mi querido diversión

Just because the weather forecast for the weekend is all wind, rain, and almost-freezing temperatures doesn’t mean that you can’t go out. soy so lindo’s got our top picks for the weekend, all taking place in the warm indoors.

Saturday, August 4: Mel Mann + Kirlian + the Baseball Furies

Nevermind the recent buzz Mel Mann has been getting in the indie rock scene, if there’s a reason to go to this show, it’s because it’s at the Hotel Bauen, our favorite venue in the entire city. Think spiral staircase with black and white piano keys adorning the wall, leather banquettes, and disco lighting.

Auditorio Hotel Bauen, Av. Callao 360, 21 hs, $8

Sunday, August 5: Maratón Alejandro Jodorowsky:

An entire day of Jodorowsky films equals a whole lot of trippiness. All Movie Guide describes his films as, what might have resulted if Luis Bunuel, Michelangelo Antonioni, and George Romero had all dropped acid and made a movie together.” Sounds about right. Films start at 2:30, 5, 7:30, and 10 p.m.

Sala Lugones, Teatro San Martin, Corrientes 1530

For more events, check out soy so lindo’s calendar.

unicenter blues

The hour-long trek to Villa Adelina didn’t stop soy so lindo (or Buenos Aires hipsters) from making it to the Los Alamos/Boreales show on Saturday night. And thank heavens, because we would have missed seeing Club GBA, a community center-like music club nestled among quiet streets and one-family houses. And missed washing veggie burgers down with Fernet. And missed hearing Boreales celebrate the release of their new album, and Los Alamos playing songs off of their upcoming album (they just finished recording last week).

 

The biggest surprise of the night? The new Los Alamos songs. It had been over a year since I last saw them play live, and the older songs sounded less lush (due in part to losing a guitarist to the bass). But sophomore slump this ain’t; the new songs managed to achieve that difficult balance between maintaining the band’s original sound while simultaneously moving into new territory. Bluesy, yes, but it worked. Consider this sophomore album the most anticipated release of the year.

For more photos, check out soy so lindo’s flickr page.–REBECCA

toing, toing, gone

MySpace may have the American music scene in a choke-hold, but My Toing is attempting to give it a run for its money here in Argentina.

Through My Toing, bands can create their own pages with songs, videos, photos, blurbs, and tour info. Language options currently include Spanish and Portuguese.

Despite copying half of MySpace’s name, My Toing doesn’t seem poised to mimic the site’s success. There are currently only a handful of bands registered, and of those, only three seemed worth checking out. And none of those three bands impressed me with their music. In fact, I did a quick search, plugging in the names of some indie bands we’ve recently covered here at soy so lindo, and not a single one of them showed up. Not to be a total snot, but would you really want to buy an album from one of these bands?

 

Which could of course be because the site was only recently launched. MySpace was around for years before it actually became the cultural phenomenon that it is today. At this point, it’s a matter of My Toing getting enough buzz to draw in more (interesting) bands. What will it take? A smart ad campaign? An aggressive marketing? Being bought out by a conservative Australian?–REBECCA

uruguayan invasion

 

Like the Brits crossing the Atlantic, Montevideo’s Astroboy came over to Buenos Aires to play at Unione e Benevolenza’s ciclo Music is My Girlfriend. The band has developed since their previous album “Automatica,” going from Brit-mod to Brit-pop. Which is fine by us, because who doesn’t live a Pulp or a Suede inspired band? For more photos, check out soy so lindo’s flickr page.

this is a show

British invasion indeed.

The Magic Numbers, yet another band from the mother country, will be playing a free show in Buenos Aires on July 27 at The Roxy. The rub? Bacardi is throwing these indie folk-pop darlings the party, and not everyone is invited.

Tickets are ostensibly available from Bacardi’s website once you give away all of your personal information and answer a couple of inane questions (like “De que material son los barriles donde reposa y gana su inconfundible sabor el ron Bacardi?”). But for three days I’ve been trying to get tickets, all for naught.

Anyone who actually wins tickets will get an extra set to bring a friend so…dear soy so lindo readers: invite me if you get tickets, okay?–REBECCA

free to be

 

Proof that hipsterism knows no boundaries: Alfonso el Pintor.

In this 80s-esque pop band, thrift store sweatshirts, Ray Ban sunglasses, and asymetrical hair play more than just a supporting role. Not surprisingly, the beautiful people were out in full force this past Friday to see the band, best described as the spawn of Lucas Marti and Victoria Mil, play at Niceto. For more photos, check out soy so lindo’s flickr page.

 

programa perfecto

 

Lucas Marti and his deliriously infectious pop songs take over C.C.C. (Centro Cultural de Cooperacion, right?) every Friday this month. He shares the stage with Rosal, who we’ve always found a bit, er, boring, but the lead singer of Rosal is also Marti’s bassist, so it’s apparently a family thing. 

So no more excuses; if you don’t catch Marti play at least once this month (heck, we suggest going every week), it’s nobody’s fault but your own.

ROSAL + LUCAS MARTIN en VIVO: TODOS LOS VIERNES DE JULIO 23:00hs C.C.C – Corrientes 1543 ENTRADA $10 / Pueden Ingresar menores ENTRADAS ANTICIPADAS En venta en la Boleteria del CCC (Corrientes 1543) Los miercoles anteriores a cada show. CAPACIDA LIMITADA

As an amuse bouche, we present to you the video for “Programa Perfecto,” one of our favorite songs off of Marti’s new album. The live action shots are kinda cheesy, but the animated stuff is pretty rad:

For more things to see, hear, and do, check out soy so lindo’s calendar

we’re all yanquis

 

Yesterday was the first of what we hope to be many soy so lindo parties. In honor of Argentina’s Independence Day (July 9), we figured that we’d throw an American style party, complete with hamburgers from the “grill” (aka the stove top), sweet potato fries, sangria, and live music by the medio-American band Springlizard. We weren’t expecting snow when we planned our summer-inspired fiesta, but then again, does anyone expect the cold white stuff in a city that saw its last snowfall in 1918?

But sub-freezing temperatures and icy sidewalks didn’t stop us from partying like it was July 4th, as these photos show. For more, check out soy so lindo’s flickr page.

 

santa rosario

 

Last week, Rosario Blefari and her band brought down the house at La Trastienda. We’ve got the photographic evidence, although we somehow failed to snap a pic of the middle aged man standing in the front row, belting out every word of every song. Too bad, since he perfectly summed up the show.

For more on Rosario Blefari, check out her interview with soy so lindo.

british invasion

 

Talk about British invasion–both Lily Allen and the Arctic Monkeys are scheduled to perform here in Buenos Aires before the end of the year, and they’ll probably be joined by other compatriots as spring music festival line-ups are announced. The Arctic Monkeys won’t be here until October, but Allen will be performing at Luna Park on August 31.

Whether or not you like her music, you’ve got to admit that Allen is quite an interesting character. New York magazine just published a great interview with her, where she threw out lines like:

“I’ve got my dad’s short legs and long back. My mom, my sister, and my brother all have blonde hair and blue eyes. I’m the only one like this. My sister’s very tall and beautiful. But then again, I’m talented and rich.”

“Al Gore’s going to come in at the last minute and it’s going to be Gore as president and Obama for vice-president. You can [photograph] my tits if Al Gore is not president in two year’s time.”

Allen, who is actually a normal sized (rather than disgustingly skinny) singer, felt the pressure to shed some pounds while touring the US; in a now famous blog post on her MySpace page, she wrote, “I write to you in a sea of tears from my hotel bed in Seattle. I have spent the past hour researching gastric bypass surgery and laser liposuction.” Let’s hope that she fares better in Buenos Aires, which has one of the highest rates of anorexia in the world. I’d suggest taking her out for empanadas and dulce de leche when she gets here, but it looks like Allen’s feeling better already: “And Lily, bless her, doesn’t seem like the sort of star to develop long-lasting complexes. ‘Don’t worry,’ she says, cheerily chomping on chicken saté at Cafe Gitane, a few hours before double-fisting pizza slices at Joe’s. ‘I’m still eating like a fucking pig.’” A girl after my own heart…–REBECCA