Video: Capullo - "Déjame Vivir" (Juan Gabriel y Rocío Dúrcal Cover)

No one is immune to Capullo’s 8-bit multidimensional keyboard pop. Their take on the “Déjame Vivir,” one of the most memorable episodes of the Juan Gabriel and Rocío Dúrcal saga, is exceptionally refreshing to our inherited nostalgia of Televisa-filled afternoons. And I mean inherited nostalgia because although most of us were toddlers during the first wave of the Juanga and Rocío romance, our moms made sure to ingrain in all of us the melodramatic, fictional relationship between the biggest stars of the time. The sounds and VHS-ripped images of this clip function just like our favorite GIF images, entangling you into an endless repetitive cycle. Capullo’s rendition of the song is somewhat faithful to the original during its first half, but it’s in its second half that Capullo releases its arsenal of synth pop, super-charging the dramatic classic with tropical virtuosity, triumphantly avoiding parody along the way.

MP3: Juan Cirerol - "Sentimental" (Joan Sebastian Cover)

Going through our writers’ individual best of 2011 lists, I see that Juan Cirerol’s Ofrenda al Mictlan did particularly well with the non-Texan, non-Mexican portion of our staff (Montreal’s Souad Martin-Saoudi, Buenos Aires’ Jean-Stephane Beriot, and San Jose’s Pierre Lestruhaut). Which comes to show how accurate Jean-Stephane was when writing that the expansion of Mexican folklore to “the cool kids of the world” was no longer exclusive to Café Tacvba. Well, hopefully this remarkable version of “Sentimental” (which is flickering poetry for the senses) makes some estranged hipsters fall in love with Joan Sebastian. "Hoy no hubo sol por eso es que estoy así... el cielo gris siempre me pone el corazón sentimental," — they don't call him "El Poeta del Pueblo" for nothing. Cirerol’s heart is in solidarity with the fathers of Mexican music and, although mildly to the naked eye, he’s making his own firm trail. Juan Cirerol has a heavy schedule ahead of him performing at Vive Latino, SXSW, and Festival Nrmal.

♫♫♫ "Sentimental" (Joan Sebastian Cover)

MP3: FLYBACK - "Si No Le Contesto" (Plan B Cover)

For the last two years, Venezuelan blog NTSFRSH has been our preferred source for the new prospects of tropical music and all of its global cousins. Last year the blog extended its content-creating duties developing the exciting Cocobass Records, home of Fonograma favorites like María y José and Los Macuanos. Owner of a gifted aesthetic eye and a shameless eclecticism, Eduardo Luis Hernández, one of the franchise’s masterminds, is taking the first steps into developing his own musical act under the moniker FLYBACK (FLYB∆CK for those with enough swag).

Although it was almost completely omitted by mainstream Latin pop-rhythmic radios across the States, Plan B’s hit “Si No Le Contesto” was the absolute zeitgeist across many regions of the continent last year. The song’s official video counts over 51 million views, an insane number for a reggaeton song nowadays. Plan B is one of those urban acts worthy to watch, with hardcore fans that include Tego Calderón, Arcángel, and Dávila 666. Although Flyback admits vocals aren’t his biggest strength, he has paid tribute to the Plan B song in a rendition that highlights the original’s pop structure, adding plenty of glittering tropical depth along the way. By practicing some clever tricks and distortion, Flyback pushes the song’s pedestrianism to even further places.

♫♫♫ "Si No Le Contesto" (Plan B Cover)
Soundcloud

Emilio José meets La Lupe

Emilio José is one strange dude. If you've seen clips from his concerts, you probably know what I"m talking about. According to Javiera Mena, he got naked (or almost got naked) during a performance last year, and she remembers it. But that isn't completely strange in rockstars. How about this: sometimes he's playing a song and right in the middle of it, he stops to describe it, or even say "excuse me, this is how it's supposed to sound." So it's not a big surprise that when the guys from Waaau.tv invited him to perform a cover on video, he came up with something a bit different (truly the most unsuspected 'version' of a song we've seen in a while). He pays homage in a weird, yet sublime way to the great La Lupe and her song "No Te Vayas." The result is a sort of epic visual piece of "art at the corner", it's raw and it's tragic.

Via La Pagina de la Nadadora

Odisea Covers Juan Gabriel's "Siempre En Mi Mente"

The amount of downloads Juventud Bruta is getting is simply overwhelming. We were a bit skeptical to continue to make compilations after the success of Nosotros Los Rockers (seemed like a good place to stop), but we’re happy about the growing positive reaction. With a total of 26 tracks (most of them very short cuts), spotting the crowd-favorite track is quite difficult, but ironically, our stats (+ social networks) show Odisea’s cover of Juan Gabriel’s “Siempre en Mi Mente” as the zeitgeist of this ‘Uncouth Youth.’

After an all-covers compilation, we weren’t looking to include any covers on the compilation, but when Alex Anwandter told us he wanted to include a ‘JuanGa’ cover he had been working on, we were immediately on board. Juan Gabriel, who this year is returning to ‘Boleros’ (after 30 years outside the genre), is one of pop music’s greatest visionaries. “Siempre En Mi Mente” is a classic, a hard to-the-bone love song, a landmark of seduction in the Latin American songwriting field. Odisea’s version is respectful and well possessed.

Throughout the song, we get to experience little flirts of Odisea’s magic, revealing the pain of eternal love through both, sound and silence. The emotional strings in which Anwandter is able to frame the song is a reflection on his abilities to embrace the concept of authorship, and the power of lyrics themselves. Our uncouth, unwashed, and unsettled youth finds the plug-in (and the heart) to the collective social memory; when that whisper ("no encuentro nada") comes up, it's hard not to feel mobilized in some way or another.

MP3: d3NdRON feat. Quiero Club - "Gatos Marinos" (Bran Van 3000)

Happy Fi’s electro-rock band by excellence unveils more songs on their soundcloud than we would ever listen to, but they hit it off the park with this attractive semi-acoustic turned dubstep remix of Montreal’s Bran Van 3000’s “Saltwater Cats.” d3NdRON is the label’s super group, comprised of members of other Happy-Fiers such as Niña and Quiero Club. This song features two members of Quiero Club, Priscila & Catsup, enough to give them official credit.

They blur the line between a remix and a cover, cooking the catchy song on its grill but also switching the track from English to Spanish. Like that awesome Flaming Lips cover by La Ola Que Queria Ser Chau (“Rocio Pelea Contra Los Robotitos”), d3NdRON shows why translated international sitcom can triumph on just every corner of the globe. This year, everyone seems to be obsessed with two things, disco and kitties, if you were to pair both things and put them underwater it would sound something like “Gatos Marinos.”

Recently, the band also put out an electrifying remix ("Fiebre de Ceviche") for She’s a Tease’s “Fiebre de Jack.” Both remixes show a band on top of their game and in full control of motion. I must confess, it’s always a bit annoying to write their name correctly, then I remember they’re music usually rocks and that they’re among the few bands to make awesome artwork covers for their singles.

♫♫♫ "Gatos Marinos" (Bran Van 3000)

Bootleg Promo: Dënver - "9.6" (La Bien Querida Cover) / Fonogramáticos Vol.10

This is the last song you’ll hear from Fonogramáticos Vol.10, until it gets released, hopefully in the next 24 hours. Dënver has been one of the big surprises of 2010 and they definitely keep their tremendous year with this wonderful cover of La Bien Querida’s “9.6.” Honestly, we have no idea how you’re going to react with this all-covers compilation, this is not a disclaimer, we’re just letting you know that most covers are, um, weird. We’re also nervous because this is the first volume where we serve mostly as a ‘middle eye.’ The previous nine volumes of Fonogramaticos have been meticulously crafted, every release drawn from a selection of hundreds of songs, this was entirely different. We supervised every cover, but left the final ideas and creation to the artists. Having said that, we can’t wait for you to hear it, thanks to every band who took the time and effort to contribute in our celebration. The footage for “9.6” comes from Gerardo Naranjo’s Voy a Explotar.

Stream: Ceci Bastida y Julieta Venegas - "La Sofi" (Rita Indiana Cover) / Fonogramáticos Vol.10

Rita Indiana’s “La Sofi” is a truly special song to both, Rita Indiana’s career and Club Fonograma. Although her fame arrived with “La Hora de Volve,” this is the track that made us fall in love with her. As we mentioned on our review of El Juidero, “it was the start of her colloquialism, the start of the Rita Indiana narrative.” The Dominican star recorded the track a long time ago (in 2005 to be exact); it was somewhat of an experiment, a rough draft of what was to come. This song came before Miti Miti and was embedded into her Casifull project, an electronic-inclined act that was never consolidated. Years passed by, and we came across this deliriously funky song; it had the aesthetics of third-world punk, the charm of Caribbean lo-fi, and an unprecedented voice getting ready for her own revolution. “La Sofi” is our daily struggle to find freedom, a complex study of social behavior, a dance jam, it’s a lot of things.

Virtually unknown, we included “La Sofi” on Fonogramaticos Vol.3, and later declared her as CF’s “Queen of Downloads” after her song surpassed the 250,000 downloads, to this day, the most downloaded track in our site’s history. Overwhelmed by the response, Rita decided to take the necessary steps into the formation of her next project, Rita Indiana y Los Misterios. Between the start of her new project and the release of her album, she sent us five amazing tracks for our compilations, the rest is history.

When we invited Julieta Venegas to participate on the compilation, she said it sounded like a very fun thing to do. In her MySpace, she had included “La Sofi” as one of her favorite songs from 2009, so we didn’t hesitate to ask her if she wanted to do a version for it, she was thrilled about it. Not only did the new mom found the time to do it, she also surprised us with the news that she was teaming up with Ceci Bastida, her sister of many adventures (their “Pobre de Ti” performance is still this year’s peak moment at Vive Latino). By now, we all know the chemistry behind this pair of gorgeous Tijuanenses, but this is their first official collaboration. In fact, the ladies tell us that when they were in High School they tried to make a project together, but only lasted for a month, so this is super romantic.

“La Sofi”, as covered by Ceci Bastida & Julieta Venegas, is one of the peak moments in our new compilation. It’s everything we wanted in a cover, and more. They recorded the song themselves, Ceci in Los Angeles and Julieta in Mexico, the outcome is stunning, a joyful and off-the-hook version that’s got Rita Indiana herself overwhelmed. “Tengo un disco e' Rita Indiana.” This cover will be available for free download next week, as part of Fonogramaticos Vol.10.

Video: Torreblanca feat Turra Medina & Sonido Landon - "Por La Ventana" (Gepe Cover) / Fonogramaticos Vol.10

When we made the call for entries for our upcoming Fonogramaticos Vol.10 compilation we weren’t expecting any videos, but our dear Juan Manuel Torreblanca surprised us with this fun, self-claimed ridiculous video. This very special video is a surprise and is filling our hearts with joy. As you can see from the awesome t-shirt he’s wearing in the clip, Juan is a big fan of Chilean pop astro Gepe, and we can’t think of anyone more suitable to cover Gepe’s catchiest song “Por La Ventana.” Torreblanca recruited his Mexico City-based Chilean friends Sonidolandon and Turra Medina to craft this very hip, amusing and gripping version, by far, one of the most joyful tracks in the compilation.

This video was shot by Jimena Montemayor as the group of friends met to record this awesome version. We told every band participating to have fun, and if all the other bands had half as fun as these guys, we couldn’t be happier. We’re not sure what’s up with the banana motif, but great job recreating Gepe’s awesome video, the guys sure look sexy with those wigs (and that La Rosa de Guadalupe moment is priceless). We'll unveil more tracks this coming week through a set of bootleg promo videos, all framed by great Latin American movies.

Shakira covers the xx at Glastonbury

This past weekend saw Colombia's finest (legal) export, Shakira, play the renowned Glastonbury Festival in England. Amidst a pretty typical Shakira set (anybody wanna bet that she didn't play "She Wolf"? Anyone?), the pop megastar delivered a faithful, yet surprisingly rousing, cover of the xx's "Islands." While the level of Shakira's artistic acumen has become one of Latin music's great argument starters, it shouldn't be hard to see what's so special about this performance. For starters, the contrast in styles: the xx's work exemplified as being very hushed and silently sensual, while Shakira's is anything but deft and unassuming. Yet here, she finds a nice little bridge between herself and the U.K. indie duo, accentuating the song's dance rhythm without overwhelming the original's intentions. Kind of makes me wish I had been there. Instead, I spent the weekend seeing both of my chosen football teams collapse upon themselves. Damn you, Aguirre.

Oh, and congratulations Argentina. No ill will. BUT HE WAS OFFSIDES AND YOU KNOW IT!

Alex Ferreira Covers Rita Indiana's "El Blu del Ping Pong"

“El Blu del Ping Pong” is Rita Indiana’s most popular song in the Dominican Republic, it’s special to us as it was the first (y Los Misterios) song Rita Indiana sent us to see if we would consider it for one of our compilations, as you know, we all fell in love with the project since. Fellow Dominican singer-songwriter Alex Ferreira has come with a nice and slower version of the song, adapting it to his melodic attributes (and lovely voice), holding on to the song’s tasteful raw essence, “este corazon hace ping pong pong.”

Pernett feat. Lido Pimienta & Quantic Cover New Order's "Blue Monday"

This is a very special version of New Order’s “Blue Monday” by the always charming and full of layers Pernett in collaboration with fellow Colombian Lido Pimienta and Quantic. The dancehall anthem gets a twist on the hands of this Colombian genius, who keeps expanding his horizon so extraordinarily that he might just be the most creative guy in Tropical music today. Just like the dazzling Fonograma-featured “Perikitus!” Pernett continues to make “watery delicious fireworks.” This time it’s 7 minutes of steamy landscape accompanied by Lido’s emblematic soothing voice.

Hot Chip Covers Shakira's "She Wolf"

The great people from Nacional Records leaded us to this strange MP3 of Hot Chip covering Shakira’s “Loba” (!). We’ve been telling you the song is pretty great, and those disco strings were dazzling. As the Colombian diva prepares to kickoff the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa in about two months, Hot Chip takes on “Loba” with lots of affection, although I do get a bit of a feeling they are embracing the song as they are making a spoof, but most Hot Chip songs sound that way (I’m not a fan). Now, the song sounds quite terrible here but it’s fun, too bad they couldn’t pull out their howl. Grab it at Abeano.

Nortec Presents Bostich + Fussible Cover Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

During my teenage years I remember taking daily trips to the Phoenix Library, but don’t get it wrong, books weren’t that fun, they had an albums collection and I could take it home, at least partially. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs’ live album Chau was one of the first discs I picked up, I had no idea who these guys were, but the irresistibly charming bear in the album’s cover winked at me. Now seriously, it did. Ska-rock has never been my cup of tea, but I remember “Manuel Santillan, El Leon” more than any other songs by the legendary Argentinean band, yes, “El Matador” included. It was probably because “… El Leon” was the opening track and it struck me as this powerful lieutenant tragedy that was sang so eagerly by an entire arena.

Through the years, it has naturally evolved into an example of the ‘unofficial hero’ and how sympathetic these characters can end up being. Vos Sabes… Como Te Esperaba! is a tribute album to Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, and I must say Nortec’s cover of “Manuel Santillan, El Leon” is one of the album’s most attractive pieces. I guess the Nortec sound fits the songs’ sinister feel, which is in itself, very passionate. You can currently grab Nortec’s freeload from our friends at Remezcla.

Juan Son covers Annie Lennox & Los Tres

Juan Son recently confessed he never liked Porter and that he doesn’t like Mermaid Sashimi anymore, whatever he’s planning to do next will be interesting to hear. I see him going back to rock edges; although it’s clear he loves pop music (I guess he can be more exuberant in it). His solo album is aging quickly, I still find it remarkable but it’s nowhere near the transcendence of Porter’s Atemahawke. But no matter what, the guy is creative and has one of the most striking voices in music (it never stops surprising me), it’s so good he can sing songs by girls and actually make them sound great.

There’s an album titled Mariachi Rocko which features international rock classics performed by some of Guadalajara’s best Mariachis. There are songs by Radiohead, Coldplay, John Lennon, The Killers, Nacha Pop, Michael Jackson, The Cure, among others. Juan Son and Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlan had Annie Lennox’s “No More I Love Yous” on their hands; they made a really baroque sweet reincarnation of it, I like it. Also, he covers Los Tres’s “Dejate Caer” (also popularized by Café Tacvba) for the soundtrack of Amor, Dolor y Viceversa. Juan Son’s has declared that his dream is to make a film, perhaps this could help him out.

Some fans got angry I said he looked like Mike Myers in The Cat in the Hat on his latest video, it was kind of a compliment. Just like comparing him to Cepillin or Bjork, this time he seriously sounds like Golum from The Lord of the Rings (towards the end of "No More I Love Yous).

Neon Indian covers Piero's "Mi Viejo"

Many have asked why we’re not going nuts over Neon Indian, or if we know about it. Of course we’re aware of Alan Palomo; we actually met him some time ago while he was singing some Spanish-language songs, the guy and the people around him are very creative people. Honestly, I’ve had a rough time digesting his songs, but his CD arrived a few days ago and it sounds pretty good as a whole. It will be interesting to see how his live shows have evolved; I suspect they have changed greatly. The blog fuzz has been on fire over Neon Indian lately; not to mention he just got a BestNewMusic tag at Pitchfork. Here is a performance by Neon Indian covering Piero’s classic “Mi Viejo”, it’s nothing like “Should Have Taken Acid With You” or any of his other promotional songs, people are bound to be surprised.

Christina Rosenvinge & Vetusta Morla cover Surfjan Stevens

Spain’s indie has a festival of its own, Dia de la Musica is still young, and on June 21^st it will celebrate its fourth edition with a lineup to drool for. Now with full financial support from El Pais and Heineken, the two leading trademarks along with Canal + for Spain’s entertainment, they have built enormous attention as they are compiling a set of covers by some of the artists set to perform. There are covers for TV on the Radio (by The Requesters & Tachenko) , MGMT (by Cohete & Remate), Morrissey (by Dorian), Gnarls Barkley (by Templeton & Alondra Bentley), Devendra Banhart (by Joe Crepusculo & Nudozordo), CSS (by Cuchillo & Klaus y Kinski), Joe Crepusculo (La Bien Querida & Manos de Topo) among others.

They’re releasing a single song every day and it stays available for download for only 24 hours. Truth is, you’re not missing much. Despite the bright idea and the attractive lineup of artists, most of these covers are horribly weak, some even laughable (particularly that MGMT cover). There are still 3 more tracks to go, but for the moment, I’ve saved only one track that although it’s not entirely great, it’s the big standout so far. Surfjan Stevens’s “Chicago” is covered by Christina Rosenvinge and Vetusta Morla; I love the vocals and its warmth, but it’s too stiff at times, quite uncharacteristic of two acts that have proven to transcend in beautiful melodies like “La Distancia Adecuada” and “Copenhague.”

♫♫♫ "Chicago"