Menudo were the biggest boy band in Puerto Rico for a long time. They had the same scattergun membership policy as the Sugababes, although rather than internal spats, most members left when their voices broke at one point. Ricky Martin (yes, THE Ricky Martin) was a member at one point too. Like most boy bands, they were also rubbish, but on drugs they might have sounded great. Davila 666 reckon they sound like “Menudo on drugs” and they’re a gnarly garage punk band.
A Thank you to Thank You
I know a little about Baltimore: it’s the setting for The Wire, which is, y’know, the best thing since Shakespeare, Eminem, TV on the Radio, and whatever else the middle brow loves. It’s where the much-hyped Dan Deacon got together his faux-psychedelic Wham City collective and it’s where B-more, the chopped-up hip-hop/house hybrid, originated. In this country (well, Nottingham at least), B-more seems to be mainly popular with slightly posh students at hideous bars with horrendously cheap drinks offers, but I’m willing to believe it has a different audience over there. Read more »
Team Deutschland Song
Here’s the hot new way to promote political messages in Germany: take a drunk, unwashed guy who looks like he is going to vomit any second and tell him to raise his fist in the air as an expression of emotion. While he does that, you must play Schlager music in the background. If you do this, you’ll get a solid hit like “Team Deutschland Song”, written for the German Conservative Party.
tUnE - YaRdS
tUnE - YaRdS is the work of one woman from Maryland, USA. Her joyous mish-mash of samples, vocals, and live instruments results in lo-fi pop which manages to be reminiscent of both El Guincho and The Unicorns. Read more »
A beginner’s guide to Iranian pop
Last weekend, while Barack was wishing Iranians a happy new year and also kindly telling them to chill out with their nuclear weapons, millions of Persians around the world were celebrating the year 1388 by, pretty ironically, painting their faces black and pretending to be this guy. Oh, and also eating lots of food and dancing until the early hours to banging Persian pop songs.
To celebrate a year closer to the grave for my homeland, I attended a number of Iranian New Year parties (see crappy footage below – which doesn’t do it justice at all) where dinner wasn’t served until 1 AM (so cruel) because the host wanted the guests to carry on dancing for longer. It was total torture – we had to perform for food, like seals at an aquarium. Read more »
