Dandy Warhols

Dandy Warhols
Fillmore, May 26th
“This Machine”
Release Date: April 24, 2012
The End Records

Sent several versions to Creative Loafing. God knows what they wanted.
(See link below, if necessary)




One of the best bands of the last decade (or two) has a new album. The Dandy Warhol’s appear Saturday, May 26 at the Fillmore in Charlotte, supporting new album “This Machine.” After 18 years together these Portland bohos are getting older and their new music casts an ironic, sarcastic, arch overview of life as they see it. Known for their hook filled, psychedelic guitar fueled thud, the Dandy’s created masterpieces like “Bohemian Like You”, “Not If You Were the Last Junkie On Earth” and “The Creep Out”. “This Machine”, hooky as ever, is somewhat stripped down but loaded with tunes, sudden turns and pleasant surprises.

Coming from Portland, the band oozes hipster cred. Band members and founders are Courtney Taylor-Taylor vocals and guitar and include fellow guitarist Pete Holmstrom, Zia McCabe on keys and joining the band a bit later, drummer Brent DeBoer.

It’s been said, the band started because their pals, “Needed music to drink to.” Speaking with guitarist Pete Holmstrom from his hometown of Portland, Pete said, “I take issue with that. That’s not quite right. It’s to meet other people to drink with. You know, people with similar musical tastes.” And how has it worked for them? “Yeah, still holds true.”

The new album “This Machine”, their eighth, in reality should have been called the “Dandy’s Come Down” because they really do. “Yes, we’re getting older”, Pete says. This from a group not afraid to keep its basic sound and style but comfortably experiments with new themes and lyrics. As an example the band does a heavy cover of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons” featuring Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin on baritone sax, sounding like Morphine and Tennessee Ernie playing a San Francisco dive.

A song like “Rest Your Head” links to their earlier sounds but this album is a departure in that the songs have a more meditative, thoughtful feel. Tunes like “Autumn Carnival” and “Sad Vacation’ no more morose than their earlier “Last Junkie” tunes or “Nietzsche”, where they sang "I want a girl that stays dead, won’t play dead.” There are just more of them than before. Even a tune like “Enjoy Yourself” morphs into the ironic and cynical “Enjoy Your Health.” Offsetting these downers are up-tempo psychedelic blazers, “SETI vs. the Wow! Signal” and the playful electronic “Alternative Power to the People.”

Wearing their influences on their sleeves can be wearisome. But influences like Lou Reed and Ride - we can live with them. Maybe Tennessee Ernie Ford is a stretch but irony and originality works for me. Spiritualized, Nirvana and Neil Young? All positives but it really depends on the listener.

The Dandy’s created masterpieces like “Bohemian Like You,” “Boys Better” and “Horse Pills.” This one “This Machine,” has more thought and less thump, though still rocks. It’s leaner and not as strong as their early classics but still a keeper and still packs an ironic, post-modern punch. Hell, according to Courtney Taylor-Taylor they almost named it “The Pastor of Muppets”, “Shitty Shitty Band Band” or “Whirled Piece”. Be thankful for the little things.

http://clclt.com/charlotte/cd-review-dandy-warhols-this-machine/Content?oid=2728888

Chicha Libre - new one, their third

July 03, 2012Music» CD Review

CD Review: Chicha Libre's Canibalismo

Barbes; Release date: May 8, 2012

by Lew Herman

Chicha music is like the beverage it was named for — the fermented drink of choice in Bolivia and Peru, made from corn and saliva (yes, you read that correctly) for extra kick, though modern times require a more sanitary process. Chicha music (musica chicha) is the sound created by indigenous Peruvian mountain inhabitants who moved to more modern cities. It preserves the original Incan melody lines but adds electronics, cheesy keyboards and newfound cumbia beats — for extra kick.

This new release is from Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Chicha Libre, a band consisting of two Americans, two French dudes, a Venezuelan and a Mexican. That may be a far cry from Lima, but the musicians are masters of their craft and offer an ear-pleasing variety of Peruvian cumbia. The songs come off as revisionist yet inspired and updated when necessary, and the players preserve the music's elemental nature. Aside from that, it's a damn good listen and also music you can dance to.

Chicha Libre takes Peruvian highland melodies, called huaynos, and adds surf guitar, hints of psychedelia, cumbia beats and the cheesiest Farfisa you've never heard. Tunes are mostly instrumental, with some vocals coming as an afterthought. Standout songs are opener "La Plata", the catchy "Lupita en la Selva y el Doctor" (Lupe in the Jungle and the Doctor) and the sultry "L'Age d'Or." The band also includes an over-the-top cover of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries."

http://clclt.com/charlotte/cd-review-chicha-libres-canibalismo/Content?oid=2760868

Wig out to:

http://pmcradio.org/show_plaza_mildew.html

Plaza Mildew
w/ Lew Herman
Monday @ 11:30am
All times are EST/GMT-5

Rock, roots n' rhythm. Anything from accordions to zydeco, from Bonzo Dog Band to psychedelic cumbias, doo-wop to hip-hop. Music that bites!

Soundtrack: Hunger Games

The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond

Universal; Release date: March 20, 2012

This is the spooky soundtrack to Hunger Games, the long-awaited, highly hyped film based on the wildly popular tween book trilogy. Music is assembled by T Bone Burnett, the same person who put together soundtracks for O Brother Where Art Thou, Cold Mountain, Big Lebowski and I Walk the Line. Rest assured, Burnett has perfect pitch when it comes to selecting tunes matching either the backwoodsy, Appalachian District 12 or the evil, futuristic, artifice-ridden Capitol.

Noteworthy is Arcade Fire's chilling "Abraham's Daughter" nailing the Capitol with a stark, creepy anthem replete with ghostly vocals that croon, "The angel cried for the slaughter." On the country side, you can't ignore the Pistol Annies' "Run Daddy Run" ("Can you hear, the devil drawing near, like a bullet from a gun") capturing the D12/O Brother vibe, banjo plink and all. The other cuts are descriptive, desperate tunes that complement, explain and amplify the plot. If a picture's worth a thousand words, these songs represent thousands.

The tracks take dead aim at conventional, mainstream, teen demographics (two Taylor Swift cuts and Maroon 5), yet, like the film, aim beyond the shopping malls and seek a more discerning audience. Besides Arcade Fire and the Pistol Annies, you also get the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the Civil Wars, Neko Case and the Decemberists. While the lullabies may lull you, a song like Taylor Swift's "Safe And Sound" haunts you as the soundtrack scores a bull's-eye, not with a bow and arrow, but with your heart.

Lew Herman
http://clclt.com/charlotte/cd-review-the-hunger-games-songs-from-district-12-and-beyond/Content?oid=2662146

New Folk, Old Folk

Review: Live from the Old Town School of Folk Music by Lew Herman

Old Town School; Release date: Dec. 13, 2011

One-hundred-and-twenty-seven cuts here — a live digital box set — featuring the greatest names in folk music is served up as a fundraiser for Chicago's renowned Old Town School of Folk Music. Everyone's here, from Pete Seeger to Jean Ritchie. Songwise this is a huge sourcebook from "Stewball" to the "Frog's Wedding," from "Methodist Pie" to "Maple Syrup Time." The set list is astoundingly thorough with surprises galore.

Where else you gonna find Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, the Mekons' Jon Langford, even Peter Case? Old standbys like Utah Phillips and Malvina Reynolds are represented as is Joan Baez doing a gorgeous version of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." I loved hearing Rambling Jack Elliott, a couple of Doc Watson specials and even three acoustic tunes by Steve Earle. A personal favorite is Steve Goodman's rousing version of "The Twentieth Century is Almost Over."

On the negative side, aside from Bruce Molsky and Tim O'Brien, hardly any trad string bands are represented, nor did I hear North Carolina's Elizabeth Cotten. There were too many hackneyed yawners, like "The Cuckoo," "Home on the Range," "Polly Wolly Doodle," "Wake Up Little Sparrow," "Red River Valley" and too many Odetta cuts. But there's plenty to like — or loathe — depending on your tastes. There's Donovan doing "Mellow Yellow" and "Colours," Taj Mahal when he was fresh, Dan Hicks, John Hartford, Merle Travis, a veritable who's who of the folk world. Here's a musical gold mine, suitable for today's difficult and desperate times.

http://clclt.com/charlotte/cd-review-live-from-the-old-town-school-of-folk-music/Content?oid=2580624

Manu Chao backstage, Charlotte, North Carolina, September 2011.

Manu Chao - in Charlotte, North Carolina - first time ever

Manu Chao hits the East Coast for the first time by Lew Herman

THRASH UNREAL: Manu Chao

Manu Chao $33. Sept. 7. 8 p.m. The Fillmore Charlotte.
http://www.fillmorecharlottenc.com/

Multilingual, multicultural and multitalented, Manu Chao is as self-assured, amiable and charming as you would imagine. He's also a rebel, a vagabond and the driving force behind 20 years of music called Latin Alternative. In fact, he helped create it before it was so named.

It's likely you've never seen him perform, as this tour is his first time in Charlotte. "How's the weather in Charlotte this time of year?" he asks. Speaking with him recently via a connection between Charlotte, Paris and Barcelona, he's surprisingly interested in Charlotte, asking nearly more questions than me. "How's the music scene? What kind of music's there?" As I edged in a question about his tour, he explains, "It's an opportunity for me. I've only been on the West Coast [of the U.S.]. Never been up the East Coast. It's a new place — first time there — in Charlotte [and Atlanta]. I want to see and know the people."

Starting as a busker and a punk — heavily influenced by the Clash and Bob Marley — his first well-known group was Mano Negra, named after Spanish anarchists. Growing up in France — his parents were exiled there from Spain's fascist dictatorship — explains his singing in Spanish and French. Actually, he sings in seven languages, English as well as Arabic and several more exotic tongues.

After Mano Negra broke up, Chao continued under his own name, improving his sound as the years went by. Instead of a jarring, angular style, he moved in the direction of street music and found sounds from around the world, picking up on music and rhythms from North Africa, Jamaica, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. His band, the Radio Bemba Sound System, named for Castro's early underground radio, combines street smarts with distinctive arrangements. On recordings, he's thoughtful and mellow, while live the sound system gallops into overdrive with double-time, fist-thumping thrash.

He's sold recordings in the millions, mainly through word of mouth, played for audiences of up to 100,000 and has penned a number of classics. On "Clandestino" he sings, "My fate is to keep running, because I don't have any papers" — alarmingly similar to his own life. He won't lend his name to commercials, he totes his own bags — a true poet of the people. "We're touring because we love touring", he tells me. "We're a family. We like being on the road. It makes us happy. I'm happy to still be inspired." Asked where he lives, he responds, "I live in Barcelona in Catalonia [Spain]. My family lives in Brazil." Explaining his day at home, "We just played in a little club in Barcelona. Sure, we would do that on our tour."

Chao doesn't stop playing when the concert's over. After shows he's been known to walk the streets; in Rio and Sao Paulo he hung with the child prostitutes, in Buenos Aires he recorded with patients at the Colifata Psychiatric Hospital. "They have so much lucidity," he said in an earlier interview. "Very poetic."

Manu Chao is not the most prolific artist, often recycling his own songs and offering releases years apart. He makes up for that in consistency and quality. His most recent release is the double live CD/DVD Baionarena named for the live concert venue in France.

Earlier, essential recordings are La Radiolina and before that Proxima Estacion: Esperanza ("Next Stop: Hope") named for the Madrid metro station. And before that, his classic Clandestino. Standout tunes are "King of Bongo," "Rainin' in Paradize," "Me Llaman Calle," "Mr. Bobby," "Welcome to Tijuana," "Infinita Maleza" (Malaise), "La Vida Tombola" and "Politics Kills." On his current La Ventura Tour Manu says, "We play new songs, old songs, some from all our albums — and the live albums, too".

Like Woody Guthrie, Manu's guitar also kills fascists. Vivid, explosive and influential, he's also anti-establishment and anti-globalization. Just like Guthrie, he plays for free at rallies and strikes. But he's a crowd pleaser as well. Acoustic, electric and eclectic with mariachi horns, clever lyrics, catchy riffs, this could become a gig of the year. Could even be a gig of the decade if he wanders around town to a bar near you.

http://http//clclt.com/charlotte/manu-chao-hits-the-east-coast-for-the-first-time/Content?oid=2466008

electro cumbia

04/28/2011
Chancha Via Circuito

Rio Arriba
(ZZK Records/Crosstalk International)

http://www.zzkrecords.com/

The ‘shrooms on the back cover and on the inside make it abundantly clear that this is the trippiest music this side of South America. Actually, it is from South America - Buenos Aires, Argentina, to be exact, and right now Chancha is touring the US on his "Muy Bueno/Rio Arriba" tour with ZZK label honcho/deejay El G.

Not since early Pink Floyd has there been anything so tripped out and it's not aimless jam band noodling. Argentina's ZZK label, with their deejay based music combines electronica and psychedelia with varying amounts of folk and trad, performing with live musicians and dancers accompanying their inventive knob twirling. Chancha Via Circuito is among the best Buenos Aires deejays and this, his sophomore effort, is up to his previous high standards. It's a mellow, languid yet rhythmical intro to contempo South American music. Chancha's eco-friendly music combines his electronica with the natural world. He takes indigenous chants, colonial Spanish melodies then re-arranges, transposes, recombines and decomposes them into lush, gorgeous mutations. Essentially minimalist, there's a strong emphasis on rhythms, dronings and ethnic mixes inspired by the native sounds of the South American interior.

Track one reminds me of Calexico and Iron and Wine's "He Lays in the Reins" with its old school vocal. "Cumbion de los Aves" is a remix of indigenous rhythms, replete with pan pipes, flutes, charangos and hallucination inducing rhythms. "Pintar El Sol" is more of the same, but even more hypnotic, with sampled vocals rising to the forefront. More of the same throughout, with much variety in rhythm and percussion; some are instrumental, some with vocals, including 6th cut " Revenge of Chancha" featuring one of his best remixes featuring guests, Fauna.

Only qualifier on this is "Prima," which strikes me as too much electro knob-tweaking for the sake of tweakage. A number of these cuts have turned up on other mixtapes and mashups, some better, some different but the thing about "Rio Arriba" is that it's consistently excellent, like a smooth ride on a free-flowing tropical river with Chancha as your guide to other worlds.

DOWNLOAD: " Revenge of Chancha," "Pintar El Sol" LEW HERMAN

http://72.47.238.99/reviews/view/2979/

First Look on Blurt: Fantasma on FireAnt

On Fantasma City, the Buenos Aires collective serves up a spirited, polyglot mix of electro, cumbia, hip hop, reggaeton, and more.(hear their version of the Specials' "Ghost Town," below.) Out now in the U.S. on FireAnt Music.

By Carl Hanni
We live in the age of global groove cross-over, and the musical migrations seem to be picking up speed and shedding inhibitions as they go along. Nations may fuss and fight, but increasingly musicians, it seems, want to mix and match from the wide palette of world musics. This is nothing new, of course; musicians worldwide have been crafting all kinds of fascinating combinations for as long as music has been prefaced with the word ‘popular.'

South America and the Caribbean seem to have consistently been ahead of the game here. Going back at least as far as the late ‘50s and early ‘60s and you'll find thousands of examples of local combos taking little bits of whatever they heard on the radio, mixing it in with what was hot at the local record shop or sound system with their own local music, and turning out one fabulous hybrid after another. Whether it's from Columbia, Peru, Cuba or Jamaica, this part of the world has long embraced music-as-melting-pot.

Fast forward to 2010 and we have Fantasma, a group of multi-disciplined musicians, artists, and filmmakers from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Not to be mistaken with Austin's fabulous Grupo Fantasma, Fantasma play a spirited, polyglot mix of electro, cumbia, hip hop, reggaeton and whatever else they take a shine to that has a sexy groove. Fantasma is pushing the pulsating cumbia groove into some new territory and inviting everyone along to the dance. Definitively electro based (but still using plenty of accordion), Fantasma make bouncing, buoyant, infinitely danceable music that also has both humor and a socially relevant aspect to it.

Pretty much everything here is really strong and consistent. "Danza Danza," with a jaunty whistling chorus, melds electro cumbia and reggaeton into an instant dance floor classic. "Encantador de Serpientes" sounds like Egyptian Lover reborn as an intergalactic DJ street gang. "Cumbia Que Pega" and "Muevelo Que Sube" bring the hip hop forward, while "El Paisano," "Esto Es Asi" and "Cumbia Callejera" work the electro cumbia groove to perfection. Sure to draw some attention is a sci fi, Kraftwerked cumbia version of "Ghost Town" by The Specials, a wickedly great re-imagining of one of the signature songs of the 1980s.

If you're looking for some early summer in this endless winter, Fantasma have condensed it down and put it onto a CD. Look no further.

http://blurt-online.com/news/view/4762/

FireAnt's first release in 7 years! Fantasma - "Fantasma City"

Release date: Feb. 28, 2011






Thursday, February 24, 2011
CD Review: Fantasma's "Fantasma City"
from "Inside World Music"


Fantasma
"Fantasma City"
FireAnt Music

The neo-cumbia sounds coming out of Argentina are showcased on Fantasma's latest album, Fantasma City. The Argentinian band flirts with Tex-Mex beats, Latin rhythms, electronica, and reggae beats with an astounding result. The psychedelic and electronic elements blend with the accordion, flutes, and heart-stopping percussion with an equal amount of gritty, in your face vocals. The dance beats, wild vocals, and engaging trance and eletronica songs echo around in one's head with a result leading to a high degree of satisfying pleasure. Twelve tracks feature a range of modern and urban vocal and electronic accompaniment with some of the better tracks. It is difficult to find much fault with anything Fantasma seems to do. Fantasma City is a fantastic album with every track a party unto itself. Perfect for fans of South American cumbia music and Latin electronica. ~ Matthew Forss

http://insideworldmusic.blogspot.com/2011/02/cd-review-fantasmas-fantasma-city.html

Review: Nortec Collective "Bulevar 2000"

CD Review:

Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich and Fussible

"Bulevar 2000"

Nacional Records

Release Date: Sept. 14, 2010

THE DEAL: The Nortec Collective is four artist/producers Fussible, Bostich, Clorofila and Hiperboreal. Real names: Pepe Mogt, Ramon Amezcua, Jorge Verdin and Pedro Garcia Beas. From beautiful, dangerous, deadly Tijuana they fuse trad Norteno music with post modern electronica — a total culture clash between modern and mariachi that surprisingly works.

THE GOOD: The album is sinuous, smooth and kinetic. Usually, it works, sometimes not, but at least they take chances. The recording is toe-tappy, good listening with dance-y favorites like title track "Radio Borderland," "Punta Banda," "Bulevar 2000" and "Must Love" all with trad horns and accordion meshing nicely with high-energy electronics. It's as if the original German accordion and oompah influence in northern Mexico many years ago finally paid off, came alive and landed in modern Tijuana. Other knockouts include "One Night" and "We're Too Late" with their odd retro feel and the sad, hypnotic, talky "Centinela."

THE BAD: The only misfire is "I Count The Ways" — ironically, the first song released as a single — too orchestrated, too smooth, too disco-y.

THE VERDICT: Enjoy their bi-national approach to a truly Mexican sound. Mostly sung in English, it's a treat seeing how they combine influences. Not Mexploitation, but a novel mix of new and old.



http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/cd_review_nortec_collective_presents_bostich_and_fussible_s_bulevar_2000/Content?oid=1123078

Review - Systema Solar: "Systema Solar"

Systema Solar review
“Systema Solar”
Systema Solar
Chusma Records
Release Date: Oct. 14, 2010

The Deal
Infectious, colorful cumbia and champeta music from the Colombian Caribbean. Deejay based music you can dance to, mop the floors and anything else but sit still.

The Good
Songs like “Bienvenidos”, Mi Kolombia and "El Majagual" all carry a feel-good, colorful, day-glo sound yet still reference and carry messages (drugs, war, cartels, corruption, hypocrisy, violence, poverty), though not especially in your
face. Ditto that for final two cuts, “Ya Veras” and “Quien Es El Patron?”
Non-Spanish speakers can still pick up the good-time vibe and not too much of the sadness of that war torn nation, because the music is positive and celebratory rather than fatalistic and preachy.

The Bad
The ballad “En Los Huesos” slows the pace a bit much, but only enough to lead into to the frenetic rest of the recording. Songs like “Oye”, while good, don’t quite deliver the goods or live up to expectations, by now unrealistically high because of the magnificent earlier cuts. Yes, it’s in Spanish but when has that bothered anyone?

The Verdict
If you have a job, you'll be moving and grooving while you work. If you don't have a job, it'll cheer you up. Not since the Golden Age of Reggae has such good music come from the Caribbean. Systema Solar is up there with other Colombian artists like Bomba Estereo (“Fuego”), Sidestepper and Choquibtown, adding another notch to Colombia’s international music contributions. Here is bright, ultra-vivid music for all ages.

New from Tim Maclean: "Kudzu Cognac"

Featuring FireAnters
Tom Montefusco ("Wild Guitar")
and Lew ("Squeezebox") Herman

http://www.timmaclean.com/kudzucognac.html

Cumbia! Buenos Aires, 2010

Tremor at Niceto Club,
King Coya
Lagartijeando
2010












More pix and article:
MIXING, MASHING, SAMPLING, BASTARDIZING: Cumbia Argentina
by LEW HERMAN:

http://www.blurt-online.com/news/view/4034/
http://www.blurt-online.com/features/view/685/

Blurt.com - Aug 12, 2010

For anyone interested in checking out surprising new sounds, you should really visit Buenos Aires.

And Niceto Club (pronounced nee-say-toe, not "nice, too") in trendy, hipster barrio Palermo Soho is ground zero. If you can't raise airfare, this summer several Argentine deejays and musicians on Argentina's ZZK label are touring North America and Europe as we speak. They played South by Southwest last year, paving the way for this year's tours. Previously they've played Summerstage in New York City's Central Park as well as big festivals like Coachella in California and Roskilde in Denmark.

I was in Argentina - and Buenos Aires - earlier this year, grooving to the new music; call it Argentine cumbia, cumbia electronica, psychedelic cumbia. There's more - folktronic, cumbiatronic, neo-cumbia, even futuristic cumbia.

When I arrived in Buenos Aires, a city of 15 million, my guidebook said, "Greeting someone with a kiss on the cheek is quite normal" or, "A long siesta is the norm between 2 and 5PM." Both were accurate, so when someone said, "Clubbing begins at around 2AM and continues past dawn," they meant it.

In Buenos Aires I headed straight to Zizek world headquarters, a house in barrio Villa Crespo, as most new cumbia is on the Zizek record label. My contacts at Zizek were deejaying at Club Niceto, so they said, "Come by at 3:30. Asking, "AM or PM?" they laughed and said, "Night!" Turns out, music may be the only thing that runs on schedule in Argentina. As my friend Marcela told me, "We Argentines don't really have a good sense of time."

ZZK and their accompanying Zizek Urban Beats Club - their mobile, roving party - is headquarters for the budding international cumbia cult. Actually, cumbia's been around for 200 years, since African slaves brought its loping beat to the shores of Colombia's Caribbean coast, mixing African rhythms with indigenous flutes and pipes. The catchy, hesitating beat is caused, they say, from the way the slaves had to dance with shackles on their legs. Cumbia's gone through quite a few changes since then and this new Zizek phase is the latest. Cumbia Villera (gangster cumbia) was the previous version and like early hip-hop, originated in tough urban slums, in this case from the villa miserias or shantytowns ringing Buenos Aires. Like hip-hop, Cumbia Villera had a bad reputation, with misogynistic tunes about sex, drugs and violence, but the Zizek folks knew it, studied it, played it. In one peculiarly ironic stroke, I was told stories about Pablo Lescano of Damas Gratis (Women For Free) - the Elvis or Bob Dylan of cumbia.

But cumbia evolves regularly, so now there's Zizek. Co-owner/honcho Grant C. Dull explained, "We call ourselves ZZK in the US, to avoid copyright problems. "You know, Zizek the (Slovenian) philosopher is kind of a rock star in the philosophical world."

Grant C. Dull is one of three label managers at ZZK and a co-founder of Zizek Club. He's a 6-year adopted citizen & cultural ambassador of Buenos Aires and a transplanted Texan also known as El G. ("I answer to both English and Spanish pronunciations.") He's also a musicologist, editor, theorist, deejay and internationalist. He runs the ZZK operation with two others, both deejays and more, Diego Bulacio aka Villa Diamonte, and Guillermo Canale aka DJ Nim. Grant was leaving soon on his North American/Euro tour, but Diego stayed behind suggesting proper clubs, musicians and bands. "You'll like the band before me. Come early at 2:30 and you'll catch them." Fantasma was the band and they were fantastico. Accordions are king in Argentina and Fantasma rocked out as a live band with accordion, reggaeton/rap and a full throttle sound, heavy on percussion. Villa Diamonte deejayed after and was more vital and contemporary than most deejays back home, playing cumbia electronica, oddities, mashups, screeches and bleeps.

***

Edgy, tropical cumbia made itself a second home in Argentina and is presently going global. There was Seattle, New Zealand, Iceland, Chapel Hill and now maybe Buenos Aires. As Grant said, "This is maybe the only time in Argentina's history that this can happen." He wasn't only referring to the music but perhaps to Argentina's recent, calamitous history; the collapse of their currency ten years ago and prior to that, Argentina's murderous military dictatorship. Now comes the rising of new music representing a new alternative in Latin consciousness; a mixing of technology with Andean cosmology, not just here but in other hotspots like Bogota and Mexico City. Buenos Aires, with its boundless, new artistic energy is like Weimar Germany in the ‘20s - or Paris in the ‘60s or New York in the ‘50s. It's emerging, hung-over from an extraordinarily horrific state of affairs - universities closed; you couldn't study sociology, history, psychology or anthropology; the economy tanked, and worse than Greece today; no one bailed them out; and they defaulted. It couldn't get any worse, but it did. There were concentration camps. Their own armed forces declared war on their own people - called the Dirty War (La Guerra Sucia), thousands were murdered. So-called subversives were dragged from classrooms, flung out of planes, babies were snatched from pregnant women who were then murdered after giving birth, their children given to childless military families. In terms of numbers, Pinochet's dictatorship in neighboring Chile was murder-lite in comparison. The word "disappeared" was synonymous with Argentina, culminating in a war with England as the last gasp of a dying military dictatorship.

After the Argentine peso collapsed ten years ago, Buenos Aires, once the most expensive city in South America, overnight became its most affordable. Foreigners, like Grant, investigated the city and the country and liked what they saw. "I came here (to Argentina) first maybe ten years ago, after the devaluation, then came back for good in 2005. Before, in the last ten years, I lived in eight countries - China, Spain, Ghana, Chile. I taught English around the world, immersed myself in many cultures. I dove into cultures, staying up all night, jamming with musicians."

So, world traveler, culture surfer Grant picks BA as his home, builds a website for travelers - people who like to hang out, play music or listen all night. "Connecting us to the rest of the world and to my own world view," is how he describes it. He came up with the bilingual What's Up Buenos Aires (http://whatsupbuenosaires.com/wuba2), and to publicize his project he and his pals threw parties every week "We wanted to emphasize local producers. After one and half years we decided to form a record label - ZZK". Not a big shot label, more a collective, "Now we have 30 deejays/bands, almost all Argentine. Only exception is Douster, who was here as a French exchange student and he's still here. And there's me." The dance parties known as Zizek Club, expanded to clubs and nightspots throughout Argentina. But the actual club according to Grant, "Is really a state of mind. We have shows in Niceto, but it's all over." In clubs El G - Grant - spins what he calls, "Mashups, bootlegs, official and unofficial releases plus the newest music from the ZZK label. Plus, found sounds, B-sides, alternative cuts."

ZZK is also live music. Grant explains, "Some (on our label) are traditional with full, live bands and percussion while some are minimalist, just using a shaker or guacharaca and go electronic. We're creating something new." ZZK infuses cumbia with new sounds - dark, psychedelica, trippy beats, reggaeton rapping, accordion sounds. Accordion is king in Argentina and being an accordion player myself, I felt at home. It's been tango country for eighty years, and now apparently, it's cumbia time.

Cumbia has a long history and ZZK brings a pleasingly progressive, cross-pollinating mix of new electronics and Argentina folk/trad. One of the groups on the current tour, Tremor, uses authentic traditional Andean instruments like charango, standup drumming and extensively trained musicians. Another positive for ZZK is having King Coya aboard. "He's part of our original Zizek Collective." His live show is phenomenal as he's an acknowledged, multi-dimensional force." Coya typifies Zizek's mutant blend of techno-cumbia/Andean trad recombinants making his music unique, adventurous and listenable.

As Grant puts it, "We're taking cumbia into 2010, 2011, and 12, mixing, mashing, sampling, bastardizing and creating something new."

Coya - real name, Gaby Kerpel - is an Argentine of eastern European background. His recordings under his own name like "Carnabailito" on Nonesuch are exquisite creations, while his ZZK recordings as King Coya are delicious mixtures of folklore electronica. His Cumbias De Villa Donde is available in the US on Nacional. He performs live with five drummers and percussionists plus sexy, charismatic vocalist/sorceress La Yegros. Onstage, Kerpel wields a snake charmer type reed attached to his melodica, wheezing weird, accordion-ish sounds, blending Buenos Aires hipster sensibilities with indigenous themes, Arabic trance and Brit trip hop making for a hallucinatory, spellbinding, experience. Tunes like "Trocitos De Madera" and "Un Nino Que Llora en los Montes de Mara" are wigged-out, rhythmic classics.

At Niceto, I watched King Coya while sipping bitter fernet con coke with my friend, Wade, who said repeatedly, "This is great! Greatest show ever." Later, he sent me an email saying, "Going to Niceto has really gotten me excited about Buenos Aires. I was getting so sick of dancing to suffocating electro and whiny reggaeton. This cumbia is legit. It's sexy. You've got to look for it and if I'm lucky enough to find it I will be very happy." He's not the only one bored to tears by endless drum 'n' bass and four to the floor house.

Other deejays in the ZZK fold besides the previously mentioned musicians are Fauna, Frikstailers, Chancha Via Circuito, El Trip Selector, El Remolon and Lagartijeando. We're not listing everyone, but all represent the top of the Argentine crop when it comes to the new music explosion. El Remolon's "Bolivia", is a minimalist mix of new and old. The Frikstailers are a mutant, stoner rap duo, with post-rock sensibilities. Lagartijeando mixes jungle chants with charango loops and psychedelica. Tremor mixes Andean flute with digital drum samples. Chancha Via Circuito is hypnotic, heavy and psychedelic. His ZZK Mixtape Vol. 2 (online) or album Rodante are both superb. All these groups are innovative, adventurous, moody and trippy. Elements of surprise and recognition add to the pleasure and fun.

Other groups in other places are joining the nu-cumbia fray. The Kumbia Queers from both Buenos Aires and Mexico City are a group to be reckoned with. Described by Grant as, "Punk rock lesbians in the Argentine punk scene, they're working now with a big producer." Not on ZZK but on good terms with the folks at the label, they've been touring Europe and are on the verge of bigger things, with their campy cumbia covers of Nancy Sinatra and Madonna. Uproot Andy from New York City has an outstanding cut, "Brooklyn Cumbia" on the ZZK's compilation (also on Nacional), while Chicha Libre, a group also out of NYC, plays Peruvian influenced cumbia - more indigenous and less electronic, using cheesier electronics than ZZK.

While label ZZK in Buenos Aires is ground zero for new cumbia, Nacional in Los Angeles is cherry picking Latin America's best and the brightest for American release and distribution - for example ZZK's compilation ZZK Sound, Vol. 1 & 2, King Coya's Cumbias De Villa Donde and Colombia's Bomba Estereo ("Blow Up"). Interestingly, all three have recently been touring the US.

The ZZK World Tour began this past June and goes through August. Beginning in Europe the tour swerves back to this side of the Atlantic to music hotspots in North America - Brooklyn, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Seattle. Touring with El G are Tremor, Chancha Via Circuito and El Remolon. This is the new sound of South America and is spreading beyond its borders.

It's the real deal, not a buncha poseurs playing crud you hear all day on the radio or in clubs. This is 21st century cumbia, tripped out, dressed up. No problem if you don't understand the words, you can dance to it like mad - all night long.


Pictured above: Frikstailers. Check out BLURT's photo gallery of some of the above-mentioned artists right here.


ZZK label, club and tour info: http://www.zzkrecords.com/ (Don't forget to explore the site - there are some pretty awesome videos and music samples to be found therein!)