Quien Maneja Mi Barca-Remedios Amaya, 1983 No, she is not singing out of tune!

Remedios Amaya is one of the most popular and successful of the current Flamenco artists. Her performance at Eurovision was a monumental achievement for the Gitanos of Spain, as they were representing the whole country in this famous and super popular European song competition. (It would be the same as if a Chicano represented the U.S.) I love how despite the glitz and glamor of the show, she sings barefoot, recognizing her Gitano roots. Remedios singing Flamenco in her younger years.

Se Tiene Que Ir-Tijeritas

I don’t know much about Tijeritas except that he is extremely popular in Spain. I came across the video while doing my weekly Youtube searches for Flamenco videos. This song has a certain charm (a song about leaving his mother) and his look is best explained by this comment left on his video “Que bueno el tijeritas! …y ese look garrulo los 80 calcetines blancos con mocasines, pantalones elasticos como los heavys,jersey enorme, que gracia me ha hecho, lo que monto en el diario eso por la pasta o por popularidad le saquen no tenia ni pies ni cabeza.” A more Flamenco-ish Tijerita song.

I know not everyone’s gonna enjoy this week’s video selections and to be honest, that’s why I picked them. I often like music that makes no sense, that’s neither interesting nor cool but I’ve never cared about such things. However, I think these two videos do happen to be very interesting as they both represent an attempt at pop music with a Flamenco sensibility. It’s strange that on this blog I haven’t discussed much my love and study of Flamenco, mostly because I’ve kept the discussion over on my other site for :dos lunares. More (authentic) Flamenco coming soon!

Hawkeye and Firebird on Chic-A-Go-Go

Monotrona is a performance art project, best explained in this record review from the Ink 19 site.

Monotrona
Hawkeye And Firebird
Menlo Park

I first saw Monotrona lip-synching “Cadillac Fantasy” on public access show Chic-A-Go-Go a few years ago, and then like now, it was easy to conclude one thing: Like kim chee, Monotrona is one of those things that polarizes people. She sings in what appears to be phonetic Korean, over classic game soundtrack samples from the Commodore 64. There is a story attached to this — “Crime-Fighting is Fun and Easy!” — so I suppose it’s a sort of concept album but frankly, if some girl singing phonetic Korean over C64 bleeps and blorps hasn’t got you running for the hills or leaning in for a closer look, it’s not worth going into it. The Web site should provide plenty of entertainment while you wait for your copy to arrive.
Menlo Park: http://www.menloparkrecordings.com
Monotrona: http://www.monotrona.tv

“Cute” as the fake Korean chick might be, she is totally upstaged in this performance by the little girl in pink. Little girl in pink takes Hawkeye’s ironic, disjointed dance moves and makes them her own, finding rhythm where there was none and injecting sincerity into a performance I might otherwise roll my eyes at. Little girl in pink’s grand finale dance moves cannot be missed.

Excerpt from The Punk Years

I was planning to write this big long thing about X-Ray Spex but this documentary should explain why they are one of my all time favorite bands. I first heard “Oh Bondage, Up Yours” (a feminist critique of bondage, by the way) when I was 13 and the music totally captivated me. Drawing on the Situationists, the lead singer, Poly Styrene was decades ahead of her time with her critiques of consumerism and her eco-consciousness. Even to this day, there are very few bands whose lyrics are as political and witty. Also, she was one of the first punk rock women of color, very important to me when I was young, as I saw a little of myself in her. I used to be so into them that I had a crush on a guy in high school just because he was the only person I knew that owned an X-Ray Spex t-shirt. The saxophones, the cracking of Poly’s voice, the sing-a-long melodies are all small auditory treasures I continue to enjoy again and again!

Live at the Hope & Anchor, part one (documentary by British television)

Live at the Hope & Anchor, part two

La Mentira-Javier Solis

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine about music, when I made the most stupid remark ever. I said, “I don’t like romantic music.” I regretted it as soon as I said it. I absolutely love Boleros, music that can only be described as romantic. I love Flamenco, heart-wrenching melodramatic Italian arias, Kings of Convenience, Bossa Nova and I love this song! It’s one of my mom’s favorites and she had me sing it on her new karaoke machine the other day (much more fun that it sounds!). I’m familiar with the tune but it wasn’t until I actually attempted to sing it that I realized what a beautiful piece of music it is, very different than other Musica Romantica melodies. Javier Solis’ interpretation is my favorite.
Continue reading →

WILD COMBINATION, A portrait of Arthur Russell

Bits of songs float – through the radio, at parties of people who I don’t know very well, in ethnic restaurants while I sit eating, through open windows of cars driving by, and I listen. Sometimes I become so immediately enamored with the song, that I will do anything to discover it’s name or the artist. Other times, like in the case of Rita Mitsouko, I wait 20 years for this information. Luckily for me, Arthur Russell’s Instrumentals 1974-Vol 1 (please click to listen) was immediately findable thanks to internet sleuthing skills.
There are a few songs, like Instrumentals that stir my soul, that resonate in that place in me where music goes to be enjoyed. One day I’ll make a list of these songs and play them one after one until the harmonious nature of the melody and whatever it is that makes me tick, combine into one long joyful audio experience.
A little on Arthur Russell:
He was one of those genius musicians who cultivated their art in the heady days of 1970s New York. Like many of his peers, he passed away young but fortunately, his amazing music lives on. The clip above is from a new documentary of his life and work.

Jean Claude Vannier – L’Enfant La Mouche Et Les Allumettes

I’ve enjoyed this clip for quite awhile now but with passing of Yves Saint Laurent, I thought this week would be an appropriate time to share it.

Bonus + favor

I’ve included as a bonus my favorite Jean Claude Vannier song, Danse des Mouches noires Gardes du Roi. Like a lot of other music of this genre and time period (the early 70’s) the song features a sort of honky tonk piano playing style. This style of piano showed up again, 20 years later in a lot of house music. Does anyone know if this kind of playing has a particular name?
Danse des Mouches Noires Gardes