Does anybody up in here give two hoots in hell for Cafe' Tacuba?

I know Dimension 5 is a fan.

they have some decent stuff. I only have one album and I like maybe 2/3rds of it - the more metal-ish stuff leaves me cold.

they're hardly unknown in the states tho, I believe they opened for Beck on one tour...?

they're hardly unknown in the states tho, I believe they opened for Beck on one tour...?

Yeah, they did and there's a mention of that in the Times article. They're known in the states because there are a lot of Mexicans in the states. The first time I saw them was during the Reves/Yosoy tour and I figured I'd be pretty much all alone in the old Cotton Club in Atlanta. Shows you what I know--the place was absolutely mobbed with Latinos whose girls were sitting on their shoulders singing every word of every song, a mosh pit raging, Jesus, it was chaos and that record is anything but the kind of record you'd mosh to. They're just stellar performers.

I've got Cuatro Caminos, and I listen to it a few times a year. I really dig it, it's a great album, and definitely one that really grew on me the more I listened to it. I think I first heard about them after seeing a video for "Eres" (which is a remarkably Radiohead-sounding track, but most of their stuff doesn't really sound like this, I even think they used a different singer for it) when I was studying abroad in Chile back in college. I've not heard any of their other stuff, but CC is really good.

From the "whirled music thread 2007"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/arts/music/14kun.html?pagewanted=1&ref=arts

Nice Josh Kun interview/feature in the Sunday NY Times on Cafe Tacuba and their new cd SiNo. It supposely has a classic rock feel.

“Classic rock is by far the biggest influence on the new songs,” said Joselo Rangel, the lead guitarist. “Yet we know that by running it through the filter of four Mexicans who are all around 40 years old and who’ve spent 18 years playing everything from sones huastecos to technopunk, the result would be something pretty original.”

-- curmudgeon, Sunday, 14 October 2007 14:10 (5 days ago) Link

Chuck Eddy and I and others have discussed them there and on prior year whirled music threads I think.

I'm looking forward to their return appearance in DC in November.

>don't give interviews in English

They most certainly do. I interviewed the singer and bassist, in English, for the upcoming all-Latin-music issue of Global Rhythm. I love everything from the debut through Vale Callampa, but Cuatro Caminos and the new one really leave me cold. All the fun seems to have been sucked out of their music; they now make limp-wristed psych-pop for fans of the Flaming Lips, Neutral Milk Hotel, etc., just in Spanish. But yeah, Reves/Yosoy is one of the greatest records of the '90s, easy. And they're still tremendous live; I saw them at BB King's in NYC in 2002 and again at Central Park Summerstage this year, and they totally tear it up.

This isn't just the best Café Tacuba album, or the best Rock Latino disc of the year; it may be the best rock record of 2007, period.

-- Achy Obejas in the Washington Post Tuesday, October 16, 2007; Page C05

I have not heard it yet but intend to, and decide myself. Phil, I think Chuck E. does not like their recent stuff as much either.

greg kot is a big fan locally

I thought their performance with Incubus during the '05 Latin Grammys kicked ass, but I think the only recording I've heard is Cuatro Caminos, which didn't make much of an impression on me.

I've said it before
but live disc Un Viaje
is the holy shit

I like them just fine
but I'm not a groupie fiend
or anything, dang.

last time I saw them (here in Monterrey, Mexico) they had a big audience in this open air concert, and it was quite fun (their 90's hits and even the new ballads). but their records have become quite dull... adult alternative music or cubicle indie. but yeah, go see them live :)

I'm digging "Volver a Comenzar," from the new one.

I've been a fan for a decade, but keep missing them live. They started 15 minuts after TVOTR did at Lollapalooza, but by the time I waded through the sea of mud (that smelled like pee) and people, they were done.

First impression of new album isn't much of an impression. Need to give it a real listen soon. CC was one of the year's best.

There's some other thread I was trying to find that has some discussion of Sino on it.

I'm a big Tacvbos fan, and have been since Re. (I never got Vale Callampa, though.) My favorite record of theirs is still probably their twisted covers EP, Avalancha de Exitos. One of the things I love about them is that they really come across as a different band on every record, although there's lots of things that unify their work across the years. They have achieved that special artistic position where they really have the attention of enough people that they can take risks and use irony without worrying about their brand integrity. I also really love that they are that rarest of aves in the current world: an actual band whose work is the product of what seems like real collaboration.

They are stupendous live -- very pro, very high-energy. I saw them here a couple of years ago in a largish club jammed with Mexican kids. My wife, who doesn't like the records much at all, was completely won over.

I would never compare them to Dave Matthews Band -- perish the thought! (And I'm not even such a DMB hater.) My touchstones would be R.E.M. (for the hippie artiness and philosophical bent), Wilco (for the constant re-invention and folk-punk roots), and The Clash (for the politics and breadth of taste and style, and also for whom they pretty clearly wanted to be when they started).

All that said, I'm having trouble with Sino. Sometimes it seems like a tribute album to late, Who-Are-You? Who (well, there's a lot of Who's Next in there, too, but I don't worship Who's Next much), and Duran Duran. It's enormously, deliberately slick. Lots of pretty harmonies, lots of people other than Reuben singing lead. Very abstract, often preachy lyrics. I'm just not loving it in the way that I've loved every other record of theirs -- absolutely including Cuatro Caminos -- right out of the box.

I was in Mexico city 2 weeks ago and saw the cafe they were named after. Still haven't heard their music though.

yeah the restaurant and the band both rule

love their stuff, especially the first album "re" and the song "ingrata" -- that was the first song i heard from them and i LOVED it

"avalancha de exitos" is pretty good too, though not as crazy

i haven't heard so much lately but i've always had a soft spot for them

whoa never realizes "re" wasn't their first record - i will have to track down the eponymous debut

Their two hour DC show last night had some flaws but was mostly alot of fun. The new cd, Sino, is growing on me. They did about six songs from it.

i am a fan of this band

Some of their 'fun' older ska-punk numbers sound samey to me, but I like "Las Flores," alot--pop chorus has more than just Albarran's nasal snarled vocals. My fave Sino cuts have pop melodies and/or feature new wavey and dance aspects not just 'classic rock' homages or Radiohead meets Flaming Lips touches.

love their stuff, especially the first album "re" and the song "ingrata" -- that was the first song i heard from them and i LOVED it
I heard that song on the radio in Chile once and it's indelibly stuck in my head forever.

Sino has been growing on me, too. I'm not in love with it or anything, but it's hard to deny the classic rock and New Wave hooks, or the preachy but engaging lyrics.

I havent' listened to Sino but I'm curious: exactly what kind of 'classic rock' is it influenced by?

Ok, forget about that. I should've just read the NY Times link before asking.

New album out in October: El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco (translation: The Object Formerly Called An Album). They're coming around on tour in the next few weeks, too. I haven't seen them live in years, am tempted to revisit.

i bet the live show is killer!

I wonder if they're gonna add dates to their US tour? NYC is the only East Coast location; other dates are in California, Texas and Vegas.

I've been surprisingly let down by the group the two times I've seen them, given their reputation.

I've been surprisingly let down by the group the two times I've seen them, given their reputation.

They were much better in 2002 than 2007, but that was a club gig vs. an outdoor concert. I bet the Irving Plaza show will rule.

Yes, I'm quite fond of Cafe Tacuba. Their 'Re' album is one of my favourite foreign-language releases.

Listening to their October 2012 release for the first time now: El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco (translation: The Object Formerly Called An Album

Like some of it so far (just 4 songs in). They're using a drum machine again

I have it (bought it at Target) but haven't listened to it yet - other stuff got in the way. Might try to take it in over the four-day weekend.

"1-2-3" on the new album sounds like Teenage Dream-era Katy Perry

I wrote about them, and the new album, back in May. I say in the piece that it's interesting to me that, like ZZ Top or Rush or Radiohead, they've gone their whole career without a membership change, and I think that's had a big impact on the music.

I've seen them three times live and they are always amazing. Re, Avalancha de Exitos and Reves Yo Soy might just be amongst the best rock albums to ever come out of Mexico.

they've kind of lost me since Reves tho... the thing I loved about them was how they combined ska/punk attitude with with a peculiar sound rooted on Mexican music but the punk attitude is now gone and so is the Mexican sound for the most part... nowadays they sound like another indie band. They're still brilliant musicians and make fantastic live shows but they haven't made a song that really interested me in their past albums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_bMnU9aOrA

"arboles frutales" (1999)

My wife is a big fan. She just saw them a few weeks ago (I’ve seen them w her as well)

I remember this clip debuting – avalancha de éxitos was such a huge thing, even in Brazil they had some hype attached, so there was a lot of excitement for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGkXVZ-J5A8

I love it – a weird Stepping Out/Cure-ish song, and such pretty lyrics as well...

Si los simios hicieran música
Si los reptiles cantaran bajo tu ventana
Coplas de su propia inspiración
Entonces, ¿dónde quedo yo?

Si los árboles lloraran, si se pudieran mover
Si la lluvia reprochara el momento de caer
Si el desierto hiciera versos y en pedazos al calor
Si el calor se detestara y viajara a otra región
Entonces, ¿dónde quedo yo?

Conquisto a la Tierra, domino a la Luna
Descubrí el fuego y los siete mares

Si los árboles lloraran, si se pudieran mover
Si la lluvia reprochara el momento de caer
Si el desierto hiciera versos y en pedazos al calor
Si el calor se detestara y viajara a otra región
Entonces, ¿dónde quedo yo?

Conquisto a la Tierra, domino a la Luna
Descubrí el fuego y los siete mares

Porque, ¿quién comanda y jala este vagón?
¿Quién conduce el gran locomotor?
Porque, ¿quién comanda y jala este barco?
¿Quién escribe de la evolución?

¿Quién conduce el gran locomotor?

I've just been dipping back into their catalog, as well as Julieta Venegas (two of the Tacubas produced her debut IIRC), Natalia Lafourcade, and Maldita Vecindad.

I used to love the first two Julieta Venegas albums, kind of lost track of her after that. Cafe Tacuba, too, for that matter, and a bunch of the so-called rock en espanol crew. Like Aterciopelados.

My wife’s into Aterciopelados, too… we saw them (or maybe just her?) do an acoustic thing a few years back.

I used to listen to them too and saw Venegas live several times and Tacuba once .

No me digas que me quieres

the vale callampa ep from 2002 is maybe my favorite thing they ever did. i posted on 77 about it a while back, but i really have a hard time with "olor a gas." i'm not quite sure why i hear it as such a sad, poignant song. but goddamn, it breaks my heart and i want more every time i hear it. such a unique, striking tune. anyway, the ep is four songs that all go off into separate directions and i love it so much. the more i dig into their later catalogue, the more i love these guys.