Artist Glimpse and Album Review: Juanes

We don’t seem to mind the fact that we don’t understand the lyrics of a song because they’re in a language foreign to us when the person singing those lyrics is very attractive. Especially when that person singing is Juan Esteban Aristizabal Vasquez, or, better known as Juanes.

Juanes, originally from Columbia, has been entertaining Central and South America for many years with his Latin rock and pop style and clear vocals. His most recent album, La Vida Es Un Ratico, was released on Tuesday and commands the attention of anyone who appreciates rock, elements of Latin flare, and an over all, good feeling song.

This crooner didn’t always sing heartfelt songs with catchy beats.

He first experienced with music in metal band Ekhymosis.

Juanes garnered much of his success and kick started his career by collaborating with producer Gustavo Santaolalla who is famous for composing award-winning scores for “Amores Perros,” “Babel” and “Brokeback Mountain.” Santaolalla’s talent must of rubbed off on Juanes, because his first album, Fijate Bien (Take a Good Look), won three Latin Grammy Awards.

Juanes’s new album, La Vida Es Un Ratico, is slightly more down-tempo than his previous album, Mi Sangre and portrays less attitude.

“Gotas de Agua Dulce” is a swanky, medium-tempo beat track with non-stop lyrics that propel the song forward.

“Hoy me Voy” is simpler in its instrumental aspect, and features a guitar lead in the chorus that flows through the song in waves.

“La Vida Es Un Ratico,” the album’s title track, reflect’s Juanes’s meaningful and emotional vocals over piano layered with distinct drum beats.

Song “Me Enamora” is catchy in chorus and an upbeat, positive track with harmonizing vocals.

Check out Juanes’s music video for “Me Enamora” provided by YouTube user todoxaqui1.






Previous album, Mi Sangre might have been a better album overall, however.

“Lo Que Me Gusta a Mi” kicks off with a bevy of guitar licks that are dripping with attitude and sass.

“Rosario Tijeras” is a sexy, slow-beat crooner’s song to a woman.

Check out Juanes’s website to hear all tracks from Mi Sangre, or watch this live performance of La Camisa Negra provided by YouTube user MustangLoverMex.





The new album may not be as good, but we sure like his new short haircut.

Band Spotlight: Ozomatli

This nine-piece collaboration is about as diverse as it gets. Not only do they produce a fusion of Latin, hip hop, salsa, cumbia, Middle Eastern funk and dub, but Ozomatli also is comprised of members from all over the world.

Ozomatli, made up of Wil-Dog Abers, Raul ‘El Bully’ Pacheco, Justin ‘El Nino’ Poree, Asdru Sierra, Ulises Bella, Jiro Yamaguchi, Mario Calire and Sheffer Bruton contribute their talents of vocals, bass, percussion, trumpet, drums and trombone to create a sound that is unlike many others and dance-provoking.

Their track “Can’t Stop” off of their most recent album, Don’t Mess With the Dragon has a great beat from the start and has Mexican and Spanish influences and style with Reggae flare as well. The lyrics and beat of the song encourage listeners to take advantage of each day that they encounter positively.

Song “City of Angels” starts off briefly sounding like a hard rock song, then flows into funky horns and then, surprisingly, hip hop. The track kicks off with a spoken recording of a band member saying: “Let me tell you a little something about L.A....I love it!” This track truly showcases all of Ozomatli’s talents and facets of musical diversity.

“After Party” off of Don’t Mess With the Dragon features Mexican elements and funk.

Check out this YouTube video, provided by user darksun360, of Ozomatli performing “After Party.”



Also, check out Ozomatli’s performance of “Saturday Night” from their 2004 album Street Signs, in this YouTube video provided by user vintagetubelug.





Track “La Gallina” is very upbeat and sounds like a combination of mariachi horns and hip hop, and really ignites the track with enthusiastic shouts from the band members. The overall feeling of the Mexican style track is fun-loving and carefree.

To hear more upbeat songs from this culturally diverse band, check out Ozomatli’s MySpace page.

Album Review: Cafe Tacvba

Mexico-based band Cafe Tacvba has a fresh, well-rounded sound and just dropped their new album Sino on Tuesday.

Cafe Tacvba sings in Spanish and fuses melodic and often upbeat guitar with a myriad of other instruments, including piano, synthesizer beats, mandolin, and steel guitar. The band’s front man, vocalist and guitarist Ruben Isaac Albarran Ortega has a nice set of pipes, but the instrumental aspect of Cafe Tacvba is the most impressive and compelling.

The band from Naucalpan, Mexico has been together since 1989 and has snatched up a few Grammy awards along the way.

Sino is a well-rounded album from start to finish, beginning somberly with Ortega crooning quietly to just piano with growing intensity.

“Tengo Todo” is one of Sino’s strongest tracks, exhibiting a catchy chorus (that I can’t even understand!) and overlapping melodies with elegant electric guitar work.

“El Outsider” conveys diversity with Ortega singing in a scratchy voice to bass and synth beats.

The single track off of Sino, “Volver A Comenzar” builds beautifully with drum beats and airy guitars.

“De Acuerdo” kicks off with espionage guitar work and stomping drum beats.

Cafe Tacvba will be entertaining fans across the border and in other countries with live shows to promote Sino.

Tour Dates
Oct. 18 – Distrito Federal
Oct. 19 – Veracruz, Veracruz
Oct. 20 – Oaxaca, Oaxaca
Oct. 21 – Tehuacan, Puebla
Oct. 25 – Hermosillo, Sonora
Oct. 26 – Mexicali, Baja California
Oct. 27 – Tijuana, Baja California
Nov. 3 – Tokyo
Nov. 4 – Fukuoka

Check out this video of Cafe Tacvba collaborating with Incubus at the 2005 Grammy Awards.




To hear Cafe Tacvba’s new album Sino, check out their Myspace page, the whole album is there for listening.

"Feeding" on Music: Fall Club Crawl Gets Revamped

The Tucson Weekly and Club Crawl made a big step in technology and the live music experience by providing music lovers with text and web updates on the Fall Club Crawl music festival Saturday.


Sean Fitzpatrick, a corporate web specialist, set up the feature on ClubCrawl.net, the event’s website, and provided music fans and concert goers with updates on band sets, show times, traffic, crowd size, you name it. On the site, crawlers had the option of entering their cell phone number and name in order to receive free text messages from mobile correspondents who were covering the festival.


I was asked by Tucson Weekly editor Jimmy Boegle to help direct mobile coverage of the event by trying to hit multiple shows, comment on their quality (is the band good live, are they playing good songs?), alert festival goers of late set times and crowd size, etc. However, I was unfortunately out of town for Fall Club Crawl (one of my favorite events) but was able to keep tabs on the event from afar due to this new text message feed and mobile coverage.


By skimming ClubCrawl.net under their RSS Feed, you can see the types of text messages that music lovers were receiving from mobile correspondents, one being “Line at District. Come now for Tom Walbank,” and “The ‘entrance’ 8th and 4th is less of an entrance, more of a closed off block. Don’t bother,” and “To guarantee you see They Might Be Giants buy reserved for 25 at Rialto (includes crawl wristband). Otherwise come early to get a spot.”

This RSS Feed proved to be very helpful to crawlers in that the festival has multiple bands playing at multiple venues simultaneously and could have become confusing for many.

The live RSS Feed for Club Crawl goers took a step in the right direction for coverage of live shows, and was extremely informational and helpful.

Check out this video of Guilty Pleazeurs’ live performance of “Cherish” at Club Congress, provided by user jamesfreddys on YouTube.