Although most of the members of percussionist troupe Novalima danced during the group’s Black Cat show last week, it was a guy with thick blue-rimmed glasses sitting on a box who managed to captivate the audience.

It was no ordinary box, though—it was a cajón, the square wooden instrument that provides a thunderous boom and drives Novalima’s pulsating rhythms. The man on the box was master percussionist Juan “Cotito” Medrano, who was stellar during his first ever D.C. performance. He dazzled the audience with his precise timing, his hands a blur as they struck the cajón with incredible speed. It’s easy to see why Medrano won a Grammy while playing cajonero for global music star Susana Baca. He now brings his experience and expertise with Afro-Peruvian percussion instruments to Novalima, which is Spanish for “new” (Nova) and “Lima,” the capital of Peru.

Read More “Novalima @ Black Cat” »

Residente of Calle 13

Many established and up-and-coming artists in cumbia, rock, electronica, funk, soul, reggae, hip-hop, and various other  genres attended the 10th Annual Latin Alternative Music Conference, which took place July 7-11 at New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel.

While most of the artists at the LAMC spent their days in the hotel mingling with record executives, the nights were another matter, with performances at  S.O.B.’s, Bowery Ballroom, Prospect Park Bandshell, and a conference-closing  Central Park SummerStage show, featuring Latin hip-hop superstars Calle 13.

Washington City Paper was there to document the sights and sounds that captivated over 10,000 concert-goers , and to talk to many of the artists in attendance about their future projects and upcoming D.C.-area shows.

Read More “Latin Alternative Music Conference Wrap-Up” »

Anthony Hamilton is a trooper. While many performers have canceled performances because of illness or fatigue, Hamilton hobbled on one leg for the majority of his soulful 45-minute set played to a sold-out crowd at D.A.R. Constitution Hall on Friday evening.

Read More “Photos: Anthony Hamilton and Musiq @ Constitution Hall” »

Ximena Sariñana—a jazz-pop sensation in her native Mexico—performed a soulful set at the 9:30 club earlier this week. She sang exclusively in Spanish, but charmed the crowd between songs, speaking in English and explaining what each upcoming song was about and what it meant to her.

Read More “Photos: Ximena Sariñana @ the 9:30 Club” »

It was appropriate that Señor Flavio, co-writer of most of Fabulosos Cadillacs’ hits, teased the sold-out crowd at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom on Sunday night by pretending his bass guitar was a rifle. Near the end of the group’s nearly two hour set, Flavio Cianciaurlo pointed the instrument at the audience, as if to say, “Bang! We just did a great show.”

Read More “Photos: Los Fabulosos Cadillacs @ Hammerstein Ballroom” »

The Flight of the Conchords can barely make ends meet. It must be hard to make rent when your genre’s as obscure as “obscure guitar-based digi-bongo a cappella-rap-funk-comedy-folk” (apparently so popular in New Zealand that FOTC is only fourth best at it there). It certainly doesn’t help when your dimwit of a band manager—Murray Hewitt—refuses to book you nighttime gigs because New York City is too dangerous (“you could be murdered or even ridiculed”); instead the band plays in aquariums, libraries, expos, and as Simon & Garfunkel impersonators in a gig where they compete against Elton John and Bono impersonators..

Now that the Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are about to release a new album and have embarked on a U.S. Tour (including a stop in D.C. on April 13 at DAR Constitution Hall), let’s take a look back at the best songs (open to debate!) of the recently second completed season.
Read More “Sugalumps & Epileptic Dogs:
Flight of the Conchords’ Top 10 Songs from the 2009 Season” »

La Luz Del Ritmo
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Nacional Records

What’s life like without breathing? It’s a metaphor Latin rock legends Los Fabulosos Cadillacs have used in song to describe lost love. It’s also a feeling familiar to LFC’s fans, who’ve been holding their collective breath for nearly a decade waiting for a new album from the group.

The band literally introduced ska to a new generation of rockers in their native Argentina in the late 1980s, and became Latin American stars following 1995’s “Matador,” which went on to become MTV Latinoamérica’s No. 2 song of all-time—right behind Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” But just as their ascent to international fame started to take shape, Fabulosos went their separate ways. and never so much as hinted at a reunion.

But a few months ago, fans began to see the light, or, more specifically, “La Luz del Ritmo,” when the new single leaked online and the imminent global reunion tour, including four U.S. stops, became official. While the album is more like an EP—five new tracks combined with two covers and a few remixes—it does provide a glimpse into the Fabulosos’ work in the new millennium. Rather than try something completely new, LFC is sticking to their time-tested formula of a head-bopping, crowd-pleasing fusion of ska, rock, tropical sounds, punk, reggae and traditional Latin rhythms.

Read More “Review: Los Fabulosos Cadillac’s La Luz Del Ritmo” »

It’s been an interesting year in music: Latin urban music wars, an emo-turned-Latin pop star, evolution of an R&B crooner, a hip-hop Renaissance, the continuation of the “outernational” movement, and Kiwis wooing the ladies. One of the most diverse Top 10 list—a little something hopefully most can enjoy. I certainly have…

1.

Los de Atras Vienen Conmigo, Calle 13 (Sony International)

Calle 13 have the gusto and fortitude to give the world of Latin urban music a shot in the arm, mixing electic beats with cheeky Spanglish lyrics, and dismissing their competition (particularly reggeaton acts) as tourists in their genre.

2.

MTV Unplugged, Julieta Venegas (Sony International)

An accidental pop-rock star after toiling as an emo rocker in the ’90s, Venegas has spent this decade playing the joyful, universally appealing norteño music of her native Mexico.
Read More “2008: Latin Urban Music Wars, Hip-Hop Renaissance, and Digi-Bongo-A Cappella-Funk-Comedy-Folk” »