Now playing - the latest from Jaguares, Babasonicos, and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

La Cumbaimbera shares a bit about her most recent acquisitions:

45 (Sept 2008) – Jaguares – If 45 were a painting it’d be hanging in a museo madrileño between a Picasso and a Goya. Exhibiting the same obsession with pain and fragmentation as well as with possibilities for redemption, 45 takes us back to the Jagaures of old. Saúl Hernández’ newest material picks up where El Equilibrio… (the original Jaguares collection) left off, that is, soaking in contemplative moodiness and dark sentiments. With its floating musical interludes, raucous guitar action, and even piano and orchestral arrangements, 45’s real distinguishing feature is that it’s just plain good. So good, in fact, that it hasn’t and won’t be getting any mainstream radio play. But who cares? After all, it’s art.


"Lobo" - Jaguares



Mucho (May 2008) – Babasonicos – Compared to Jaguares, Babasonicos definitely falls on the easy listening side of the rock spectrum. Part electronica, part Hombres G, part classic rock-and-roll, Mucho tackles it all with a good dose of pop sensibility. With this album Babasonicos achieves what Mana seems bent on avoiding, that is, delivering a collection that is tasty and at the same time textured. With its lighthearted musical approach, Mucho will leave you feeling like even your momentos mas rabiosos are something to sing about.


"Pijamas" - Babasonicos



La Luz del Ritmo (Nov 2008) – Los Fabulsoos Cadillacs – A more appropriate name for this album would be “El Buffet de los Ritmos.” Listening to this CD gave me visions of everyone from John Travolta to Gloria Estefan. Disco, salsa, love ballads…you name it, La Luz del Ritmo does it. About half of the material is remakes of previous Fabulosos tunes, including a version of “Mal Bicho” complete with scratching and a funkdafied bass line. There are also (bilingual) covers of “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and “Wake Up and Make Love With Me.” The most intriguing track, “Condenaditos” is aptly described as a “Nueva Orleans Funeral Pop.” And…wait…is that Los Pibes Chorros I hear? Nope. It’s just Vicentico praying un “Padre Nuestro” a lo Fabuloso.


"Padre Nuestro" - Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

boycott!!!!!!!!

come on, joan manuel serrat! get it together. BOYCOTT-divestment-sanctions. te toca a ti.

¡viva palestina libre y soberana!




foto: maysa al-louh, 16, sitting on the rubble of her home with a bombed school in the background. (sarah malian/christian aid, posted in ei)


an open letter to joan manuel serrat posted in the electronic intifada:

The Palestinian community of artists and intellectuals was shocked by the news of your plans to organize a musical tour of Israel in May, despite its continued grave oppression of the Palestinian people and only a few months after its heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) is writing to urge you to cancel this tour. A brave defender of freedom throughout your life, you were exiled from your own country for courageously speaking out against the repression of Franco's regime; but by touring Israel, a colonial and apartheid state, you will be participating in legitimating and supporting a system of colonial subjugation.

...

You are a person of conscience and you have sacrificed a great deal in your own life for the brave pursuit of freedom and justice. In 1968, you defiantly chose to sing in the Eurovision Song Contest in your own native Catalan language and faced, with bravery, the consequences imposed by the dictator Franco. We would expect no less from you than to accept this call for solidarity, and we sincerely hope that you will stand with us in our struggle against colonial oppression. We urge you to cancel your musical tour to Israel and hope that you will convey to Israel that you will not participate in events there so long as it continues to suppress the Palestinian people and deny them their freedom and their inalienable rights in their homeland.

primer

para ti alex, con cariño. feliz cumpleaños :)



image : anti-fascist school primer, spain 1930s


in 10th grade my friend katrina handed me a zine called an anarchist primer. i don't recall much of the content, but i do remember it had a picture of jerry falwell* with a swastika drawn on his forehead. that was exciting. that was also my introduction to the concept of primer. like the first coat of paint that prepares a surface for future coats, that little text aimed to prepare my 14-year-old brain and heart for anti-capitalist theory & practice.

following are tracks from a rock en español primer that i compiled recently for friends. at first i was going for a sort of kitchen sink approach. but then i thought, no, that's not a primer, that's like a colección de oro vol. i, ii, & iii or las 100 mejores canciones or something. that's not what i want, i'm not making any claims of essential or best of. i just want to give a little taste, strong & sweet...


* remember that guy? right-wing lunatic televangelist, defender of apartheid in south africa, the state of israel & zionism, racial segregation in u.s. public institutions, patriarchy, and theocracy. died in 2007. good riddance, hijo de ___!



**

bueno, aquí está. ¡buen provecho!

primer :: rock en español **





a la orillita del mar : los de abajo (méxico)
bolita de trapo : cabas & enrique bunbury (colombia, españa)
va a escampar : la vela puerca (uruguay)
la dosis perfecta : panteón rococo (méxico)
mc dollar : ska-p (españa)
pobre de ti : tijuana no! (méxico)
de música ligera : soda stereo (argentina)
tu cárcel : enanitos verdes (argentina)
esa noche : café tacuba (méxico)
cumbia lunera : el gran silencio (méxico)
sin documentos : los rodríguez (argentina)
veneno es antidoto : división minúscula (méxico)
la colina de la vida : ataque 77 (argentina)
20 de abril : celtas cortos (españa)
electricidad : los abandoned (chile, eeuu)
el listón de tu pelo : jarabe de palo & julieta venegas (españa, méxico)
padre nuestro : fabulosos cadillacs (argentina)
amargo adios : inspector (méxico)
yo tomo : bersuit (argentina)


** countries of origin listed for identification purposes only, and not intended as a scorecard. pero que viva méxico lindo y querido, jajaja!

now!

now!, i think, is agit-prop at its finest...



it's a 6-minute film by santiago álvarez from 1965. álvarez was a cuban journalist and left-wing cultural worker who was jailed a few times during the batista dicatorship. with the triumph of the 26 de julio movement & the cuban revolution in 1959, icaic was established and he was placed in charge of the newsreel division. the camera equipment he was given had been recently expropriated from private newsreel companies; it was antiquated and didn't record sound. undeterred, álvarez improvised an experimental style of noticiero, quite distinct from the kind that was common at the time in the u.s. and elsewhere. they would film silently, then add music or sound effects in the studio afterward.

santiago álvarez worked on the weekly icaic newsreels for years. he also created and collaborated on many films, including the well-known 4-hour la hora de los hornos (the hour of the furnaces), with fernando solanas & grupo cine liberación, about imperialism in south america. alvarez' 6-minute now! draws most directly from his work at noticiero icaic. utilizing cleverly edited newsreel interspersed with pirated images from u.s. magazines like life, it's set to the urgent vocals of lena horne. her single now was banned in the u.s. on many radio stations, and she gave the song to álvarez to use in this film...


now! : santiago álvarez

the workers

hurray!!! the sf chinese progressive association celebrates a great victory today. after a 3-month heroic fight against their former boss for back wages & past-due overtime pay, the workers at new on sang poultry shop in chinatown finally won their demands. regularly joined on the picket lines by other low-wage & immigrant workers and their families, their win is a victory for just compensation but also for worker solidarity. ¡¡felicidades, compañeros!! the celebration is today at cpa @ 1pm. all are welcome.

from shaw san:

new on sang worker leader lin gan sums it up: "long live worker unity!"... this fight isn't just about unpaid wages; it's about standing up against exploitation of immigrant workers in chinatown and elsewhere. we hope you will continue to support all workers who are struggling against wage theft, and for full respect and dignity as workers.


el vals del obrero (the workers' waltz) : ska-p



éste es mi sitio, ésta es mi gente
somos obreros, la clase preferente
por eso, hermano proletario, con orgullo
yo te canto esta canción, somos la revolución.

¡sí señor!, la revolución,
¡sí señor!, ¡sí señor!, somos la revolución,
tu enemigo es el patrón,
¡sí señor!, ¡sí señor!, somos la revolución,
¡viva la revolución!

**

this is my place, these are my people
we are the workers, the most important class
it's why, my proletarian brother, with pride
i sing you this song, we are the revolution.

yes sir, the revolution!
yes sir, yes sir! we are the revolution,
your enemy is the boss,
yes sir, yes sir! we are the revolution,
long live the revolution!


i've recently been working on some curriculum about la crisis económica, and thinking a lot about the working class, increasing productivity & declining real wages, globalization & de-industrialization. and about: how and when will the workers finally seize the means of production?!... hmm, sometimes the picture looks pretty bleak. but thank goodness for the worker leaders of new on sang, republic windows & doors, fasinpat (ex-zanón) & chilvert! they remind us all of what's possible...

¡todo el poder al pueblo! ¡que vivan los trabajadores!

fotos : 1. occupy-resist-produce 2. raúl 3. fermín 4. base & superstructure diagram : chilavert reclaimed printing press, under worker control : buenos aires, argentina

nina simone

damas y caballeros: the lovely... the incomparable... ms. nina simone!!

revolution : nina simone



aahh, just beautiful, ms. nina...

and this from her interview in the french-made film nina simone : la legende :

...i could sing something to help my people. and that became the mainstay of my life, that became most important to me ... civil rights movement music. if i'd had my way, i'd a been a killer, ok? that's true. i would've had guns and i would've gone to the south and i would've gave 'em violence for violence, shotgun for shotgun, if i'd had my way. but my husband told me i didn't know anything about guns, and he refused to teach me, and the only thing i had was music...

**

backlash blues : nina simone




mr. backlash, mr. backlash
just who do think i am
you raise my taxes, freeze my wages
and send my son to vietnam

you give me second class houses
and second class schools
do you think that alla colored folks
are just second class fools
mr. backlash, i'm gonna leave you
with the backlash blues

when i try to find a job
to earn a little cash
all you got to offer
is your mean old white backlash
but the world is big
big and bright and round
and it's full of folks like me
who are black, yellow, beige and brown
mr. backlash, i'm gonna leave you
with the backlash blues

mr. backlash, mr. backlash
just what do you think i got to lose
i'm gonna leave you
with the backlash blues
you're the one will have the blues
not me, just wait and see

El Retorno de Quetzal

What? Quetzal is coming back to the Bay Area? Those of us who kept up with their MySpace page will know that the East L.A. band was in Verzacruz for a while to make some music and since returning have been doing gigs here and there, but not HERE. Those of you who do not know Quetzal can check them out here.

Quetzal is wonderful for many reasons ranging from the compelling vocals of their lead singer Martha Gonzalez, to their musical innovation (think jarana meets electric guitar), to the fact that their 2006 album was entitled Die Cowboy Die (a message to G. W. Bush, I believe, and everything he represents). Not to mention that a man I identify as composer Quetzal Flores himself poses in drag on the album cover. Love it.

Anyway, Quetzal hasn’t done a Bay Area gig in, well, a while (unless I missed something, which is nearly impossible, but stranger things have happened). And now they’re coming back to do a show—and a workshop!—at La Peña. It’ll be good times for sure, and I expect there to be some musical reveal as to what they were up to all that time they were in Xalapa and not with us.

Here’s a visual tribute to Boyle Heights directed by Akira Boch and Joseph "Nuke" Montalvo and set to “This Is My Home,” Quetzal’s own tribute to the neighborhood that grew them.



And here they are playing live for Day of the Dead last year.

scenes from the class war

the annual world press photo awards were announced a couple days ago. the photo of the year award went to this stunning image from anthony suau, of an armed sheriff enforcing an eviction order in cleveland, ohio:




from afp:

Suau's black and white image taken for Time magazine shows an armed sheriff moving through a home in Cleveland, Ohio, in March 2008 following the eviction for mortgage foreclosure.

The officer has to ensure the inhabitants have moved out and left no weapons behind.

"The strength of the picture is in its opposites," said jury chairman MaryAnne Golon.

"It's a double entendre. It looks like a classic conflict photograph, but it is simply the eviction of people from a house following foreclosure. Now war in in its classic sense is coming into people's houses because they can't pay their mortgages."

amor a la mexicana

¡pura caña! ¡puro amor!
amor a la mexicana
de cumbia, huapango y son
caballo, bota y sombrero
tequila, tabaco y ron

**

pure sugarcane! pure love!
love "a la mexicana"
of cumbia, huapango & son *
horse, boot & hat
tequila, tobacco, & rum

* traditional & contemporary musical rhythms in mexico


amor a la mexicana : thalía



say what you will about thalía, i don't care. i admit i like this song. in fact i suggested it for the first dance at my sister's wedding several years ago, i thought that would be hilarious. she did not take the suggestion ;(

thalia really is too much though. i thought about posting the video for this song, but couldn't bring myself to do it, too embarrassing. you can take a look if you'd like... there are actually 3 versions: original, (semi) banda & remix. i have to say, she does a mean quebradita at the end of the banda one...also, in the remix version she rejects a policeman who's trying to get at her. it would seem she rejects him because he's a cop.

bueno. ¡feliz día de san valentín! xox







lotería cards by teresa villegas. more here...

trenes camiones y tractores

amadito, taking the escalator up to the west oakland station platform to ride el tren.


i came across this song the other day by árbol and of course thought of amado. he loves trenes (trains), tractores (tractors), and camiones (trucks) a lot. i'm going to play it for him and i'm sure he will like it. he also really likes workers & hardhats (or really any type of helmet) so i may show him the video as well, although he is sure to have lots of questions about it which i won't be able to answer so maybe not.

trenes, tractores, y camiones : árbol



trenes, camiones y tractores,
bicicletas y peatones,
barcos, aviones, submarinos,
toneladas de cemento...

avanzan, avanzan muy lento
me arrastran, me frenan, me siento
y yo pienso...

que aunque estés despeinada
me gustás igual
aunque estés en piyama
y sin maquillar
aunque estés enojada
por lo que pasó,
aunque ya no te vea
me gustás igual...

**

trains, trucks, and tractors
bicycles and pedestrians
boats, planes, submarines
tons of cement...

move forward very slowly
drag me along, put the breaks on
i feel & i think...

even though your hair isn't combed
i like you the same
even though you're in pajamas
and don't have on make-up
even though you're angry
about what happened
even though i don't see you anymore
i like you the same...

the police

...the “power” which is called the state ... arose from society but places itself above it and alienates itself more and more from it. what does this power mainly consist of? it consists of special bodies of armed men having prisons, etc., at their command.

: the state and revolution (lenin)


when they kick at your front door
how you gonna come?
with your hands on your head
or on the trigger of your gun...

: guns of brixton (the clash)




24th street, san francisco

**


ok, a disclaimer: as with the songs about public transportation, this list of songs about against the police will not be exhaustive or i would be here all day...

alta magia : la vela puerca



solamente por pensar : ska-p



tributo a la policia : calle 13



brigada anti disturbios (b-a-d) : attaque 77



fuck tha police : bone thugs-n-harmony (original by nwa)



clampdown : the clash




take the word "overseer," like a sample
repeat it very quickly in a crew for example
overseer overseer overseer overseer...
officer officer officer officer!
yeah, officer from overseer
you need a little clarity?
check the similarity!
the overseer rode around the plantation
the officer is off patroling all the nation...

: sound of da police (krs-one)

**


the oakland police department wants to push a youth curfew law through the public safety committee of the oakland city council tomorrow. the curfew would apply to all young people under 18 years of age on the public streets between the hours of 10pm and 5am sunday through thursday, and 11pm to 5am fridays & saturdays. young people who violate the curfew would be questioned and detained. what?! really it's the police who should be put under curfew. they're the ones that go around shooting unarmed people in the back in the middle of the night.

show up for public comment!

public safety committee
5:30pm : tuesday, february 10th
oakland city hall : hearing room 1




19th street station, oakland

speaking of uruguay...

compro aire ... y si es puro ... pago mucho mas



























fotos : montevideo, uruguay

i made a post about this band trotsky vengarán the other day. then i thought oh my goodness, how have i never made a post about la vela puerca?! also from montevideo, they have a really appealing style. it's that familiar south american rock-ska-protest pop en español, but with maybe a bit less urgency, a bit more bohemia. and similar to the way that el gran silencio utilize cumbia & vallenato or don omar incorporates a little bachata now & then, la vela also pull in the traditional rhythms of their patria, murga & candombe. sooo nice!

they also have a really sweet how-they-got-their-big-break story. basically the singer sent in a demo tape to a television contest without telling his bandmates. they found out he had entered them in the contest when they were announced as finalists. they won the contest and the prize was a guitar, an amp, & 80 hours of studio time which was how they put together their first album.

el viejo : la vela puerca



de atar : la vela puerca

sooo good, no? oh how i wish they would come to sf for a show! or even to sunnyvale ;) enough of this playing all over alemania and the czech republic. our turn!!! que no?

doble filo : la vela puerca




zafar : la vela puerca

another band from uruguay, recommended by pato, is no te va gustar. it's funny because of course there was confusion in our conversation about them. i think we were watching one of their music videos on tv and it went something like this...

pato: this band is from uruguay, they're good. kind of like la vela puerca.
me: what are they called?
pato: no te va gustar.
me: oh... ¿no? ...¿por qué no?
pato: (laughs)

and on & on, you get the idea. jaja. here's a video which i find very amusing (and which prompts me to think about what they might be giants might be like if they were south american). it's a little bit salsa, a little bit just ridiculous.

llévame contigo : no te va a gustar

a revolution in 4-part harmony

i posted about this film amandla! once before. but now, the entire thing is on youtube. i think it must have just recently been posted because yesterday the views were at about 400 and now almost 64 thousand. it seems like it's some corporate-sponsored black history month thing. never mind, cause it's a really beautiful film with some amazing archival footage... if you haven't ever seen it, you really should!!

this is the text from the opening sequence :

in 1948 the white government of south africa began creating one of the most brutal systems of racial segregation the world has ever known... apartheid made africans of color aliens in their own land. millions were forced to leave their homes and live in impoverished townships where they were denied the most basic rights of african citizenship... for over forty years africans fought back with non violent protest. eventually some turned to armed struggle... throughout the struggle, there was music.


amandla! a revolution in four part harmony : lee hirsch




go well comrade,
you are a spear of the nation
we, the comrades are ready to kill...

: mk song

death to apartheid! everywhere!!

update : speaking of death to apartheid everywhere, cosatu (the congress of south african trade unions) and the palestine solidarity committee have released this statement...

In a historic development for South Africa, South African dock workers have announced their determination not to offload a ship from Israel that is scheduled to dock in Durban on Sunday, 8 February 2009. This follows the decision by COSATU to strengthen the campaign in South Africa for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Apartheid Israel.

The pledge by SATAWU members in Durban reflects the commitment by South African workers to refuse to support oppression and exploitation across the globe.

¡¡abajo el apartheid¡! ¡¡viva viva palestina!!

¡Fuga! celebrates new CD and bids goodbye to the Bay

“Si vas a ser un ritmo, que sea peligroso” sings the opening track of Fuga’s new album Relatos Rebeldes. Listening to Fuga play live Friday night at Slim’s in San Francisco, I wondered, which ritmo are they referring to? Fuga has a rhythm all their own. But is it ska? Mambo? Cumbia? Whatever you call it, Fuga’s rhythms are infectious, danceable, and, as the CD title indicates, rebeldes.

I first caught up with Fuga four years ago when, recently relocated from Tejas, they opened for Quetzal at La Peña in Berkeley. I appreciated the fact that they had a female the lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist (Tania Rodriguez) and enamored by the way co-vocalist Kiko Rodriguez’s head bobbed around oh-so-adorably whenever he laid down those irresistible accordion riffs. Add to that that los Rodriguez are, yes, brother and sister (I love family acts!), and I was ready to purchase the first CD Desde La Frontera then and there.

As all good musicians should, Fuga has matured during their short Bay Area stay. As they set off now to tour Relatos Rebeldes and then to settle in a yet undisclosed new location, they take with them a fuller sound and more profound lyrical content. Their repertoire of new songs has no doubt been influenced by their time in the Bay, as evidenced by the song “Blvd Internacional,” a tribute to the working class immigrant communities who live and work along the Oakland strip. The song is characteristic of Fuga - minor tones that bear witness to the heavy realities of the borderlands, a beat that puts your feet into action, and lyrics that put your actions into motion.


"Blvd. Internacional" - ¡Fuga!

My friends, I will tell you about a famous boulevard
A street of good and bad reputation, it’s norotious and everyone knows
It’s where everyone gathers to look for work
It’s called International Boulevard…

Poverty, wealth, sadness, joy
I earned it all, I lost it all that day
but this rhythm is vibrant and full of sound
and look how good this outdoor dance is getting..."
(translation by Fuga)

Also playing Friday night were South Bay tropicalistas La Colectiva and La Misión’s very own “bilingual punk with horns” a.k.a. La Plebe. While La Colectiva warmed up the dance floor with traditional salsa, cumbia and vallenato, La Plebe got the mosh pit going with their ska-influenced punk revolucionario and a chorus of “¡pinche frontera!” Both bands gave solid performances, and Fuga brought it all home with the Rodriguez siblings sporting pachuco hats while alternating between cumbia induced booty-swinging and punk-style on-stage jumping. By the end of the 3-hr show, I was exhausted, exhilarated, and once again eager to stop by the merch table to drop an hour’s wage’s on the new CD.

If you’re reading this and you’re not from the bay Area, make sure to catch ¡Fuga! when they come through your town.