Salsa is dead, reggaeton is dead: Long live the rolling Afro-Latin music thread 2009

I am pretty sure you'll like the Bannakumbi (once it gets to you). I hope so after all my hyping of it.

Every Adolescent's song should sound like "Persona Ideal."

Hey Marco, maybe you would like to vote in this poll (to boost the number of votes received by salsa albums--and also because it's an interesting list of nominations overall):

A POLL FOR ALL THE OTHERS: It's the Alternate 1970s Albums Poll on ILX — Voting Thread (Due by midnight GMT, January 3rd)

Pretty sure I would get up to dance to this Carruseles song. (I am still not back to dancing anything close to regularly after a ridiculously long gap, mostly thanks to health issues of various sorts and now my old knee injury seems to be acting up just after I had gotten rid of a problem with my foot.) They seem to toss off a good song every couple years. Not exactly an album band.

Hmmm. This second Mario Ortiz cut sounds better than I had expected. I have become really leery of all-star veteran salsero lineups at this point. (Who is this person who mentions Frankie Ruiz and sounds a lot like him as well?) I still find I get bored of these songs with a dozen different soneros giving shout out to past masters in the framework of what tends to be a weak song; but on first listen, I kind of like this one.

Current mambo merengue: I like the overall sound, but none of the individual songs have really stood out for me.

Well, I wasn't really interested in convincing lex to listen to anything in particular
This would have been a lost cause from the get-go.

Yeah. I also didn't realize he had been writing for the Guardian for so long (or at all, actually). It's hard to keep track of which ilxors are now bigwigs.

I like their pop sound but what's the connection between the two of 'em?

They do work together. Venegas sings on the title track, "Hu Hu Hu," and Lafourcade did a lot of the arrangements and played multiple instruments on Venegas' Unplugged CD from '08.

"Te Pierdes" (from the posted mix) is pretty interesting to me because I can't quite figure out if it's a different version of a Pupy song or if it just incorporates parts of that song. Pretty sure Mandy Cantero is on Tranquilo Que Yo Controlo (which I keep wanting to make the very silly-sounding mistake of calling Tanquilo Que Yo Contento). I'm at work now and not listening, so any comments at the moment are from first impressions earlier.

I don't like the Charanga Habanera track. I've never liked their "classic" earlier material and I don't really like their attempts at pop/timbaton that I've heard.

I liked the Yomo/VM tracks more than I would have expected (mostly because I am very burned out on VM at this point).

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I really like the Adolescent's CD, they write a good song, the production is really strong all the way through on this CD and Confianza struck me as being pretty close to "Persona Ideal" which is why I put it in.

"Te Pierdes" is a remake of the Pupy song, Mandy was on the Pupy version too I think.

The Mario Ortiz CD is worth getting, very up-to-date production and captures the spirit of the old recordings. Cheo Feliciano, Bobby Cruz, Anthony Cruz, Adalberto Santiago, Pedro Brull, Tito Allen, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Andy Montañez and Ismael Miranda all appear on vocals, from memory I think it might be Bobby Cruz who's the sonero who mentions Frankie Ruiz, he's the last one up on that track, but I'm hungover this morning so don't take my word for it.

If Anthony Cruz is on that track, then it's more likely it was him, I think (though I don't really know how Bobby Cruz is), since he reminded me very much of Frankie Ruiz on his last album (or the last album of his that I heard anyway, from a few years back).

More on the mix: I find "Expertos del Amor" really embarrassing somehow, maybe because the music doesn't support the claim they are apparently making in the title. (Unless the lyrics actually suggest they are saying it ironically, but I doubt it.) And the Albita/GSR track is difficult for me to get through. Some very blah trumpet parts in this.

Did you leave out a track ID between these two or after the second one:

El caballero y la doncella
Albita feat.Gilberto Santa Rosa

Ahora Que Buscas
Havana d´Primera
Haciendo Historia

It seems like there's a song in there that isn't accounted for. Anyway, once again, I'm having to admit that things pick up for me as they turn more (contemporary) Cuban, which is happening more often than I'm comfortable with (though I'm not sure why I'm so attached to not liking timba).

OTOH, this Charanga Habanera track sounds like a church youth group's idea of hip and edgy (like a lot of Cuban music involving rapping or reggaeton).

It's a revelation that Victor Manuelle can say "tra tra tra" without sounding absurd (to me anyway).

Also, I have not said enough good things about Voltio's performance on "Mala Nena." It may not be one of my seven or eight favorite songs from Un Nuevo Dia, but he really shines on it, and the song overall picks up as it goes on.

Also, "Caminando" is really good enough that I might end up getting this new La Excelencia album after all. Additionally, I thought the vocals on that first La Excelencia track were pretty strong.

On part 2, I would say things take a downturn with: Héctor Giovanni, Joel Uriola (though it actually sounds pretty good if I just focus on the rhythm), Gente De Zona, and Victor Manuelle.

Moreno Negron wakes things up again, but I have to admit I don't really care for the vocals here. I'm just liking the hard street merengue rhythm.

Haha, "Confianza" really does remind me even more of "Persona Ideal" now that I've refreshed my memory of the latter by listening to it. Not sure why I like this formula so much, but I do. I'd prefer if it weren't cut short. I know, I know, DJs feel that they have to do something, but I have the typical salsero antipathy to DJs doing much of anything with salsa tracks. (Merengue is a different matter.)

This Mas Salsa Que Tu is pretty hot. I had not heard this, but this strikes me as pretty close to what Bannakumbi is doing (yeah, yeah, not that they invented incorporating rap into salsa, but I think there are more specific similarities, especially in how the rhythms are handled in the rapping). Yup, Pirulo, Myzta, and Mola are all on the Bannakumbi CD. I'm getting excited at the thought that there might be a new viable, innovative, salsa underground crystallizing!

did pr's mas salsa que tu ever come up with a full album? i came across ten cuidado from last year which i'm pretty into.

Now you tell me! Did you mention this at all last year?

Also check out the way the dancing is shot in this Ten Cuida'o video. To me it diverges a little from the standard presentation of salsa dancing in these videos. Feels a bit more natural. I like that there are so many shots of the feet and also waist level shots, rather than big arm wavey styling shots. (Okay maybe most salsa videos don't really have those, but I'm not so sure.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-2jeoR_b6w

Sigh. Okay, I think I'm going to go steal some music while I wait for some new CDs to arrive in the mail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7K8W0x_t2I

Eh.

You're right, Anthony Cruz it is, Bobby Cruz (of Richie & Bobby) does come on last though.

Right again, the "missing track" is No Estoy Solo by Arnaldo from the "En Otra Direccion" CD.

Albita/GSR - cheesy pop and little artistic merit, but fun.

Charanga Habanera - I like the europop feel. I'm not a big fan of the music this band make but I admire their vision given the restrictions they have to work with.

I only cut a couple of bars from Confianza, when I DJ live I like to keep the flow going, I know most purists hate it but that's my style.

Well, I wouldn't really call myself a purist, but I much prefer that salsa tunes be allowed to play out. (Salsa purists probably wouldn't like Adolscent's Orquesta to begin with, let alone tolerate merengue. Etc. etc. etc.)

I just heard Timbalive's From Miami a la Habana, which I just got in the mail (along with Choco Orta's CD from this year and Son de Cali's 2006 CD). Overall, I like it. I could do with fewer of the less hard-hitting, more romantic sounding, songs, but I wouldn't say I hate any of those, so maybe they will grow on me. This could easily be one of my favorite albums from this year (of course, keeping in mind just how much I haven't actually heard). It seems to me that it makes a lot of concessions to a salsa audience, but maybe my ears are finally adjusting more to timba. Anyway, it definitely doesn't have any of the timba mannerisms that annoy me (a certain style of choral rap-chanting, the annoying trap drum thing I've griped about on recent Pupy and Van Van releases, etc.). Most of the guest vocalists turn up on one track, which is a little disappointing since there's some major vocal talent on that guest list; but the main vocalists are good in their own right. I initially thought this was more of a super-group project, but it seems more like it's a "regular" group supplemented by appearances by some guest stars. "Ave Maria Que Calor" is especially slamming.

Now making my way through the Choco Orta CD (which turns up a lot on those Latin Beat end of the year lists I was complaining about), and I mostly like it. The arrangements (or anyway, something about the sound) are a little more retro. than I think they need to be, but it seems like a very solid recording in the trad. salsa vein, and how many salsa soneras do we have to listen to these days? Hardly any. I hope she records more really soon, because she is sounding good here. Just hit the first bolero and I like it, confirming my suspicions that I'd like hearing her sing boleros. Did you hear this album? I noticed nothing from this album turned up on your mix.

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

They aren't very good at lip-syncing. j/k

I think the Timbalive album drops off in the middle (or earlier, if you exclude the two bonus tracks at the end which are just different mixes of earlier ones). I would not be surprised if I get sick of it quickly, but for now I do like the first part of the album.

Awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v08gaerPTQY

(This is not what I was looking for, but I want this to be my new barber shop. Wrong city though.)

"No Se" is just so good. I suppose it is too static for the dance-floor, but it's a great listen (and its function is as an album closer, so it makes a certain amount of sense the way it winds down). I think its the way they build layers of vocals that is particularly key here. In addition to the main vocal line, I can hear three distinct lines of background vocals, and then it shifts into the rapped portion and that all drops away, and it keeps moving. When I said it's static I just meant it doesn't really keep maintaining a mounting tension like the classic idea of a salsa song, but it definitely keeps flowing, and there are shifts in tension, it just doesn't go for a higher and higher plateau (which I'm sensitive to, because I've seen some harsh criticisms of other salsa on the basis of that).

Re Choco Otra, yes I heard her 2009 release, her voice has never really done it for me and I didn't think much of this years CD.

Someone sent me a report of a recent show with La Excelencia, Son de la Loma and El Canario which made interesting reading;

At the last minute I decided to join Harry Sepulveda to Hostos to see La Excelencia who was one of the three bands performing last night, put together by Jose Rivera (politician). Son de la Loma and Jose Alberto El Canario also performed.

SON DE LA LOMA

This'll be short because I want to be as diplomatic as possible about their performance.
Not good. I won't accept a band that has tenure within this industry to go up on stage and give a performance that reminded me of first time nervous third graders performing in front of a large audience.

LA EXCELENCIA

Crisp, articulate, tight, deliciously loud (except for a short part where the soundman didn't pump the volume to some mics), entertaining and passionate, La Excelencia gave their sincere love to its audience and the audience riciprocated. I have always made it my business to scan the audience's reactions at concerts/performances, no matter where, and there is only one word that I can describe for the audience's reaction to La Excelencia: Stunned. During La Excelencia's powerful performance, the audience did not stir but attentively soaked in the important messages belted out by Edwin and Gilbert when they sang. They were especially attentive to UNIDAD and almost by the end of the excitingly performed A~NA pa' mi Tambor, this audience had fully succumbed voluntarily to La Excelencia's original groove, especially when Edwin genuflected, showing the meaning of this tune. When La Excelencia attempted to finish AN~A with a rumba abierta (a-la calle) by bringing the congas almost on top of the laps of the first row and rockin' it, the audience was fully theirs! I imagine she could not contain herself at this point because the unexpected surprise of the evening that I have to write about was given to La Excelencia by one very cocky, somewhat vain(ish) performer who I'm betting my neck on, had asked, no wait, demanded that Jose Rivera escort her on stage in order to usurp the performance like an uninvited professional thief in the night stealing The Louvre's Mona Lisa. "Oh no she didn't!", I instantly heard myself say loudly! Harry Sepulveda and I were shocked!

Univited, Choco Orta had Jose Rivera escort her on stage to grab the quinto from Jose Cofresi (who graciously, but surprisingly, backed up to let her do her thang). OK, folks, there are ways of doing things con cache...she didn't do it con cache, IMHO. Girl, take your SHORT solo, show the peeps what ya got, give back the congas (and the show, please) to it's rightful owner, loudly announce your gratitude to the band and get the f*ck off the stage! No. What does this petite fireball do? She grabs the mic, and proceeds to want to sing the rumba! Well, it was at this point, and obvious, that La Excelencia had enough and showed her manners. Yup. You guessed it. They took their instruments and finished their performance by walking off the stage and leaving her with no remedio but to think quick on her feet: Instead, she sang Happy Birthday to Jose Rivera (with a PISSED OFF face, I might add)! "Did you see her face?!!" Harry Sepulveda asked me. This was the funniest (and the highlight, for me) part of the show. I believe that the audience understood that Choco Orta rudely interrupted, that by the look of the faces on the guys of La Excelencia, she got up there in a very cocky way, uninvited. She created her embarrassment. ?Quien la mando?! All ended well because she did NOT steal anything last night from La Excelencia. People loved La Excelencia.

JOSE ALBERTO "EL CANARIO"

WOW! This man is in shape! Always dressed to the nines, his voice last night was steady, sharp, loud, on queue, everything...and the band was not bad either! Did they know these charts, or what?! I didn't recognize ANY of the band members. Jose Alberto performed a medley of his older tunes and had that house rockin'. I loved that as soon as he finished a tune he segued into another. Outstanding. He finished with "Sen~ora" and even improvised an invite to Choco Orta who had, by that time, gone. He improvised that "she's left the building because she had another 'compromiso' to go to". I don't think so.

La Excelencia are IMHO the best live band playing salsa right now. You should definitely get their 2009 CD. They have a live CD / DVD coming out in 2010 filmed during their 2009 tour, check this out;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw1hP8v-NgI

I'm off to Spain for Christmas, check you in 2010.

That's too bad she would behave that way. Maybe the attitude expressed by Choco Orta in that incident has had something to do with holding her career back over the years. Then again, maybe lots of others just agree with you about her voice. If I have any issue with her singing, I don't think it's so much her voice as the fact that she leans to far toward consistently belting the songs out, but she doesn't go so far in that direction that it bothers me the way it does with La India.

I hope I get to see La Excelencia live at some point. A live CD sounds like a good idea, if they are really that good live (though sometimes that doesn't always translate to recordings, for whatever reason).

Honestly, you're planting some doubts in my head about Orta's singing, but mostly because I am not 100% crazy about it. I do keep saying (to paraphrase what I said upthread): well, it's not like there is much competition at this point. So I already have a little bit of a feeling of her being second-best or something, but still I ended up enjoying this CD more than I expected. (Was not into "Ay Jose" but that's just because of all the spoken bits which are boring to me as a non-Spanish speaker.)

that barbershop clip!

Yeah, I want to go there for my haircuts.

*

There are a lot of interesting developments right now in contemporary Cuban music's position in the US. The Cuban artists Los Van Van, Cesar "Pupy" Pedroso, and Charanga Habanera are all going to be touring the US soon. I probably would only be interested in checking out Pupy, of those three, but the timberos are very excited. Tiempo Libre was on dancing with stars, and it seems like more is happening with Cuban expats in Miami (though I can't say I always watch that closely). Why I cheerlead for this music when I dislike so much of it, I'm not sure, but it's part of the extended salsa family (plus little by little I'm finding more of it to like).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hArhNG17qwA

The new La 33 seems to be out.

& about.

BANNAKUMBI “Un Nuevo Día” (Kumbi)

This song is on Ben Ratliff of the NY Times Best song list for 2009. It did not make his album list. I posted the NY Times lists over on that other long thread of magazine and website lists

Jon Caramanica of the NY Times listed Luis Enrique's pop ballad "Yo No Se Manana" on his song list

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QW--gGbDSI

I just listened to the new La 33 album and I still don't see why such a big deal is made of them. They are okay. They have a stripped down sound that, yes, does echo the 70s, but they seem kind of amateurish, and I don't get where the energy makes up for it. I'm not so much thinking amateurish in purely technical terms either, but also amateurish in terms of creating something. There is just too much regurgitation of the familiar, I think, in their music.

re: persona ideal - i'm pretty much down for any adolescentes track, but it's funny how i've gotten used to people referencing it as "me tengo que ir" and always draw a blank when it's referenced by the real name.

re: mas salsa que tu - i just found out about them when recently before i posted as they'd myspace'd me recently, maybe something is in the works. but yesss at the shots of waist + feet in regard to the dancing, i just hate that the clips are way too choppy and not nearly long enough in comparison to the shots of the narrative.

re: dominican barbershop pt. 3 - ha, pt. 1 in which they do bachata has been in one of my playlists for ages - TSpoonER is one of my go-to youtube users for latin dancing clips, lots of salsa on2. i recognize troy and jorjet in that clip, renowned dancers and teachers on the scene.

oscar d'leon had a heart attack in caracas this weekend, is recovering.

but it's funny how i've gotten used to people referencing it as "me tengo que ir" and always draw a blank when it's referenced by the real name.

That's certainly easier to remember (if you know the song). Not knowing Spanish, I think I originally imagined "que ir" as "caribe," the sort of thing which doesn't help when trying to ID songs heard in clubs.

Have you heard the Adolescent's album? It seems like they haven't put out anything major in a while, so it's interesting that this is getting good grades (from the few people I see commenting on it).

not sure which album you're referring to, but the two that i have in constant rotation are ('95s?) "reclamando nuestro espacio" (has anhelo and hoy aprendi on it) and a recent, possibly unofficial compilation "lo nuevo y lo mejor" which has most of "buscame" on it, has se acabo el amor, me nego, persona ideal, aquel lugar.

i'm not the best judge of salsa through, only having gotten into it about 2 years ago. i've just been burning through whatever i come across on my download feeds. i only got sick of large doses of victor manuelle / overly vocal stuff this past year, (might even have been referencing him earlier in this thread).

Sellos de mi ADN: http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/23836.10?Ptcnc4D6;;17139

Isn't that new, or is it partially a compilation?

I don't necessarily mind vocalist-oriented salsa at all, myself.

oh, yeah i recall checking that out a few months back but wasn't feeling it, should probably give it another chance. i don't recall how well amiga mia holds up to orquesta la fuga's version, assuming they're the same, i'm wondering.

I don't know.

(Don't know the song.)

I do kind of like these guys. Maybe I need to see them live (easier said than done):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTDfLY8o-Bc

A version of this appears on the album.

(the new album)

I think that song might be more fun to sing/sing along with than to listen to, in general. (See Eddie Murphy.)