Hailing from the Caribbean Colombia state of Barranquilla, Klauss’s musical mix is an imaginative blend of Latin pop and North American rock. While the Latin rhythms of her home country are referenced in the percussive undertones of her sound, influences as far flung as AC/DC and Courtney Love are also evident in the incisive edge of her vocals and the “take no prisoners” lyrical themes that cut through her songs.

An illustrious team has been assembled to project Klauss into the pop stratosphere: Ramón Arias (peermusic), Germán Ortiz (producer) and Sebastián Krys (associate producer) are all onboard. But the presence of this superstar triumvirate only serves to shine what is already there, as Klauss’s spunk, edge and attitude spearhead the next generation of talent to emerge from talent-rich Colombia.

With her effervescent musicality, solid songwriting, soaring vocals and across- the-board appeal, it’s all too easy to make a comparison between this rising young artist and another well-known Colombian superstar. But one listen and all points of reference vanish in a heartbeat: Tatiana is clearly a singular young artist with a brilliant future.

Still, that doesn't stop this punk diva from refusing to go gently, alternatively swaggering and caterwauling, evincing false bravado and real vulnerability, in a powerful blast of estrogen-laced rock sturm und angst that is her anti-valentine to the music biz from the self-proclaimed girl with the most cake.

It's hard to ignore the tabloid headlines, especially when Courtney cops to bad behavior in chemically fueled songs like "All the Drugs" and "I'll Do Anything" ("Give me one match so I can set myself on fire"). But she also shows a more human side.

Collaborating with Linda Perry and Bernie Taupin, Love's songwriting combines metallic crunch with chunky pop melodies. There are several mid-tempo power ballads, including the tender "Hold on to Me" the epic anti-Hollywood rant "Sunset Strip" and the closing "Never Gonna Be the Same," Courtney's widescreen version of "All the Young Hey Judes," which explains the liner-note dedication to Paul McCartney.

"Rock star/Pop star/Everybody dies/And all tomorrow's parties/They have happened tonight/And I know that I won't see tomorrow," she wails in "Sunset Strip," over a tuneful, sing-along chorus.

Courtney Love has paid the price, selling her soul for rock & roll, while referencing that Faustian bargain in "Zepplin Song": "Oh, go tell it to Jimmy Page/At the Crossroads with the deal he made. . . . " She's not sure whether the pact was worth it or not, either, admitting, "With all of my money/It doesn't feel as good/As the drugs."

Love for surrounds herself with some impressive talent on this new album. The cast includes MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer and the Pixies/Breeders' Kim Deal, along with Virgin Records Chairman/CEO Matt Serletic, as well as Josh Abraham and James Barber, as producers.

"But there's no truth at the heart of any of it," she concludes in "Hold on to Me," "Just the brilliance and the passion/And the bitterness remain."

Courtney Love has been there and back…and lived to tell about it with brilliance, passion and bitterness. And if that's not rock & roll enough for you, tough.

Shown at the premier of "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" during the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 17 are BMI's Ivanne Deneroff, director/writer George Hickenlooper, composer Anthony Marinelli and BMI's Linda Livingston

The sheer number of artists featured in director George Hickenlooper's documentary about Bingenheimer attests to his astounding influence: David Bowie, Cher, Courtney Love, Brian Wilson, Blondie, Gwen Stefani, Johnny Marr and Oasis, to name a few. Hickenlooper, however, goes beyond celebrity interviews to explore celebrity itself and its powerful allure for Bingenheimer, a lonely kid from suburban California who reinvented himself as the "Mayor of the Sunset Strip."

The new collection, which features the previously unreleased song "You Know You're Right," debuted in the Top Five in virtually every major territory around the world. The much-heralded "new" track has been warmly embraced by a public starved for new Nirvana material, topping Billboard's Album Rock and Modern Rock airplay charts for four weeks.

The compilation disc — whose release was delayed by a very public legal dispute between Cobain's widow Courtney Love and her husband's former bandmates, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl — also features such Nirvana standards as "Come As You Are," "Lithium," "About A Girl," "Sliver," "In Bloom," "Dumb," "Been A Son," "Heart-Shaped Box," "Pennyroyal Tea" and "Rape Me," along with the grunge anthem "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and live versions of Cobain's "All Apologies" and David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World."

During its seven-year existence, Nirvana emerged from the indie-label underground to achieve worldwide commercial success. In the process, the band permanently altered the face of contemporary popular music, playing a pivotal role in opening the mainstream music industry to the raw sound and do-it-yourself ethic of punk-derived indie rock.

The multi-platinum success of the band's second album and major-label debut, 1991's Nevermind, ushered in the idea of alternative rock as a mass-marketable genre. But the band's subsequent album releases, namely the 1992 odds-and-ends collection Incesticide and the full-fledged 1993 studio effort In Utero, made it clear that the band's musical potency, and Cobain's ability to channel dark, unsparing introspection into compellingly crafted songs, transcended any movement or scene that the band was perceived to represent.

Further evidence of Cobain and his band's ongoing influence is the fact that Journals, a new volume collecting some of the late artist's writings, debuted at number one on the New York Times' Hardcover Nonfiction best-seller list.

Grohl, who now leads Foo Fighters, resists the mythological aura that has sprung up around his former band. He recently told The New York Times that he has no intention of reading Journals. "The legend, the myth of the band — I'm not interested in it," Grohl stated. "People find this hard to believe, but my memories of Nirvana are really good. I think of the people, the road trips. I think of the white Chevy van that we used to tour in, that stunk of gasoline. I remember us having a really good time. Obviously, it did not end well, but my memories of Nirvana are just so much more powerful than any myth, and I won't let anything destroy that."]]> 2003-01-14T17:00:00-05:00