Sound Taste

Friday Calle 13

OK, so I'm slightly obsessed with the Brothers 13. Wanna make something of it?

The new record, "Los de atrás vienen conmigo," drops Oct. 7. In the meantime, the group (with a more prominent role played by hermanita PG 13) previewed a couple of songs at MTV Tr3s' 2008 VMA Pre-Party.

"Fiesta de Locos" laces in a bit of Balkan brass into the usual mix. Pretty seamless, too. "Esto no es reggaetón / Pero como quiera bailas un montón / Si no te gusta esta canción / entonces tírate por un balcón / Calle 13 viene sin lubricación"

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Celebrity News

Me on the radio tonite w DJ Rupture

A quick interruption of my hiatus to let you know I'll be on DJ Rupture's WFMU show Mudd Up! tonight 7-8 pm, talking about one of my favorite obsessions, accordion music. Expect some squeezebox shredding from different corners of the Americas.

Here is Rupture's hyperbolic and blush-inducing description:

Accordion lovers of the world unite! Or at least tune in this evening to DJ Rupture's show from 7-8pm, as special guest, writer Carolina Gomez Gonzalez, will give us a tour of the accordion styles across Latin America. Gomez Gonzalez co-authored the first guidebook on Latino culture in NYC, Nueva York: the Complete Guide to Latino Life in the Five Boroughs, and will be breaking out rare vinyl and wonderful stories of the squeezebox as it travels around Latin America.

Listen here. You can stream or DL at your leisure.

Racial politics of kiddie TV: The Electric Company

I had a bicultural childhood, spent mostly in the DR, but with yearly visits to Queens, where I gorged on Cocoa Pebbles and Underdog. For learning English, Sesame Street and other "educational programs" were key. So the news that PBS is reviving "Electric Company" brought back a lot of fond memories.

The show, which ran 1971-1977, was supposed to be the follow-up, age-wise, to Sesame Street. Like Sesame Street, TEC was set in a sort of multiculti utopia. Even when the characters were not racial minorities, the idea of tolerating difference and alternative cultures was always implied.

But I had totally forgotten that Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno were both regular members of the cast. Cuban character actor Luis Avalos, Bill Cosby and Irene Cara (as a pre-teen member of the Short Circus) also had recurring roles.

Here is the first version of the show intro, very groovy, op art and full of early video f/x.

And here is a hip song featuring Rita as "Millie the helper," built around her trademark yell that was used to open the show: "Hey you guys!" It was one of the only times in her career she was allowed to play against the Latin spitfire type, and allowed to be funny.

And here is Morgan Freeman performing a song worthy of Screamin Jay Hawkins, "I Love to Take a Bath in a Casket." One of Morgan's recurring characters was called "Easy Reader," an Afro'd hep cat, part bebop, part beat, who dug the books.

If the soundtrack of the original show, and the sensibility, was funk and salsa, the new show will of course have a hip hop vibe to it. It only makes sense.

What's going to be interesting is seeing how "Electric Company," which was very focused on the old-fashioned skills of phonics and making reading cool, will fare compared to the juggernaut of Dora the Explorer and newer, browner kids' TV in the Nick-Noggin-Cartoon Network universe.

UPDATE: I didn't have time to do more intensive research on the music attached to the show, but do check this post on the 1972 cast recording with some of the original music. (thanks for the heads up, Dan!) I keep wondering: Is Joe Raposo, the show's musical director for the first three seasons, Latino or Italian?

I'm on Soundcheck today

Still coming out from under the flu and on a couple of deadlines, so all I have time for today is a little self-promotion. I'll be on WNYC's Soundcheck today at 2 p.m. New York time. I'm talking about Universal Music Group buying Univision Music Group, and what it means for Latin indie labels.

Resistance is futile, just turn over all your music budget to the Borg. Personally, I might just stick to download/purchasing directly from artists (and of course, the stack of freebies folks send my way, ha ha ha).

As usual, I'll post the mp3 here once it's posted on WNYC's site.

UPDATE: Voilá. Does my voice sound froggy or sexy? You decide.

On the Radio: Music Gift Guide

Lots of interesting stuff coming up this week, but for now a quickie auto-plug: Catch me on WNYC-FM on Soundcheck today at 2 pm, recommending items from this year's releases to give to your dad, a sibling, your boss and a "Latin lover." Tell me if you like my choices, or if you have other suggestions.

UPDATE: The mp3 of the segment hasn't been uploaded yet was finally uploaded. Get the suggestions made by me, Slate's Jody Rosen, and opera-obsessed author Fred Plotkin here.

On the Radio: Me, about Cubans

I'll be on "Soundcheck" again today, this time talking about the new Celia Cruz musical. Also there will be Tempo editor Sandra Guzmán talking about the new Gloria Estefan record. The theme of the segment is Cuban music and the pre-revolutionary nostalgia we're obsessed with here in the U.S.

I've known Sandra quite a while, and we're friendly, but aside from the fact that Tempo is a direct competitor of Viva, Sandra and I tend to have, shall we say, slightly different critical takes on a number of Latin entertainment/art endeavors. Expect a diva-off (if only I were a diva). ¡Máscara contra cabellera!

Tune in 2 pm, WNYC 93.9 FM or online at www.wnyc.org. If you miss it, go to the show page here later to check the mp3.

"El Cantante" on "Soundcheck"

Today's "Soundcheck" segment where I talked about the movie with the inestimable Siddhartha Mitter is up on the show website. Or you can just listen to it in the audio imbedded below.

Our bud Kiko Jones had a similar, if perhaps more acidic, take on the movie than we did. He describes it thusly:

Imagine if, say, Marvin Gaye was known almost exclusively to R&B fans alone and Halle Berry decided to wield her Hollywood clout to make a Gaye biopic based on the experiences of his wife Anna Gordy.

Kiko also points out how several of the consultants for the flick, including Willie Colon and Ismael Miranda have publicly distanced themselves from the project. *sigh* Let's just say I hope this doesn't get in the way of making more salsa-centric flicks. The genre and the time period deserve it.

Speaking of music-related movies, Andres Levin, who produced the movie soundtrack, was on the show with me, and he said he's working with la J.Lo on a reggeaton movie project called "The Noise." Let's hope Leon Ichaso is not involved.