Video: Caravana - "Sigue Sus Ojos"

Melodic resonance is best appreciated under minimalistic frames. “Sigue Sus Ojos,” one of the most heartfelt tracks of last year, has finally been given the single treatment. This song dips deep into the laws of attraction, piercing emotions on every hook. Luciano Rubio has crafted a monochrome video that celebrates the analog formation of Caravana, balancing the dreamy haze of instruments with the stark silhouettes of their musicians. Caravana’s Rodrigo Santis is accompanied by an all-star band comprised by Felicia Morales, Fernando Milagros, Gepe, and Pedropiedra (all looking gorgeous and wearing awesome sweaters). Caravana will be performing on the first day of Vive Latino at Carpa Intolerante (March 23rd), in what’s one of the not-to-be-missed performances of the entire three-day fest.

Video: Pedropiedra - “En Esta Mansión”

When CF writer Pierre Lestruhaut wrote about Pedropiedra’s sophomore record, Cripta y Vida, as a departure from his debut’s comedic hubris, he also did a fine job highlighting what have since become the album’s singles. Lestruhaut described third single “En Esta Mansión” as a track that “delves into that old human incongruity through which wealth and boredom are often strongly related to each other.” The idolization of wealth as means of contentment by the working class has been a recurrent thematic source for Pedropiedra, whose involvement in Sebastian Silva’s La Nana might have added to the craftsmanship of psychotic characters that linger between tragedy and absurdity. When Pedropiedra wonders if boredom is a feeling (or state of mind) derived from foolishness, he turns to clip director Pedro Vial and a varied army of wildlife figurines, only to find out he’s been self-absorbed and self-resolved all along.

Pedro Piedra - Cripta y Vida

Cripta y Vida, Pedro Piedra
Quemasucabeza, Chile
Rating: 72
by Pierre Lestruhaut

Being a music fan is a little like being a child with multiple Christmases a year. Everyone can remember how much they always anticipated that exciting day where they would finally find out if they got those amazing things they’d been craving to have for months, yet there was always some kind of uncertainty, that small chance of having a difference between what a toy or video game looks like in its box and the actual experience of playing with it. It’s roughly similar to how music fans build a huge excitement, perhaps too easily sometimes, every time an artist drops a truly awesome lead single, thinking that this inherently means a stunning album is awaiting them.

But without making this a reflection on how we perceive music in the internet era, Pedropiedra’s lead single for Cripta y Vida, the amazing “Vacaciones en el más allá”, had indeed everything to make us think that a great follow-up to that amazing debut was headed for us. While not displaying much of a stylistic change in comparison to pretty much everything on Pedropiedra, “Vacaciones...” was yet another captivating exercise of how Pedro Piedra embraces the traditional approach of the singer-songwriter or “cantautor” style, without resigning to show his great skills as a pop song craftsman, always putting together small pieces of separate musical styles in an irrational manner. And it’s through that irrationality that songs like “Vacaciones” and “Inteligencia Dormida” truly excel, in how Pedro Pedra puts his rap roots to the service of great storytelling and rhyming over a funky base on “Inteligencia Dormida”, or in that out-of-nowhere synth line in “Vacaciones...” which would seem to fit more in a Justice record than in the lead track of a chilean pop album.

Yet when we finally started to discover the rest of Cripta y Vida, it actually seemed to lack significantly on that ability in song-crafting that would make Pedropiedra a CF favorite. In fact, many of the songs see him being content of settling for either a troubadour-like acoustic performances (“De Quien”, “Occidental”), or for some average efforts falling easily under the clichés of “rock en español” (“La Cripta” and “Se Fue”), while abandoning some of the more appealing aspects of his debut such as the self-aware and comedic storytelling, the fearless genre fusioning, the stunning vocal arrangements. Cripta y Vida does feature some very stimulating tracks though, think the awesome “Uyuyuy” with its beautiful chord progression and that great vocal harmonization around the “Uyuyuy ayayay” repetition in the song’s chorus. And think also “En Esta Mansión”, a pretty good Cerati-reminiscent track that lyrically delves into that old human incongruity through which wealth and boredom are often strongly related to each other.

In spite of the few great tracks Pedro Piedra offers in his sophomore album, I think I’ve made it clear that the feeling around this album is pretty ambivalent, kinda like waking up on a Christmas morning finding out that what you were anticipating so much isn’t quite what you were expecting, and there’s that feeling that something is missing, that there was a lot of potential for something much better. Like Carlos Reyes said to me: "it’s not a bad album whatsoever, it's just a modest follow up that first phenomenal record."

Video: Pedropiedra - "Vacaciones en el más allá"

2011 is becoming a very interesting year for sophomore records. Many breakthrough bands are making a comeback after delivering knockout debuts, and it's exciting to see how their body of work will be collected into that always challenging (and full of expectations) second record. After delivering one of the best indie hits in years (and a stellar first album), Pedropiedra is ready to overcome the "Inteligencia Dormida" ghost with the release of his new album Cripta y Vida. "Vacaciones en el más allá" is the album's leading single and it's as freaky and mind-twisting as its video (helmed by Vicente Subercaseaux). This is a sort of Mediterranean pop song that literally takes Pedropiedra's 'cantautor' skills to the graveyard (and boy do they insert life into that place). Yet another song for the end of the world, or at least, of momentary escapism.

Video: Gepe - "Por La Ventana"

One of the songs of the year by one of Club Fonograma’s ultimate favorite artists has a video. “Por La Ventana”, first cut from Gepe’s third album Audiovision. The clip directed by Luciano Rubio is as lovable, dynamic and colorful as Gepe’s character and irresistible charm. After watching this video it’s quite easy to understand the album cover’s fragmented lines and especially those clothes on his head. Starting with the 1989 World Tour sweater from The Beach Boys, the masks, the moustache, the wig! this is cloth extravaganza at its finest. Gepe is joined by the great Pedro Piedra, Fernando Milagros and Valeria Jara.

Video: Pedro Piedra - "Al Vacío"

During this year’s Golden Globe awards ceremony the world got a chance to hear a few seconds of Pedro Piedra’s “Ayayay” as it was the main theme of the Chilean neo-realist comedy La Nana. The director of the film is on charge of Pedro Piedra’s latest video “Al Vacío”, the third single following “Inteligencia Dormida” and “Las Niñas Quieren” from his numinous debut Pedropiedra. Well, this video is strange to say the least, starting with the fact that the clip starts with the singer masturbating to some old woman fetish (at least on the uncensored version of the video). But the really weird stuff happens later on with a failed attempt to put on a performance by men dressed as bees. Well, it’s cute to say the least.