New Single: La Casa Azul - "Todas Tus Amigas"

Elefant Records made a bunch of disco lovers happy with the announcement of La Casa Azul’s new single "Todas Tus Amigas," out just a couple of hours ago, people, it’s HOT! Guille Milkyway is a pop prodigy, the foundation and the reference for some of our favorite music in the last 10 years. After the majestic La Revolucion Sexual (Elefant, 2007), Milkyway will own the forthcoming year with his new album/adventure La Polinesia Meridional.
If we’ve learn something over the years is that La Casa Azul might be the most reliable band around, not every song they drop is a landmark, but they’ll get your day going at a dazzling swiftness. “Todas Tus Amigas” is bright and tropical-induced, yet throbbing all around, like a Sex & The City episoide on the beach, a party of its own. “Ya no pueden disimular, ya no pueden tener el sol, ellas sufren mucho más que tú y te engañan.”

The single release also includes La Casa Azul’s cover of Carlos Berlanga’s “Vacaciones”, included in the recently released tribute album Viaje Satelite Alrededor de Carlos Berlanga. Elefant might be the least-friendly label when it comes to embed-able content, but you can stream the awesome single + bside HERE.

Featured: Mickey Mickey Rourke - “SATANIC YOUTH BRIGADE”


Featured: Mickey Mickey Rourke - "SATANIC YOUTH BRIGADE"

Magic User, USA

The elusive Los Angeles-based Miller Rodriguez never intended for Mickey Mickey Rourke to be anything beyond a personal art project. He says that he “wanted [the] project to seem like a myth where people were hearing the music but never knew about who it was coming from.” So far, he’s been successful in maintaining that air of mystery, always appearing as a cryptic, shrouded figure (like in the video for “GLO”) and letting the music speak for itself. And it speaks volumes. Just this year, Rodriguez has released three albums as Mickey Mickey Rourke and another album as part of Mickey Brown.

Rodriguez’s blend of glo-fi atmospheric psych pop in lush textures creates beautiful soundscapes that you’ll love getting lost in. This is the kind of music that’s best listened to in full-album form, allowing the narrative to unfold, the landscape to be formed, and yourself to become fully immersed. “SATANIC YOUTH BRIGADE” is one of Rodriguez’s more accessible, poppier songs, with the tinny echo of the vocals and the steady anchor of the guitar working together to soften the screeching and distortion. The track will be on the upcoming album Magic User, set to be released in January.

Video: Hello Seahorse! - “Un Año Quebrado”


The overall response to Hello Seahorse!’s third LP Lejos. No Tan Lejos has been a bit lukewarm, but let’s remember they took major risks and shifts many bands don’t ever attempt to get near in a lifetime. If there’s a song that can actually bring a full ensemble response from the audience is “Un Año Quebrado”, which only becomes more gorgeous with every spin, “it’s the one point in the album where all the melodious rumbling is given actual form.” The band has released a thrilling video directed by Diego Martinez Ulanosky, who also directed “Criminal.” hard to describe, it’s ghostly and religious, a one-man’s journey to a frightening discovery, -spoiler- he’s dead. LoBlondo looks stunning as usual, and those bird-nesting screams at the end still give me goosebumps.

Featured: Hey Chica! - "Adiós Noviembre"


Featured: Hey Chica! - “Adiós Noviembre”
Lo Que Nadie Ve, México

They got one of the coolest band names on earth and they’re finally justifying the exclamation point at the end of it. Hey Chica! had a good fair amount of buzz with their debut EP Do You Really Belive? (Happy Garlic-The Poni Republic, 2008), a set of harmless songs with enough charm to defend its naïve mystique. Like many young bands from our region, the English-language lyrics were off-putting, but there was something beyond their speech to appreciate, some good old power-pop. They self-describe as a confrontation between the sweet voices & chords of ‘the girls’ (Kiwi, Jeka) and the punk-garage rhythms of ‘the guys’ (Barona, Baqui). The perfect balance to deliver songs with a galvanizing delicacy.

The Guadalajara-based quartet prospects their self-released debut LP early next year, titled Lo Que Nadie Ve. They’ve put out their new single “Adiós Noviembre” just in time to farewell the eleventh month of the year. It only takes a single spin to know this is their most accomplished number yet; an important step in their quest for harmony, along with the warmth of its lyrics: “épocas de nublina escuchando esa canción.” Hey Chica! has polished a beautiful pictorial song for featherweight dreamers.

New Single: Disco Ruido - "Amorfos"

After the Disco Ruido made one of the blasting success of “Mrs. Love”, that epic-cool remix to She’s a Tease’s “Datos Intimos” and delivering one of the best revisions in the Caifanes-Jaguares tribute album (with “Matenme Porque Me Muero”), the band is ready to embark on their journey, officially. Releasing an album this late in the year is a risk to say the least, but judging from the success of their songs and their fast growing fanbase, their debut full-length Sistema Solar will not go unnoticed during the holiday season.

8106 explains this is a fully audiovisual (& conceptual) album, which includes having a music video for every piece of the record (seems like they'll keep the momentum all throughout 2011). First single “Amorfos” is climbing up at The Hype Machine’s list, not only is it an instant hit, it’s the kind of near-the-end of the year track that pretty much sums what 2010 sounded like. Mercedes’ in-depth vocals are top-notch and ultimately, the emotional tissue that gives shape to an aesthetically gorgeous song.

Another success for the Tape Music family, who have kept it nice & fresh all year long with Rey Pila, She's a Tease, Toy Selectah, Adanowsky, Neon Walrus, and others.

Video: Narwhal - "Whirling Ceremony"


The official description of this video reads as follows:

“In quantum theory, certain physical systems can become 'entangled,' meaning that their states are directly related to the state of another object somewhere else. When one object is measured, and the Schroedinger wavefunction collapses into a single state, the other object collapses into its corresponding state...no matter how far away the objects are.”

Now, I don’t know what any of that means because the only science classes I took in college were Intro to the Solar System and Astrobiology (i.e. science for kids who don't do science), but I always love it when musicians reveal their inner nerd. In this case it isn’t too much of a revelation, given that the band is named after the unicorn of the sea. Barcelona-based Narwhal is Cristian Subirá (also known as Summer Recreation Camp, a part of El Guincho’s former band, Coconot, and founder of Discos Compulsivos/Luv Luv CDR-tape label) and Simon Williams (also known as Jahbitat/Sunny Graves/Pirámide and a part of Cristian Vogel's Night of the Brain). They make music that’s an amalgam of myriad styles from ambient to noise and psych pop that comes together to sound aquatic and celestial at the same time, like some sort of deep-sea solar system.

Mala Rodríguez - Dirty Bailarina

Dirty Bailarina, Mala Rodríguez
Universal, Spain
Rating: 63
by Andrew Casillas

A couple of years ago, in seemingly another universe, I wrote about la Mala Rodríguez: “. . . don’t be surprised if a year or so after [Malamarismo] when that next album comes out if you see her on the cover of XXL.”

Obviously, there is a lot of stuff wrong with that prognostication. But it shows the innate, top-notch skills that la Mala the MC has in her arsenal, and the seemingly limitless potential she showed on her breakthrough LP three years ago. Malamarismo, while at times a delicious piece of irreverent and giddy fun, still suffered from its scattershot thematic approach. Her latest, Dirty Bailarina, steers away from the unrestrained experimentation, instead playing within the realm of retro-electro pop/rock.

And for the first few tracks, this approach suits la Mala. Lead single "No Pidas Perdón" rides some Eurhythmics-style synths, while la Mala spits straight dirty (meaning attitude, not in the scatological sense) rhymes straight into your earhole. And of the more traditional hip-hop tunes, “En la Linea” is a minimalist-banger which sounds more like classic Calle 13 than anything off of Entren los Que Quieren.

The major hurdle on this album lies when la Mala veers almost completely towards the pop field. La Mala is a fine enough vocalist, but there are far too many tracks on this album where her presence doesn’t make up anything greater than just an anonymous hook girl. Stuff like “Nene” and “Prima” aren’t awful songs, but there’s almost nothing to them, from production to lyrics to chorus. These songs would be fine as the demo from some up-and-coming 19-year old artist, but la Mala’s personality is stifled in this context.

Thankfully, the latter half of the album contains some nice down-tempo tracks, along with a pretty solid duet with Estrella Morente that closes the record, but the overall effect is that of a disappointment. This isn’t to say that la Mala is a lost cause or anything, but she’s not any closer to that XXL cover that we know she has the chops to someday earn.

MP3: DJ Golonsh - "Bruneta"

Two weeks before Girl Talk released All Day, we were already enjoying a set of mashup extravaganza through DJ Golonsh’s D.D.A. Bears! Finally a mashup album from our region that's not cumbia-induced. We’re not sure how ‘secret’ this is, or if he’s attempting a ‘hidden author’ profile on this one, but know this is one of the many projects by Monterrey’s talented producer ‘Bul.’ Like many of his 'mash-the-world' peers, his at the core of a neon-lit culture approaching supreme collision.

DJ Golonosh’s sophomore LP is a party-ready blast; mixing some of the year’s hits (Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga), some earlier works (Madonna, Michael Jackson, the 90s), and some Latin acts (Quiero Club, Molotov, Calle 13, El Gran Silencio). Although not as interesting as Girl Talk itself or El Sueño de la Casa Propia, “Bruneta” shows this is way more than just a “see how many songs you can spot” kind of mix. D.D.A. Bears! (20 tracks) is available for free download over at La Musica Es Gratis (Delhotel Record’s free music database).

Stream: Ximena Sariñana - "Wrong Miracle"


Here it is: our first peek at Ximena Sariñana's upcoming English-language album. The song, "Wrong Miracle," is a basic, jaunty little pop/rock ditty. The cynical observer would comment that this sounds a bit too much like her one-time collaborator Jason Mraz, or whatever faceless Canadian-flavor-of-the-month is currently on top of VH1's Top 20 Countdown (and it always seems to be some Canadian, am I right?). And yes, it is pretty harmless, but it's not exactly bland or gag-worthy either. And really, that's a big enough relief in itself. We don't know what else to expect from the upcoming record, but if Ximena can breakthrough with even a minor pop/rock classic akin to Gemma Hayes' Night on My Side or Metric's Fantasies, then we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Oh, and if this is any indicator that this could totally fit on the radio, my Mom really likes this song. So she's got that going for her...

New Single: Miranda! - "Ritmo & Decepción"


Argentina’s most beloved pop band is an institution of fearless transmittable Pop, without a single bad album under their arms; they’re set to release their new baby (produced by Cachorro Lopez) early in 2011. Alert listeners know they’re way more than just a singles-band. Leader Ale Sergi is a peculiar avant-pop virtuoso with the skills to make complex ‘on-the-run’ epics seem effortless. Their new single “Ritmo y decepción” is possessed by some crazy electro-glam lilts. Like some of their greatest singles, it is dance-induced and party-preoccupied. Miranda!’s melodramatic lyrics triumphs once again, here they lament on life's contradictions "los malos sentimientos se confunden con el beat", highlighting the disappointment of downloading a bugged album, their solution? “bailar con ritmo y decepción.”

Featured: Jan Pawel - "Hoy Los Muertos Están De Pie"



Featured: Jan Pawel - "Hoy Los Muertos Están De Pie"

Demasiado Viejo Para Morir Jovén, Venezuela

Jan Pawel (Juan Pablo in Polish) is the project of Maracaibo-born Juan Pablo Oczkowski, a singer-songwriter born into and raised by a family of musicians who immigrated to Venezuela from Poland in the mid-‘70s. Growing up in such a musical family, Jan Pawel naturally gravitated toward music as a form of expression. In his earlier days, he experimented with noise and electronica with projects like Los Os Brokolis. Later, his music became more confessional and intimate, taking on a more rustic, folk feeling in the vein of bands like A Hawk and a Hacksaw.

“Hoy Los Muertos Están De Pie” is about cleansing and renewal, specifically about going through rehab. The heavy subject matter explains why the song has a much darker, more serious tone than much of Jan Pawel’s earlier work. The almost monotone vocals of the beginning verse feel somewhat hollow, but in a powerful way. The song then builds into a triumphant march that announces rebirth. The single will be on the upcoming Demasiado Viejo Para Morir Jovén EP, for which Jan Pawel has enlisted the help of his friend and fellow Venezuelan Ulises Hadjis.

Best Videos of 2010

12. No Longer Fun. Ariel Danziger & Whitcher. Rey Pila
The video for “No Longer Fun” has a bright, yet hazy aesthetic to match the upbeat, yet disillusioned song. The macabre narrative follows a motley assortment of characters who, for various unspoken reasons, are no longer enjoying life and decide to end theirs, some in ceremonious and others in unceremonious fashion. This paired with Rey Pila's irreverence throughout the whole video makes for a slightly twisted dynamic. (And if the house in the video looks familiar it’s because it’s the Boogie Nights house. So, that 70s porno vibe you were getting? Not at all unfounded.)



11. Cabros. Alex Anwandter. Odisea
The city of Santiago as defined by Alex Anwandter, "yo estoy solo en mi ciudad." It features very well known actors Jaime Vadell and Edgardo Bruna doing a dance-off! Odisea is all about Chile, its industrial cities, the nightlife and the traffic, all bundled up in some hysteric disco strings as hard to ignore as his Michael Jackson’s influence in the overall album. Alex's euphoric moves are those of a fearless man confronting its surrounding, his temple of robotic dreams and dystopian landscape.



10. Dame Lo. System D-128. Mexicans With Guns.
It has everything you want in a video (violence, sex, betrayal, revenge) and everything you never knew you wanted. There are actual Mexicans with guns! And there are two girls in full skull makeup toting AK-47s while eating raspas. BAMFs. There is also a ninja virgen, who you do not want to cross because she will cut you. Yes, all of this in one video just over four minutes long, which obviously means that this idea has to be taken to the next level and made into a full-length feature.


09. Soy Raka. Yak Films. Los Rakas
It's not just another glossy, shot in digital HD hip hop video, it's the new corner of American culture. The themes in this song and metaphorical confusion (along with the many kids shouting "tengo mi pistola y diente de oro") are controversial. The 'turf' is only the excuse, the dance is the concept, Oakland's corners and rich diversity are the backbone of the new wheels rolling in town. Los Rakas entering that Vaquero shop and shutting off the beats to respect the Mexican song (by Banda San José De Mesillas) playing on the radio is simply overwhelming.


08. Tus Amigos. Luis Cervero. Los Punsetes
632 suggestions for nonstop anal penetration. Without trying leaving much for the imagination, the provocative video never fades to black, an epic of the new art hard-core art. Like John Cameron Mitchell and his hardcore erotica, but funny. For a song that's also, one of the anthems of the year, it does bring up a community-feel into the hyper-motioned experience. Only Los Punsetes can get away with this much aggressive behavior, and only Luis Cervero can polish the images of such peculiar minds.


07. El Juidero. Noelia Quintero. Rita Indiana y Los Misterios
Blaxploitation. The ‘undocumented history’ of politicial and civilian assassinations in the Dominican Republic during the 70’s. “El Juidero” is the scene of a nation impacted by “el Trujillismo y el Balaguerato.” As a matter of fact, the car Rita is driving in the video belonged to the unmerciful Doctor Balaguer. La Montra and her gang have done it once again, the clip's fixation with the Salsa aesthetic is tremendous, and that Johnny Ventura cameo is simply priceless."El Juidero nuestro de todos los dias."



06. Música y Discos. Milton Mahan & Bernardo Quesney. Nueva Orleans
The fear is real and so are the suggestive techniques of a mesmerizing video as human as today's most precious viral clips. Submissive to its genre but without the courtroom exploitation of the William Friedkin movies. The toe-to-toe aesthetics in "Musica y Discos" are so chilling, you'll feel assaulted, but the emotional resonance of the VHS nostalgia will balance out its gruesome imagery.



05. Bombay. Nicolás Méndez. El Guincho
If the intro to this video looks and sounds familiar, it’s because you are a huge nerd and saw the Carl Sagan PBS series Cosmos back in the day. In that series, Sagan contemplates the universe and the place that we occupy in it, just as El Guincho, who would actually make a great educational series narrator, does at the beginning of this video. If we can climb into a cosmos exploration vehicle and, by catapulting a tape into the air, be transported into a world as bizarrely beautiful as the one in this video, then we want to go to there.


04. De la monarquia a la criptocracia. Luis Cervero. Triángulo de Amor Bizarro
This might be the sexiest ritualistic video you'll ever see. A sect of gorgeous ladies blur the lines between the blood of Jesus with that of the common human. Reminiscent to the 80s horror chick-flicks, artistic porn, and Toboeda's Veneno Para Las Hadas. Beyond the symbolism, opaque color palette and cult iconography, Luis Cervero injects life into horror, humanizing every shot through on-the-edge cinematic parliament and mise-en-scene.


03. En Circulos. Ignacio Masllorens. Rosal
Round to round catharsis that defies every aspect of the invisible form, Godard would be proud. This is a sort of subliminal warning as the lyrics whisper “soy tu imaginacion.” A lovely contrast between of the black and white entrance and the overtaking red, it’s the blinking hysteria in an enclosed space, and yes, the circular manner of it all what makes it extraordinary. So intimate and dislocated, the lyrics dictate the actions in the most intimate frame.


02. Lo Que Quieras. Bernardo Quesney & Milton Mahan. Dënver
Dënver’s compositional complexities are taken beyond scenery and into the imaginary with a video as epic as the song's sky-high crescendos. Criminals, vampires, bears, sharks and religious figures are meticulously embedded on a spellbinding narrative of lovers at full sacrifice. Our music heroes Milton and Mariana turn into victims covered in blood waiting to be murdered. Heart-knocking images describing the violence of love itself.


01. Bien o Mal. Agustín Alberdi.
Julieta Venegas.
Judging from the premise “Chicas Extranas, Pueden Casarse, Tener Hijos, Ser Felices?” and the images themselves, it seems like we’re submerged some kind of paradise where women are doing just fine without men. Although there is representation of the male figure, present with a hipster dude who stands behind the beautiful women and dances chaotically, meaning he is no treat. In this sense, the video bounds on male spectatorship. Offering Julieta’s ownership, a sword and a throne to Facebook's ‘Like’ button. But despite the conditions and romanticized world, we don’t really see smiles until the end, outside that paradise and with a bouncing fragmented screen (and a male voice behind that camera). It’s as if she was negotiating love, in its inter-war and confusing butterfly-stomach state, two different universes, equally confusing... “me gusta encontrar que exista en la vida esta posibilidad, de que todo se de vuelta, cuando no esperaba ya novedad.”

TV Gamma - TV Gamma

TV Gamma, TV Gamma
Cazador, Chile
Rating: 78
By Carlos Reyes

“Es la revelación de tu imaginación, atento, viene la programación.” Beyond the multiplex and on to absolute engagement, TV Gamma’s disinterred debut combusts on its own landscape, yet it storms its beauty from the ripeness of the moment. That awesome album cover is warning enough, the album is at an alarming stage of manifestation, with all senses pointing to a desired symmetry. With the help of up-in-the-air pedals & reverbs, mystified drums and distorted hooks, TV Gamma constructs a naturally divisive self-titled record, some will flee from boredom, and others will appreciate a set of 10 songs with prime encoding.

The Chilean band mediates the idea of the coexistence of a programmable life, with that of the human intellect. They appreciate the interaction between one and the other, distinguishing the shared responsibility from both parts to maintain equilibrium. Of course, the key to achieving all the spectacles relies in processing of their methods. In “Las Cosas” they shout “tomalo con calma, tomalo con calma!” making a subliminal trip to database-error grounds, making it very clear they’re more concerned about the treatment of their methods than the actual songs themselves. Leading track “Nada Importante” has the right amount of jangle-pop, textures and Jorge Gonzalez to succeed as the album’s anthem. This is how the album succeeds its monotonous sound, by working within their own pixel.

Their most infectious pieces are founded on a video-game platform, “Me Pasa” walks, jumps, and fires in many directions, but it only shifts its head completely to either the left or the right, “yo ya no creo, me pasa.” We could talk about the album’s inherent relationship with density, but as they show in “Maria Antonieta” and “Guillotine”, space and mid-air precision is what they’re truly chasing. The album feels a bit heavy whenever they reduce the red light on the dark room, but things get really bright in “Tan Normal” and the thrilling voice by Valeria Jara, I swear I was listening to Quiero Club on this one. Like cautious entrepreneurs, TV Gamma is the kind of band that surveys the ground they step on, which is why their lo-fi aesthetic feels a bit ecstatic. TV Gamma’s mechanisms are questionable, thrilling, confusing and ultimately, effective.


Calle 13 - Entren los Que Quieran


Entren Los Que Quieran, Calle 13
Sony Music, Puerto Rico
Rating: 81 ★★★★
by Andrew Casillas

Placing yourself into any sort of zeitgeist isn’t fundamentally difficult (see any number of reality television “stars”), but maintaining your place in the cultural cognizance without shredding either your dignity or your integrity is, for all but a select few, virtually impossible. Yet here’s the point that the boys of Calle 13 find themselves in at this exact moment. If their career trajectory dovetailed quite nicely with the stagflation of the reggaetón era, their present situation finds them as the acknowledged flag-wavers of Latin pop music’s infantry. No longer are they the sharp upstarts here to save the radio from watered-down yet insanely popular Luny Tunes productions and N.O.R.E.’s racial-identity conflict. No longer are they so chic and buzzworthy that they won’t even return M.I.A.’s phone calls. No longer are they the best band in the world that your grandfather has never heard of. Today, they are the sound of Latin hip-hop; they are the mainstream; they are your grandfather’s favorite “young” group; the once-underdog now the establishment.

So how does Calle 13 react to their place at the top of the mountain as the inevitable backlash sets in? The way any of us would: by throwing a party as grand and glitzy as Rick Ross’s watch. There’s a sense of pretension and bravado that embeds Entren los Que Quieran, with taunts daring you to ignore what’s to follow. So maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Calle 13 tackles any potential backlash head-on by opening the album with its most polarizing track, the Mars Volta-assisted “Calma Pueblo.” Much of the disdain surrounding the song deals with its admittedly hard-to-defend lyrics, which are ignorantly polemic, at-worst, or misguided and vain at the least (see the Adidas shout-out). Yet, listening only to what’s going on behind those lyrics, it’s certainly one of the most interesting infusions of hard rock in modern hip-hop—though how much you actually like said music will depend on your tolerance for the Mars Volta. Possible wariness continues with the next two songs, which find Residente at his most hit-or-miss, straddling the line between pre and post-retirement Eminem, and swinging at far too much low hanging fruit—though Visitante doesn’t exactly help things with beats so nondescript you begin to recognize why this record premiered on NPR.

What follows is the very good-not-great Spaghetti Western-influenced “La Bala,” whose vehemently anti-violence lyrics provide the first instance on the record of the irreverent populism that Residente does better than any other rapper; this is followed by “Vamo’ a Portamos Mal,” which I would love to say sounds like the stepchild of Rita Indiana and Gogol Bordello, except it’s not as effortless as either of the above, but at the least there’s finally a song you can dance to. However, just when you’d be right to ponder jumping on the anti­-Entren los Que Quieran bandwagon, Calle 13 throws up a happy floater to close the first half in the form of “Latinoamérica.” A sparkling, almost gorgeous ode to Latin America and those who’ve sprouted from its lands, it’s here where Calle 13 stop forcing their statements, instead painting their passions with a easel full of blood while avoiding the self-serving neurosis that dragged down the earlier tracks.

After a brief interlude, the show continues—and this time, we finally see some fireworks. “Digo lo Que Pienso” provides us with our heartiest belly laughs yet, along with a beat that seemingly combines Bollywood strings with DJ Premier scratching (and it’s about damn time, too). “Muerte en Hawaii” stacks up subversion like building blocks, from its winking stereotypical ukulele and island sounds, to its seemingly random name-checking (GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ!), to its fanciful story (complete with talking animals), and its somehow fitting ending. Really, someone call Bigott and tell him that they’ve stolen his schtick and improved upon it. “Todo Se Mueve” is accompanied by a strut and guitar lick worthy of the Meters, while “El Hormiguero” provides enough rock for those rubbed raw by “Calma Pueblo” yet enough cumbia to keep things interesting.

Which brings us to “Prepárame la Cena,” the album closer, and perhaps it’s most impressive number. Tucked into the back despite, or perhaps because of, its pop sheen, the song works as an impressive showcase for the entire group individually and as an entity. Visitante’s production is perhaps his most impressive soundscape to date, with measured percussion and guitars, powerful vocal samples, and a grab-bag of tricks at the back-end. Lyrically, Residente keeps things simple and down-to-earth, while his cadence perfectly rides the beat without rocking it. And lest we continue to ignore her, PG-13 finally distinguishes herself as an actual singer, providing first-rate background vocals while delivering a warm, soothing chorus. Not the greatest Calle 13 song—but not far from the top either.

The album proper closes with a continuation of the Hollywood Revue theme of the Intro, except there isn’t a celebration. Instead, it’s calls of callate! and vehement booing, as if Calle 13 are fully aware of the expected backlash that’s about to head their way, which apparently anyone with an awareness of Twitter trends can already tell you is coming. The major criticism typically revolves around Calle 13 being a group of rebels without a cause, Kanye West-esque blowhards that are confused and naïve regarding the messages that they try to convey in their music. That they take the world too lightly for anyone to take their protestations as anything but mere barking, and those criticisms are more than fair. But show me a pop star who isn’t full of shit and I’ll show you a Taco Bell entrée that doesn’t suck. Really, we’re not here to talk about politics; we’re here for the music, and as pure musicians, this band has very little competition. With Entren los Que Quieran, Calle 13 doesn’t change the world, nor do they set it aflame. This may not be their best album either, but considering the spotlight facing them this time, this is can only be labeled as an unqualified success.

Video: Javiera Mena - "Hasta la Verdad"


About a month ago, Alex Anwandter told us he would meet with Javiera Mena to make music together, yes, very exciting. In the meantime, it seems like their pop sensibilities connected tremendously well since Anwandter (Odisea) shows up in the credits as the director of this nice glossy video. Reclueless has premiered the much-anticipated video for Javiera Mena’s “Hasta la Verdad”, the first single out of the mesmerizing Mena and one of the year’s hits. The video was shot in Chile prior to Javiera’s triumphant visit to Mexico, where she’s been touring nonstop for over a month. The clip might not do anything to legitimize Javiera Mena’s stance as a true diva (moustache doesn't count), but it does show a warrior of pop music encountering beautiful scenaries. Now, let's take it to the dancefloor for the next one, please, let it be "Luz de Piedra de Luna!"

MP3: Sokio + Dadalú - "Decidir"

After listening to Dadalú's Gracias Single/EP release I knew I needed to get my hands on more music by Sokio, whose remix of “Gracias” is alerting and spellbinding. I found some really cool upbeat remixes of Kanye West and Lilly Allen, which eventually leaded me to Columbia (Ponk, 2009), an attractive full-length reminiscent of New Order and The Human League. Exactly one year ago, he released “Decidir”, a top-notch, straight to the dancefloor collaboration with Dadalú.

The music base in this song is so clean and faultlessly polished, you’ll be seeing the light of the day even if you’re dancing to it ad midnight. Dadalú's unpredictable vocal styling is in full syndication with Sokio’s thumps and razor-blade supersonic composition. Both artists are currently working on new albums, Dadalu’s debut album Periodo will count as Michita Rex’s most important release of the year, that is, if it’s not pushed into next year. "Quiero morir en un lugar con libertad de elegir."