On My Computer #3

It’s been a bit since the last edition of On My Computer, hasn’t it?

I’ve realized that perhaps I’m not in a moment of my life when I can commit to a strict blogging schedule…¹ These past months I’ve been studying and studying and studying. Now that I’m finally on break and have some peace, I might dust marea a little² I haven’t been much on the computer these weeks, but I saved some fun links I found here and there to share with you. Music's been my lifeline lately, so there's a lot of fresh stuff in this edition to explore!

April came in with a bang: my favorite³ festival, Quilmes Rock! The lineup was too good to pass on, so on a whim I decided to get a ticket last minute for day 1. It was INCREDIBLE. To put you into perspective, I saw Gorillaz (my all-time favorite band, mind you) at the last edition back in 2022, and yet this edition was light years ahead. It was that great. I spent the entire day with a good friend of mine running from scenario to scenario and dancing to artists we love. Namely: La Vela Puerca, Dillom, 1915, Turf, Andrés Calamaro, and, last but not least, Miranda! All of their sets were spectacular, period. I brought with me a little old digicam I salvaged from a drawer, and took some pictures you can see in the gallery down below

Speaking of good music, Juana Rozas finally released her new album TANYA and it’s safe to say I’m OBSESSED. I’ve been keeping an eye on Juana for a bit now, but her previous work pales in comparison to this extraordinarily chaotic project. For this era, Juana puts herself into the shoes of Tanya, a more than peculiar woman running away from a past of trauma, which leads her to an eclectic world of passion and madness. The record is an erratic trip that bounces off a myriad of genres and sensations. Juana and her creative team, led by Lean Vazquez and Juan Wolf, have made more than just an album. TANYA transcends its 36-minute run not only as a homonymous short film (which serves as a vital piece of the project), but also as the force behind one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to.

Inside the walls of the mythical Niceto Club, the world of TANYA jumped outside the screen and unfolded on the scenario, with a full band and a level of commitment to the show from every member of Juana’s team that made the night unforgettable. Nothing to envy from international artists with the budget of big record labels. I could spend an eternity writing about how much I love this project (and, honestly? I might do it for a standalone post if I find the time), but in a few words: TANYA is to be experienced, not just listened to.

The joy I was feeling when I left Niceto was unmatchable. Nothing beats a good fucking concert⁴. Juana’s show in particular had many, many guests. Two nice discoveries were Camilo Desorden and TERRA, whom I’ll be checking out in depth. I’m interested in expanding my musical horizons – there’s a ton of local talent I’m not even aware of playing next door. Some independent magazines I’ve been reading are Lúcuma, Interzine, and Fulana, which highlight new and upcoming artists from the region who are upping the stakes in music. For now, I have tickets to see Six Sex and Dillom live in September. Exciting!!!

In between TANYA’s fantasies and fits of hysteria, I also dived into other musical universes. Blair’s BAR SCORPIOS features a raw coming-of-age journey that takes a look into violent urges and divine pleadings. PinkPantheress’s Fancy That is royally vibrant and catchy. Addison Rae's Addison is surprisingly flawless and has earned her a spot in my top artists of the year. Isabella Lovestory’s Vanity features one of my favorite music videos ever for the single "Telenovela" (parental advisory!) A track I haven’t been able to get out of my head is Marttein’s live rendition of "EL RUBIO" at Sound Ambition – how did he manage to make a flawless song even more perfect?! Plus, Olivia Rodrigo bringing the Robert Smith on stage at Glastonbury was simply iconic.

On a completely different note, did you know that Pope Francis was the first pope to code? I wouldn’t exactly consider myself a Catholic, but after his passing I’ve learnt some geeky fun facts about his relationship with tech that I’ve been thinking about way too much not to mention them. He was also the writer behind the first encyclical in the history of the Church that mentions the word “algorithms”. In fact, he wrote multiple documents advocating the use of technology for a greater good. From his last encyclical, Dilexit nos, I particularly like this quote:

In this age of artificial intelligence, we cannot forget that poetry and love are necessary to save our humanity. No algorithm will ever be able to capture, for example, the nostalgia that all of us feel, whatever our age, and wherever we live, when we recall how we first used a fork to seal the edges of the pies that we helped our mothers or grandmothers to make at home. (...) Along with the fork, I could also mention thousands of other little things that are a precious part of everyone’s life: a smile we elicited by telling a joke, a picture we sketched in the light of a window, the first game of soccer we played with a rag ball, the worms we collected in a shoebox, a flower we pressed in the pages of a book, our concern for a fledgling bird fallen from its nest, a wish we made in plucking a daisy. All these little things, ordinary in themselves yet extraordinary for us, can never be captured by algorithms.

Before I go, some odds and ends that make me feel fuzzy:

• It seems Brat summer is finally coming to an end… Or is it?
• This “going on the computer” vlog came across my Instagram feed and it’s everything to me
• Zach Lieberman’s lessons for students
• Guillermo Martínez’s compilation of mathematical quotes found in Borges’s work
• I haven't been able to watch the TV adaptation of El Eternauta yet, but I found this neat Neocites site with all of the comic strips ready to download

Take care and see you in the next one :)