De Musica Ligera: Rumba!

Several days ago it was announced that Manu Chao would go on a U.S. tour starting in August and including concerts in New York, Miami and Austin. Wonderful!

Video Source - YouTube
Online Source - Brooklyn Vegan

Daily Headlines: April 8, 2009

* Mexico: Singer Manu Chao was nearly kicked out of Mexico after he criticized the federal government for “state terrorism” during the 2006 uprising in San Salvador Atenco.

* U.S.: One out of every two naturalized citizens in 2008 was Latino according to National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

* Haiti: A group of Congressmen has just finished a visit to Haiti where they discussed politics with President Rene Preval.

* Venezuela: Authorities have seized over twelve tons of illegal drugs so far this year according to interior minister Tarek El Aissami.

Image- New York Magazine (Manu Chao performing at a 2007 New York concert).
Online Sources- LAHT, AP, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, Guardian UK

Today’s Video: Happy birthday Manu Chao!

On Thursday several birthdays were celebrated throughout the Americas including Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil and the late Chilean president Salvador Allende. June 26^th also happens to be the birthday of eclectic singer Manu Chao; thus, in honor of his 47^th-birthday here’s a live performance of “Rumba de Barcelona.”

(Video link):

Earlier this week we also wished a feliz cumpleaños to ex-Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval.

Sources- YouTube, Vivirlatino, New York Times, The Latin Americanist

Today’s video: Cancion Protesta

We end this week’s slate of posts with a song from one of my all-time favorite groups – los Aterciopelados. “Cancion Protesta” (“Protest Song”) comes from their 2006 album Oye and is a tune which asks listeners not to call their song “terrorist” or as having “unpatriotic” undertones. According to Wikipedia the guitars used in the video were made out of machine guns as part of a U.N. program to “take guns off the streets of Colombia.”

(Video link):

Big thanks to Nacional Records for providing today’s and yesterday's music videos.

This week’s videos with the theme of music containing political messages:

• “Sr. Cobranza” by Bersuit Vergarabat
• “De Paisano a Paisano” by Los Tigres del Norte
• “Rainin' In Paradize” by Manu Chao

Sources- arteciopelados.com, Wikipedia, Nacional Records, The Latin Americanist

Today’s Video: Rainin' In Paradize

We continue this week’s videos series on music with political messages by featuring someone we’ve analyzed several times before - Manu Chao. The French/Spanish/Basque artist previously fronted punk rockers Mano Negra and his music tends to be politically charged. (For instance, samples of Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos were used in Radio Bemba Sound System).

His 2007 video for "Rainin' In Paradize” rails against actions like the invasion of Iraq and oppression in Africa. The video seen below was filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

(Video link):

Previous videos shown this week were “Sr. Cobranza” by Bersuit Vergarabat and “De Paisano a Paisano” by Los Tigres del Norte.

Sources- Wikipedia, manuchao.net, YouTube, The Latin Americanist

Video of the Day: La Rumba de La Colifata

This is too cool:

This month [December 2007] in Buenos Aires, Manu Chao joined La Colifata for a live radio broadcast. La Colifata is the radio station run by patients at the Borda Hospital - a psychiatric hospital. There was a rumor that Manu would be playing a live show at the hospital, and since he’s done it once before during a visit to Buenos Aires, it seemed worth checking out…

There was camaraderie between the patients and Manu Chao with hugs and thanks all around. The performers were happy to share their own creative expression and the audience enjoyed their participation. They made jokes and shared intimate thoughts alike.

The following is one onlooker’s video of Manu singing “La Vaca Loca” (“The Crazy Cow”) during his appearance at the Borda Hospital:

(Hat tip: Global Voices Online).

Sources- Global Voices Online, YouTube, Argentina’s Travel Guide

Video of the Day: Tuning in to “La Radiolina”

Sorry for the lack of posts today. Unfortunately I had a bit of a family emergency to tend to.

In order to make up for today several posts will be published on Saturday Sunday (sorry for the inconvenience!) In addition, we’ll have special coverage of the Guatemalan presidential elections tomorrow.

In the meantime, we wish to highlight the release of Manu Chao’s latest album this week. “La Radiolina” is the fifth solo album for the celebrated musician and thus far the album has been critically praised in Billboard and Rolling Stone, just to name a few.

Here is a video for one of the songs on “La Radiolina” entitled “Rainin’ in Paradize.” Chao’s political leanings shine through in this very catchy tune which is a little more guitar-heavy than his usual music. (Video link):

Want to hear more from “La Radiolina”? Then click here where MTV.com is streaming the album for a limited time.

Enjoy!

Sources- Billboard, Rolling Stone, Boston.com, YouTube, manuchao.net, MTV.com

Quote of the Day: El “chamo” Chao

“Manu Chao: It's funny, because in the Latin world, nobody knows where I'm from. A lot of people think I'm Argentine. A lot of people think I'm from Mexico. It's more the accent and some expressions that change. Grammatically it's really the same, but of course there are some words that you can say in Venezuela but no one will understand in Spain. There's one on the next album. There's a word that only Venezuelan people can understand.

Pitchfork: What does it mean?

Manu Chao: It means, it's like a...what is the symbol of America?

Pitchfork: The bald eagle?

Manu Chao: It's like an eagle.”

--Excerpt from an interview by indie music site Pitchfork Media with Manu Chao.

(Hat tip: Largehearted Boy).

Sources- Largehearted Boy, Pitchfork Media

Image- Coachella

Music soothes the savage beast: A geografía lesson

Joe Vasconcellos in concert. (Image via Harbourfront Centre)

This week’s blog post on music will feature several songs with geographic locations in the title. We start with a song from Kristin Hersh, who is best known for her time as lead singer of alt rock group Throwing Muses. As NPR notes, her solo career dipped into different styles of music though her most recent incarnation is as the head of punk rock group 50 Foot Wave. “Costa Rica” comes from her 1999 album Sky Motel which CNN said was “the first time she felt that she had control over her songs, rather than the other way around”.

• Kristin Hersh – Costa Rica

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs are an Argentine group who is one of the biggest names in rock en español. Their heyday was in the early- to mid-1990s though the group continues to perform today. Their lead singer- Vicentico- recently released a critically acclaimed solo record. Anyway, “Arde Buenos Aires” comes from 1991 and it’s a delightful, toe-tapping blend of ska and salsa.

• Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – Arde Buenos Aires

We’ve featured Manu Chao before and described him as an “eclectic and critically acclaimed artist” in June 2006. His French/Galician/Basque background comes through in his music which dabbles in many different genres and, therefore, makes it difficult to describe in few words. Listen to “Welcome To Tijuana” and you’ll hear what I mean.

• Manu Chao - Welcome To Tijuana

Alfredo Gutierrez is one of the best vallenato musicians in the world, beyond a shadow of a doubt. His musical career has spanned nearly half a century, and it has been one filled with lots of recognition and success. I’m not a 100% sure if his song “Festival en Guarare” has to do with a folkloric festival in Panama, though if any of you know I would appreciate it if you could leave a comment.

• Alfredo Gutierrez - Festival en Guarare

The Lilys are a much underrated indie rock band based in Washington, DC who- much like most of the above-mentioned musicians- are very eclectic and varied in their musical styles. “The Night Sun Over San Juan” comes from their 2006 album Everything Wrong Is Imaginary and the song was accurately described as having “a charming sloppiness to the execution” by floodwatchmusic.com.

• Lilys - The Night Sun Over San Juan

Lastly on our geographical jaunt through music is “La Joya Del Pacifico” by Chilean singer/songwriter Joe Vasconcellos. He is a musician that is not very well known outside of South America, though he is one of his country’s most popular performers. World Music Central describes Joe Vasconcellos as embodying “the essence of what is today's ‘world music’” and this song is his ode to the tropical beauty that is Valparaiso “de mi amor.” Thus, a fitting end to this list.

• Joe Vasconcellos - La Joya Del Pacifico

Links- Wikipedia, NPR, CNN, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Rock.com.ar, YouSendIt, ManuChao.net, The Latin Americanist, Bonnaroo, La Vallenata, ColArte, Guarare.com, floodwatchmusic.com, Yahoo! Music, JoeVasconcellos.cl, World Music Central, Tierramérica