Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Pink Floyd Reunion

LONDON --
Organizers of the London Live 8 concert said Sunday that the British rock band Pink Floyd would perform with its classic lineup at the July event for the first time in more than two decades.

Guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason, bass player Roger Waters and keyboard player Richard Wright have not performed on stage together since 1981.

The group, which achieved major success with their 1973 album "Dark Side Of The Moon," will join musical acts including Elton John, Madonna, Paul McCartney and Coldplay at the anti-poverty concert in Hyde Park on July 2.

"Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G-8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world," Gilmour said.

"It's crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations."

Waters, the group's founder, split with the rest of the band after a falling-out in the 1980s.

"Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if re-forming for this concert will help focus attention then it's going to be worthwhile," Gilmour said.

The Mars Volta - Bonnaroo 2005 Honorable Mention

The Mars Volta - What a buzz beforehand, everyone was talking about it, no one seemed to have any plans to miss it. I could not tell where the songs started and ended. Latin Rock explosion. Totally mystifying. Definitely sounded like aliens were coming to explode This Tent in the first notes, they blew out all the power. This is the biggest thing in rock right now, I hope they stay true to the intention, the Volta could be the biggest latin rock band of all time. Not kidding. (listen to "Drunkship of Lanterns" in case you have been living under a rock).

Thursday, June 16, 2005

The Mars Volta en NPR

Otra sorpresa, que indica que Universal Strommer esta haciendo bien su trabajo: The Mars Volta fue presentado ayer en cadena nacional, en "All Things Considered", programa del National Public Radio, justo a las 5:45pm, que es la hora pico cuando millones de automovilistas regresan a sus hogares. A pesar del encabezado, el brevisimo programa de la NPR tiene sus momentos, y contiene partes de "The Widow" y "L'Via L'Viaquez". Aqui puedes oirlo:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4701597

Frances The Mute - Revisada por khurcius

Copio al primer plano el comentario que hizo khurcius sobre Frances The Mute:

Un disco con cientos de miles (tal vez millones) de adoradores incondicionales repartidos por todo el mundo. Adoradores que martillearán tus oídos una y cuantas veces haga falta con el calificativo "genialidad" aplicado para definir lo que hace esta pareja de escindidos, de origen hispano, de At the Drive-In.

Su segunda entrega, que sucede al no menos aclamado "De-Loused in the Comatorium" (2003), es un artefacto de más de 75 minutos que, a la vista de las opiniones que se vierten, o te enloquece o te mata de aburrimiento. Soy un bicho raro: ni me ponen en trance ni se me hacen odiosos Omar Rodríguez, Cedric Bixler-Zavala y los cómplices reclutados para esta magna epopeya. Me dejo llevar hasta donde ellos quieren: un paisaje especulativo de vanguardia rockera y aromas setenteros. Experimentan, improvisan, aturden, meten un ruido de mil demonios, se remansan, se vuelven a arrebatar, y no dejan de echar sus redes de pesca hasta en los charcos del asfalto. No es que lo suyo suponga exactamente un retroceso nostálgico a los pasajes más olvidables del rock progresivo, porque tienen un descaro muy simpático, casi naïve, que les hace completamente libres para acarrear lo que les plazca a sus canciones-mamotreto (con alguna pieza de media hora supuestamente dividida en varias secciones). Por ejemplo, me resulta casi adorable el "tumbaíto" sonero que intercalan en "L'Via L'Viaquez". Y, prestando atención a sus textos en inglés, castellano (y un poco de francés), se aprecia un casi enternecedor aire de ingenuidad revestida de pretensiones literarias cuasi adolescentes. Su ambición artística es descomunal y sincera. De ahí que resulten perfectamente comprensibles tanto las adhesiones vehementes a la causa como las carcajadas sardónicas de quienes no aprecian aquí mucho más que una empanada mental de proporciones mastodónticas. El tiempo los pondrá en su sitio.

Sunday, June 12, 2005


Los cerebros del grupo jugando para la foto... Posted by Hello

Bonaroo Festival: The Mars Volta Reviewed

Some folks dance with chaos. There’s always a chance they’re going to slip and bloody their nose but they jump in the ring anyway. Some just can’t resist the electric tongue lash, the slippery fall into dark things and mystery and fearful corridors that the straight life keeps at bay. The Volta are these kind of animals and they stepped lively at a Friday midnight tent performance that drew myriad acolytes into their unique sphere to chase the sunrise.

As others have pointed out, one is either all the way in with Mars Volta or they’re on the outside. Completely. As this performance would prove, they’re an immersion experience. The wild swings from baroque delicacy to screaming abandon aren’t for everybody. But, and this is a key point, if you take the whole ride Volta will transport you cosmic furlongs. They are a simmer not a flash fry, so when they do spit fire it arrives when one least expects it. Taking sticky spoonfuls of heavy metal, avant garde jazz, latinismo and classical construction, they serve up a patchwork buffet that tastes genuinely new.

Knee deep in howling teens, it’s clear we’re witnessing the birth of a new cultural icon in young America. One that’s unfit for radio consumption and unlikely to capitulate to the demands of the market place anytime soon. They seem intent on keeping an arm’s length from the corporate world as they pursue an adventurous agenda that sets them apart from nearly any other mainstream act today.

They want big stages to hold their big stage presence. They strut and preen like men who’ve watched Zep’s Song Remains The Same like the Kennedy assassination footage, learning when to dip back and to the left with a studied grace. They mime rock’s clichés but in a way that mines them for the real power that lies hidden under the gestures. The roar everytime Omar Rodriguez Lopez windmilled a power chord or singer Cedric Bixler Zavala discovered new ceilings to his falsetto the room exploded. Put another way, their antics are pretty bloody effective. As their two hour set evidenced, Mars Volta has a burrowing spirit that goes deep in our shallow times. It’s already brought them quite far, quite fast and the end looks nowhere in sight.

La liga del contexto original es:
http://anhonesttune.com/online/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=260