speaking a word of English except the odd curse-word, coming in to live with 3 people I barely knew by name, to reaching my ultimate goal of becoming a professional. Also, after being an active member of the retail universe for so long, I finally landed my first job as part of corporate America working for the Miami Herald, and not only did I manage to keep this job somehow, but also exceeded expectations from everyone around me, most definitely including myself. The fact that my co-workers are the best ever doesn’t hurt either.               

                Luckily for me, I also surrounded myself with some great folks who, probably unbeknownst to them, helped me pull myself out of the proverbial grave I had dug myself into, so I need to thank everyone who I consider a friend, for being there for me, when I needed it the most. Thank you all for sharing your wisdom, opinion and love with me when I needed it. Unfortunately, I’m a bit too good at hiding my true emotions, so you might have not known how meaningful your words were, but trust me, they helped me tons, so thanks to all of my awesome friends!

                I would like to thank my family, for taking me as I was, with my good looks, my brains, my talent and even my flaws. No matter how grey the situation was, I feel blessed that my family always had my back. I can honestly say I have the best mother, the best father, the best siblings, and certainly the best step-mother I could have ever asked for. They give me focus, advice, love and support every decision I make, no matter how destructive it can be (maybe not so much).

                I also need to thank Ralph, Laura and Hector, my fellow band mates in Drawing Bored, but also my best friends for being the greatest people ever. When I first joined this band, I don’t think they realized in how many layers of shit I was on, or how therapeutic joining this band was for me. Joining them was one of the greatest decisions I ever made, so I can’t thank them enough for taking me and keeping me as the resident bass, piano, keyboard, tambourine and rain stick player. There is just something magical that happens when you put us all four in one room with some instruments. It’s a true honor to call them my band mates. Plus, they get additional points, because trust me, dealing with me is not easy……at all, so I need to thank them for that too.

                On that note, I also want to thank our family and friends that have come to check us out, and all of the great bands and people who are in the music scene here in Miami. I’m glad to say we've made some pretty good friends with many people around town.

                So an in all, 2012 was amazing, but I’m hoping 2013 can be even better, for me, my family, my band, my friends, and basically everyone in the world. I just wish that I could call my own self back in last year’s New Year’s Eve, and tell myself that my dad was right. It would have made me drink my glass of champagne a bit slower. This year at least I’m drinking Pisco Sour, so I know beforehand I’ll be drinking it fast.

                Anyway, Happy New Year to everyone!

Why Nevermind Killed The Music Business

                       Since the beginning of recorded popular music, there have been few moments where music changed overnight, either with an album, an event, or a concert which is engraved in history forever for generations to read, or hear about. One is February 9^th, 1964, when the Beatles first performed on the Ed Sullivan Show, playing “All My Loving”, “Till There Was You”, “She Loves You”, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. From their signature mops, to their stellar discography of 12 brilliant albums in eight years, the Beatles changed everything, inspiring fashion trends, and some of the greatest bands that followed their lead (the list of acts is endless). With the Beatles’ success, record companies saw the importance of the rock band that played their own music, and signed anything that played guitars and that had long hair. Music had gone a quick transition from the rhythm and blues into Rock and Roll suddenly, being influenced by the likes of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Stones, the Who, Bob Dylan and throngs of other musicians started bands, got signed and made some of the best music for the next twenty years. 

                Fast forward to September 24^th, 1991, music has been ruled by this thing called Hair Metal, which combines heavy metal instrumentation with sugar-coated production, a cute singer, videos about hot women and other pop music clichés. Rock music was in a bad spot during this time. Metallica had just released their supposedly “sellout” record the Black Album, U2 no longer visited the Joshua Tree, they sought to use drum machines instead of their actual drummer, and Guns N’ Roses were making double-albums which only had two good songs combined among them. In other words, rock music WAS in a bad place, when the “Grunge” (I’ll use this term very loosely) trio Nirvana released Nevermind, their critically acclaimed second effort, and their major label debut.

                The album debuted number 144 on the Billboard 200 album chart; by late October, the album was top 40; on January 11, 1992, it hit number 1. Helped by the chaotic video for the lead single “Smells like Teen Spirit” the album exploded into the mainstream, and suddenly kids were no longer looking for pictures of Poison or Bon Jovi, but for albums that were similar to Nevermind, and found out a whole group of new bands that were peers, or influences of the group.

                                  (Dave Grohl, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. Nirvana! Ladies and Gentlemen)

                Looking for a term to name this “revolution”, the mass media had “Grunge”, which was used to describe most bands that came out of the North-West, specifically from Seattle, and that had a noisy-guitar driven sound. Similar to when the Beatles came through, major labels started signing anything that was from Seattle, and bands like Mudhoney and the Melvins were suddenly releasing records for Reprise and Atlantic Records respectively. It was no longer cool to spray up your hair, or to sing about girls, instead you had to scream out very personal lyrics, in order to be popular. Grunge was in full motion, and the Alternative Nation had finally caught the public eye. It appeared that the late 60’s/ early 70’s period of musical diversity, this time influenced by Nirvana, was going to happen all over again, which meant that good rock music was going to come out as well. What could have possibly gone wrong?

                Kurt Cobain’s suicide, Pearl Jam’s boycott of the mainstream, the Lemonheads, Green Day, Silverchair, Nu-Metal, boy-bands and girl-groups are some of the correct answers to this question, and in reality, the business itself had become saturated, as labels now had too many bands which weren’t selling well. The mainstream chewed out “grunge” almost as fast as it swallowed it in. Desperate for some quick cash, they went back to signing anything that sounded popular, except popular this time (1995-1996) meant sounding like Nirvana, and this formula of business clichés has been the norm ever since: average-quality albums, 1 breakthrough single, monster appeal music videos, band on the cover of album, 2 or 3 other singles to milk out that breakthrough, trying to relieve the MASSIVE cash-cow that was Nevermind.

               

                So what did Nevermind change? What was it that critics herald it or hate it for? What was it that made even 8 year-old wear Kurt Cobain shirts? It is said that a great band can be pointed out by the number of bad imitators that come after, and some of those imitators can be heard on your radio right now. If anything, Nevermind is the reason WHY there is so much bad music out there, why Nickelback has had 4 top-ten albums in the U.S., why Linkin Park continues to sell arenas around the world. Nevermind made the formula for success and every label has used it for the past 20 years, particularly now, that they are facing several financial troubles due to the rise of illegal downloading of music. They could use a cash cow.

          

                                                               Thank you Nevermind

                  Now, truth be told, there is still great rock music coming out today. Problem is that since they haven’t signed with major labels, they release their music on small independent record labels, which itself is great, but this means that fans spend considerably longer amounts of time looking for new music, which can become tiring. Why go to a record store and check out new music from up-and-coming artists, when you can buy the new Jennifer Lopez album, which at least is catchy and danceable, on iTunes from the comfort of your home?

                                                             No, REALLY. THANK YOU                                    

                  The closest this generation has come close to a Nevermind moment has been the Strokes and their debut album Is This It. They had the fans, they had hits on “Last Nite”, “Someday” and “Hard to Explain” and they definitely had the press behind them (the NME going as far as putting them on their cover before they even released a record). But what they missed was the video; they didn’t have that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” which could have potentially turned them into world-wide superstars. The Killers were too 80’s for critics, Arcade Fire probably never had a song played on mainstream radio, and Kings of Leon responded to “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” with the pretty catchy, but unoriginal Come Around Sundown. No band has had that perfect storm, right time, right moment record, which even your mother could like.

                On the business model of music today however, something like Nevermind is less likely to happen, as music itself has made that 180-degree turn for the better in terms of quality. A classic example of this would be Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs winning the Grammy for Album of the Year this past February. Back in 1991, this would have been considered to the Pixies winning that same award for Doolittle.  This was the first time an Independently released  record won this honor, and while the Grammys have come to be the running joke of the day (or any music award for that matter), seeing Barbra Streisand butcher the name of the album on her amazement, was a little surreal. It meant that there still were people out there looking for quality in music, and while good music will always be made, it could use the anarchistic storm that was Nevermind back in the 90’s. Music could use that kick the groin every once in a while, it would make it fun for a change.

Bands Mentioned (which are worth reading about……)

                -The Beatles

                -The Who

                -The Rolling Stones

                -Bob Dylan

                -Chuck Berry

                -Elvis Presley

                -Mudhoney

                -The Melvins

                -Pearl Jam

                -Nirvana

                -The Strokes

                -U2

                -Metallica

                -Guns N’ Roses

                -The Killers

                -Kings of Leon

                -Pixies

Albums Mentioned or described (which you may end up buying in a near future)

                -Nevermind

                -Achtung Baby

                -The Black Album

                -Use Your Illusion I and II

                -Come around Sundown

                -Doolittle

                -The Suburbs

                -Is This It

                              

Songs Mentioned (which you should check out on Youbube)

               -All My Loving - The Beatles

                -Till There Was You - The Beatles

                -She Loves You – The Beatles

                -I Saw Her Standing There – The Beatles

                -I Want to Hold Your Hand – The Beatles

                -Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

                -Last Nite - The Strokes

                -Someday - The Strokes

                -Hard To Explain - The Strokes

                -Sex On Fire - Kings of Leon

                -Use Somebody - Kings of Leon

                     

Soda Stereo - Signos Review

Band: Soda Stereo          

Label: Sony Music

Year: 1986

The Players:      Gustavo Cerati – Guitars, Vocals

                         Zeta Bosio – Bass, Backing Vocals

                         Charly Alberti – Drums, Percussion

               

                I can still remember waking up on Saturday mornings to the sound of my mother’s stereo system blasting out some of her favorite tunes. She would always rotate between Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, the John Lennon compilation Lennon Legend and Soda Stereo’s Signos. At the time I was five, so Dark Side was too creepy for me (especially the song “Time”) and I couldn’t tell the difference between John Lennon and Elton John (again, I was 5), so Signos has been the one record I have always remembered enjoyed listening to my entire life. Released in late 1986, this record proved to be Soda Stereo’s commercial and critical breakthrough, making the band a household name in their home country of Argentina, rock legends and pioneers in Rock music on Latin America.

                “Sin Sobresaltos” (Without Shocks) starts the album off with a very melodic piano before the drums come in, setting motion for your typical, but always ear-soothing  Rock N Roll build-up, but what you get instead is a full-on, bombastic, over-the-top chorus and a bass that sounds so loud and crisp in the mix, it’s scary. In the verses, Gustavo Cerati sings while the piano provides the necessary melodic accompaniments for the singer’s observations regarding fame, meteor storms and prodigious children, apparently singing to a woman who’s up to no good. Guitars jingle, (a Gustavo Cerati trademark) drums beat steady and the chorus intertwines so well with the trumpet line that it makes it for one the coolest moments in this album, while the outro is perhaps as stirring as the beginning of the track with all the instruments coming together for the ending of the song.

                Strange synth sounds start off the second track called “El Rito” (The Rite), definitely settling down the pace for the listener, yet it still manages to sound as melodramatic as the first track with female choruses and jazzy organs leaving their mark for a fairly easy-going song. “El Rito”, is definitely one of the less standout songs on the album; however, on a record in which every song sounds like a top-40 hit in Spanish and which has no definite track, this is not a bad thing for fans of this track.

                Then comes “Profugos” (Fugitives), the hit single, the dance floor filler, the song your mother remembers, and although it starts out in a rather strange manner, it’s got the catchy guitar riff, the female Ohh Ahh’s, the epic chorus and a great guitar solo by Mr. Cerati, in other words, the big seller. A recurring theme about this album is that Cerati always seems to be speaking about the strange adventures he has with his female companion(s). Apparently he likes his women wild, and to listen to everything he has to say, no matter how much of it, could be his fault. Cerati’s guitar solo is another great moment in this album, one of the reasons being because is one of the few guitar solos present on this album.

                “No Existes” (You Don’t Exist) is probably one of the most difficult songs in Signos, due to its slow, low-key build up. By now, you’d be expecting even more 80’s jangle guitar warfare, but what you get instead is a very simple drumbeat and a slow but steady chord progression for the first half of the song. Then the entire band kicks into high gear with a heavy-with-delay guitar solo.  I personally loved the fact that Gustavo Cerati even mentions the word “Polaroid” in one of his songs; this helps really convey the message that this is Argentina in the mid 1980’s.

                The second single from the song, and perhaps the moment where Charly  Alberti truly shines as a drummer, is called “Persiana Americana” (Venetian Blind), and at this point, this song basically follows the “El Rito” and “Profugos” formula, which sometimes, could get a little repetitive, yet it still manages to stand out as one of the key tracks on the album, with its distinct drumbeat and gipsy adventure-like lyrics.

                Signos is also one of those few albums where the best is saved for last, in this case, the last three tracks, which are pure Rock en Español gold. “En Camino” (On The Way) has a very distinct sound, with prominent harmony vocals, and an acoustic guitar that drives the song in the background until a bass solo by Zeta Bosio takes his already noticeable bass lines into the foreground. Of course, similar to The Police, every member of Soda Stereo is always subtly fighting for the spotlight while the others have it, whether it is the drums turning louder and with different percussion sounds or the bass sounding clearer and busier than usual. Of course, then there’s Cerati, the master of ceremonies, who just like in “En Camino”, manages to completely change the speed and mood of the song into the middle eight with some pretty nice electric guitar finger work.

                Enter the title track. Why this song wasn’t released as a single or why was it barely played live is beyond me as I believe this song is among the two best tracks Soda Stereo ever did. Again the acoustic guitar rears its neck again, and this time, Cerati plays it with such precision and finesse during the chorus that it makes for a great compliment when he imperatively and demandingly yells “Signos”. Another cool thing about this track is that all the guitar work Cerati does in this song, whether it be hardcore strumming, or slow fingerpicking with a delay pedal, is through an Acoustic Guitar, and not a lot of people did that at the time, except for Robert Smith but then again, The Cure's influence is all over this record and this band.

                “Final Caja Negra” (Black Box Final), the last song on the album, owes a lot to its predecessor,as it sort of follows the same pattern, yet manages to sound more of a Prog rock version from “Love Song” by The Cure, cheesy synth line included. Cerati and Co. couldn’t think of another way to finish this album, since as much as anyone hates listening to a great record end, the band makes sure the last minute or so are the best seconds from the entire album (i.e. Pink Floyd), and with a slowly built fadeout, we hear the last of Signos as it ends on such a high note which could have potentially dwarfed any other music they released after, unless of course, you’re a song called “De Musica Ligera” (Of Light Music)

                With the release of this album, Soda Stereo proved that it was OK for Spanish bands to sing and play like American bands. This album had nothing “South American” about it, except for that great polaroid imagery in “No Existes”, as everything from the lyrics, to the drum sound and the production took cue from other rock records being released at the time. Signos would prove to be one of the greatest Spanish-Spoken records of the 1980’s and one of the greatest pieces of art that came out of Argentina making Soda Stereo bigger than Evita down there.

Rating: 9/10

Bands Mentioned (which are worth reading about)

                -Pink Floyd

                -John Lennon

                -Elton John

                -The Police

                -The Cure

Albums Mentioned (which you may end up buying in a near future)

                -The Dark Side Of The Moon

                -Lennon Legend

Songs Mentioned (which you should check out on Youbube)

                -Love Song - The Cure

                -De Musica Ligera - Soda Stereo