I got around to checking my email a little after noon yesterday. I scanned the subject lines for the most attractive. These two caught my eye:
“Congratulations! You have won BABASONICOS tickets from Losanjeaous!”
“You Won Tickets to Attend Babasonicos’ Concert tonight!”
For a few seconds, I wondered why Losanjealous sent me two notice emails and then I remembered that I’d entered a contest earlier in the week with La Banda Elástica. Dude, I’d just gotten quite lucky… twice!
“Breakin’ Up” by Rilo Kiley at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium (I was there)
Some questions (copied directly from Sean):
Do you like/love Rilo Kiley?
If so, what’s your favorite song?
Do you live [in/around LA]?
What are you doing [Thurdsay] night?
Do I even know you?
I’m just asking.
We were on the way to a concert when Ojitos suggested making mixtapes.
“You should make me a rock en español CD and I’ll make you a reggae mix. That way we can both learn more about each genre.”
“One CD? That’ll be tough.”
“Well, just put on the stuff I should know.”
“Like the obvious songs?”
“Yeah, sorta.”
“Still, one CD?”
Okay, this sounds easier than it actually was. I looked at my iTunes library and wondered how I’d pick about 18 for a mix. I needed a theme. Best songs to dance to at a party? My favorites? My favorite artists? Mexican bands only? South American bands only? Songs on a certain topic?
They were all wrong.
There’s a line in High Fidelity where Rob, the book/movie’s protagonist discusses the fine science of making a mixtape for a potential mate. He claims that it’s just like breaking up, hard to do. In the movie, Rob expands:
The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don’t wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.
He’s right.
I stared at my iTunes library for half an hour trying to make playlists and pick songs. I wasn’t getting anywhere. I packed up my things and decided to head to my parent’s house. On the way there, the idea hit me. If this was supposed to be a guide to rock en español, it should be organized like most guides, alphabetically!
I settled on an A-Z of rock en español theme focusing on bands from all over the Spanish-speaking world. It didn’t matter if they were form Texas or Spain, as long as the song was sung in Spanish (primarily), I’d include it. I started with Los Abandoned and ended with Zurdok. I tried to include at least one band per letter and eventually came up with 40 odd songs for 2 CDs.
I called it Queso Fresco.
I’d offer up the mp3s or make a podcast, but I’m feeling a bit lazy. If you are interested, let me know. Track list after the jump.
Edit (4.2.08): I made a mixtape of the first 12 songs. This is only A-E with a couple songs added that didn’t make the Queso Fresco cut. Those songs are Pantalón by Los Abandoned and De Marcha by Los De Abajo (I counted them as a D band).
I know I saw Lalo Guerrero perform live, but I’m not quite sure when and where. I think it was eight years ago. Yeah, it had to be then because that’s when Ome and I first became roommates. Our sophomore year, we got stuck together in Hedrick Hall, room 676. The sixth floor was supposedly the “multicultural floor,” but there were only a handful of brown people.
At the performance (I think, it’s all kinda fuzzy 8 years later), Ome bought a CD of some of Guerrero’s hits. We got a kick out of hearing the respected musician — the father of Chicano music — sing a song like “Marihuana Boogie.”
Perhaps I never actually saw Lalo Guerrero perform live. I’m not old enough to start having fading memories of my late teens/early 20s. Maybe it was all just a dream. You ever have that feeling? Sandra Cisneros captures it perfectly in Caramelo, “Did I dream it or did someone tell me the story? I can’t remember where the truth ends and the talk begins” (p. 20).
If it was all just a dream, at least I got to make up for missing Lalo when he was alive by catching a performance of ¡Gaytino! by his eldest son, Dan Guerrero (review to come, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the show).
The only thing I currently miss about being in a relationship is the automatic date for concerts. I have a tough time finding a guy with similar music taste. When I’m dating someone, this isn’t a problem because he’s down for anything from Rilo Kiley to Girl In A Coma.
I haven’t been to a concert since November because (a) my friends don’t usually like a lot of the bands I like or they can’t go out on weeknights or (b) I just don’t feel like going alone. I’ve already missed a few shows I’ve wanted to attend for this reason. I don’t want to miss out on more great shows, especially as the summer months approach. Thus, I’m starting a search for a concert buddy.
Job description
Job Title: Concert Buddy
Job Summary: Concert buddy for a 27-year old Chicana. Typical evening on the job would include carpooling to the concert venue. Small talk while waiting for band(s) to perform. Dancing and enjoying music. Dinner before event is not required, but tacos or other late night snacks are standard form.
Qualifications: Somewhat similar music taste (please refer to last.fm list of most listened to artists), speaks and understands Spanish (pochos welcomed), dances well, excellent parallel parker, willing to be the designated driver if necessary, and familiarity with Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Must own reliable automobile.
Experience: At least 5 years concert-going experience at small venues (e.g., the Temple Bar), large venues (e.g., Hollywood Bowl), and festivals (e.g., Coachella).
Location: Los Angeles and surrounding cities
Hours: 3-5 hours per week, weeknights and weekends.
Compensation: This is a volunteer position
Please send mixtape (acceptable in CD or MP3 format), list of concerts recently attended, and references to Cindylu .
I wasn’t sure what to expect for my 10th Café Tacuba concert. Via Twitter, I’d learned that their show in San Francisco didn’t go too well. The sound was bad and the band seemed low on energy.
But I was hoping for the best. I needed Café Tacuba to put on a great show and let me get my mind off of shtuff. I was accompanied by Chispa. I still don’t understand how she had never seen them live up until Thursday night.
We arrived at the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal Studios full of rockeros. It seemed like everyone was wearing black and Converse Chuck Taylors. Chispa and I counted a half dozen pairs of Chucks in our row alone and estimated how many there were in the crowd as a whole (I guessed 10% she guessed higher).
The show started promptly at 9 pm with the two initial tracks of the recently-released album, Sino. The crowd responded well to the new stuff, but was much more excited about the songs from their albums released in the ’90s.
Los Tacubos continued for two hours playing songs from all of their albums minus Reves/Yosoy. I’d complained that they were a bit predictable when I saw them at the Hollywood Bowl in July. That wasn’t the case this time since they were including new songs as well as old songs they rarely play in concert like “Alármala de Tos” and “El Fin de la Infancia.” I have to admit, I can’t really dance along to “Alármala de Tos,” it’s too depressing.
Highlights, lowlights and the setlist after the jump.
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Go ahead and yell at me for being here and not reading some article about Latino students retention in college, but I have to gush about Rodrigo y Gabriela’s awesome performance last night at the Henry Fonda Theater.
I discovered their music in February (I think) and immediately loved them. I kept missing their LA shows because I was traveling out of the state or country. When I heard about their two LA shows, I immediately bought tickets ignoring the fact that the date was pretty close to my exam.
The show was pretty awesome. Rodrigo y Gabriela played a long set (I think the better part of two hours) consisting of songs off their self-titled album. They took requests and admitted to being bored of setlists after touring for nearly a year. They played some new songs too, including one Rodrigo titled “Fuck the US Visa Department” as well as covers of Pink Floyd, Metallica and Van Halen songs. Gabriela shouted out her Mexico City roots by yelling “¡arriba los chilangos!” but admitted to denying her Chilanga-ness and pretening to be from Guadalajara because the people in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo don’t like Chilangos. When she yelled out “¡Viva México cabrones!” only a few folks in the audience responded, which surprised me because I’m used to a roar of affirmation from the crowd whenever musicians yell out that phrase.
Rodrigo y Gabriela have an excellent stage presence, which makes them even more attractive and likable. They dedicated the show to their hardworking crew and joked about having visa issues. They also encouraged the crowd — pretty mixed ethnically and age wise (my friend thought there were a lot of “old” people in attendance — to clap along and sing during the cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.”
My only gripes were that the show felt a little long and I struggled to see them through most of the show because of all the tall(er) people. I hate being short. The show wasn’t long, but we waited a while for them to begin and it usually takes me a few days to adjust to the end of Daylight Savings Time.
I tried to find a clip of them performing “Ixtapa,” my favorite of their original songs, but didn’t have any luck. In the YouTube clip below they peform “Diablo Rojo.” You can get a sense of just how incredible they are from the clip, but it really doesn’t do them justice. I mean, Rodrigo y Gabriela are so much more amazing (and good looking*) live.
In the middle of last night’s Rilo Kiley concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, I turned to X — a guy pretty unfamiliar with their music — and confessed that the band’s music has helped get me through graduate school. I joked that when I finally get that PhD, I’m gonna dedicate it to Jenny Lewis. I first started listening to Rilo Kiley in fall 2004, when I was making the transition back in to school. It’s been pretty tough since then, but whenever I listened to More Adventurous, The Execution of All Things and Take Offs & Landings I felt instantly calmer, a little happier and a little more hopeful. Their most recent album, Under the Blacklight has a similar feel. To anyone dealing with a tough break up, just list to “Breaking Up” it’ll have you dancing and singing along “feels good to be free…”. Maybe.
At last night’s concert, I didn’t write down the setlist or take photos as I sometimes do when I see one of my favorite bands or singers live. However, I do know they played a lot of songs off their older albums and “I love LA”, which I don’t think is recorded. Thanks to YouTube and people with digital cameras, you can see/hear Jenny Lewis and crew’s ode to their hometown. I didn’t get too many photos either because I was behind a bunch of tall hipsters and couldn’t get a view of the band, but that’s what Flickr is for. Check out this great set.
It was pretty awesome, just as I expected.
I went to five stores yesterday in the hopes of getting my hands on a copy of Café Tacuba’s new album Sino. I had no luck. If I didn’t already have the mp3′s (thanks, Hector!) I would have probably kicked any one of the guys at Best Buy who tried to help me. They’re also streaming the whole album on myspace I tried these stores (in order):
I’m going to try Amoeba Records today. Hopefully they’ll have it because they’re usually pretty good at stocking “Latin alternative.” If I don’t find anything, well I guess there’s always purchasing it online.
I know there’s lots of reasons why people don’t buy CD’s anymore. I didn’t think not being able to find the album would be one of those reasons.
I saw Los Abandoned today at Tarfest 2007. Finally. I’ve been meaning to see them for at least a year. Last year I even had tickets to a show they played with Los Liquits, but my meeting in Oakland went long and I had to reschedule my flight. I missed all of Los Abandoned’s set. Other times, I just didn’t get around to buying tickets or didn’t feel like finding a date.
But today was different. I had to be there, especially after I learned that this would be their last show. El Más Chingón/César let me know that they announced the group’s break up earlier this week via their email list. The show at the tarpits would be their last as a group.
Lady P and her guys, Don Verde, Vira Lata and Dulce, put on a great show for a small but enthusiastic crowd. Young raza hipsters sang along and pumped their fists, accustomed to the band’s high energy show. Los Abandoned started off with Conquistarte Bien, sung in English and Spanish like their other songs (listen on myspace). Throughout most of their set they stuck with the more energetic songs and didn’t play my favorite State of Affairs. The only part of the show that sucked was the sound system. It sounded too crackly and even cut off as they sang Electricidad.
Highlights: Lady P and Don Verde singing Pantalón, the band’s stage presence and the reaction from their adoring fans.
Unordered setlist:
Conquistarte Bien
Van Nuys (es very nice)
Stalk U
A La Mode
Nada Mío es Fake
Panic-Oh!
Heavy
Pantalón
Me Quieren en Chile
Live + Direct
Thais
Electricidad
Como La Flor (encore)