AudioShocker

Let me take you back a few months - 24 to be exact. Back to a time when the Tequila flowed down my gullet and coming in to work on Saturday was de rigeur. My five months in Monterrey, Mexico were the most gluttonous period in my life. I boozed, ate out, and ran wild pretty much every night with no regard for personal safety or well... anything. I lived richly since I was on the company dime for everything but food - and all I ate were tacos and Pollo Loco. It was also a period of time in which I was forced to discover new media and could not rely on such steady standbys such as MTV, VH1, Fox, or even streaming video sites! The cable at my abode was pretty crappy by any standards (except for UK hotel cable, talk about shitty!).

So, I branched out. I listened to the radio in the beat up company Jetta we drove to work. I spent time watching the D99FM music video channel. I've already told you about Belanova and how much I dig their track Rosa Pastel and Calle 13 / Nelly Furtado's cloyingly sweet yet saucy No Hay Igual. I discovered how much people in Monterrey love the Strokes and Robbie William's Rudebox. I also discovered Julieta Venegas.

Venegas' new album Limón y Sal was burning up the charts when I arrived. She doesn't really fall into the CFV category, as she is more pop than that. But her music is listenable, she makes a watchable music video - the eponymous lead single had one of those early 90s / REM style videos, and it kept me afloat in a sea of Shakira.

Venegas recently, (as in, 6 months ago) recorded an Unplugged session for MTVTr3s and I think it is worth a listen. The first clip is the lead single Limón y Sal and the even more catchy Eres Para Mi. This isn't mindblowing the way that Shakira's Unplugged performance was mindblowing (seriously, it was probably the best thing she ever did) - but neither is it 'world music' a la Toto. Just watch:

San Pedro Garza Garcia - the neighborhood I lived in was full of rich things: expensive cars, expensive houses, expensive restaurants, expensive shopping, expensive nightclubs (that threw me out once), expensive stripclubs (that I never went to), expensive bars that served you drinks by the liter, hookah lounges, etc. It is the richest municipality in Mexico -- if not all of Latin America, and I'll always assosciate Venegas (and unfortunately Robbie Williams) with those images and months. So today, as I sit around depressed by the economy and my shrinking bank account balances, I plan on firing up some Venegas and pretending it's still Dec 3rd 2006 and that mom just hung up on me again for telling her how sunburned I was getting at the pool.

When you hear about something on Acquire and Uncrate you know you are behind the times. Anyway, it looks like MTV finally pulled its head out of its ass and put their entire video catalog online. Even more exciting is that they have some developer friendly API in case you want to build some sort of webapp using their videos. I see you all creaming your AJAX / Web 2.0 jeans about it.

The obvious question is "what the hell took so long?" Really, we've had the technology to do this for at least 3 years and YouTube has been doing it foreverrrrr. Still, as if I needed another reason to not pay attention at work, I can now spend endless hours watching Queen and Tom Petty music videos. In order to properly honor this, I give you Europe's magnum opus - Final Countdown. Enjoy.

Remixes are a gift and a curse. On one hand, they can introduce a track to a new audience and increase the artist's visibility astronomically. On the other hand, a remix can overexpose and detract from the quality of the original track. Of course, these days a remix is little more than a way to recycle a hook and split royalties with two other artists you barely know. In that vein, I bring you Ne-Yo's She Got Her Own (or the far stretch remix to Miss Independent)

The Track: First off, this beat blows. The high pitched baby voice thing is about 3 years too old and the slowjam tempo does not fit. Also, is Ne-Yo even on this track? He puts in maybe half a verse. Jamie Foxx's presence is an enigma. What is the point of an R&B singer featuring another R&B singer on his record? It works for rappers, (check Maino's Hi Hater Remix) but only because they have distinctive flos and styles.

Speaking of rappers, Fab must have received my note about the streets hurting for a new track. This is the second time in about two months that I have written about him and the second time he's collaboed with Ne-Yo. Sadly, the verse isn't exactly top notch pimp. It sounds like he wrote it in the taxi on the way to the studio.

And While I can't argue that having one's own money isn't important to me, you won't see me atop parapets shouting "my girl is financially independent and fiscally responsible!" I like picking up the check on a date. It drives me nuts when a girl wants to go dutch. Let me have the satisfaction of doing something positive after an entire workday of sloth and work avoidance. You can get the movie or desert afterwards if it matters that much. Also - I don't carry cash.

I mean it's great if she has her own loot- but don't let it define your relationship.

The Video: Hey, does this sound familiar: black, white, 3 dudes, and 4 models? Thought so. I am tremendously underwhelmed by the visuals. There is so little to talk about that I'm stopping right here.

Of note: Independent women Eve and Estelle stop by for a quick cameo. I can dig it. Really, when was the last time Eve came across as anything but an independent woman? And Estelle is pretty hot right now. She was nominated for the Mercury Prize you know.

The Bottomline: Hey Ne-Yo, if she's got her own, why don't you ask her to buy you a better video?