Lila Downs – La Cantina

Bilingual, bi-national singer Lila Downs has developed a large following in both  Mexico and the United States for her unconventional (both musically and lyrically) interpretations of  classic Mexican songs. Her audience especially grew after appearing in the film Frida. Her dynamic live performances and commitments to charitable and political causes(especially in Oaxaca) have strengthened the devotion of her fans.  Her [...]

Read Full Post »

Magazines- Articles on Roberto Bolaño and the 1970s Mexico City literary scene

With the publication of an English translation of the Roberto Bolaño novel The Savage Detectives/Los Detectivos Salvajes, two excellent and fascinating articles  have been published(both online linked below) about the writer and the Mexico City literary circles fictionalized in the novel.

Read Full Post »

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 Full Post »

Los Tres – Hagelo Usted Mismo

The legendary Chilean band Los Tres, reunited last year and released Hagelo Usted Mismo this year, their first released in the United States. The band, founded in 1982, began recording and realizing success all over Latin America during the 1990s as Chilean society opened up. Although their new wave rock showed their folk and jazz [...]

Read Full Post »

Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco – Celia & Johnny

In 2006, Fania Records, the dominant salsa/Afro-Cuban music label in the late 1960s and especially throughout the 1970s, began releasing remastered versions of their classic albums. One of the first, is this 1974 collaboration between Celia Cruz, “the Queen of Salsa”, and Johnny Pacheco, the labels co-founder and influential percussionist/flautist/bandleader/producer. Its considered one of the career high points of these musicians and an [...]

Read Full Post »