Seahorse Studio Antigua

Best Albums of 2009. Destacados.

Chile’s Matias Aguayo has delivered not just one of the best techno records of the year, but one of the best records of the year period. Ay Ay Ay continues the evolution of one of today’s most unconventional and unpredictable producers. For 11 charming and breathless tracks, Aguayo seemingly deconstructs minimal techno into a schizophrenic street party of his own creation. Well, to paint a quick picture, I might have to resort to another tool that I usually hate: comparison . Think of Broken Social Scene inviting the guys from Belle and Sebastian to work on an old bunch of songs that Billy Corgan wrote with Brian Wilson… and then keep in mind that Antoine Reverb sounds exactly like none of the above. They sound like kids of the age of global inspiration. Valentina Fel is like a hyperbole of music’s very own fetishism; her powerful funky voice literally devours any beat coming her way, it’s erotic, wacky, fascinating, and at the end, very pleasurable. Valentina Fel sounds gigantic; it’s the realm of pop on the verge of detonation. Valentina treats music as the vein that projects her own wisdom.” “Hence the title, this is not your typical electropop album and definitely not a sonic adventure. It’s a collection of seductive episodes about love and despair (surprisingly not depressing). Fortunately, it’s generous to the adult ear, compassionate perhaps, on the verge of detonating light through its twelve pieces one can’t help but dance to.” “An album mostly about stories, which requires lyrical efficiency and a ‘pure’ human touch that is able to keep these anecdotes (whether true or not) at bay. This is ultimately Piyama Party’s most attractive virtue; their songs are reachable without sounding less complex than the progressive-wall-of-sound acts around.” “In its brainstorm of sound we could compare them with Bam Bam of course, but also Sonic Youth, White Denim, Jessy Bulbo and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, all which I find very accessible but flourish in rock’s advancement. Selma Oxor is the vindication of a blasted youth that has fun exploring rock, techno and pop, an all-in-one much distorted vision that according to their MySpace sounds like a cow giving birth.” “El Bosque En Llamas is a musical storm with all the mystery to hold its name to any altitude. Somewhere in between Bigott, Nacho Vegas, Sr.

Frommer's Caribbean 2011

Antigua and Barbuda

Caribbean & the Bahamas

Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean art

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