March 11 is mostly over in Spain itself as I'm posting this.
But it's the ninth anniversary of the deadly 2004 subway bombing carrying out by Muslim extremists. This song by the group La Oreja de Van Gogh is a moving tribute to those whose lives were lost that day, Jueves (Version Grupo) 10/24/2009.
When I think of the song that most speaks to me in terms of remembering the 9/11 attacks and the terrible losses there, this is the one that comes to mind. It's actually a remembrance of a similar event in Spain, the March 11, 2004 terrorist attack on the Madrid subway. To me, it strikes just the right tone of sadness and tragedy but at the same time manages to be affirming of life and hope.
The new single off the new album by one of my favorite singers, Amaia Montero of Spain, formerly the lead singer for the group La Oreja de Van Gogh.
Here's the official video version of "Quiero Ser" (what's up with the cotton field?). This video makes you think she might be singer about a human partner (who we don't see), or about God, or maybe her dog. Cleverly done video, I would say. There's a corn field, too.
La Oreja de Van Gogh also has a new album out, A Las Cinco En El Astoria, with their new lead singer, Leire Martínez. You can see their video of the song "El Último Vals". (Embedding disabled, so you have to go to YouTube to watch it.) The video does an interesting split-screen story that's a bit like something out of a parallel-universe sci-fi picture, though with no special effects. It follows the singer as she makes slightly different small decisions in each of the separate frames, which wind up leading her in dramatically different directions.
This is a video of Amaia with La Oreja de Van Gogh singing "Rosas" in 2004 at the Gala "Miss España". The video isn't the best, but the sound is good. It also shows their concert style when she was with them. I love this song.
And here's a video with Leire Martínez doing the same song:
I think Amaia's version is clearly better. But I'm impressed at seeing Leire do the song. La Oreja de Van Gogh is a very well-known and popular group in Spain. And taking on one of their signature songs that was fronted by Amaia before takes some gumption. The one time I saw them live (with Amaia), they played for basically two full hours. So they probably need to do some of their older songs for their concerts. It just makes sense. But it's tough when the originals were popularized with a distinctive singer.
Both of them use beautiful Castilian Spanish, e.g., pronouncing "vez" as "veth", or "feliz" as "felith", or "accepte" as "akthepte".
Amaia has a very distinctive voice which is very recognizable in her solo song. But there's a tone to "Quiero Ser" that different from most of her songs with La Oreja de Van Gogh, upbeat and breezy but with an underlying sadness.
In an interesting twist, the Mexican pop star Paulina Rubio is reportedly scheduled to take over Amaia's lead singing role on their next album, though that doesn't mean she's joining the group:Paulina Rubio, voz 'circunstancial' del próximo disco de La Oreja de Van GoghEl Mundo 22.11.07. Paulina's style is notably different from Amaia's. Quico Alsedo Comments in his "Sexo, droge y rock&blog" that replacing Amaia in La Oreja de Van Gogh with Paulina would be kind of like Mick Jagger joining the Beatles (Paulina, rica, deja a Van Gogh con su oreja, por favor).
Amaia Montero(photo: Sergio González via Wikimedia Commons)
Amaia's departure is reported to be a result of her differences with the group's guitarist and lyricist Pablo Benegas: Amaia da un portazo a la Oreja de Van Gogh por Lino Portela El País 20.11.07 Divorcio en La Oreja de Van GoghEl Mundo 19.11.07. Amaia appeared in Peru in early December without the other band members, performing with Alejandro Sanz' band.
I heard La Oreja de Van Gogh perform in San Jose about this time last year. They are popular among fans of Latino music, but I had the impression they were trying to build a bigger audience here. The gave a great concern, with Amaia singing lead on all songs. I think they must have played almost every song on their four CDs. I'm even more glad I saw them, now, since that's likely to be my last chance to see the band together.
I imagine that Amaia has a promising solo career ahead of her. But music is a tough business. The group's 2006 CD "Guapa" was Spain's best-selling CD of last year.
Paulina Rubio(Photo: Victor B via Wikimedia Commons)
