Sound Taste

Thursday Influenza

Couldn't wait till Friday to share these influenza porcina-themed songs. The disease, panic and conspiracy theories are spreading quick as a sneeze, and so are related songs. God bless Mexicans' dark humor.

The video for "la cumbia de la influenza" by DF's Agrupación Cariño came out last Friday. Sample lyrics: "más vale suicidarse con taquitos de pastor" (better to commit suicide eating tacos al pastor) and "todos estaremos muertos cuando llegue Indiana Jones" (we'll all be dead by the time Indiana Jones arrives).

Jace and Wayne were all over it:

The cumbia was not only first, but it was the catchiest of the lot, and has inspired the most videos. One here, with taste disclaimer and bits of public health info projected throughout:

A techno cumbia, heavier on the tuba-like synths:

Bandaloz, a Duranguense band, was not too far behind:

A sweet acoustic rocker, set to the tune of the Cure's "Monday I'm in Love" (or as Andrés dubbed it, "Friday, I sneeze"):

A sloppy punky corrido, with a chorus reminiscent of Iggy Pop's "The Passenger" (English subtitles included):

And a reggaetón/dancehall numbah, with some weird arab references:

UPDATE: You saw it here first, but you can also hear me talking about these videos and these songs in a segment that aired on WNYC on Sunday, and this post mentioned in a Cinco-de-Mayo related roundup of music videos on the Nat Geo Music site.

Pre-Turkey workout

I've been remiss and not yet dropped in to Geko Jones' Tuesday joint, Que Bajo? at Rose Live in W'burg.

But you can and should. (Maybe I will too).

Perfect for the recession -- no cover. They've been having some great guests, and more to come.

Geko's description:
A latin weekly focusing on Afro-Colombian and tropical rhythms like cumbia, gaita, bullerengue, palo, gaga champeta, mambo y mas.

Out there latin rhythms than you can play with a ta-te-quieto stick- especialmente scraped from the bottom of el caldero by resident DJ's Geko Jones and Uproot Andy

Never a cover charge doors @ 9pm

345 Grand St (btw Havemayer/Marcy)
Williamsburg
L Train to Lorimer
No Cover. Kitchen open late.

Songs for Obama

Longtime musical globetrotter Rob Weisberg has a cool survey of Obama praise songs in the WNYC art.cult blog. A lot of Kenyan and African-American samples I hadn't seen before, including the one below, from Congolese singer now in DC Samba Mapangala featuring awesome 14-year-old Minneapolis rapper Fanaka Ndege ("hip hop meets rumba").

Rob played some of these and other good stuff in his WFMU show, Transpacific Sound Paradise Saturday and tonight at 6 pm. So tune in while you wait for polls to close. Relax. Dance a little.

Review: Calle 13 @ Nokia Theater

In short: Menos cafrería, más metales.

The new album may have fewer nasties, but on stage the Brothers 13 didn't really tune down the raunch that much. You still had immortal lines like "yo se que tu quieres chuparme las quenepas / aunque no sean de Ponce / no importa que no sean ni de oro, ni de plata, ni de bronce" (Suave); "Mujer tú eres toda una geometría / Tu tienes el pudín como me gusta / Estirao con estrías / como de repostería" (Cumbia de los aburridos); and, of course, the bad-taste classic, "Señorita intelectual, ya se que tienes / El área abdominal que va a explotar / Como fiesta patronal, que va a explotar / Como palestino..." (Atrevete te te!).

(My apologies to the non-Spanish readers. Suffice it to say, sexual innuendo involving tropical fruits, jiggly pudding and exploding bellies.)

Adding horns and reinforcing the beats -- drum kit, bateria, congas, timbales and tambora, often several going at once -- does stretch the sound in new directions. Though never fear, the theremin and melodica are still present. (Quiet Visitante often gets short shrift next to the vocal cafre charms of Residente, but he's what really has taken the band beyond a goof.)

The sonic soup now includes Balkan brass, heavier samba, batucadas, a dash of cumbia villera and some slips into the land of Two-Tone ska. All of a sudden, I flashed back to Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, circa "Matador" and "Rey Azúcar," when they found a similar sweet spot among the New Orleans-Miami-Kingston-Recife continuum.

The brothers are very intent on shaking off the "reggaetón" tag. Notably, Residente clarified that what they do is "música urbana." "Nosotros queremos ser los juglares del pueblo -- contar lo que pasa sexualmente, políticamente, religiosamente. Y eso es algo que se ha olvidado mucho en el género" (We want to be the people's bards -- talk about what happens sexually, politically, religiously. That's something that's been forgotten in the genre).

But the real secret weapon of Calle 13's current iteration is the sweet-voiced PG 13. Was she there before? Now she is definitely second voice and catching up fast. I even dare say, as much as I like the Tacoobs, that I prefer to hear her on "Nadie Como Tú." You can compare her performance here with the official video of the album version with Cafeta here.

[fuzzy Residente and PG 13 behind pink parasol by moi]

New Calle 13 on the way

Be still my heart. Just received a press release that my favorite dirrrty boricua duo is about to drop a new record, a little over a year after their booty bomb Residente o Visitante. The new one's called "Los de atras vienen conmigo" and it's coming Oct. 7.

Surprisingly, I haven't seen a lot of build-up hype about this. News of the callejeros has been mostly of tour performances, one-offs like a duo with Vicentico, and fun nose-thumbings at the press and music industry. Nothing on their amusing blog, either (check the post asking for suggestions on collabs, which includes a lot of obvious choices and flavahs of the month -- Tacuba, Manu Chao, Amy Winehouse, Shakira, Eminem -- and a couple that might be fun -- Cypress Hills, Kafu Banton, Cultura Profetica).

The release promises that the new disc will not only delve into cumbia villera (the Argie "ghetto" music that's become all the rage in some globe-trotting circles) and Balkan gypsy beats, but sustain the political critique that, along with their utter lack of decorum, makes me all gooey inside.

Stay tuned...

[image of Residente in concert via Calle 13 blog]