As we reach the end of the 2000s, it’s time for the retro nostalgia to begin for the previous decade. Isn’t that how it works? Well, I thought I’d kick it off with some of my favorite songs of the 90s.

Manchild-Neneh Cherry

Neneh Cherry is one of those artists who quietly influenced popular music and culture without receiving her due credit. There would be no M.I.A. without Neneh Cherry. Cherry’s album Homebrew was one of those records I listened to when nothing else seemed to satiate my musical hunger but it’s this song, Manchild from her first album Raw Like Sushi that is among my all time favorites. By the way, there’s a connection to last week’s favorite videos, Cherry (her step-dad is Jazz musician Don Cherry) collaborated musically with Ari Up of The Slits and was even a member of the band at one time. [BTW, I know I’m cheating, this song came out in 1989 but it’s sooo 90s]
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These two videos capture what I love most about Flamenco: the visceral emotion, the interconnectedness of everyone involved (not just the performers) and the history that is passed on through every letra, every gesture of the hands and pick of the guitar strings. The artists in these clips are not performing Flamenco, they are Flamenco. Flamenco puro is able to move me like nothing else – it’s like, the very essence of my being reverberates and responds to the music. I know this may sound cheesy but it is completely true.

The first is of Lole Montoya and her mother La Negra singing for Spanish television. In the time soon after this recording was made, Lola would join up with her partner Manuel Molina to create some of the most exciting Flamenco of the 70s, a fusion of traditional Flamenco rooted in compas and flamenco puro and mixed with Arabic and rock elements. Lole’s Arabic influences come from her youth spent living in North Africa with her Gitano family. The above video clip is one of the first documented forays into her Arabic influenced Flamenco, and I think it’s absolutely captivating. It is her voice that first pulled me into my journey of Flamenco discoveries and she remains one of my favorite cantaoras.

If there was a Flamenco heaven it would look a little like this clip. A room full of the best Flamenco artists joined together for a good-natured juerga. These people are my inspiration and the reason why I’ve devoted so much time and energy studying this art form. This little bit of celestial Flamenco could not be complete without Camaron de la Isla, one of the most innovative and talented Flamenco cantaores of this lifetime. Camaron is the one artist that can actually transmit duende through recordings (duende is an overused term to describe the extra sensory feelings that can be transmitted through Flamenco). What’s more intriguing about this clip is the amorous tension between Carmelilla Montoya (the dancer) and Camaron. The way she smiles, the way he smiles…ay!

A special treat: This tune, Sangre Gitana y Morena by Lole y Manuel uses some of the same Arabic letras taught to Lole by her mother in the clip above.

[audio:https://chimatli.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/flamenco-lole-y-manuel-el-origen-de-una-leyenda-sangre-gitana-y-mora.mp3]

Robespierre-Offlaga Disco Pax

I’ve been reading and obsessed with the book The Savage Detectives and this song sort of captures the spirit of the book in a frenetic way.

(translation from a youtube comment with minor changes by me)

I’ve made my second grade exam in 1975
socialism was like the universe:in expansion
the teacher asked me of Max Robespierre
I told her that Jacobins were right despite the terror
the French Revolution was right indeed
She made no more questions
But we also have many remembrances of that little old world fogazzaro
The 300 hundred points Space Invaders spaceship
Enrico Berlinguer on TV
The Olympic winnings of Alberto Juan Torena in the name
of the Cuban revolution

The Sandinista power in Nicaragua
The cathechist who voted for Pannella
The friends who went from smoking marlboro to heroin (and then they say “the light drugs!”)
Zora’s comic porn
and the prince without return
The divorce referendum
and we didn’t understand why if ‘NO’ would have won the divorce, if it had been ‘YES,’ it wouldn’t

Anna Oxa at San Remo’s festival dressed like a London punk
The Van Halen
The first hand job
My neighbour, a transvestite called Lola, which my mum used to call Antonio to our major astonishment
Jarmila Kratochivilova
the Toblerone
anybody knows why
A slogan of Reggiana’s Ultras after the American raid on Tripoli in the eighties-it said “Thanks Reagan! Bomb Parma for us!”
And then our fantastic toponomastic
Karl Marx street…
(list of revolutionary street names follows…)

Boring Lifestyle-Twisted Charm

It’s nice to hear a band like Twisted Charm again. Fun music with a bit of a message. This new-ish song is rooted in the early 80s punk pop vein with saxophones reminiscent of X-Ray Spex (the band is a big fan of Sparks, surprise, suprise!). It’s a kinda modern day version of The Specials Too Much, Too Young. The tune fits in perfectly with my mood lately and reflects my lamentable attempts at staving off the predictability of everyday life. Advice sage says: More drunken dinner parties and intense readings of radical literature are the cure!

Se Va Covadonga-Dolores Vargas

As much as I appreciate the intensity and complexity of Cante Jondo and other Flamenco, there is a special place in my heart for Rumba Flamenca. In particular, I find 60s/70s rumbas irresistible! I should be sleeping and prepare myself for a long day of work tomorrow and yet, I’m up late listening to rumbas and watching awesome clips like Dolores Vargas’ “Se Va Covadonga.” Despite the impending day of work and the miserable anticipation that goes with it, this video made me cheery for at least a few minutes. Happy holidays!
Another great rumba by Dolores Vargas here.