Stars In Your Eyes
It's been a busy week with two long-awaited releases who turned out to be fabulous albums. Check out Aterciopelados' Rio and Calle 13's Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo below, and to immerse yourself in the music, pop out the gray Yahoo player on your bottom left!
But what I wanted to say: when reading music magazines or browsing the web, I noticed that the first thing I look at in a review, is how many stars the writer thinks a record, movie, whatever is worth. It gives you an idea of what to expect, and can be an extra incentive to read the article. So I decided to add a 'star' rating to our reviews as well. Here's how it breaks down:
No stars - will probably not be reviewed, cause it's crap
- avoid! - less than mediocre - good effort but nothing special - very good, has to be included in Top 10 - essential work of art!
Check out the list of previous albums by pressing "Show videos" below.
Aterciopelados - Rio
Calle 13 - Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo
Acida - The Greatest Hits
Daddy Yankee - Talento De Barrio
Bajofondo - Mar Dulce 
Fania DJ Series: Gilles Peterson
I Like It Like That - Fania Remixed
Plastilina Mosh - All U Need Is Mosh
Jorge Drexler - Cara B
Sergio Mendes - Encanto
Choc Quib Town - Somos Pacifico
Pacifika - Asuncion
Manolito y su Trabuco - La Habana Me Llama
Adalbarto Alvarez - Gozando La Habana
Café Tacuba - Sino
Juanes - La Vida Es Un Ratico
Gloria Estefan - 90 Millas
Manu Chao - La Radiolina
Tego Calderon - El Abayarde Contra-Ataca
Marc Anthony - El Cantante
Marisa Monte - Infinito Particular
Marisa Monte - Universo Ao Meu Redor
Bebel Gilberto - Momento
Mayra Andrade - Navega
Bonde do Role - With Lasers
Tita Lima - 11:11
Spanish Harlem Orchestra - United We Swing
Daddy Yankee - El Cartel 3: The Big Boss
Calle 13 - Residente o Visitante
Gotan Project - Lunatico
Moenia - Solar
Buscemi - Retro Nuevo
Federico Aubele - Panamericana
Luz Mob - Luz Interpretations
Jennifer Lopez - Como Ama Una Mujer
Juan Luis Guerra - La Llave De Mi Corazon
Ibrahim Ferrer - Mi Sueño
Telmary - A Diario
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela
Aterciopelados - Oye
Los Amigos Invisibles - Superpop Venezuela
Various - Los Cocorocos
Pitbull - El Mariel
Luny Tunes - Los Benjamins
Tego Calderon - The Underdog
Mana - Amar Es Combatir
Andres Calamaro - Tinta Roja
Don Omar - King of Kings
Gustavo Cerati - Ahi Vamos
Jean - On
Calle 13 - Calle 13
3 comments:
Ratings are fun, but tricky. Especially for people like me, always changing my ratings, but they are helpful. So I do both, star and numeric.
I am NOT down with ratings.
Pleased that Cafe Tacvba got the nod for at least one award. But - all honesty here - Juanes' music in my opinion, despite the massive popularity, was NOT the best of the year. That would go to Cafe Tacvba, Calle 13, and Julieta Venegas. They alone have broadened music's horizons for popular or rock music sung in Spanish this year.
Is there anyone else out in the world that thinks that Juanes' lyrics really got in the way of his music? I feel his album sounded quite DESPERATE - it had some interesting things going on in terms of chords and arragements and sounds, but I feel it would have been better (and this is my assessment after listening to his last couple of albums, specifically the last two albums) if he either
1. Hires another song-writer like Jorge Villamizar, who can actually put two and two together when it comes to words
2. Combines his musical arrangements with another singer, so Juanes and his musicians would go and accompany someone else who needs some arrangement magic, but who has their own lyrics. Maybe they could give some back-up to Chayanne or something.
Sorry for the heated reaction, but I have listened over and over to Juanes' two albums and I cannot move away from the opinion that he hasn't had any good SONGS since around 2003!
Am I mistaken? I dont think so. Ten years from now no one will play those albums. They just aren't great. However, among those in the know, I think Cafe Tacvba has staying power. they came up with some classics.
AJM, couldn't agree with you more about Juanes (don't see what it's got to do with the ratings though)
Grammy post coming up real soon, promised :)
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