Almendra (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Almendra has come to be known as one of the most prolific Argentine rock bands of all time, a band that revolutionised the way people saw rock in the late-1960s, and a mode of cultural expression for music-hungry youth. Trading in the typical, mainstream English lyrics for Spanish lyrics, four teenage high school friends became not only a rock band, but a leader in Argentina’s national rock movement.

It was 1967 in Argentina and the music world was reeling. The summer of love and hippie movement had young listeners across the world hooked to the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. Meanwhile, The Beatles were testing out the psychedelic waters with their ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ album, continuing the Fab Four’s reputation for hooking fans via a blend of expression and music.

Likewise, 1967 saw the assassination of ‘Che’ Guevara in Bolivia, and there was a prominent surge in an outspoken youth sector in Argentina. During the cultural transformations sweeping through Argentina, Almendra stood out among other up-and-coming bands. National rock in Argentina was gaining steam, and though many listeners were raised on English lyrics, Almendra wrote and produced songs in Spanish. They proved to doubters that the same poetic expression and social commentary present in famous English rock songs of the day could be emitted via Spanish lyrics, too. Almendra changed the way local rock music was perceived by listeners and critics.

The band had its start with two high school music groups: Los Larkins and Los Sbirros. Drummer Rodolfo Garcia led Los Larkins, while future Almendra electric guitarist Edelmiro Molinari and bassist Emilio del Güercio, played in Los Sbirros. Luis Alberto Spinetta, who would become guitarist and lyricist for Almendra, began playing with Los Sbirros but eventually played for both bands. The Larkins had several name changes, becoming the Masters and then the Mods. It was then, as the Mods, that the two groups fused together to form what would be the base of Almendra.

The group faced a brief road bump when Garcia was called into military service. While the band hit the backburner, national rock was skyrocketing in popularity thanks to bands like Los Gatos, another notable leader in Argentina rock.

When Garcia returned in the spring of 1968, the guys, in their late-teens, began practicing at Spinetta’s home in the Belgrano neighborhood. After going through several names, the group eventually parted with the typical “Los” name, and settled on Almendra.

In 1968, they met producer Ricardo Kleiman, host of local radio show Modart en la Noche, which aired popular beat and rock music of the time. With Kleiman’s help, by the end of the year, Almendra had produced and released their first single, “Tema de Pototo,” a song about a friend who was rumored to have died.

The group’s first official live performance was in Mar de Plata, a resort city in the province of Buenos Aires, at the beginning of 1969. Afterwards, the group played several performances at a music festival in Peru. On 24th March, they finally made their debut in Buenos Aires at the Di Tella Institute, and performed again several weeks later at the Buenos Aires Globe Theater. Another significant performance followed at the Pinap Festival, the first major music event for Argentine rock.

In 1969, the band released their first self-titled album, followed by double-album “Almendra II” in 1970, which features songs like “Toma el tren hacia el sur” and “Camino dificil.”

Almendra quickly established a styling that many compared to the Beatles. With a light-hearted bop sound, the catchy tunes are both uniquely quirky yet strewn with meaningful poetics. Not only did the band’s sound resemble the Beatles, but the two bands shared a similar influence on music and culture. Like the Beatles, Almendra gave young people something to relate to, an escape from a tumultuous societal and political scene; an identity.

Though Almendra had a short-run, breaking up due to artistic and cultural differences, various members of the band went on to successful solo careers. Güercio and Garcia formed Aquelarre and Spinetta, called “El Flaco” due to his lanky body size, formed Pescado Rabioso, another key member of the national rock scene in Argentina.

As band member Molinari said, Almendra didn’t divide, it multiplied.

Genre: Rock

Dates: 1967-1970

In their own words: “Today those songs are classics, but at that time were considered cutting edge. With time I realized that most of them are threaded by song writing tradition of our country. They are Argentine songs. The real vanguard revolutionizes what it inherits. Almendra was heir to the best of Argentine music and combined its elements without any prejudice.”   -Emilio del Güercio

Most Well-Known Song: Tema de Pototo

Best lyric: “If your dreams are lights around you, you will realise that he never has died, never has died.”

Best to listen to: when at a party with a cuba libre in hand and your best dancing shoes (whether that would be bare feet or not) on.

It’s Friday again!

And today is of course a very special day for all of us!

No, I’m not talking about today being another holiday to commemorate the death of Argentina’s forefather José de San Martín (which, by the way, was moved to Monday to make it a long weekend for some reason. Wouldn’t Friday be the same thing?).

No, the reason is that this column is turning two years old this week!

It was almost two years ago that out of a drunken epiphany I decided to create a weekly summary of Argentine news for the average (i.e. lazy) expats who took pride in claiming that they didn’t care who the president of this country was.

Hence the first Weekly News Roundup (seen here) was born on a cold, rainy morning of August 20th, 2010.

It was a short, unfunny, half-assed attempt at writing something different that only got two comments, one of them from a friend of mine (meaning it doesn’t count) and the other from some guy who congratulated me for being “very optimist” (I assume he meant optimistic). And look! I hadn’t even adopted the name “Bono” as my nom de plume!

But despite the public’s intentional indifference I persisted because I pretty much had nothing better to do with my life, and a few years, a lot of practice and a lot of hate mail later, this column evolved naturally into the beautiful, stylistic piece of shit prose that it is today.

So even though it’s only 9 AM, I raise my glass and salute you, my loyal readers/detractors who week after week come to this column to laugh/become infected with rage.

This is only the beginning.

And remember to like our Weekly News Roundup Facebook page so you can keep up with the coming changes.

Oh! And I almost forgot: I’m going away on vacation this weekend so don’t expect a Weekly News Roundup next Friday.

I know, scary right? It’s like when you were little and you lost your mom in the amusement park. You knew she would come back eventually because it’s a closed environment, but in the meantime it was up to you to survive.

Well, that’s you next week. Make me proud.

This is what you need to know:

• 

  Three weeks ago no one gave a shit about Taekwondo. Some guy winds a gold medal. Now everyone's a fan. (Photo/Wikipedia)

  President Cristina Fernández  de Kirchner, who never lets a photo op go to waste, welcomed in Casa Rosada the Argentine athletes who competed in the London 2012 Olympics and, flanked by new national hero and only gold winner Sebastián Crismanich, boasted that since the Kirchners took over in 2003 Argentina has won a total of 16 medals. Sure, when you say it like that you naturally go “That’s it?”, but considering that in the 44 years before the country had only obtained fourteen, she was proud to congratulate those that with perseverance, honor, courage and self-confidence had brought joy to their nation.

• Then of course she fucked it all up by applauding the women’s national field hockey team for kicking the UK’s ass in the Olympics. “When you defeated England, it was like winning a gold medal. It’s a good thing you won! Otherwise I would have been so upset!” she laughed. Hah! Nothing like some healthy incitement to xenophobia in the hands of a charismatic leader. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for Rio 2016.

• Everyone’s favorite mischievous Vice-President Amado Boudou had the dubious honor of being included in a list of trouble-making veeps from around the world published this week on Foreign Policy. Along with Boudou are four other VP superstars, including Sierra Leone’s Samuel Sam-Sumana and Sudan’s Ali Osman Taha. It’s like the international affairs version of The Breakfast Club, in which Boudou is obviously Emilio Estevez and Sam-Sumana is a machete-wielding Judd Nelson. I don’t know about you but I would totally pay to go see that.

•  Now, I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about what was probably the biggest story of the week, involving the Indec national statistics agency and their infamous report saying that you can eat with only $6 pesos a day. Even though most of the media coverage surrounding that story was not entirely accurate, everyone knows their inflation index is nothing short of a joke.  So the Argentine chapter of the hacktivist group Anonymous, obviously not amused but such a blatant display of disregard for the public’s intelligence, decided that it was fair game to hack the Indec’s website, just for shits and giggles.

•  After the most nightmarish and paralyzing week to have ever been experienced in Buenos Aires since the Toddy cookies disappeared from the shelves, the subway workers came to a “feeble” agreement with the City Government and Metrovías after ten days of strike. The most important part of this paragraph is the word “feeble,” since it means chances are we’ll be dealing with another strike in just a couple of weeks.

•  As further evidence that this is a ticking time bomb of unfathomable proportions, the City government has announced that five new subway stations have been finished but cannot be opened to the public because there aren’t enough trains.

• Jesus, just shut down the whole thing and leave it there. Don’t you watch scary movies? Worst case scenario, it becomes a hideout for comic book villains and mutant creatures  that feed on homeless people. At $2.50 a ride that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

• Now that the Olympics are over and Argentine athletes don’t have to worry about being deported from England before obtaining any medals, we can all go back to the usual bickering about the Malvinas/Falklands. Newspapers around the country were horrified over the impending arrival of a warship to the islands this week that they themselves announced only a few months ago and now seemed to have completely forgotten about it.

• And because one Malvinas/Falklands-related scandal a week is obviously not enough, the local media decided to run a shocking non-story accusing the Uruguayans of referring to the islands as “Falklands” instead of “Malvinas,” as any respectable non-imperialist Latin nation would do. The preposterous and offensive error was found in some random document no one gives a shit about and was clearly the result of an hungover intern, but that did’t stop the local press from pretty much accusing the Uruguayans of treason. Fortunately President José Mujíca apologized in time before both nations broke relations and announced he would launch “an official investigation”. No, he did. Like, for real.

• Awesome news, everyone! Finally here’s something you can show your parents so they can shut up about how you’re throwing your life away in some South American city that is slowly spinning into the boiling rivers of the Underworld. According to prestigious magazine “The Economist,” Buenos Aires has been picked as Latin America’s best city to live in. In your face, Brazilian Buenos Aires!

• And those of you who complained about the current state of things in this country and moved to Uruguay, you can stay there. We don’t want you back.

• The Córdoba province, not content with trying to expel all prostitutes from its sovereign territory a few weeks ago, is now openly warning that if you have an “amputated penis” you cannot join the police force. That’s right, transsexuals! If you wanna be a cop you gotta take it like a man. That means: have a penis. The new regulation also rejects people who are missing one finger, have diabetes or a stutter. Keep making everyone proud, Córdoba! I can’t wait for you to outlaw divorce and reinstate the use of leeches for curing cancer.

• And speaking of fucked up provinces, remember Salta? You can now add this to the list of weird crimes taking place there. Seriously that place needs its own special CSI unit. Just stay away from it.

• Ready to be enraged? Here’s a domestic violence video that was all over the news and went viral this week showing a coward asshole beating his ex-wife in front of their daughter.

• Ready to be enraged even more? His only punishment is to stay away from the woman for 90 days.

• As more cases like these continue to surface, at least one political party has reacted in some sort of way and called for Congress to  declare a national emergency on gender violence, since according to a new report cases have increased a 57% in the last two years.

• OK, this is the part you don’t want your parents to know about. Just stick to the article on The Economist and you’ll be fine.

• This week, in Completely Unnecessary Displays of Self-confidence:
  

  You will never look at Delacroix's painting the same way after being exposed to Moria Casán's intoxicating photographs. (Photo/Wikipedia)

  former erotica star and current wrinkled grandmother Moria Casán wants you to know that she is not losing any sleep over accusations that she stole an $80,000 necklace from a Paraguayan jeweler. So she agreed to a racy and gag-inducing photo shoot for Noticias magazine, in which she impersonates Lady Liberty herself, spear in hand and Phrygian cap on wig. The photos are NSFW but don’t worry, the worst parts are censored, praise Jesus. Just make sure you don’t click on that link with the lights off.

• Noooooooooooooooooooooo!

• Agh, who am I kidding. I wasn’t even gonna go.

• And regarding football: it’s been awfully quiet lately. It’s almost as if such dead calm is announcing a coming storm that will explode in a ravaging sea of fire and fury, destroying everything in its path until no living thing is left standing. The hooligans are silent, the players aren’t engaging in prostitution scandals and the sports commentators are surprisingly accurate during the games. So since there’s nothing interesting to tell, here’s the gruesome video of a leg fracture during an Argentinos Juniors match last weekend. Enjoy!

Attaque 77 playing at the Buenos Aires City Festival Rock en Parque Roca- La Ciudad al aire Libre (Photo: Buenos Aires City Govt/Estrella Herrera)

A career which spans for more than 20 years, one EP and 18 albums have placed Attaque 77 as one of the biggest punk rock bands in Latin America. We spoke to the drummer, Leonardo de Cecco, and the bass player and backing vocals, Luciano Scaglione, to let you in on a little more than just their track record.

Founded in 1987 in Buenos Aires by a group of friends, their formation suffered a few changes before its current members settled. The decision to leave the band in 2009 by their founder and previous lead singer, Ciro Pertusi, citing personal reasons, left many fans disappointed. However, Mariano Martínez, who has been playing guitar since the band’s beginning, stepped in and took the lead singing position. This way, the three other members have successfully carried the legacy on.

They were launched into the limelight by their second album, the triple platinum ‘El Cielo Puede Esperar’, released in 1990. The hit single ‘Hacelo Por Mi’ became the opening song for a TV show of the same name, presented by famous Argentine TV personality Mario Pergolini. Escaglione regards this beginning as essential to the band. “Being on television, taken by the hand of Mario Pergolini with the song ‘Hacelo Por Mi’, was something that helped us reach the whole country and that way go touring throughout all of Argentina,” he remembers. These days, Martínez has publicly expressed that he believes ‘Hacelo Por Mi’ resisted the test of time and has become a classic.

Yet, one of the most requested songs during their gigs is ‘Yo Te Amo’ from their first discography which, despite delays that pushed the released date to early 1989, the original name of ‘Dulce Navidad’ was kept.

Their early start, however, was anything but sweet. It is said that they were kicked out of their first public appearance after playing eight songs by the manager of the pub, alleging one of the members was a minor. Later they got to perform at a club as a support act for band Descontrol, who were the ones who suggested the name “Attaque 77”, a homage to the late 70s punk movement in England.

At the beginning of their career, they wore denim jackets as a trademark and played a more traditional punk rock style which was quite raw, with lyrics about the working class struggles. With time, their lyrics varied in subjects, featuring things like animal rights for example, as two of them are raging vegetarians. Their composition also started to denote a more melodic tone.

“We believe the music we make has changed because we have grown whilst in the limelight,” De Cecco said. “When we started playing we were teenagers and now we have more years of experience on stage. The music we make keeps maturing and that is very important.”

Scaglione added: “Even though we’ve never abandoned our punk roots, throughout these years we tried different genres like pop, rock, ska, reggae, etc, and I think we were always successful in what we delivered.”

At first they were inspired by bands like Iron Maiden and Los Ramones. So what bands inspire them today? “I think the classics of always,” says Scaglione. “For example, Motörhead or ACDC, more than anything for their strength and determination to play rock until the end.”

The highlights of Attaque 77 include hit albums Amén (1995), Antihumano (2003) and Karmagedon (2007). Furthermore, in 2007 a compilation of songs played by many national and international bands was released in homage to their 20 year-long career. It is called Por Siempre A77aque (Forever A77aque) and it includes the participation of Eneas, Love Kills and The Rouwkers amongst others.

When discussing highlights, De Cecco thinks fondly of two songs aside from ‘Hacelo Por Mi’ which he believes marked their career: ‘No Me Arrepiendo De Este Amor’ (Otras Canciones, 1998) and ‘Arrancacorazones’ (Antihumano, 2003).

With a long-lived success story, we wondered what advice they would give to new bands out there. “Work hard on your music, rehearse, compose a lot of songs and don’t expect anything. Whatever comes is because it’s supposed to come. There are no formulas for success,” Scaglione explains. De Cecco has a different advice: “Keep going with your music and never give up. The important thing is to generate a new circuit of underground band like there were in the 80s.”

So what is next for Attaque 77? “We will be releasing our first acoustic album in the first half of 2012,” says De Cecco. “It’s a very interesting project in that it was recorded in Teatro Opera with 12 musicians on stage. It was almost like a rock orchestra on stage! The album will come out with a live DVD … This will be one of the highlights in our career, very emotive and different.”

Anything else? “We’ll also be composing and producing material for our next studio album,” Scaglione reveals. We know Argentina can’t wait for it!

Genre: Traditionally punk rock (but recently have ventured into ska, reggae, pop, rock and others).

Dates Active: 1987-present

In their own words: “People refuse to accept change. A good sign that we are going the right way is when fans get a little annoyed.” Mariano Martínez told SkaPunk.com.ar

Most Famous Song: “Hacelo por Mi”

Best lyrics: From the song ‘Cambios’: “Nada es inalterable, nada es definitivo, ya ves solo el cambio es lo único que permanece en el tiempo… incondicional.” (Nothing is unchangeable, nothing is final, you see, change is the only thing that stays in time… unconditionally.)

Famous for: Being the punk band that lasted

Best to listen to: Whilst doing anything that allows you to hum.

The Argentine musicians of Babasónicos took over the radios in 1992 with the hit “D-generación” and since then have been one of the most acknowledged bands, not only in their country but also in all Latin America.

They are part of the ‘new wave’ of Argentine rock that started to appear in the late 80’s and early 90’s, bringing original sounds to the underground rock scene.

Babasónicos (Photo: Cristal en Vivo)

Founded by the lead singer Adrían “Dárgelos” Rodríguez and the keyboardist Diego “Uma-T” Tuñon in the city of Lanús (south of Buenos Aires province), the idea was to create a different kind of style than the ones long established in Argentine music.

The mixture of various rhythms and innovative lyrics produced a unique sound, which made the rock group stand out from the other artists of the time.

Along with Rodríguez and Tuñon, the other band musicians are guitarists Diego Rodríguez and Mariano Roger, drummer Diego Castellanos and DJ Peggynn, who became a permanent member after his participation in their second album ‘Trance Zomba’.

Their long time bass player, Gabo Manelli, passed away in January 2008 from Hodgkin’s disease. In 2009, Carca, former member of the band Tía Newton, replaced Manelli.

The name Babasónicos refers to the Indian guru Sai Baba and the cartoon ‘The Jetsons’, translated as ‘Los Supersónicos’ in Spanish speaking countries.

After opening shows for INXS, Soul Asylum, Depeche Mode and U2 in the 90’s, Babasónicos were gaining international prestige and toured all over Latin America and the Unites States, becoming a household name in the Argentine rock scene.

They were praised by local and international media, having their 2001 album ‘Jessico’ considered the best album of the year by two of the biggest newspapers in Argentina, Página 12 and Clarín, and the magazines Rolling Stone and Los Inrockuptibles.

The artists also won several awards, amongst them MTV Latin America Music Awards for artist of the year and the Gardel Awards for best rock album for ‘Anoche’.

Babasónicos was one of the attractions of this year’s festivals Coachella, in the United States, and Vive Latino, in México, promoting their new album ‘A proposito’.

‘Microdancing’, a song from their latest work, is nominated to the 2011 MTV Game Awards under the category of ‘Best song in a videogame’ for being featured in the Pro Evolution Soccer videogame.

Genre: new wave Argentine rock

Dates active: 1992-present

In Mariano Roger’s (guitarist) words: “We are always trying to be original, even though everything that could be invented in rock has been done. We challenge ourselves to do something new in our songs and videos.”

Most famous song: Y qué (So what)

Best to listen to: Before/ during a night out.

Best lyrics: “Viva Santana!”

Official website: http://babasonicos.com/

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/babasonicosoficial

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/babasonicos

Bandalos Chinos (courtesy of Bandalos Chinos)

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. Each week, the Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: Bandalos Chinos.

Since 2009, Bandalos Chinos has come to define the word “fusion.”

Paying tribute to the classic sounds of Argentine rock bands — the guys peg Luis Alberto Spinetta, founder of Almendra, as a tremendous musical influence — Bandalos Chinos incorporate a solid rock n’ roll beat. The gritty grunge glam of British indie rock gives Bandalos Chinos a bit of spunk, while a particularly fun and energetic pop vibe and a catchy funkadelic beat transform the band’s tunes into something truly unique.

Three years in the making, Bandalos Chinos admits to a simple beginning marked by acoustic arrangements. Over time, however, the group has explored and developed their sound into what it is today.

Five musicians make up Bandalos Chinos: Matia Verduga on drums, Palo Travaglini on bass guitar, Iñaki Colombo on guitar, Tomas Verduga on guitar and vocals, and Goyo Degano on keyboard and voice.

Degano’s voice is effortlessly smooth and rich, while the guitars’ wah-wah pedal effect projects the band’s inner classic rock.

Bandalos Chinos are in the process of recording and releasing their first album. They started recording on 11th November of last year, with Mariano Oliva. After finishing recording this past May, they are currently in the editing and mixing stages, along with the help of Sergei Grosny. But, because they lack the funds to produce the master disc and copies, they are reaching out for potential donations with IdeaMe.

In return, Bandalos Chinos are thanking donors with digital copies of their CD, tickets to live performances, and meet & greets with band members.

Five years ago, on 21st September, Callejeros returned to perform for a 20,000-strong audience after a notable 2-year silence. Having formed in 1995 the band of musicians from Villa Celina started out doing cover versions – known for an original take on Chuck Berry – under the name Río Verde (Green River). Soon after forming, however, there was a shake up of members and after taking a year out to develop and reorganize themselves, they came back with the edgier name, Callejeros, and their own rock sound.

Los Callejeros at their first performance after the Cromañon disaster

The band continued to grow until 2000 – adding a saxophonist, and a guitarist – when they finally hit the ground running, recording three albums to high critical acclaim. The first, ‘Sed’ (Thirst), was a true rock set, and self-released. Although their one music video for the album, ‘Vicioso, jugador u mujeriego’, was not widely viewed, their sax player, Juan Carbone, of Viejas Locas fame, received a great deal of critical attention.

Nonetheless, they still had to self-produce their second album, ‘Presión’ (Pressure). In this album they veered off the rock track with a bit of tango, Uruguayan candombe music, Latin rock, ballads, rock’n’roll – an eclectic mix of their various influences. The more unconventional move paid off. Argentina couldn’t get enough of them; and the rest of the continent was slowly beginning to notice the band dominating radio stations, and plastered all over TV listings. One song in particular, Una nueva noche fría (A New Cold Night), became something of an anthem on national shows.

As 2004 rolled in, the gang took to Buenos Aires’ notorious “temple of rock”: Obras Sanitarias Stadium. This step was paramount, having gone from playing for 1,000 to 5,000 people in a little over six months. Their new album came out, ‘Rocaroles sin destino’ (Rock’n’Rollers Without a Destiny). It wasn’t as good, receiving mediocre ratings, but audiences and critics alike didn’t seem to care – this piece gave an insight into their lives, and their experiences in the fame rocket. It premiered live to a 10,000-strong audience in Cordoba, before they moved up to Excursionistas football stadium, with 15,000 attendees.

Their rapid ascent came to a tragic climax at the end of the year, 30th December 2004, with the fire that broke out during their gig at a comparatively small club, República Cromañón. The size of the venue had not curbed interest, and it was packed way above the legal capacity. Still left to be explained is why the emergency exits were illegally locked – a key factor in the cause of 194 deaths, including many of the band members’ relatives, wives and girlfriends, by fire or inhaling carbon monoxide.

After the disaster, and while still on trial for their involvement in the fire, the band regrouped after a year and a half out and performed a moving set to 20,000 people towards the end of 2006. However, after initially being found not guilty, following subsequent investigations and an appeal, the band members were this year charged with manslaughter and will face prison sentences.

Genre: Argentine Rock

Dates active: 1995 – 2006

Most famous song: ‘’Una nueva noche fría”

Best lyric: “I’m as empty as the dream of a hat”

Famous for: Unfortunately, the fire in República Cromañón

In their own words: Who was responsible? “The State”

Best to listen to: When you’re feeling a bit wild.

It’s Winter again!

And Friday too, but mostly winter!

Holy shit, you guys.

Have you all been freezing your asses or is it just me? Damn! This week we had a major temperature drop and we all woke up on Tuesday to realize we had been teleported to the South Pole.

For three straight days we had to put up with the whiners that complained about the lack of snow and who later started freaking out about the mild sleet that was dousing the city.

And no, just because it snows it doesn’t mean that “Buenos Aires is just like New York.” Shut up already.

And remember that if you see anyone sleeping on the street on these cold winter nights, you can always dial 108 (write it down!!) and let the City Government know where they are. They will pick them up and take them to a shelter to protect them from the polar wave.

There. Now that I’ve helped you become a better person, and that you have liked the Weekly News Roundup on Facebook, this is what you need to know:

• 

  Downtown Buenos Aires this week. (Photo/Wikipedia)

  Oh man, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is pissed. After last week – as I explained here – it became public that the queen of all-things-populist had over 3 million dollars in savings, even though her administration was urging everyone to start saving in pesos, she decided to give a press conference to announce her decision to “pesify” her savings (meaning, to convert them to pesos). You see people? She’s just like us. Except for the part the she has three million dollars and she’s President, but when it comes to everything else, she’s just like us. Let’s love her!

• Score one for the political opposition! Remember last week when I told you about Daniel Reposo? No? OK. He was the guy who was supposed to become the nation’s procurator-general and had submitted his typo-plagued résumé to the Senate so they could evaluate his credentials? Ah, see? I knew you would remember. Well it turns out there were much more “typos” involved, and after being grilled in the Senate for over 10 hours on Wednesday and responding to the opposition’s accusations with lukewarm rebukes at best, he finally freaked out and last night decided to withdraw his nomination. Reposo announced his decision in a series of letters that he sent to the President, to Vice-President Amado Boudou, to the UCR and the Victory Front parties. Surprisingly, there were no typos involved this time.

• [UPDATE] Sorry everyone! I appear to have spoken too soon, since as readers have kindly pointed out, his letters were riddled with typos. Real typos this time! He wrote “haber” like “aber” and mistook Clarín’s CEO Hector Magnetto with this guy from the X-Men. Thanks for the heads up, Internet people!

• Did you go to the big old Cacerolazo in Plaza de Mayo yesterday? I found it to be a lot less exciting than I though it would be, honestly. And if you went by some picturesque characters, it looked a little too much like a franchise of  the Tea Party movement. There was the guy wrapped in dollars, the guy saying that Argentina was turning into the Soviet Union, and the ladies banging their safety deposit boxes. Aside from that, there were others who legitimately protested some of the Government’s biggest flaws, like inflation, corruption and a growing insecurity. But you know how it is: if nothing is set on fire, then there’s nothing to see here, people.

• And no, you freaks. Twitter did not censor the #Cacerolazo trending topic. The simple explanation is that once a TT (in this case, “#Cacerolazo”) peaks, it will not show up again in order to make room for new TTs. In other words, they favor novelty over popularity. If you want to blame someone for this, don’t blame the Government, blame the Justin Bieber fans (like, for real).

• Also, I’m not one to join the Government’s crusade against Clarín, but lying by omission is also lying. Oh, and in this case the state news agency Telam may be right, but don’t worry, they do it too.

• Oh and also, do you want to take part in a cacerolazo but fear that holding a couple of frying pans over your head may betray your debonair, cool-looking exterior? There’s an app for that.

• So while the country is in tatters, what was the political leader of the opposition, our Lord Savior and future presidential candidate Mayor Mauricio Macri doing? Oh, he was busy playing guitar with the mayor of Lisbon, celebrating that Rock in Rio 2013 will take place in Buenos Aires and most definitely not in Rio, like its confusing name falsely advertises. The Mayor also announced that the music festival will take place in the abandoned – and quite possibly haunted – Parque de la Ciudad, in the distant neighborhood of Villa Soldati. Which means you will have no choice but to visit the so-called “uncharted territory” (i.e. anything below Rivadavia Av.) not once but twice next year (the second time being when you go to Creamfields, you pill-popping douchebags).

• As the 30th anniversary of the end of the Malvinas/Falklands War approaches (which means that, yes, once again we’re gonna have to put up with Cristina’s faux-motional speeches and David Cameron‘s preponderance of fear mongering exposition for a couple of weeks) the Government has announced that the five British oil companies carrying on exploration projects on the surroundings of the Malvinas/Falklands Islands are doing so “illegitimately,” in case you didn’t hear them the last two million times they said it.

• Meanwhile, in London: the British Government has accused Argentina of utilizing its “position in the world” to damage the islands’ economy, in case you didn’t hear them the last two million times they said it.

• Ah, here’s some progress! While attending an OAS General Assembly in Bolivia, dangerously insane Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman once again said the islands belonged to Argentina and urged the UK to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... But then I woke up and was happy to see that after his stern speech, he approached the British representative in the assembly, Fiona Clouder, and both were seen laughing and sharing an honest moment of camaraderie. Now this can only mean two things: A) That despite having a name that sounds like someone you would find in a Harry Potter novel, Ms. Clouder is a treacherous, ruthless double agent working with Argentina to bring the British Empire to its knees, or B) This whole bilateral conflict is just a ruse perpetrated by two nations desperately looking to stir up the masses and boost sentiments of nationalism in order to conceal an impending decline in widespread political support. In order to keep my sanity, I will go with the “double agent” version.

• Now here’s something you’ll find interesting: in its monstrous efforts to de-dollarize the economy, the National Government is drafting a bill that looks to make mandatory that all property-related transactions (rent/buy/sell) are carried out in Argentine pesos. If the bill is passed, you know what that means? That your landlord will no longer be able to charge you $1500 dollars for your shitty studio apartment in Palermo. Now it will have to be in pesos. It will still be ridiculously expensive, but in pesos. Hurray!

• Also, I’m sure your landlord will find a way to keep ripping you off every month. Sorry, I had to say that.

• By the way, this week in Fashion: Perfil‘s lady-oriented section “Rouge” has a great piece on how the hipster look has become “a thing.” Too bad the article is ten years too late, but here’s a golden star for the effort.

• Oh look! It also has a piece on how to “look preppy“, in case you haven’t been to Punta del Este in the last 150 years! Bookmark this one ladies, I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing a lot more from it!

• And speaking of fashion victims, remember how thieves used to break into designer stores to get into the cash register and steal all that money? Well, not anymore! It’s 2012, people. What guys want now are dresses. Lots and lots of dresses! At least that’s what it looks like if we go by this security footage from a store in Belgrano that was broken into at 2 am this week by two guys. Hey, not that I’m judging. You’re welcome to wear anything you want in my book as long as you’re comfortable with it. It’s the stealing part I’m not so crazy about.

• Finally! After years of neglectfulness and heartbreaking snubs, Sony Computer Entertainment announced this week that the much coveted PlayStation Network (you know, the one that got hacked last year and exposed the credit card information of millions of users) will arrive in Argentina in 2013. Not to rain on your parade, Sony Computer Entertainment, but the Wii U is coming out by the end of the year and you know the Argentines, they are like insatiable neophiles when it comes to technology. Better luck next time, you guys! And maybe don’t wait six long fucking years to acknowledge Latin America’s existence, you pricks.

• If you have a Claro line, be aware that you’ll get a $10 pesos discount next month. I’m not exactly sure what they did this time, but it probably involved stealing from you, so the government is spanking them in the ass again. Whatever. Now you know.

•  OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! Try not to hyperventilate but feast your eyes on this, people! The official “Dancing With the Stars 2012” promotional photo has finally been released! I know the show’s premiere is still three days away but this will soothe our anxiety and help us make it through the weekend. Highlights this season, which will allegedly focus more on equality and less on tits and ass, include a one-legged dancer and a girl with down syndrome, a move that I personally applaud. The rest of the cast is made up of hookers and goldiggers as usual.

• Popular Latin pop singer Estela Raval passed away at 77 this week after a long battle with cancer. Don’t worry, you didn’t know who she was so you don’t need to mourn her. In the unlikely case you want to know who she was, here’s a link to her performance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967. Or something like that.

• You didn’t click on that did you? That’s OK, I’m not judging.

•  As the National Football Team arrived in New Jersey (US) for some game
  

  "Some chick who died," according to you. (Photo/Wikipedia)

  I’m not even gonna bother looking up what it’s about, the Argentine media was outraged – OUTRAGED! – that Americans were oblivious to the fact that Jesus 2.0 (A.K.A. Lionel Messi) was walking among them. Apparently for some reason that I will also not look up, Argentine San Antonio Spurs’ superstar Manu Ginobili stole Messi’s thunder. And since in the US football (or “the soccer”) is only played by little girls and tiger moms, nobody gave a shit. Hey! New Jersey sounds like my kind of place! Let me know when the entire cast of The Jersey Shore is dead, I may consider moving up there.

• As the football boys aimlessly toured the evil mecca of capitalism unnoticed, marveling at the alluring siren song of mass consumption and cotton candy, somewhat popular footballer Sergio “Kun” Aguero went on a shopping spree and purchased an Iron Man doll ”for his son.” Right.

• Oh, I’m sorry! You don’t think that was newsworthy? Well, look at you all nose up in the air, pompously wagging your finger at me, as if you were some kind of respectable journalist. Sorry to have to tell you this people, but Clarín, La Nación, Minuto Uno, Fox Sports and Radio Continental all beg to differ. And those, my friends, are serious news outlets offering relevant need-to-know information on a daily basis. What did you do today? Yeah. Didn’t think so.

• Last but not least: last weekend Argentina beat Ecuador 4-0 during a World Cup 2014 qualifier and the entire country was hysterical, over-celebrating and overreacting after every goal. And I say “overreacting” because I know you know this was a shitty game and that Ecuador didn’t really stand a chance, but you still pretended to be extremely excited and yelled like you just won the lottery. Yes. You should know that every time I see you jump off your chair screaming “GOAL!” during a game that really doesn’t make a difference, I am quietly judging you.

• Fuck football.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

And remember to like this column on Facebook!

Send Adrian your comments, thoughts or tips at adrianbono@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @AdrianBono

Rock musician, Luis Alberto Spinetta, has died after contracting lung cancer last July.

The musician, best known as the “Flaco” had been hospitalised for a 25 day surgical operation due to an “intestinal perforation.” He died at home surrounded by his family.

Spinetta’s illness was publicly announced last December in a moving letter, published on the Twitter account of his son, Dante.

A national icon and pioneer of Latin American rock music, Spinetta was the lead guitarrist of a number of bands, from Alemendra in 1967 to Pescado Rabioso and Spinetta Jade, before dedicating himself to a career as a solo artist in the 1980s.

In 2007, Artaud, the third album released by Pescado Rabioso, was chosen as the best album of Argentine Rock by the magazine Rolling Stone.

In December 2009, Spinetta performed a now mythic show in the Vélez Sarsfield stadium. Thereafter, his public appearances became increasingly more sporadic, although he continued to organise key local festivals.

Spinetta is survived by his four children, Dante, Catarina, Valentino and Vera.

Divididos in concert in Jujuy in 2004 (Photo: querman)

Four different drummers, a major squabble with their record label, and a nine year break, Divididos have had quite the trajectory since their birth in 1988. A three piece hybrid of rock and folk, the so-called ‘steamrollers of rock’ came crashing onto the Argentine music scene in the mid nineties, and released their last album just over a year ago.

It was the death of frontman Luca Prado from cirrhosis of the liver in 1987 that led to the disintegration of the ska band Sumo. Prado himself was a fast-living, enigmatic character with a huge following; after his death, graffiti of the words “Luca’s not dead” could be seen scrawled over many a wall in Latin America and even as far as Europe. At this point, the band was enjoying the fruits of more success than it ever had.

After the loss of it’s central figure, artistic differences began to arise, eventually leading members to split in to two, smaller bands; Los Divididos and Las Pelotas. Both names were coined from an expression Prado himself used when talking about the possibility of a rift; “Divididos, las pelotas”, which can be roughly translated as “split, we would be bollocks”.

Despite this forewarning, Divididos went on to achieve an great success, and, though their first concert may have been held in a small pub in Flores, are now heralded as one of Argentina’s most influential rock bands. Ricardo Mollo (vocals and guitar), Diego Arnedo (bass guitar) and Gustavo Collado (drums) released their first disk ’40 Dibujos Ahí en el Piso’ in 1989.

Their most acclaimed album however is ‘La Era de la Boludez’, or ‘The Age of Ignorance’ which, going straight to number one in 1993, sold out 20 thousand tickets in the Velez Sarsfield Stadium. It is this record that marked their heyday more than any other.

However, in 1995, after pressure from their record label to hammer out another album- the deal was to produce one every two years- they released ‘Otroletravavaladna’. A bit of a mouthful, the title was a play on words, spelling out otra letra vale nada, or another word means nothing. A the title suggests, the album didn’t do very well, and the band split from their label Polygram.

Not that this held them back. In 2000, they travelled to Abbey Road’s infamous studios to record ‘Narigón del Siglo’, Big Nose of the Century. Back home, their hits were soaring to the top of the charts, winning prizes left right and centre, including the platinum Konex award. Their single ‘Spaghetti del Rock’ was even voted best song of the decade by readers of Rolling Stone.

Nine years on and we hadn’t heard a peep from them, till, in 2009, they released their last album, ‘Amapola del ’66′.

Genre: Rock, with a folkloric twist.

Names of band members: Ricardo Mollo (vocals and guitar), Diego Arnedo (bass guitar). As for the drummers… The original drummer Gustavo Collado lasted two years, but a few artistic differences later he was replaced by Frederico Gil Solá, who was replaced by Jorge Araujo, who was replaced by Catriel Ciavarella. Arauju lasted the longest, with nine years in the band to his name.

Dates active: 1988 to present

In their own words: ’Recorded music is information. Live shows are a place where you embrace emotion’

Most famous song and it’s best lyric: ‘Spaghetti del Rock’, ‘Que ayer no es hoy, que hoy es hoy, y que no soy actor de lo que fui’. Today is not Yesterday, today is today, and I’m not a master of the past.

Famous for: their cover of the Door’s ‘Light my Fire’ on their first album, ’40 Dibujos Ahí en el Piso’.

Best to listen to: on a long car journey.

Pedro Aznar (Photo: Diego Ortiz Mujica)

Today Pedro Aznar celebrates his 53rd birthday, and he is still going strong. Since releasing his first album as part of ALAS in 1977, he has won awards throughout a successful career, both as a solo artist and through collaboration with other infamous names – and in a variety of genres.

His first big success came as a bassist with rock band Serú Girán. Headed by Charly Garcia of Sui Generis fame, the group soon became the first Argentine super rock band with bold releases like ‘Bicicleta’ in 1980, an album depicting the then delicate political situation in Argentina. For example, track ‘Canción de Alicia en el país’ used metaphors to subvert censorship and is regarded the song to best depict the social reality of the time.

He accepted by the North American jazz guitarist to join The Pat Metheny Group as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. After winning three Grammy Awards (‘First Circle’ in 1984, ‘Letter From Home’ in 1989 and ‘The Road To You’ in 1993), he began his solo career to explore his own ideas. He has since led a group releasing  14 albums – the latest being ‘A Solas Con El Mundo’ in 2010. He also collaborated again with Charly Garcia to record platinum-selling album ’Tango 4′, which was later named best rock album of the year by the Argentine Association of Entertainment Critics.

While also publishing poetry, writing film soundtracks and lecturing on many aspects of creativity and music production, he still tours heavily around Latin America and last month completed a tour of Argentina. His next concert is on 13th October at the Teatro Nescafé de las Artes in Santiago, Chile.

Youtube link: 

Genre: Rock, jazz, Argentine folk.

Names of current band members: Julian Semprini (drums, joined in 2008), Alejandro Oliva (percussion, joined 2008), Hernan Jacinto (keyboards, backing vocals, joined 2009), Manuel ‘Coqui’ Rodriguez (guitars, joined 2010).

Dates active: 1977 to present.

Most famous song and it’s best lyric: ’Tu Amor’ with Charly Garcia. ‘Yo tuve el mundo a mis pies, y no era nada sin ti’ (I had the world at my feet and was nothing without you)

Famous for: Playing the fretless bass.

Best to listen to: After a few glasses of wine with friends.