Buenos Aires Rock Capital of Latin America

perry

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Buenos Aires is a innovative city in many areas and has by far the best rock scene in Latin America . This is a interesting interview from the legend of Soda Stereo and a rock star in his own right Gustavo Cerati.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otLlQbDJiOs&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnoEQTI_qEE&translated=1

http://www.youtube.com/user/gceratioficial?blend=1&ob=4

Check him out
An Argentine Rock Star, Gustavo Cerati

May 7, 2010 – 1:07 pm
Argentine Gustavo Cerati was an international rock star 15 years before the world heard of Shakira or Juanes. He started in 1982 as the charismatic frontman and songwriter for Soda Stereo, the revered Buenos Aires band widely credited with kicking off rock in Latin America. When Soda broke up in 1997, Cerati went on to a successful solo career.
Last fall, in the wake of Soda’s multimillion-selling 2007 reunion tour, he came out with Fuerza natural (Natural Force), a reflective, moody, musically rich album that immediately topped Argentina’s charts. Cerati plays the American Airlines Arena (which Soda filled for two nights in 2007) on Friday.
We talked with the Latin music idol, who was at home in Buenos Aires.
Q: Is Fuerza natural the most successful album you’ve had as a solo artist?
A: It’s a kind of cliché to talk about the latest record as the best one. But the whole process of making this one made me very happy when I was finished. I think I’ve taken another step forward, and I feel more proud than of other things I’ve done. . . . There’s a number of things in the themes, the sound and the influences that didn’t come out so well in the stuff I did before.
Q: The videos for Déj vu and El rapto seem like scenes from a road movie. What was the inspiration?
A: One of the ideas we worked with when we were creating the songs was the idea of this trajectory, of moving through nature, going down a road, going from one place to another. There’s a little bit of marketing there, saying that you’re going to recapture a little of the romanticism of the ’70s. The videos are a kind of road movie. It’s weird because the story isn’t all written yet. I still don’t have a good idea of where I am, but I’m arriving somewhere. It’s kind of like Lost.
Q: Why do you think rock ‘n’ roll came out so strongly in Argentina, before the rest of Latin America?
A: When you talk about Argentina you have to remember that 50 percent of the population is concentrated in Buenos Aires, in a city. And we were in a city that was pretty European, that was looking out from Latin America. Also we had artists like Charly Garcia, [Luis Alberto] Spinetta, artists who were very much from here, with their own values, their own brilliance. Also, I think it’s a kind of special flavor in the Argentine personality, which is pretty chaotic. We’re bums. So it’s perfect for rock music.

Q: It’s a cliché that Argentines are arrogant — are they?
A: Arrogance is not an Argentine invention, that’s for sure. The first time Soda Stereo went outside the country to play, we were in Venezuela, and a headline said “Argentine but Decent” and I said, “all right, I see.” At the same time, in the last few years we’ve had so many problems, so much poverty, so much destruction, so much bad management and lack of faith, that when we Argentines look at ourselves we see ourselves suffering just like other countries. We can’t be so arrogant anymore.
Q: You’ve been a star for a long time, first with Soda, and now as a soloist. Can you live a normal life? How do Argentines treat their stars?
A: I am dedicated to what I really like to do, so it doesn’t make much difference there, mostly because it’s a lot of work. I lose a lot of my private life. But I tell you, I go to the supermarket, I walk on the street. I can’t go to places where there’s a lot of people together. But I don’t live a closed-off paranoid life of a rock star obsessed with his status.
Q: You started in your 20s. What is it like to be a rocker at 50?
A: The energy for me is very similar. I can still go like a kid. On the other hand, I’m 50. There are things that I have to be more careful about. But the benefits of this moment in my life have to do with playing, with seeing what’s going on. Before I was like a bullet train. Now I see the big picture more. Also, I have a little more of a sense of humor than I used to have.
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Are there any good rock clubs/bars in Palermo?Someplace not infesred w/ 18 year old emos?
 
Club Niceto has interesting shows- the kind of music varies from techno DJ's to folk/tango acts like Me Daras Mil Hijos. You need to know a bit about the band, to decide which nights you want to go- the crowd can vary enormously, from punk to raver to folkie to rocker, depending.
http://www.nicetoclub.com/
If I was gonna be in town, I would definitely go see Salsamuffin, from spain- cumbia/accordian/rap/indie mashup that is pretty entertaining...

El Teatro, which is only a few blocks up Cordoba, on Federico Lacroze, has more "rock" type acts pretty regularly- more metal and punk than emo.
http://www.elteatroonline.com.ar/

CAFF features the argentine equivalent of "americana"- young kids reviving and reinterpreting traditional styles, mostly tango based, but often pretty rocking. Not a lot of 18 year olds wearing eyeshadow and superskinny jeans there- its a fun, intimate casual place, almost never any foreign college kids or tourists.
http://www.fernandezfierro.com/caff/

All three are no more than a 20 minute walk from most parts of Palermo, a short taxi ride.

Oh, and Thelonius, which is nominally a jazz club, often has very interesting variations on the jazz theme- definitely an adult scene, nice place.
http://theloniousclub.com.ar/

between those four clubs, it doesnt matter what kind of music you like, you could find a good band.
 
Since the post was written Gustavo Cerrati has suffered a terribe stroke and is a vegative state . For me and many argentinians he is a legend.



24493_Gustavo_Cerati2.jpg
Musician Gustavo Cerati.







Singer, songwriter and guitarist Gustavo Cerati has not shown any signs of recovery after suffering an ischemic attack a month ago, the medical report given by the FLENI Clinic stated.
"Thirty days after suffering the extensive ischemic attack that caused severe damage in his left cerebral hemisphere, the neurological tests to observe the responds to sensory and motor stimulus have not shown any favorable evolution," the report stated.
"The patient is still unconscious and with mechanic respiratory assistance," added the communiqué signed by Claudio Pensa, the director of the FLENI Clinic, where the former leader of Soda Stereo has been hospitalized.
Cerati, 50-years-old, suffered an ischemic attack on May 16 after a show in Caracas, where he has been hospitalized until he could be transferred to Buenos Aires.
 
Here is the version with video
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=z7-3gWR9wlg&feature=related

There are many excellent rock musicians in the history of Argentina (many of them from Rosario of course ;)
But let's focus on Gustavo now, mostly pop, electronic, alternative rock, somehow differrent from the rest in the 80s here (when they exploded to fame)
Other great songs I could find now

From the MTV shows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=3W7wPI9cFGE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=kFI43xuFyxo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=cso0Zn6q7Ck&feature=related

Others:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=KpiY999wHTM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=9qm3-Ssre-8&feature=related

Probably my fav song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=hF7sTDvNkik&feature=related

And keep listing... so many good songs to listening
 
oh man... listening all that stuff brings lots of memories and even for those (like me) not big Cerati fans, it's very SAD to know he's not coming back to create or play his unique music.
And you feel it sometimes on the street, people ask sometimes "have you heard anything new about him?" "any news?"

In times where the big "artists" from major record labels get the most credit, we should acknowledge him for that sound.
 
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