Get your rocks off

Any musicians out there interested in setting up a recording session need not look further. In Buenos Aires there seems to be a monton de Salas de Ensayos (recording studios). I jammed with a bunch of friends the other night in Belgrano. Someone just called in a request to reserve a spot in the studio and we made our way over at 1AM. We played our music at Retro Town (4787-4863). It seemed to be an old hostel, or something, located in the second and third floors of a dilapidated building, converted into a musician hangout/recording studio. They offered instrument rentals and had amplifiers and drums all set up and ready for bands to come and record, or just play for fun. They also had a full bar.

I was able to experiment with a couple of good friends, including members of three local bands, Mister Mike from Los Alfajores (myspace.com/losalfajores) and Lucas from Koshka (myspace.com/koshkaband), who also worked with another fellow jammer, Bear, in the International Morrones Experiment. Our two plus hour jam session cost 50 pesos split between the six of us. Eventually, there maybe some footage leaked of our "Retro sessions" because Mike, like the professional that he is, always brings his video camera. I spent most of my time on the Keytar, a bit of a departure from my bass playing in Nine Wives (myspace.com/ninewives). We rocked it.

It was a great way to pass the time with musician friends, day or night. I also found this website which links to a list of various Salas de Ensayo all over the beautiful city of Buenos Aires. All prices differ. Call ahead to verify if there's any space available. But it seems like there need not be too much time in advance. Good luck. Rock and roll.

On Nature and Minimalism

Bleep bleep deeet deet deeet deet bleep bleep. I still have machine-like blips and bloops looping over and over in my brain. We danced to musica minima all night long, Argentine style. It was quite the initiation too; we were imprisoned in the dark dungeon of a basement inhaling second-hand smoke, exposed only to artificial blue and red ceiling lights as if on some futuristic space ship, until about 9 this morning when we escaped and took a taxi back home, already in broad daylight. Apparently this form of "music" has a growing underground popularity, here and in Europe. I'm not so sure--its kind of hard to dance to music that sounds like a failing supercomputer.
Oh god:


But what's travel without a full night of dancing to minimal techno.

Tomorrow, we embark on an adventure south. We're headed for Peninsula Valdes, Patagonia, to watch whales breach and penguins mate. We'll be taking the week off, so you won't hear anything from us until next weekend, when we'll try to include a slide show and explain callosities to laypeople.

Pssst

A quick follow-up to Will's post. Maybe by now you've watched the amazingness of Axel's Ace laundry detergent commercial. If not, scroll down & enjoy. If you have watched it & don't speak Spanish, and would like to fully appreciate this true work of art and/or sing along, here's my (shoddy & very literal) Spanish to English translation of the song.

Yo quiero ser tu amor por siempre
I want to be your love forever
Hoy quiero entregarte mi amor y mi dulzura
Today I want to bring to you my love & my sweetness
Suavidad en tus manos y aroma a ternura
Gentle on your hands & a pleasant aroma (Lit. aroma of tenderness)
Que se mete en tu alma
That stays in your soul
Y de blanco te inunda
and inundates you with white
Yoooo quiero...
I want...

Coming soon: a post on our new digs, including our new pets, two birds we found living in a ceramic pot on our balcony, who we have named Hola and Chau.

De aquel amor

Sarah and I just moved into our new pad and its very saucy, more to come on that.

I decided it was time to post about Soda Stereo, only one of the most important bands of South America. Soda Stereo was, apparently, big in the 80's and 90's and part of a movement for musica nacional. After the dictatorship, when presumably there was no rock and roll allowed, Argentina had a surge of national rock bands singing in Spanish, which is important when most rock and roll is sung in English.

At any rate, neither Sarah nor I had ever heard about them back in the States (where we are subjected to listening to the same corporate rock music over and over and where music that's not in English is non-existent), but Soda Stereo reunited for a tour of South America. They just finished playing here, and, being the national heroes that they are, sold out four shows at the stadium.

The thing is, there was this commercial that intrigued us, and quickly became Sarah's favorite, before we even knew who these guys were. We kept watching it, loving it and trying to figure who these musicians were all covering. Anyway, with Julia's help we sorted it all out. But, in honor of Soda Stereo's sold-out shows this weekend (and because we no longer have a TV), I thought it would be a good time to let you see Sarah's favorite commercial for yourselves:



I know its probably disrespectful to Soda Stereo but I thought I'd just include my favorite commercial as well, if youre interested, which im sure you all are. This one has a famous Argentine musician as well, my man Axel. Enjoy.



Beautiful, isn't it?

Donde esta la Juana?

After surviving a near fatal taxi ride, with a driver who had to be absolutely nuts (it became very apparent when Julia called him out on endangering our lives and he asked us if we were afraid of death), we arrived in front of Ciudad Cultural Konex, Sarmiento 3131, to see Juana Molina perform.

The venue is quite remarkable. The building must have been an old commercial warehouse or something comparable. We entered into a large courtyard with Argentines hanging out, dangling from long swings which hung from the framework of the edge of the building and saw the huge industrial steel orange staircase, as if an installation from some modern art exhibit. After crossing the plaza/courtyard towards the bar, we walked into the open concrete building which holds the stage. Patrons were awaiting the next act, a fellow by the name of Gabo Ferro. We walked up alongside the stage and sat down next to our company to watch the show in the bottom level of this empty concrete parking structure. Ill skip Ferro, for he wasn't the reason we went.

Molina uses a crazy set up of three synthesizers stacked to one side, an acoustic guitar and multiple effects peddles-- the primary one is used to record and loop different sounds. Molina sings magically dreamy and uplifting songs. The amazing thing is being able to see her create these mini symphonies from her "wall of sound" right before an audience. Formally a successful actress in a sitcom/comedy bit, it's quite apparent why she left all that to pursue music. She is her music, and her music is her.

But dont take it from me. Watch her own explanation:

Molina deserves lots of recognition because of her ability to create and capture little snippets of life's beautiful moments and interpret them musically. I loved the concert and Im really glad to have found out about her. She can be a bit experimental for some, but I hope you all enjoy it. Check out her myspace as well.

The Thelonious

For the third time in the last three weeks that Sarah and I have been in Buenos Aires, we went to Thelonious Jazz Club last night, on Salguero and Guemes. And for the third time in the three weeks that we've been here, I'm glad we went. Thelonious is, quite literally, a hole in the wall; it's easy to walk right past the narrow staircase leading up to the first floor of the corner building. The place is dimly lit and slightly dingy in the sort of way you'd want a jazz club to be. The paint is starting to peel off the high walls in some places, and the streetlamps shine through the dusty windows. The club is long and L shaped with a bar running the length, opposite the seven or so small tables, up to the stage. The drinks are strong and the choices plenty. I cannot avoid the wonderful mojito, for $13 which may sound expensive, but after two of those, you're good. And that's a helluva lot cheaper than a drink in the states. The entrance is generally between $10 and $20, depending on who's playing.

Its also a good idea to reserve a table or bar seat, as there is fairly limited seating, unless you don't mind standing or sitting, either on the stairs up to the ladies room, or on the floor in front of the stage, which is where I situated myself last night to see and hear Guillermo Klein y Los Gauchos.

What a show! It began a bit slowly, easing the audience into the world of the composer. But after the first two compositions, things picked up a bit. After the intermission, the second half was even more open and free, with more of a sense of improvisation. The songs were full of feeling and seemed to float through the air; they pushed and pulled as the band slowed down and sped up, often within the same composition. Mark, an American we've met along the way, who joined us last night, later referred to the music as "cerebral jazz."

Guillermo Klein spent seven years in New York, and is now living in Barcelona (hey look at that, two of my favorite cities, not including Bs As of course) and has recorded four albums with the Gauchos over the last ten years or so. He also studied music at the Berklee College of music, in Boston. Klein, in addition to some vocals, plays the piano. The Gauchos are made up of alto sax, trumpet, some ocassional electric keyboard, drum kit, additional percussion, and the electric bass. You can hear what the NY Times wrote about him/them here.

Another fantastic show, and another reason for me to return to what has quickly become a favorite activity of mine, watching a live jazz show at Thelonious.
Stay tuned, Sarah and I are seeing another show, Juana Molina, a little-known phenom tomorrow night.