Never too late: Felipe Staiti’s solo album rocks

With a new album recently out from Amandititita and new albums to be released by Julieta Venegas and Enrique Bunbury this spring, La Cumbaimbera takes this opportunity to hop back on the blog and spotlight Felipe Staiti’s solo album, which was released last September.

Most know Staiti as the guitarist from Los Enanitos Verdes. No, Felipe has not deflected from Los Enanitos (they did, however, recently swap out Daniel Piccolo, the original baterista, for new dummer Jota Morelli). During the Enanitos’ current 4-year recording hiatus, Staiti recorded his solo project titled after his band Felipe Staiti Trio. The trio, as it turns out, is more of a quartet, as it features Felipe guitar and vocals, Felipe’s long-time friend Gerardo Lucero on bass, and both of Felipe’s sons – Natalio on drums and Juan Pablo as the “invitado” that appears to have a regular role as rhythm guitarist in the band.

The album’s songs are mostly instrumental, with Felipe performing vocals on the three tracks with lyrics. Some songs were recorded years ago while others are new. And while some, like the single “Buenos Días” which aired on Argentine radio, display the familiar melodic pop-rock flavor of Los Enanitos, others, such as the aptly titled “Toro Salvaje” offer a peek at the heavy rocker that Felipe is at heart. Also indicative of Felipe’s personal gustos, is the visual aesthetic of the video for the track “Leviatán.” (Enanitos fans may recall the spooky green lady that was featured as cover art for Néctar).



Not only is Felipe one of the best guitarists in Latin America, he is, as far as I can tell, simply a great guy. He still lives in the city he was raised in. He has responded personally to the MySpae messages I have sent him (yes, I confess – but look how it turned out!). And in between Los Enanitos’ international tours, Felipe passes the time by hopping on stage at venues in his hometown of Mendoza, Argentina and rocking out with his sons. If only all famous artists had his ability to remain true to the music, their family, their roots, and their fans.

Enrique Bunbury returns to the solo life with Hellville de Luxe

Released in September, the latest studio album from the ex-vocalista de los Héroes del Silencio marks, as some critics have written, Enrique Bunbury’s return to rock ‘n’ roll. It's true. The first thing La Cumbiambera noticed about Hellville de Luxe is that the album features lots and lots of guitars. Electric, acoustic, steel—you name it, they all feature prominently in Hellville. The global instrumentation of some previous Bunbury albums has been set aside here, although the pulse of Cuban rhythms can still be felt in tracks such as “Porque las cosas cambian” and “Inrremediablemente cotidiano.” Otherwise, what you’ll find in this album is a collection of songs whose sounds range from to the electrified urgency of “Brujías Para El Dolor” to the folksy saunter of the closing track “Aqui.”

The lyrics represent the best of Bunbury, with some tracks focusing on the timeless themes of amor y desamor, while other tracks take a broader view of life’s twists and turns. All of the songs are penned with a fresh dose of poesía-a-la-Bunbury:


“Docientos huesos y un collar de calaveras”

“Tus docientos huesos y un collar de calaveras
para que sepa volver y volverte a encontrar...
Cada palabra tuya cual imagen de bota
y la lluvia cayendo por el borde de mi sombrero
y empapandote todita en tu camiseta.
Un buen verso quizá sea el lado valiente de un cobarde…
Mis pensamientos paralizan mi voluntad
y tú regando mi jardín un día de lluvia torrencial
la mejor compañia para estados de animo peligrosos…
Y yo que he dormido a tu lado puedo afirmar
que hasta las pequeñas discusiones
fueron contigo algo estupendo…”

__

“Your two hundred bones and a necklace of skulls
so that I might know how to return and find you again...
Each of your words like the image of a boot
and the rain falling from the edge of my hat
and entirely moistening your shirt.
A good verse might be the brave side of a coward…
My thoughts paralyze my will
and you, watering my garden on the day of a torrential rain,
the best company for a dangerous mood…
And I who have slept at your side can affirm
that even the smallest arguments
were with you something stupendous…”

__

With the Héroes del Silencio renuion tour just a year behind him, Bunbury wasted no time in taking his new album to the road and, having completed the Spanish leg of the tour, will be heading this way for his U.S./Mexico tour beginning in February. He’ll make one California stop in L.A. (although La Cumbiambera dreams of one day being able to add a Bunbury concert date to our very own Bay Area concert calendar).

As far as packaging, Bunbury’s team has gone for a country western theme, complete with a sepia toned album cover and publicity materials in which he sports not a guitar but a rifle. La Cumbiambera finds this both strange (there is no old west in Spain) and annoying given the imperialist origins of such imagery.

Nevertheless, La Cumbiambera remains a diehard fan of Bunbury’s musical versatility and lyrical genius. As Bunbury puts it—“No importa que hagas rock o rumba de Barcelona. El futuro no es la música electronica o el mestizaje. El futuro es hacer una buena puta canción.”

With Hellville de Luxe, Bunbury has done just that.

So many albums, so little wireless access

Yes, folks, I am currently in a limited wireless access situation, which means that I have totally L-A-G-G-G-E-D on downloading the slew of new albums by some of my favorite artists. Some of these albums I know I need to have (Julieta’s Unplugged) and others I am curious about (Beto Cuevas) and others are yet to be released (Aterciopelados). But the bottom line is, if you can get to them before me, you should. Here they are, my wishlist:

Julieta Venegas - MTV Unplugged (released in June)
Jaguares - 45 (released Sept 2)
Enrique Bunbury - Hellville De Luxe (released Sept 30 in Spain)
Beto Cuevas - Miedo Escénico (released Sept 30)
Volumen Cero - I Can See the Brite spot (released Oct 7)
Aterciopelados - Río (release date Oct 21)

In the meantime, check out Café Tacvba’s collaboration with Calle 13 on “No Hay Nadie Como Tú.” Like the song, enjoy the video, LOVE the Tacubos plunking and strumming away on their acoustic instruments as they groove!

Blame it on los blues

I just got through reading Blues People by Amiri Baraka and Blues Legacies and Black Feminism by Angela Davis. What does this have to do with rock en español, you ask. Considering that rock-n-roll, ska, and so many other beloved musical genres grew out of African and African-American musical traditions, the answer is: everything. But I won’t go on here about how Elvis “borrowed” his style and rhythm from his African-American contemporaries or how the working class British kids grew their ska out of the slower Jamaican version of the same. We’ll save those topics for another time because what’s on my mind at this moment is the blues and my dad blasting BB King from a portable tape deck in 1987 as we sat around a campfire at Yosemite National Park. And Dad was drinking. And signing. And shouting and talking back to the recording just as if he were at a live show. And that was the night I became aware of how much this music meant to him, my dad, who grew up in East L.A. listening to the working class anthems of his time.

Of course, I can’t think in this direction without also thinking of El Tri. And Enrique Bunbury. And Pappo. And this song that features the timeless blues themes of amor fracasado and getting the hell out of town.


"A.D.O" - El Tri

Bunbury, of course draws more indirectly from the blues legacy, although he makes an explicit nod to this palate in the song “Palo de Mayo”—about the Afro-Nicaraguan dance—in the line in which he sings, “igual que sin dolor ya no hay blues.” I would add that without blues, jazz, and swing, there is also no Bunbury.


"Carmen Jones" - Enrique Bunbury

Of course this brings up interesting questions of the international manifestations of appropriation. I’ve always felt a little strange about Bunbury’s reliance on using Latin American and African American musical traditions, even if he is a genius. El Tri, on the other hand, has always hard core represented for the working class, and because of this (and because they are Mexican and not Spanish), it has never bothered me that Alex Lora’s music borrows so unabashedly from the blues. As for Pappo, I don’t know enough about him or his music to comment extensively, but here’s a song, complete with inverted call and response, that speaks for itself.


"Mi Vieja" - Pappo


excerpt...

Mi vieja va a plaza con pancartas
con las pancartas que yo mismo le arme
Ella protesta porque ya esta harta
de que le afanen una y otra vez
de que le afanen una y otra vez

En una de las manifestaciones
vino la cana y se la quiso llevar
por reclamar lo que le corresponde
Se vuelve loco nos quiere matar
Me vuelvo loco y los quiero matar

Nadie se atreva a tocar a mi vieja
porque mi vieja es lo mas grande que hay.


(My mom goes to the plaza with placards
with the placards that I myself armed her with
she protests because she’s fed up
with being worked so hard
with being worked so hard

During one of the demonstrations
the police came and wanted to take her away
for demanding what belongs to her
They go crazy and they want to kill us
I go crazy and want to kill them

Nobody better dare touch my mom
‘cuz my mom is the greatest there is)

En el umbral del mundo

Recently I made a mix tape—I mean iTunes playlist—for a friend of mine who was transitioning to a new job. I spent a lot of time combing through my collection to pull together songs that captured everything I thought there was to be reminded of in order to have a healthy transition—how to look back and take lessons without getting stuck, how to look forward without fear. Basically, how to live in the moment, and well, feel excited about the wide-open future.

This is the track list for the CD I eventually made. If you are in need of some inspiration/grounding/good old rockera fun (see Charly García’s “No te sobra una moneda” recorded by Los Enanitos Verdes), I suggest these songs.

Enjoy!


Me Voy Al Mundo - El Barrio (Toda una Decada, Disc 1)
Dormir Soñando - El Gran Silencio (Libres y Locos)
Oleada - Coti Sorokin con Julieta Venegas (there’s also the Julieta-only version on Sí, but I like this one better ‘cuz it has clave.)
El Viento A Favor - Enrique Bunbury (Canciones 1996/2006)
Tren Al Sur - Los Prisioneros (Ni por razón, ni por la fuerza)
No Estuvo Tan Mal - Los Enanitos Verdes (Amores Lejanos)
tengo todo - Café Tacuba (Si No)
¿No Te Sobra Una Moneda? - Los Enanitos Verdes (Guerra Gaucha)
727 - La Gusana Ciega
Hombre Al Agua - Soda Stereo (Canción Animal)
Día Cero - La Ley (Historias e Histeria)
Creo - Los Enanitos Verdes (Big Bang)
Fuera de Mi - La Ley (MTV Unplugged)
Amnesis - Quetzal (Die Cowboy Die)
Que Tengas Suertecita - Enrique Bunbury (El Viaje a Ninguna Parte)
Lucha De Gigantes - Nacha Pop (Amores Perros Soundtrack)


La Gusana Ciega playing "727" last year in Mexicali