YiR'09: The Blog's Musical Review, Part 5.

Finalmente, el blog entra en la parte donde se reconoce el trabajo de los artistas, esos que se fajaron para estar en todos lados, que todos hablen de ellos y en defintiva, esos que realmente se merecen el tag de Artistas del Año. Pero antes, el Premio Leyenda.

Leyends Award

TRENT REZNOR AND NINE INCH NAILS

1989-2009

Nine Inch Nails es quizás, una de las bandas más simbólicas del rock industrial de todos los tiempos, ya que después de todo llevaron la bandera del género por muchos años y ha sido así como han de ser recordados por todos los años que nos queden de existencia.

La influencia de Nine Inch Nails dará mucha tinta para derramar en todo lo que se refiere a bandas inspiradas por ellos, canciones muy parecidas a las suyas, gente marcada por las letras de Trent Reznor y claro, las leyendas consagradas que ya reconocen su talento. No olvidemos que fue Johnny Cash que nos trajo ese maravilloso remake de "Hurt" a penas meses antes de morir.

No queda duda que tendremos a Trent Reznor por buen rato, ya que seguirá produciendo y dirigiendo sus negocios, pero nunca será igual que vivir la energía que yo nunca pude experimentar de escuchar en vivo cada acorde de sus legendarias canciones, escuchar pro primera vez sus creaciones recien salidas del horno.

Discos como Pretty Hate Machine, The Downward Spiral y The Fragile marcaron a muchos jóvenes y nos llevaron a buscar más musicalmente, en vez de conformarnos con lo que ya había en el marcado. Canciones que se inmortalizaron en los oidos de millones de personas como "Closer", "The Perfect Drug" y "Head Like a Hole" siempre estarán disponibles en nuestros archivos digitales, más no en vivo. Eso se quedará para otra oportunidad que de seguro será especial.

Rockeros? Muchos; Leyendas? Pocas; Trent Reznor? Unico.

Continuando con la lista, demos fin a la revista musical de 2009, un año muy difícil de juzgar, pero con sus cositas buenas.

2009 BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST

Lady Gaga

Runnerups: Pitbull; Rita Indiana y 

Los Misterios; and Juango Dávalos

Sin haberlo planificado, esta productora nos ha legado uno de los mejores álbumes bailables de todos los tiempos. Lady Gaga y su irreverente formato musical, en mi opinión incatablogable, es en defintiva la artista nueva de este año, sin mucha competencia y con todas las de continuar una exitosa carrera de muchos, muchos años aún.

No obstante Pitbull ya tiene algnos añitos (Igual que Lady Gaga) entiendo que éste ha sido realmente su año de salir a la palestra pública del mainstream, un logro que muchos artistas no tienen bajo su manga. Rita Indiana y Juango, defintivamente dos puntos equidistantes en una misma regla y que nos darán mucho de qué hablar a los dominicanos.

BEST GROUP OR DUO

DEPECHE MODE

Runnerups: Dave Matthews Band; 

Black Eyed Peas; and Calle 13

No obstante se esperaba más escándalo con la nueva producción de Depeche Mode, no se puede negar que su estatus de grandes leyendas del Rock Británico fué consolidada con sus discos Playing The Angel, Touring The Angel y luego el Best of, se extendió (con menos buya, pero igual de efectivo) a "Sounds of the Universe", disco con el que regresan a los grandes estadios y arenas de inmenso tamaño de los tiempos del Devotional Tour.

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

PITBULL

Runnerups: Beto Cuevas; Andrés

Calamaro; and Pavel Núñez.

Luego de varios años diskjokeando en fiestas en todo Miami, el mundo estaba listo para la energía que Pitbull imprime en su música. Y el mundo estaba listo para él, puesto que su disco "Rebelution", sin ni siquiera haber salido, puso 3 sencillos número 1 en Billboard y por toda Europa.

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

LADY GAGA

Runnerups: Beyoncé; Britney Spears; 
Lilly Allen; and Katy Perry.

And last, but definetly not least...

2009 ARTIST OF THE YEAR

LADY  l GAGA

Runnerups: 

Depeche Mode

Beyoncé

Poolpo

Britney Spears

Need we say more?, lets try: 6 released singles, 4 of them Number 1 hits (Just Dance, Poker Face, Paparazzi and Love Game), amazing performances, unforgetable looks, sold out concerts and she is barely beggining her tourring this year... And she's only 24.

Defintivamente, la sensación del verano.

YiR'09: The Blog's Musical Review, Part 4.

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE

BY A GROUP OR DUO.

"QUIMICAMENTE MEJORADO" 

Performed and Produced by Poolpo.

From the EP "Octopus" (DR, 2009)

Runnerups: "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas; "Funny The 

Way It Is" by Dave Matthwes Band; "Decode" by Paramore.

BEST FEMALE VOCAL PERFORMANCE

"JUST DANCE"

Performed by Lady Gaga featuring Colby 

O'Donnis and Akon. Produced by RedOne.

From the Album "The Fame" (USA, 2008)

Runnerups: "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It!)" by Beyoncé; 

"Sober" by P!nk; "Womanizer" by Britney Spears.

BEST MALE VOCAL PERFORMANCE

"VUELVO"

Performed by Beto Cuevas. Produced by 

Steve Toushar and Aureo Baqueiro.

From the Album "Miedo Escénico" (Chile, 2008).

Runnerups: "I Know You Want Me (Calle 8)" by Pitbull; "Mala Persona" by 

Nélson Poket; "Si No Fuera Por Tí" by Enrique Bunbury; and "Tú Versus Yo" by Juango Dávalos.

DOMINICAN POP/ROCK

SINGLE OF THE YEAR

"TU VERSUS YO"

Performed and produced by Juango Dávalos.

From the EP "Un Niño Antiguo" (DR, 2009).

Runnerups: "Químicamente Mejorado" by Poolpo; "Mala Persona" by 

Nélson Poket; "El Blues del Ping Pong" by Rita Indiana y Los Misterios.

2009 SONG OF THE YEAR

"JUST DANCE"

Performed by Lady Gaga featuring Colby 

O'Donnis and Akon. Produced by RedOne.

From the Album "The Fame" (USA, 2008)

Runnerups: "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas; "Single 

Ladies (Put a Ring on It!)" by Beyoncé; and "Womanizer" by Britney Spears.

Tomorrow we'll have a special post for this year's Legends Award recipient: Nine Inch Nails, as well as the conclusion of the review with the awards for Male and Female Artist of the Year, Best Group or Duo, Breakthrough Artist and 2009 Artist of the Year.

Ehl.

YiR'09: The Blog's Musical Review, Part 3.

Vocal performances are judged separetely in this review from artistic efforts for a very distinct reason: Sometimes an artist can score that one song in a year a hit it big time, whereas another artist can solidify its fame further than that one hit, his efforts went well beyond that combining artistic innovation, sales, touring, the works. But that doesn't mean that a song, by not having the same exposure, looses its beauty, so thats why we hit it separately. Just like a really sucky song can have a great video, same premise works here.

That said, we kick of the Vocal Performances Categories (Songs):

BEST ALTERNATIVE

MUSIC PERFORMANCE

"TU VERSUS YO" PERFORMED AND 
PRODUCED BY JUANGO DAVALOS

From the EP "Un Niño Antiguo" (DR, 2009)

Runnerups: "Happy Up Here" by Royksopp; "El Blues del Ping Pong"by Rita Indiana 
y Los Misterios; "Si No Fuera por Tí" by Enrique Bunbury and "Electromovimiento" by Calle 13.

Juango Dávalos is one of the best kept secrets our country has to offer the market right now. His debut single, "Té Versus Yo" has been Number 1 in all pop-rock radio stations in Santo Domingo, based on catchy vintage tunes, melodic vocals and great effects on a very well achieved album. One can only imagine this product placed under the right hands where top would be for this promising new dominican solo artist. The other noteworthy song in the runnerups post, is probably dominican gazelle Rita Indiana and her band "Los Misterios", composed of well known rockers, that are experimenting with the music arround them, namely, street mambo. Rita's most important contribution, if any, has been bringing a new crowd of listeners to her concerts and present them with a brand new sound and melodies very attipical for what the crowds in Cinema Cafe or Quintana are used to, and that is probably as award-worthy than anyone else here.

BEST URBAN MUSIC PERFORMANCE

"RIGHT ROUND" PERFORMED BY FLO RIDA

PRODUCED BY DR. LUKE

From the Album : "R. O. O. T. S." (USA, 2009)

Runnerups: "I Know You Want Me (Calle 8)" by Pitbull; 

"Electromovimiento" by Calle 13; "We Made You" by Eminem;

Even over the pop sensation "I Know You Want Me" by Pitbull, Flo Rida's rendition of Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" excells by literally remaking the sucess of the original song, and vilelly I dare say, overcomes it. No, Flo's version will not be an instant classic, but boy is it good on the dance floor!

BEST ROCK MUSIC PERFORMANCE

"QUIMICAMENTE MEJORADO" PERFORMED BY POOLPO

PRODUCED BY POOLPO

From the EP "Octopus" (DR, 2009)

Runnerups: "Funny The Way It Is" by Dave Matthews Band;

"Wrong" by Depeche Mode; "For What It's Worth" by Placebo.

The sound and the energy that oozes from this single, the last from the "Octopus" EP that featured singles like "Hacia el Final del Arcoiris" and last years nominee for Best Dominican Rock Single, "Popular", rock though all six songs of the ep. It still amazes me how low key dominican talent is kept, with so much of it growing everywhere. The single has a video directed by Jean Gabriel Guerra, not exactly a masterpiece but delivers in showing the strong, sound blasting performance that the band brings to every live show they're in.

BEST POP MUSIC PERFORMANCE

"JUST DANCE" PERFORMED BY LADY GAGA 
FEATURING COLBY O'DONNIS AND AKON

PRODUCED BY RedOne

From the Album: "The Fame" (USA, 2009).

Runnerups: "Vuelvo" by Beto Cuevas; "Single Ladies (Put a 

Ring on It)" by Beyoncé; "Womanizer" by Britney Spears.

Most definetly one success story for the ages. "The Fame" has been out since late 2007, but Lady Gaga didn't really come into our televisions until well into late 2008 when her song "Just Dance" rumbled through every chart possible, even becoming 2009's first Number 1 Song in Billboard Magazine's Top 100. And more so, the re-issuing of "The Fame" saw the rebirth of singles like "Poker Face", "LoveGame" and "Paparazzi", this last one a tribute to said professionals and the media in general. Britney made her comeback, but we were busy Just Dancing.

Tomorrow we round up the Recording catergories with Best Male, Female and Group Vocal Performances, and 2009 Song of the Year.

Ehl.

YiR'09: The Blog's Musical Review, Part 2.

So keeping up with the 2009 Review, up next is are the categories for Best Video from a Group or Duo, Best Female/Male Videos, Outstanding Direction and 2009 Video of the Year.

BEST VIDEO FROM A GROUP OR DUO

"WRONG" PERFORMED BY DEPECHE MODE

Directed by Patrick Daughters (UK, 2009)

Runnerups: "Happy Up Here" by Royksopp; "For What It's Worth"

by Placebo; "La Fila del Cine" by Auro y CLEMT.

So Depeche Mode's video for "Wrong" was stricking, we got that. But the real power behind the amazing directing of Patrick Daughters is the focus outside the band for the visuals of this video, placing the Basildon trio in the backseat of sorts for this one, and yet the video plays out wonderfully with the band getting its cameo during the intermediate part of the recording.

BEST MALE VIDEO

"VUELVO" PERFORMED BY BETO CUEVAS

Directed by Alberto Cuevas Olmedo

Runnerups: "El Hombre Delgado..." by Enrique Bunbury; "I Know You 

Want Me" by Pitbull"; "Dime Si Lo Ves" by Pavel Núñez.

El minifilm de Beto Cuevas sale del primer sencillo de su debut como solista. El sonido, muy parecido a los últimos trabajos de La Ley, suena muy diferente a al resto del disco que tiene un tono mas pausado que este sencillo. No obstante el mismo cuenta con buena energía y, en mi opinión, cuenta ocn el tono comercial necesario para quedarse en la memoria de la gente. El video cuenta con una buena dirección artistica y en defintiv cuenta con una estética bastante bien cuidada.

BEST FEMALE VIDEO

"WOMANIZER" PERFORMED BY BRITNEY SPEARS

Directed by Joseph Kahn (USA, 2008).

Runnerups: "Single Ladies" by Beyonce; "The Fear" by 

Lily Allen;  "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga; "Sober" by P!nk.

The stetics of the video show it high above the rest of the competition. Britney, or more so her father, has a very clear idea of the tunes of her songs and how the ideas should pan out on video. Given that Britney isn't in her best, we'll credit her crew for a very well defined storyboard, very complex scenes and a killer coreographer.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION

IN A MUSIC VIDEO

REUBEN SUTHERLAND FOR "HAPPY UP HERE"

AS PERFORMED BY ROYKSOPP (NORWAY, 2009)

Runnerups: Tabaré Blanchard for "La Fila del Cine"; Patrick Daughters 

for "Wrong"; and Edouard Sallier for "El Hombre Delgado...".

The principal achivement in the video for "Happy Up Here", besides the concept, is the fact that it mixes very well live action scenes, CGI and excellent cinematography to achieve a well thought idea that would have been an absoute dissaster if only on paper. However, the end result shows a very detail-oriented effort to produce an excelent tribute to a vintage video game, while providing graphics to a great tune by the norwegan duo.

2009 VIDEO OF THE YEAR

"WRONG" PERFORMED BY DEPECHE MODE

DIRECTED BY PATRICK DAUGHTERS (UK, 2009)

FROM THE ALBUM "SOUNDS OF THE UNIVERSE"

Runnerups: "Dime Si Lo Ves" by Pavel Núñez; "Happy Up Here" by Royksopp;

"La Fila Del Cine" by Auro y CLEMT; and "El Hombre Delgado..." by Enrique Bunbury.

Its hard to choose between the two front runners, Wrong (The Winner) and Happy Up Here, as both videos have been well achieved products, however, the edgier, more original concept developed throughout Wrong, brings to mind Depeche Mode's contributions to the development of videos in time. The innovative elements and the raw images that depict a man in his tragic final 4 minutes, goes to show that even in death, art can be found.

Tomorrow I'll be reviewing the Recording Categories, with Alternative Urban, Pop, and Rock Music Performance Awards.

Ehl.

Year in Rock 2009: The Blogs Musical Review

Like every year, I take a look back at the music world and how things have been since last year. As you might remember, last Year I reviewed Kathy Perry and her song "I Kissed a Girl" as Artist and Song of the Year, for obvious reasons; for not so obvious reasons Adele's "Chasing Pavements" was honored Video of the Year. This year the choice wasn't as easy, but here goes...

As usual, we'll tear the review in three parts: Reviews for Artist, Audio Recordings and Videos. Starting with the technical side of the Video category.

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL FX

IN A MUSIC VIDEO

"HAPPY UP HERE" - ROYKSOPP

DIRECTED BY REUBEN SUTHERLAND (Norway, 2009)

Runnerups: "New Divide" by Linking Park; "La Fila del Cine" by Auro y CLEMT.

Definetly the easiest pic out the the whole pac. The video for the norwegan duo was directed by Reuben Sutherland and it is inspired in a real life "Space Invaders" game. I haven't seen a better video this year and this is definetly one of the Best Videos of all time, hands down. Im amazed at how MTV completely overlooked it... amazing.

 OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY

IN A MUSIC VIDEO

"WRONG" BY DEPECHE MODE

DIRECTED BY PATRICK DAUGHTERS (UK, 2009)

Runnerups: "El Hombre Delgado..." by Enrique Bunbury; "La Fila del Cine" 

by Auro y CLEMT; "For What It's Worth" by Placebo

The other masterpiece of this years video development was definetly Depeche Mode's first single for their album "Sounds of the Universe", a powerfull song full of thing you've probably heard of in your lifetime. The video itself is a very bizarre story of a very cruel way to day... and yet it has been masterfully depicted by director Patrick Daughters (Who directed last year's Best Female Video "1234" performed by Feist) and definetly delivered a powerfull story with powerfull, raw images. Other efforts by Edouard Sallier and Howard Greenhalg, with amazing shots as well, but in my opinion Mr. Daughters effort was above par.

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC VIDEO

"EL HOMBRE DELGADO QUE NO FLAQUEARA JAMAS" BY ENRIQUE BUNBURY

DIRECTED BY EDUARD SALLIER (SPAIN, 2008)

Runnerup: "Electromovimiento" by Calle 13

The video for Hellville Deluxe's first single is kind of a tricky thing to judge as the song itself came out a month before the record, and two before the video was actually recorded in a Las Vegas desert, the concept is in itself very experimental, as is Enrique's new twist on his sound, more oriented by 50's rock n roll than ever, more straightforward sound than before. The effort in itself for alternative music is very ambitious, very well finished and the art direction is as well very well handled. The inspiration for the video, if you didn't notice, was the Tarantino-esque gore films of the '70s.

BEST URBAN MUSIC VIDEO

"I KNOW YOU WANT ME (CALLE 8)" BY PITBULL

(USA, 2009)

Runnerup: "Electromovimiento" by Calle 13; "Abusadora" by Wisin y Yandel.

So you know when you have this tune that you just can't get out of your head, for like forever and then someone comes and does a remix or whatever and then you get it back into your system? Well, thats the same thing that happens with Pitbull's "I Know You Want Me". Definetly the club hit of 2009 and the video, without beign pretentious, get the job done.

BEST POP MUSIC VIDEO

"WOMANIZER" BY BRITNEY SPEARS

DIRECTED BY JOSEPH KAHN (USA, 2008)

Runnerups: "Dime si lo ves" by Pavel Núñez; "Single Ladies" by Beyonce; and "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga.

I mean, give a chance to Britbrit, she did her best the first time arround, MTV made tons of money off her, the gave her all those VMAs for that sucky photoshopped video, but this? This is definetly Britney Spears comeback album and the song, her first No. 1 single since "Baby One More Time" and it should. The video, a Nokia advert, is definetly one of the greatest in her storied carreer and lets hope she keeps them coming. Joseph Kahn, who has directed several Spears video nailed on this one yet again and with flying colors.

BEST ROCK VIDEO

Placebo - For What It's Worth (Official Video) HQ
por wonderful-life1989

"FOR WHAT ITS WORTH" BY PLACEBO

DIRECTED BY HOWARD GREENHALG (UK, 2009)

Runnerups: "New Divide" by Linking Park; "Wrong" by Depeche Mode; "La Fila del Cine" by Auro y CLEMT.

The first single off Placebo's sixth studio album is definetly one of the best rock songs this far into 2009, a great comeback and the video shows the new energy behind the effort of the great britsh rock band. Truth be told, Placebo has been a victim of the pop frenzy that this year has brought upon us... with classic masterpieces such as "Watagatapitusberry", yes indeed. The video itself is inspired by the tabs we tend to put on ourselves as well as the ones everybody else imposes in us throughout a lifetime of trying to live life. Amazing images and amazing song-to-video translation, while preserving the spirit of Placebo somewhere in between.

Tomorrow we'll be publishing the review's choices for Video of the Year, Best Male, Female and Group Video.

Ehl.