Minus Kelvin Music Blog... and 2014 (the future of Media)

I just ran into this super-cool blog. Minus Kelvin (I assume this is an alias) calls it a music blog. Here's what he says about himself:
"Minus Kelvin is a physics and calculus teacher during the day and a composer of freak-yo-mind e-music in the nights. He writes commissioned music for people working on projects in video and film. His ipod has a pearly clear gel cover and he takes it with him everywhere, even on kayak voyages. Custom etched in the metal backing is the sentence, "Music is worth it.""

Interesting... I added him to my links. I ran into his music when I read the credits of this thought-provoking Flash piece on the recent history of digital media and a possible scenario leading as far down the road as 2014. Things like Google joining ranks with Amazon (gotta love it) and taking on the "bad guys"? There's some of that, though I must say: an excessive amount of power put even in the best hands can ultimately lead to corruption. So, as much as I love Google and Amazon as companies for what they do and what they stand for, I don't care about seeing them become a substitute for Microsoft in the next ten years or so. For now, watch the piece and let me know what you think.

M83: One of the best musical discoveries in a very long time...

I ran into M83 by pure coincidence in 2004, while surfing through a friend's iTunes list... I'd heard about them, but hadn't quite had an opportunity to check them out. I now know I was missing much.

M83 is the the French duo of Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau (or rather was a duo, since their album being released in January 2005 only counts with Anthony Gonzalez), and this is their second album, originally released in 2003. Their music sounds like a perfectly crafted balance between Godspeed You Black Emperor, Craig Armstrong, Moby and Sigur Ros. They deliver so much passion in their songs, with the aid of atmospheres started out with layers upon layers of keyboard work, to ultimately crown them with the most touching guitar riffs (My Bloody Valentine feels here too)... ocasionally they jump into minimalist terrain, but without overdoing it, which is where they get a bit of a Sigur Ros-like sound.

My favorites in CD1: "On A White Lake, Near a Green Mountain" and "Gone", a song I can play 20 times in a row, and never grow tired of. CD2 can be summed up in the title track, one hefty 17+ minute long song that is not apt for the weak of the heart.

If you enjoy their music, don't hesitate to pick up their 2005 release, "Before The Dawn Heals Us".

Moby being existential... a little more

Well, it so seems that Mr. Moby has a new album coming out soon, titled "Hotel". It still doesn't appear in Amazon, but Morning Becomes Electic's Nic Harcourt managed to snatch some songs from the album during a recent broadcast of his program (12/13)... so far, it sounds interesting (in particular, I enjoyed the track titled "Spider"). Though I ended up enjoying it, I had such mixed feelings with "18" that "Hotel" will need to break some new musical ground in order to sound like he's repeating himself all over again.

On a side note, it's kinda interesting listening to Moby complain about touring and fame at large. I guess he does have a point, but I cannot avoid but feel like he's complaining a bit too much in the early moments of the interview with Nic. Judge for yourself... or rather, listen and let me know what you think.

Last, though completely unrelated to Moby, it must be mentioned (not quite MUST, but I thought it'd be worth mentioning) that we're bracing ourselves for freezing weather tonight and tomorrow. It's been very cold all day long and tonight they're announcing temperatures in the 30's. Mickey is going to put a hat to cover his big fat ears these days! ;)

Search Engine Strategies conference: over and out

I came back last night from a very insighful and exhausting conference on the topic of Search Engines, which took place between last Monday and yesterday in Chicago.

The key things I learned from it:
-Local Search: it arrived to stay. It's growing like crazy, thanks in part to the likes of Google and Yahoo! which now return local results when you append a city/location to a search for, say, a business (dentist, plummer, etc.) There's far more control in the user's hands than ever before, and businesses are encouraged to make sure that the listings about them that get displayed on the local results are as precise as possible.
-Personal Search: some initial efforts about this on the horizon. A9 (amazon's baby) and Eurekster and MSN's search coming out of beta soon (BTW, I am no MSN lover, but I encourage you to test it! -including their search product to dig inside your hard drive, which is much more integrated to the OS as expected), are fronting the efforts on this end. Still some more things to do about it, though, and adoption by users at large is still lagging a bit.
-Blogs: any news about them? Well... the general public is catching up with them beyond just being sources of information beyond mainstream media. They are fabulous sources of credibility and a great means to enhance link building efforts.
-Latin America and US Hispanics: a great dissapointment was to see the small turnout at the fantastic session delivered by Juan Fernando (Studiocom.com), Lucas Morea (Latin Edge), Nacho Hernandez (iHispanic) and a rep from TeRespondo.com, the "Overture" of Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.
-Optimized Press Releases: sounds basic? Try it... We learned about them from the master himself, Greg Jarboe, principal of SEO-PR.

For a more comprehensive insight, here's the keynote by Danny Sullivan, Editor of SearchEngineWatch.com, which kind shows the highlights of the things in the industry over the past year and what is on the near horizon.

What else? Well... Chicago was pretty cold... but I can't complain. We were staying at the hotel next door to the conference, so we didn't have to walk out in the cold much.

The Killers

I recently ran into the music of The Killers almost by accident. They now are, along with Keane, Franz Ferdinand and Interpol, among my favorite new (pop rock) bands. If you want a picture of their sound, imagine Franz Ferdinand (which is to say, imagine a bit of a post punk sound), throw in some eighties New Wave-y keys (say, in Duran Duran fashion) and there you go! They've got power and passion in their art.

Bad blogger... de paso por Venezuela

He sido un mal blogger. Estuve de paso por Venezuela unos dias durante el fin de semana de Thanksgiving, con motivo del matrimonio del pana Henkel. Desde que regrese ha sido una sola carrera, asi que no habia tenido chance de actualizar el blog.

Tome unas notas en el Blackberry mientras estuve alla. Paso a transcribirlas aqui. Enjoy... :)

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11-25
Llegada: aterrizaje chimbo... Una azafata con cara 'e culo y la mafia de los carritos (a Bs. 5000, atendidos por un chamo que se encargaba de cobrar por ellos porque la maquina "estaba dañada") me dieron la bienvenida. Fue interesante la experiencia de la banda transportadora (o he de decir paralizadora) de maletas. Para arrancarla, un chamo saco el boton de parada de emergencia... Sin comentarios! Matizando la cosa estaba el nunca-faltante maracucho revisando todas las maletas para ver si era la suya, llevandote a ti por delante... Despues de 30 minutos de espera, empezaron a salir las maletas. Y por supuesto, siendo pasada la medianoche, no habian salido mas de 20 cuando la banda se paro. Total que casi me tardo mas esperando por la maleta que en el viaje de Miami a Caracas.

11-26
Crisis, what crisis? Venezuela puede tener los problemas q sean, pero la rumba siempre sigue. Diciembre sigue siendo un mes de alta densidad de bodas y consumo de caña. Acompañe a Henkel a recoger el frac y las chamas de la tienda no paraban de entregar trajes.

LA BODA
La boda fue genial. Fue en una capilla ortodoxa rusa en Los Dos Caminos... Un espectaculo de lugar. Pequeño a mas no dar, pero con unos murales impresionantes que cubrian del piso al techo con imagenes de Jesus, la virgen y unos santos. La ceremonia fue unica. Nunca antes habia participado en un rito ortodoxo: todo cantado, el cura dando la espalda al pueblo (que cabia en la capilla), seis solteros sosteniendo coronas sobre las cabezas de los novios, uno a la vez por cada novio, tomando turnos cuando se cansaban los brazos... por ahi tengo unas fotos que voy a montar proximamente. COMING SOON! (update: Rafa se me arrecho porque no le di credito porque me habia avisado que lo de las coronas iba a ser un vacilon... Lo fue -al menos para los asistentes; no creo que los del "cortejo" se lo hayan tripeado tanto! :D)

LA RUMBA
En la Qta Monteverde (detras de La Esmeralda). Caña y pasapalos "like there is no tomorrow". Toco el grupo Mostaza: que bandon! "Los nuevos Melodicos" me decia Luis Emiro que eran ahora. Muchos panas a quienes no veia hacia SIGLOS... Casados la mayoria, con chamos muchos... Muchos tragos, historia, baile y abrazos mas tarde, llegamos a la casa a las 4 y pico. Hablando pajita se nos hizo de dia. Hacia siglos que no rumbeaba tanto y tan sabroso!

11-27
El raton... Gracias a Dios por la soda y el bicarbonato!! Terrmine resucitando como a la 1 pasadas, y un par de platos de sopa de pollo me devolvieron la vida por completo. Sali con Gladys (Madre) a Sambil, luego de recoger el traje del novio en el hotel donde se estaban quedando, y luego me encontre con Gilberto y Lena. Comimos bien sabroso en La Romanissima en el C.C. Tolon, y termine en Esperanto de Piso 5, comprando Plastilina Mosh, Juanes (el nuevo y el anterior) y el nuevo de... Diego Torres. Este ultimo disco promete ser tan rechazado a nivel familiar como el "famoso" cuadro de una bahia de noche! (inside joke). Un par de cervecitas mas tarde en casa de Pagua, oyendo buena musica en el envidiable Bang&Olufsen, y me acoste a dormir.

11-28
El highlight del regreso fue que la banda Mexicana Kinky venia en el avion. Conoci al manager, un chamo puertorro a todo dar. Los chamos de la banda eran bien nota tambien.

El otro detalle (al margen), fue una señora sorprendida en los Rayos X (I tell you: those things work!) porque no la dejaban pasar algo... "No se pueden llevar fuegos artificiales? Por que?" 'nuf said. ;)

Coachella 2005 lineup "mete miedo"

Just read this article in Filter, talking about the tentative lineup for 2005's Coachella Festival. Makes me feel like flying over. It's going to be a nice one, even if it's half as good!