Hola world - check out Manu Chao YESTERDAY in Buenos Aires after his Press Conference with “Radio Roots” - what an imprompt performance, but Manu-style!!  

Link:  http://youtube.com/watch?v=EIqY4Rc7SyU

Hola Mundo Nacional, December is fast approaching us here at Nacional Records –
we’re happy to hear from all our readers from Japan to the Ukraine to Argentina. We’re hot hot hot off the presses, getting coverage from across the world on all of our exciting releases.

Here is the latest:

THE PINKER TONES finished up their last U.S. tour of the year last week covering New York, Texas, Toronto and Los Angeles. Get ready for WILD ANIMALS, their new release set for early 2008! Here’s a nice review of the NYC show from the New York Times

MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND recently had a fantastic write-up in the Austin American Statesman. MIS has had a breakthrough year with his second solo disc, Piñata. We’ll be hearing a lot more in 2008 so stay plugged in. Check out this exclusive and hilarious backstage video from MOTOROKR show in Mexico City this month on Youtube.com.

And be sure to check out this nice review of DJ BITMAN’s “Latin Bitman” from Billboard Magazine.

For our Spanish-speaking readers, get to know Bitman even more from this great feature in La Opinion

Also peep this preview from Bitman’s new video for “Tropilove” off Latin Bitman, coming very soon.

MANU CHAO has been praised around the world for his latest full-length album “La Radiolina,” which recently won a Latin Grammy. The limited edition Double Vinyl LP is ready to drop! Get your hands on the special vinyl edition at Tower.com. You can also catch Manu on Jools Holland’s show in the UK.

RAUL CAMPOS also received a special shout out from Ken Micallef of Yahoo Music, with this to say about the new release “Lotería Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1 flows like a monster riding a wave deep into the borderless ocean of sound.” Read the whole review here.

Let’s take the time to our latest E-releases from this year. Check out Spain’s OVNI, Pinker Tones collaborator PECKER, Art Trio AUSTRIA. We’re always looking for fresh talent out there, make sure you add us on Myspace and connect us with your music!

LOS SHOWS:

Plastilina Mosh
Dec. 1st – Mexico City @ Corona Fest
Dec. 5th- Tijuana, Mexico @ Tilly’s

Aterciopelados
Dec. 1st – Mexico City @ Corona Fest
Dec. 2nd – Feria Del Libro @ Guadalajara

Nortec Collective
Dec. 8th – Minneapolis @ Walker Arts Center/Maguire Theater

Los Bunkers
Nov 30th - Tenancingo: VanGogh Tenancingo, México
Dec 1st - Cd. Juárez Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua
Dec 6th - Teatro Metropolitan Ciudad de México
Dec 7th - Parque la Providencia, Metepec Toluca, México
Dec 8th - Atlacomulco: Parthenon Atlacomulco, Méx

Take care and have a great week!

Hola and bienvenidos a mi bloglandia! 

I have so much to tell you that I could write forever but my jefes here at Nacional Records don’ t think my blogette should take up the entire Web Page.  Here are a few teeny things about my adventures and observations to leave you begging for more.

First of all, do you know about all the amazing music that happens in Los Angeles?  As Lula wrote about earlier, on November 10 Bacardi (yes, as in the rum and I know I’m only 17. Don’t tell.) sponsored a concert featuring Aterciopelados, Calle 13, Maldita Vecinidad and Alejandra Guzman.  It was held on Olvera Street, the historic birthplace of our city and one of my favorite spots.  Of course Nacional had a table where everyone came asking about Atercio’s “Oye” album which just won a Grammy and pleaded to be added to the Nacional Records newsletter.  The highlight, according to me, was Aterciopelados.  

The whole band wore the same blue and neon yellow Al Parque suits that they wore at Rock Al Parque music fest in Bogotá and at the Latin Grammys.  (Always the anti-fashion statement!  As Andrea said referring to the “Grammy fashion police,” “Me parece chévere que no les guste” – “I think it’s awesome that they don’t like it.”)  For their last number, the incredible Pinker Tones (Yeah!) who were in town from Barcelona came on stage and performed Complemento with Atercio.  

What a surprise and what a performance!  Their complementary styles together rocked!  I was able to stand on stage to see the show and then talk to the Atercios later, and was so excited to meet and talk with Urian, the Atercio percussionist.  Don’t say anything, but I’m in love with him.  Not only is he cute, but I’m dazzled by all those cool indigenous instruments he keeps pulling out made of gourds and reeds and vegetables and the gorgeous sounds he makes.  I mean, I play clarinet and piano, two complicated instruments, so it is way impressive to see someone making beautiful music from a zucchini.  

                                Urian!

The next day I was off to Mexico City for a week – my first trip to D.F.  As you might imagine, that is a piece of news in itself, (but, I must save it for later.)   The highlight of my trip was not just one, but two, Soda Stereo concerts.  (Did I tell you I’m a rabid Cerati fan?  No?  Oh…) Everything that can be said about the Soda reunion concerts has been said.  Soda was brilliant.  The 55,000 ecstatic Mexicans at Foro Sol sang every word of every song.  There were hundreds of vendors with shirts and hats and bracelets and I bought them all.  The day after returning to LA I again experienced Soda’s rapture at the Home Depot Stadium in Carson.  A first-rate venue and another thrilling show, “una parte de la euforia.”

Seeing Soda Stereo and Andrea Echeverri perform days apart reminded me of their performance together on Soda Stereo’s MTV Unplugged (re-plugged, rather) show, recorded in Miami in 1996.  If you have not seen this yet, I am so sorry for you.  The CD recording titled Comfort y Música Para Volar marked an event with the world’s greatest artists performing a rare duet together.  This may be the only time Cerati has shared the stage with a non-Argentinean other than Shakira!

Gustavo and Andrea’s song is the spellbinding En la Ciudad de la Furia, not the original version from Soda’s 1988 album “Double Vida,” but one with space age, electronic guitar effects.  Andrea looks surreal.  She’s wearing a glittery, heart pendant, long, black, feathered gloves, a black, mini-top, Sinead O’Connor hair and huge, bug-eyed, silver sunglasses.  She’s a big contrast to Gustavo’s simple jeans and sweater. I so wish there were photos - click here to check out the vid online.

Soda Stereo has been singing Ciudad de la Furia on their reunion tour.  In Mexico, Gustavo announced it saying, “México, ¡también ciudad de la furia!” and at the Home Depot Center he said “Los ángeles, ¡otra ciudad de la furia!”  Both times, the crowd roared its appreciation. 

The song is so amazing with its strange, oppressive yet calm mood.  It was written about Buenos Aires, with its harrowing past – its repression, corruption, dirty war, thousands of desparecidos and countless reasons for fury, even today. Andrea’s home, Bogotá Colombia, is also a ciudad de la furia.  When this song was written, Bogotá had a reputation as the capital of murder and mayhem and civil wars and violence still rage. The song reaches out to many cities.  The performance was filmed in Miami, a city of Cuban immigrants and their stories of separation, alienation and anger.  The song was first recorded in New York where crime, passion and energy converge.  Here in Los Angeles, right outside my door, is the most diverse population in the country, many furiously working to improve their lives.  In fact, fury erupts regularly.  Most recently, police brutally attacked demonstrators at a downtown park seeking immigrant rights.  It was bad and people were way furious.

             My very own ciudad de la furia – Los Angeles
Isn’t it fascinating that Bogotá, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Miami, Los Angeles and New York are sister cities?  In the words of the song, “soy parte de todos” – it’s as if I am part of everyone.   We all want to fly through a dark city, high above the fury of its blue streets.  We want to hide and disappear, but will always volver to all our ciudades de la furia across the world.  Certainly, the pure beauty of this song helps to bring us all together and sooths our fury. 

Bye-bye, mis amorcitos…

Everyone in my circle of friends since we were teenagers knew some Aterciopelados songs. Everyone sang: “que si vengo que no voy que si estoy que me pierdooo” in the summers. Everyone.

From the band’s catchy name to their lyrics, there was a reason to know about them. I have to admit there was a gap for me with Aterciopelados. Once in LA, especially when I started working at Nacional Records, the number of fans they have across Latin America really amazed me.

Actually, I was amazed to discover that some of my best friends in Buenos Aires love Aterciopelados, Andrea Echeverri’s and Hector Buitrago’s work as well! I was chatting on MSN one day with my good friend Corina when she told me she was listening to a mix of Aterciopelados and solo albums. I said to myself: I have to know these guys. And now I finally do. I’m a silent fan. I don’t scream at shows so my wait to see an Aterciopelados show was in silence as well. I had the honor to be backstage at the B*Live show in Olvera St, Los Angeles on November 10th, 2007.

The result of all of our effort, mostly from my colleagues, had finally come and the outcome was a really happy one. Not only did I feel the tension right before they got on stage dressed with their “Al Parque” costumes, but all the adrenaline and emotion of the show. Their faces are always smiling and their vibe is contagious. They opened with “Bolero Falaz” and the show followed with a song from the latest Grammy winning album “Oye”. The view from backstage was amazing and we had a direct preview of what was going to happen.

The Pinker Tones were putting on their sunglasses and inner rhythm ready, while the guys from Roxing Café were jumping around. Finally, Andrea called them to perform “Complemento” and we all expected the explosion. Andrea lead the dancing and everyone danced along with touches of the Pinker Tones and Roxing Café: a perfect mix. I want to see it over and over again! The after-party came and all I have to say is: they’re amazing people, incredible artists, professionals and good friends. Their vibe and spirit remained. I’ll never forget Hector’s, Maurcio’s, Urian’s and Andrea’s smiles when I told them they great feedback we got from their funs. “They love you!”

Noviembre 8, 9 y 10 fueron las fechas en las que el Remix Hotel se llevo acabo en Los Angeles dentro de las instalaciones del Instituto SAE.

Y el Remix Hotel es un evento presentado por la revista Remix dirigido a músicos, productores, y gente involucrada en el negocio de la Música Electrónica. Y no solamente al mundo del Techno, Ambient, Electro, Trance, Broken beat, etc. sino que también se acercan personas que tratan de abrirse campo en el genero llamado “Urban” New York, Atlanta, Miami y Las Vegas son otras ciudades que permiten a los interesados hospedarse en el Remix Hotel.

Conferencias, presentaciones de nuevos productos, software, conferencias y paneles son algunas de las actividades que este evento proporciona. Ingenieros de audio, entusiastas de la música electrónica y experimentadores de sonido.

Los Tutoriales que brindo el RH fueron de primera, La manera de como interactúan los profesionales con el software o los instrumentos reales brinda un panorama mas amplio en términos de producción y de presentaciones en vivo.

Salones y estudios que se tornaron en salas demo con productos que los asistentes pudieron probar. Entre estos: M-Audio, Native Instruments, Rolad, Apple, Ableton, entre otros. Entre lo mas sobresaliente: Yamaha que trajo el Tenori-on (disponible en USA hasta Abril-08) que es un Sampler con LED’s Perfecto para jams y freestyle.

Otro es el controlador de audio sensible al tacto Lemur de Jazzmutant.

Mas información:http://remixmag.com/remixhotel/

What a crazy week and half it has been. I’m not sure where to start with this. Okay, so let’s start with last Saturday. Through the recommendation of fellow Nacional-er, P.Dryddy, I hit up the Macaco show at BAM in Brooklyn. I had never been to BAM and never seen Macaco and was actually just newly introduced to his music by aforementioned compadrito.

BAM is an amazing and beautiful theatre and was sort of an odd venue for this artist, but I had a good time. I was jealous some people were already in Halloween costumes ready to hit up parties after the show. We spotted Jesus, a preist, an angel, and other randoms. He def had a Manu Chao vibe, although in my opinion not as up to par. I tried to get some shots, but the security was super strict and the man made me put away my camera, so this one cheap shot here will have to do.

The next day I met up with NYC callejero Alex to do some Manu promo in Spanish Harlem. I never had really walked around that area before, but I definitely felt at home or at least in Mexico sort of, kind of. It was just enough mexi for me and exciting to see some raza in NYC and now I know where to get a Loteria set and some authentic (or close enough) mexi grub that I miss soo much. Monday Sug-free came into town from L.A. I love it when I have visitors in town because I feel like I’m on vacation too, and I have someone to go to all my favorite restaurants and bars in the city. We hit up SEA in Williamsburg (great vibe, great food, great music!) and Savalas for after dinner drinks. I was busy with school and work and finally it was Halloween!!!!!!

I love Halloween and wanted to make up for last year when I was studying for a Stats midterm (booty!). Gigi rolled in from SF that day. We got done up at my place, had some peeps over for pre-party drinks, and rolled deep on the subway to Studio B for the DFA Halloween Bash. I don’t really recall most of the details, but Matthew Dear was off the hook and played my favorite tracks from the new Asa Breed album. I woke up the next morning with still in full costume and with bruised legs with a very very vague recollection of how that happened.

The rest of the week was a blur of food, drinks and fun. We hit up Gallery bar and Mehanata were I ran into Rodrigo (another Nacional callejero). Saturday we caught the musical Celia off broadway, which had us in tears and dancing to La Vida Es Un Carnaval at the end. It was great show. The audience and was singing and dancing in their seats throughout and it felt more like a concert than a musical.

After that we headed to the lower east side to The Delancey for the Titan/Maria Daniela show. Line was a bit long to get in and it was pretty packed and sweaty. We missed Titan but Maria Daniela owned the stage with loads of energy and killer jazzercise style dance moves. The crowd was sweaty and insane, but in a good way. My feet got trampled and stomped on and I acquired one more huge bruise on my right foot. oh! I also ran into our homie Jean B. and the girls helped with a little bit of itunes card work….Today the girls left and I got back to school tired and exhausted! I gotta recoup though and get LOTS of work done.

Coming up!!:
Pacha Massive w/ Los Amigos @ Irving Plaza on 11/10
Pinkertones @ SOBs on 11/15
Cafe Tacuba @ Hammerstein on 11/20

ayeyayaye! xo AA

NACIONAL NEWSLETTER November 5th, 2007
Hola out there in Nacional-landia:

I hope all is well and you all had a safe and happy Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. There is so much action going on here in our offices this November – check it out:

The Latin Grammys are on Thursday so keep those fingers crossed for our Colombian darlings, ATERCIOPELADOS, as they are nominated for 2 awards (Best Alternative Album for “Oye” and Best Alternative Song for “Complemento”) and, the one and only MANU CHAO’s new single “Me Llaman Calle” is nominated as Best Alternative Song. Manu is still on tour finishing up dates in Europe and packing venues in Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and beyond.

Speaking of Manu and Atercios, have you checked out the new videos for “Me Llaman Calle” and “Don Dinero” yet? Manu’s tribute to the ladies that work the streets also goes to promote a good cause through the Hetaira Collective, http://www.colectivohetaira.org, a prostitutes’ rights organization in Spain. Check it out and get educated.

Manu Chao “Me Llaman Calle” Video Link: HERE 
Aterciopelados “Don Dinero” Video Link: HERE

DJ BITMAN continues to make waves as his “Latin Bitman” approaches tomorrow. The first single “Shine” has been making a lot of noise and is a jazzy-cooled-out song showcasing Bitman’s cutting skills as a DJ. Bitman was featured in the NY Daily News last week – read here. Listen for yourself here: www.myspace.com/latinbitman and check out some of the early buzz:

“Loving the DJ Bitman record! Hard-hitting and beautiful at the same time. Already dropped this one on the Afro Funke’ dancefloor and the people were riding it.”- Jeremy Sole, KCRW

“Some of the best music comes from outside of the states and DJ Bitman validates that claim. Hailing from Chile, this DJ is taking Latin music to new alturas. His sound has the Latin elements of acoustic instruments, a crafty hip hop scratch, and Latin dance beat patterns… DJ Bitman will get the fiesta started even if you can’t translate the words to the song.” - URB

PACHA MASSIVE prepares to rock Irving Plaza in New York with Los Amigos Invisibles this Saturday Nov. 10th! The video for “All Good Things” is being edited as we speak – but what we can say is the video was shot on a train on the outskirts of Los Angeles and features Nova and Maya riding through the night – stay tuned for the full video!

RAUL CAMPOS of KCRW got the party started October 26th at Amoeba Records in Hollywood in support of his new mixtape, “Loteria Beats”…thanks to all who made it out and started the weekend off on a fun note! Raul also heated up the decks at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood on the 27th for the annual Halloween bash which also featured DJ sets from Money Mark (Beastie Boys). DJ Bitman’s “Shine” is featured on the album as well as an exclusive Rosco Remix of Nortec Collective’s “Olvidela Compa”. A personal fave of ours in the office is Los Rumbers’ “Como Mi Ritmo No Hay Dos”.

If the Latin Grammy excitement isn’t doing it for you, there’s more sexy Vegas action this week on Nov. 8th & 9th with THE PINKER TONES playing the J-Pop Lounge at Mandalay Bay before they hop over to Los Angeles for a show at The Little Temple on November 11th and then head off for shows in Austin, San Antonio, New York and Toronto before they head back to Barcelona. If you haven’t checked them out live before, don’t take my word for it, but take LA Weekly’s: “Barcelona´s Pinker Tones are just flat-out unbelievably fucking great.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Stay tuned for Pinker Tones new album, WILD ANIMALS, coming to you in early 2008.

Nacional Records Artists Live!

Aterciopelados

Nov. 9th –Tijuana, MX @ Box Underground

Nov. 10th – Los Angeles, CA @ Olvera Plaza (w/ Maldita Vecindad and Calle 13) (21+ event)

The Pinker Tones

Nov. 8th- Las Vegas @J-Pop Lounge @ Mandalay Bay

Nov. 9th- Las Vegas @ J-Pop Lounge @ Mandalay Bay

Nov. 11th – Los Angeles @ Little Temple

Nov. 13th – Austin @ Beauty Bar

Nov. 14th- San Antonio @ Club Rio

Nov. 15th – New York @ SOBs

Nov. 16th – Toronto @ El Mocambo

Pacha Massive

Nov. 10th – New York @ Irving Plaza (w/Los Amigos Invisibles)

Knowing me, you wouldn’t believe I began listening to Latin music just two years ago, right in the middle of high school. Laura, my roommate at a UC Berkeley summer program, was to blame. Laura is a Swedish-looking gringa chick who hangs out with the Latinas at her high school. She and I had gone to ballet school together for years and bonded over perfecting both our pirouettes and our Spanish.

Our West LA neighborhoods and especially the ballet school are muy gringo. Laura and I set out to speak Spanish well enough to fit in with the native Spanish speakers and also sing along with the Rock en Español music that we both loved. The summer we lived together in Berkeley, Laura dragged me up and down Telegraph Avenue sniffing out the record stores for música en español. Laura was a Juanes fanatic and played “La camisa negra” in our dorm room about a million times until I began to instinctively put on a black shirt each morning.

Laura and me after an Atercio concert!
(Note the awesome “oye” oreja in my hand!)

The next year, I did a grande project for my clase de español about a virtual trip to Colombia. I studied the music of the country – traditional cumbia and vallenato and also the more rockero styles of Juanes and Aterciopelados. I told my class that radios were playing the Juanes song, “A dios le pido” all over Colombia like the national anthem. I raved on about the amazing Colombian food – sancocho, ajiaco, buñuelos, pandebono and bandeja paisa, I talked about “attending” a Juanes concert in Medellin and “running into” Andrea Echeverri at Rock Al Parque in Bogotá. I invented a lot of details for my imaginary story but the part about “A dios le pido” being like the Colombian national anthem was probably true. It was also true that I was becoming obsessed with a whole nuevo mundo of Latin American music and culture.

In the two years since I discovered Latin music, mi espíritu has traveled much further than the tip of South America. Música en español is my passion. My Spanish is good enough to follow the all the Spanish music news on the web and meet other crazy fans and I know where to buy Rolling Stone en Español. Ernesto Lechner’s book “Rock en Español” is my bible. My iPod is stuffed to the gigabyte brim with music from alternative to zarzuela and regions from Argentina to the Yucatan. I spend hours scouring E-bay and DeRemate.com to add rare/foreign DVDs to my collection of performances of all styles of Latin music. And best of all, I attend concerts whenever I can, sharing my joy with mis amigos or mi querida mamá.

I’ve seen many artists from Shakira to Babasónicos to Nortec Collective, and have had some crazy experiences and met some awesome people. Above all, there’s been the incomparable Gustavo Cerati and his bandmates! I saw the maestro Cerati perform four times between Anaheim and Tijuana and locamente fell in love with him and his music. Did I mention that I ended up following his van around Tijuana? Well, that story we’ll save for another time…

Now I am an intern at Nacional Records. Do you know the expression, “Died and went to heaven?” Nacional represents some of my favorite artists like Aterciopelados, Manu Chao and Los Tres. Nacional also puts together the Latin Alternative Music Conference that features new artists and also legends like Café Tacvba and Gustavo Cerati himself. Every day at work I am surrounded by the spirit of the music I love, along with super nice, interesting and talented people.

People call me loca for being a gringa teenage chick infatuated with Latin music. But, in the words of Gustavo Cerati, “¿que otra cosa puedo hacer?” Love is blind. I follow the sound of my own tambores and I like doing it. For me, discovering música en español has been like Cortés finding the new world. I have lots of crazy cuentos to tell about my experiences that will make you want to microwave a burrito and crank up the volume on your favorite new Latin rock CD. Por favor keep reading!

And don’t forget to check out my suggested comida of the week!

Comida of the Week: Torta de molleja from El Taurino at 1104 S. Hoover St in LA. Decorated with matador paraphernalia and tacky seasonal decorations, this place so popular that even Asians and gringos like me gather here, all day, all through the night, waaaaay past all the bars have closed. The jukebox is decked out with all our typical favorites - Juanes, Julieta Venegas, Shakira, Maná and, our special favorite (gasp!) Soda Stereo! Late night snack + amazing torta + lively and diverse people + Soda Stereo music = what could better? Bye-bye mis amorcitos….