Mar Dulce is the new album by Bajofondo (formerly Bajofondo Tango Club) a collaboration between Gustavo Santaolalla, Juan Campodonico, and Luciano Supervielle. The original concept of the group was to combine tango with techno and turntablism, much the way Nortec Collective uses Norteño and techno. With Mar Dulce the group decided to take an organic, real time approach without the loops and samples and expand their reach to other Río Plata(Argentina and Uruguay) genres using live instruments.
The disc opens with the big beat house number Grand Guinol, along with the single Pa’ Bailar (the cd ends with a second version with vocals by Julieta Venegas) are the most danceable tunes on the album. The other instrumentals tend to be downtempo atmospherics. Pulmon and Borges Y Paraguay have an especially strong tango feel.
One major difference between Mar Dulce and the previous Bajofondo cd are songs featuring prominent singers. Elvis Costello(Fairly Right) and Nelly Furtado(Buldozas Majados) of course are well known to anglophonic music fans but their contributions (esp. Costello) are very predictable. More interesting are the songs featuring Argentine rock stars Juan Subira (of Bersuit Vergarabat) and Gustavo Cerati. Subira’s grit growls over the tango of Hoy and El Mareowith Cerati incorporates his dreamy new wavish pop into the Bajofondo sound. Spanish rapper La Mala Rodriguez adds humor and sass on El Andean.
The standout vocalist though is Lágrima Ríos, the Uruguayan queen of candombe, on Chiquilines her last recording. Powerful, beautiful, just listen to it.
Video for Pa’ Bailar:
Interviews(en español) with principal players on the creation of Mar Dulce:
In the late 1960s, as Brazil was controlled by a military junta, a group of musicians, calling themselves Tropicálistas introduced leftist politics and hippie counter culture to the pop music of South America. Musically they combined psychedelic rock with urban bossa nova and rural folk, on top of African based rhythms. The lyrics are mostly political but satirical and surreal, sung as fun pop not didactic anthems. Today Tropicália is considered one of the most impressive movements combining popular culture and politics, especially for the enduring quality of the music.
Tropicália: Ou Panis Et Circencis
Released in 1968, this compilation of songs by the movement’s most prominent artists, serves as the movement’s manifesto. Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Os Mutantes, Nara Leão and Gal Costa contributed and collaborated on songs that became recognized classics. Most tracks feature sonic experiments including found sounds(sirens, cannons), random noise and feedback and well as orchestral fanfares and gentle acoustic interludes. Panis et Circenses, Parque Industrial, and Baby each satirize the modernization and “North Americanization” efforts by the ruling and upper classes. Others like Três Caravelas and Hino do Senhor Do Bonfim are older songs given a psychedelic treatment. Gil Gilberto’s Bat Macumba embraces the African origins of Brazilian music within the tropicália aesthetic. A year later most of these performers were forced into exile by the military. This collection is essential for anyone interested in Brazilian music and culture.
Here are Gil Giberto and Os Mutantes performing Domingo No Parque in 1968. This song is not on this album but gives an idea of the style and performances of the Tropicálistas at the time:
Gal(1969) – Gal Costa
The next year Gal Costa produced her second album that has just been released in the United States this year. On Gal(1969), the previously sweet and demure singer of bossa nova lets loose with a full on psychedelic freak out. It still has some orchestrated pieces woven in, but its mostly acid rock with brazilian rythms. She covers songs by Jorge Ben, Veloso, and Gil among others (Veloso and Gil join her on Ben’s Pais Tropical). Costa’s voice ranges from blues wails and howls to sweet whispers to jazz scatting. In many ways the album very reminiscent of those by her contemporary Janis Joplin. Another essential from this period.
Here is Costa performing the song Divinho Marvilloso in 1968, like above, the song isn’t from the album but a great performance from around the same time:
The Nortec Collective began in the late nineties as a group of Tijuana electronic/techno music artists came together using norteño music as the raw material for their new unique sound. With the help of graphic artists they established a recognizable millenial border/fronteras aesthetic.
Tijuana Sound Machine a new album by Nortec Collective’s core artists Bostich and Fussible has its release digitally today(May 6 in stores). Overall the tracks have slower, lighter beats than expected from Nortec Collective with more emphasis on melodies on some songs. One of their strong points was making the connection between the big beats of the combined style norteño and techno. But it could also become a repetitive trap and Bostich and Fussible wisely expanded their palettes. At first listen its a disappointment to lose the sugar rush, but TSM gets better the second.
The first several tracks would lead one to wonder if Bostich and Fussible were replaced by the band Air. Playbox, Reten, and America’sWanted contain the basic ingredients of norteño like accordions but treated with the kitschy etherealism of the the French duo. Not bad just different from expectations. Cetren,Mama Loves Nortec, and Tijuana Sound Machine re-establish the essence of Nortec just with a lighter touch. The weakest song is Brown Bike soft indie rock and cliché English lyrics.
This is a video of track Tijuana Sound Machine performed at a rave in Mexicali with live musicians. The slide show also gives a taste of the graphic art design that is an essential part of the Collective.
Finally Part II, a week or so later… the next six in alphabetical order…
Federico Aubele – Panamerica
The Argentine guitarist-songwriter’s second album reaches far beyond the tango+electronics of his first album, although both are present. With real songs, sung mostly by women, each song combines various Latin American styles and traditions. Poetic and pointed lyrics reward concentrated listening. Especially beautiful are La Esquina and En Cada Lugar.
Juanes – La Vida es un Ratico
While Juanes is perhaps the most popular mainstream rock musician in Latin America, he manages to resist crossing over to pop syrup or English lyrics. In most of his songs he retains a commitment to telling the stories of ordinary people of Colombia, sort of a Latin Springsteen. More than on his previous album, this one incorporates both Colombian dance music like vallenato and cumbia and the hard rock guitar music that originally made him popular with the band Ekhymosis. The first single Me Enamora is a romantic pop tune though.
Manu Chao – La Radiolina
A superstar practically everywhere except the United States, Spaniard Manu Chao writes political anthems ideal for crowds of hundred thousands in soccer stadiums and central plazas. However the songs work at home, in earphones, or small scale protests as well. To reflect his political concerns about poverty and globalization, he mashes together styles from Latin America and West Africa with punk rock, Spanish flamenco, and sonic collages(there are a lot of sirens on this album). The 21 songs on La Radiolina repeat several musical themes changing up the lyrical subjects and languages. The stand out on the cd is Me Llaman Calle, a melodic and thoughtful song about the hard lives of prostitutes(written for the excellent Spanish film Princesas about Dominican immigrant women in Madrid). See the video for the poppy anti-Imperialism/Iraq War Rainin in Paradize.
Mexican Institute of Sound – Piñata
After I wrote up a blurb about the debut of Instituto Mexicano de Sonido, Camilio Lara shortly released an even better CD. Piñata features funnier lyrics and a deeper variety of samples, loops, and beats than the debut. Aspires, while not quite reaching, to be a Mexican Paul’s Boutique. See the video for Escribeme Pronto.
Pacha Massive – All Good Things
This Bronx based bilingual band combines traditions from their parents’ homelands(Colombia and the Dominican Republic) with hip-hop, soul, and funk from their adopted New York borough. Don’t Let Go, an electro-funk groove with R&B chorus and rap interlude, is easily the catchiest song of the year. Watch the video here. Also good are the house track Drive and a dub version of the traditional song Verdolaga.
Zoé – Memo Rex Commander y el Corazón Atómico de la Vía Láctea
The band Zoé has emerged after three albums, as one of Mexico’s most popular and accomplished indie rock bands. However unlike other contemporary Mexican bands, like Kinky or El Gran Silencio, Zoé doesn’t use any traditional styles in their music and sound as if they could almost come from anywhere in the world. The band has more in common with Radiohead or TV on the Radio than with Café Tacvba. Read more at Zoé – Memo Rex Commander y el Corazón Atómico de la Vía Láctea.
Yes, another “Best of 2007″ list. These 12 cds, are my favorites from artists primarily of Latin American origin and with lyrics in Spanish and Portuguese. Some were released in Brasil, Mexico, or elsewhere in 2006 but found their way to the United States in 2007.
The First Six In Alphabetical Order:
Bebel Gilberto-Momento
Doesn’t break any new ground, really. Just another beautiful bossa nova album with techno touches upholding her family legacy(Joao Gilberto is her father). Like her self-titled previous album, misses the fission brought to her debut Tanto Tempo by the late producer Suba. Still lovely and worthy of repeat listening. The video for Momentois combination of Rio travelogue and family home movies.
Bonde do Rolê -With Lasers
Combining Electronic, Metal, and Baile Funk this is hipster party music from Rio de Janeiro. Best songs are the most metal, Bondallica and Dança do Zumbi. Death To Your Speakers! Enjoy the amusing video for the song Solta o Frango.
Caetano Veloso – Cê
The Brazilian legendary singer-songwriter, founding member of the Tropicalia movement in the 1960s, now decided to make a heavy alternative rock album with his son Moreno. The same lovely voice backed backed by edgy guitars and heavy drums, rather than the mellow folk-bossa of his recent albums. Apparently the lyrics are quite risque, it’s probably for the better that I can’t understand them.
Café Tacvba - Sino
After a long wait, Café Tacuba, Mexico and Latin America’s most experimental and acclaimed rock band, returned in 2007. Gone from this album are the traditional folkloric touches that marked their earliest albums and the previous Cuatro Caminos already moved away. Sino (translates as Yes-No, If Not, However, or Except) is a tribute of sorts to their eighties New Wave and seventies Hard Rock heroes, with the unique warped and humorous lyrics and twists expected by fans. My full review is at Café Tacvba – Sino.
CéU
Yet another young Brazilian woman with a beautiful voice, CéU’s self-titled album features gentle ballads with a light samba beat. Unlikely though is the influences on her vocal styles take as much from contemporary R&B and neo-soul as from bossa nova and MPB(Musica Popular Brasileiro). Here is her performing the song Malemolencia.
Chetes – Blanco Fácil
Performing as Chetes, singer-songwriter Luis Gerardo Garza recently released his first solo album Blanco Fácil. This album is a major change from the edgy modern rock of his first band Zurdok or the 60s mod pop(and English lyrics) of Vaquero his second. Recorded with members and associates of the alt-country band Wilco, he created with Blanco Fácil a perfect summer afternoon soundtrack. Read the rest of my review at Chetes – Blanco Fácil
The Nortec Collective began in the late nineties as a group of Tijuana electronic/techno music artists came together using norteño music as the raw material for their new unique sound. With the help of graphic artists they established a recognizable millenial border/fronteras aesthetic.
Federico Aubele – Panamerica
