Rolling like tumble weed Afro-Latin music thread 2012 (salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, tribal guarachero, etc.)

Ha. I don't think my local NPR station carries her current program.

Maybe fauxmarc would be aware of salsa that meets the criteria Sanpaku mentioned above:

By which I mean retaining the typical salsa rhythms (not 4/4 bangers with salsa horns), but introducing a bit of electronic novelty or production touches to the arrangements.

But if what's being looked for is a salsa Suba, that would go well beyond the description you just quoted. That's a lot more than some electronics thrown in here and there as a novelty.

Hi all, long time.

Not a great year for new salsa music, I still think NG La Banda are head and shoulders above anything else released this year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpg5r3gHjTk

I'd be interested to know what you guys think (I know I cant convince you on the above), has anyone unearthed any gems?

In my opinion the most forward looking salsa project to date was the Andy Montanez from 2006

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aztxa9Jd_Jw

Marco

Sorry, re the Andy Montanez comment I was referring to the post by Chinchilla!Chinchilla!Chinchilla!(Sanpaku)

I was thinking of "Se Le Ve," but I still don't think it's got enough of an electronic dance sensibility for what Sanpaku is looking for. But yeah, I'm not sure why I didn't mention salsaton initially.

I'm afraid I have to concur about the state of salsa music this year (but I'm pretty down it in general at this point, obviously).

I'm not much of a Latin jazz person, but I liked the Elio Villafranca/Arturo Stable album (on Spotify).

Maybe fauxmarc would be aware of salsa that meets the criteria Sanpaku mentioned above:

By which I mean retaining the typical salsa rhythms (not 4/4 bangers with salsa horns), but introducing a bit of electronic novelty or production touches to the arrangements.

yeah i dunno, i got into salsa as sort of an escape from the edm-type stuff i'm into and keep them pretty separate. i can't imagine this happening without it sounding kitschy but wouldn't mind if someone did get away with it.

The Grammys (not the Spanish language Latin Grammys) announced nominees:

44. Best Tropical Latin Album

Cubano Soy by

Raúl Lara Y Sus Soneros
[Spanish Music Records]

Desde Nueva York A Puerto Rico

Eddie Montalvo
[Señor Marcha Records]

Retro

Marlow Rosado Y La Riqueña
[Pink Chaos Productions]
Formula Vol. 1

Romeo Santos
[Sony Music]

I wonder whether 2 of NY Times critic Nate Chinen's fave albums for the year go beyond the sounds that I expect:

6. DAVID VIRELLES “Continuum” (Pi Recordings) It would have been easy for this dexterous young pianist to make a less murky, more approachable synthesis of Afro-Cuban folklore, but here he burrows deep, favoring the stark irresolution of the poet-percussionist Román Díaz and the drummer Andrew Cyrille.

7. YOSVANY TERRY “Today’s Opinion” (Criss Cross) And here’s that more approachable synthesis, an Afro-Cuban postbop album built around recognizable parameters, with crisp, energetic work by Mr. Terry, an alto saxophonist, and others, including the captivating Pedrito Martinez, on congas and vocals.

Afro-Cuban postbop

It's on Spotify, I guess I will give it a listen

I listened to some of the Terry album last night. It's really, really good. Didn't like the Virelles disc very much though.

I listened to it some early this morning. It's not gonna win over folks who do not like Latin-jazz, but it is better than most standard efforts in that genre. It has some vocals. Have not listened to Virelles yet or to some of those Grammy nominees I posted about above.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/14/arts/music/eddie-palmieri-ties-together-musical-genres.html

It's interesting that something like cumbia has made the leap to electronic music rather painlessly but no one's really attempted it with salsa.

song title from Colombia's Meridian Brothers who are on Soundways:

4. La Gitana Me Ha Dejado (Salsa Electrónica)

http://www.soundwayrecords.com/catalogue/desesperanza.html

typo. Soundway (no extra s)

Meridian Brothers do quirky. The sound of that track isn't really a viable sound for salsa in general, plus the whole project is yet more retro music, even if it's a different sort of retro.

Maybe cumbia has made the leap more easily because it doesn't require as much rhythmic complexity? Or maybe improvisation is more central to salsa, and harder to approximate electronically.

Anyway, I don't think technological progress equates to aesthetic progress. But then aesthetic value is fuzzy and endlessly debatable, so of course it doesn't.

I checked out that Meridian Brothers album a little while back and just found it annoying.

Mostly I hate everything.

I figured that if it was on Soundway it was retro but just posted it because I came across that title

To go full circle (they were discussed on here at the start of the year) Bio Ritmo also do a very creditable attempt at modernising salsa. Despite the hipster label they do really cut it live too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdjn4GRld34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu0i9F89ZR4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUyBQtI5Ths

Marco, do you happen to know any good English language online sources for keeping current with (or catching up with!) cumbia? Any good books in English on the topic, especially from a listener/collector perspective (not so much ethnomusicology, though I'm willing to venture into that if necessary).

I saw Bio Ritmo only once, at a really under-attended show in Philadelphia. They were annoyed with me for requesting a merengue (so I could dance with some non-salsera friends), but my friends and I probably made up about a third of the audience. I was still very new to salsa at the time and didn't really understand the politics of requesting a merengue, so to speak. I wouldn't do that today unless I knew for sure the band was into playing merengue.

They were okay but did seem dispirited by the poor turnout.

Live clip above sounds decent.

What is that song in the middle of the clip? Sounds familiar, but the arrangement seems very different. Possibly from Roberto Roena's La 8va Maravilla? Somehow that doesn't sound quite right.

Might be Azuquita.

It reminds me of "Cuarto Bate" by Azuquita (at least that's where I've heard the song) but maybe it's just similar.

Richmond, VA Bio Ritmo play DC regularly but I have gone only once (they were fun). I also like their offshoot group Miramar that revives '50s and '60s Puerto Rican boleros. Not very modern, I know.

Not salsa-- Argentine electro-something dj
EL G is the DJ name of Grant C. Dull, label manager of ZZK Records, co-founder of Zizek Club and a 8-year adopted citizen & cultural ambassador of Buenos Aires.

12/28/12 @ Beauty Bar – Chicago, IL [LINK]

12/29/12 @ Eighteenth Street Lounge – Washington DC [LINK]

01/04/12 @ BPM Studios (BomBeat) – Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY [LINK]

01/05/13 @ Fox Haven (Bombon) – Houston, TX [LINK]

01/12/13 @ Elbo Room (Tormenta Tropical) – San Francisco, CA [LINK]

01/16/13 @ Eastside Luv (Subsuelo) – Los Angeles, CA

01/17/13 @ Zanzibar (Afro Funke’) – Santa Monica, CA [LINK]

Death to indie cumbia.

Nah, I don't really care one way or another.

I listened to the beginning of the Future Sounds of Buenos Aires and wasn't into it.

Probably not my thing either. As for other things--I did listen to Mexican indie-rock singer Carla Morrison but her ballad-heavy approach does not interest me in the way that Julieta Venegas does/did. Gonna try and see if another NPR fave, Bomba Estereo, has improved as the NPR folks claim. No salsa, but I've been listening to old mambo on a Sunnday radio show.

Hmmmm, wonder if it is worth $30 to see and dance to salseros Paquito Guzman and Raulin Rosendo at Cuba Libre in DC on Sunday the 23rd?

I think I saw Guzman once and wasn't too pleased, but honestly can't remember. Doesn't he have kind of an overblown melodramatic style? That's something that doesn't tend to survive well as a singer ages, in my view. Not to be obnoxious, but he seems like a performer well past his prime.

Raulin Rosendo not really ringing any bells beyond name recognition.

Me too. He's come to DC a lot over the years but I just know that he's a 50-something Dominican salsa singer.

been very much into el g and a lot of the zzk crew (el remolon, frikstailers, villa diamante) for a few years now, nice to see that they're coming to dc but the line at esl on saturdays is ridiculously long, i guess less so if gotten there earlier, and i'm not too into the crowd. i'd try and brave it but the old school vinyl thing at u hall that night's going to be what's up

OT shot in the dark: does anyone know of any good book-length overviews of Argentina's history? (No need to check amazon or WorldCat, etc. for me. I can do that myself. Just wondering if anyone happens to be able to recommend one off-hand.)

Might be old newsy wewsies, but did you guys see this thing that's out on Analog Africa:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61YPSXu18CL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Saw it but haven't checked it out.

haven't heard, but would listen to!!

Listen away...
http://open.spotify.com/album/6EsqKrqreoVsnArRLYg77B

Think I read that disc two is the cumbia one

I recognize a lot of the names on here -- I wish someone would just reissue whole albums by some of these people -- Wganda Kenya, por ejemplo -- I get tired of listening to other people's comps all the time! I don't have the time (or inclination really) to travel to places where I could find these original records, so won't someone bring them to me?

Also it has been ages since I heard the word Valledupar! I still predict that there is a vallenato revival on the horizon.

Actually, that's not true -- I would love to travel, I just wouldn't do it solely to find records that I'm sure I wouldn't find anyway.

I've been enjoying this over the last few days too

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/59/19/591979443-1.jpg

Saw them two months ago. Pretty fun.

Got that Diablos del Ritmo comp in the mail a while back, only listened to bits of Disc 1 so far but it's kinda fun.