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Indie Singles a Go Go (¡Nuevo!)

los grandes del pardito

la yegrosNorteñoBlog starts the day by wandering down to the next continent, as we do sometimes — specifically to Argentina, where the cumbia and its omnivorous psychedelic folk cousin chicha are still going strong, and the gauchos still roam the countryside. (I’m not sure whether “omnivorous psychedelic folk” is the best descriptor since it makes me think of the Grateful Dead, but let’s not worry about that now.) Buenos Aires singer La Yegros is back with her new single “Chicha Roja” (Waxploitation/Soundway); her album Magnetismo will come out in March. Nice song! It’s got a rolling I-wanna-say electro-acoustic cumbia beat, accordion and melodica (you can tell because a melodica appears in the animated Georgia-O’Keefe-on-shrooms video), crowd noises, a dense breakdown with flutes playing out of tune, and the appealing presence of La Yegros herself. Her voice sort of reminds me of Shirley Simms from the Magnetic Fields — only, you know, marshalling a cicha like a friendly dance commander.

los rodriguezThemselves no strangers to cumbias, indie corrideros Los Rodriguez de Sinaloa released a humdinger of one last year; I regret never having Picked to Click “Bye Bye.” Although I should note, norteño/banda cumbias differ from the South American kind, or even from the slow and steady cumbias favored by Mexican bands like Los Angeles Azules. Namely: norteño cumbias are way faster. Witness Julión Álvarez’s “Cumbia del Rio.” At his pace you can still hear the cumbia’s trademark “1 2-and 1 2-and” grind divvied up among the different instruments, but once a band starts approaching hyperspace — as in “Bye Bye” or Calibre 50’s current hit “La Gripa” — the subtleties of the beat smear into one homogeneous oompah.

Anyway, Los Rodriguez’s new single is NOT a cumbia, but the ice-cold breakup tune “Te Tengo De Cortar” (self-released). Taking a cue from K Camp, Los Rodriguez decide they need to leave this particular mujer where she stands, and it’ll be much less painful for the mujer in question if they end it with some quickness. Pulling off Band-Aids and whatnot. Los Rodriguez’s tuba player does his best to be convincing, particularly during the chunky, rapid-fire pre-choruses. The song lasts less than three minutes, but nearly every bar sounds like a big jagged glob of something shoved in your face. That’s a recommendation and a Pick to Click.

Continue reading “Indie Singles a Go Go (¡Nuevo!)” →

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A Guide to Regional Mexican Radio in Houston

With the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo coming up March 1-20, including Go Tejano Day on March 13, I figured I should try to understand the complicated Regional Mexican radio scene in the 6th biggest U.S. radio market.

Look, I made a chart! Stations are listed across the top — frequency, station nickname, rating for the 4th quarter of 2015 — with the most recent call sign associated with that frequency just below, in the 2016 row. The chart begins with 1986 at the bottom; as you travel up through the years, you can see when new call signs take over specific frequencies.

Houston s RegMex Radio - Daily schedule (4)-page-001

OCTOBER 5, 1989: GERARDO ORTIZ IS BORN (That’s just for reference, and because this .jpg was hard to format.)

Houston s RegMex Radio - Daily schedule (4)-page-002

When NorteñoBlog surveyed Chicago´s Regional Mexican radio scene last year, it was a straightforward project — I traced the timelines of the three major stations in our market. Not so in Houston. As you can see from the above chart, Houston’s Mexican music fans have enjoyed an abundance of choices over the past three decades. They’ve also endured a confusing tangle of buyouts, simulcasts, and call signs changing frequencies, along with the national boom and bust of a vital regional style: Tejano.

Today non-Texans might have trouble understanding Tejano’s importance to the Lone Star State. After all, Chicago didn’t get our first all-Mexican station until 1997 — the same year KXTJ became Houston’s first station with a norteño focus — by which time Tejano was quickly losing spins to norteño on U.S. radio. In the previous decade, Tejano hadn’t merely been an important regional style; it had been central to Hispanic radio listeners across El Norte, and central to the identities of millions of Texas Latinos. The tragedy of Selena’s death in 1995 was a harbinger and probably a cause for a wider sense of loss — the loss of Tejano identity resonating with a broader populace. As we’ve seen from the outcry when the Houston Rodeo schedules norteño bands on its popular “Go Tejano Day,” Tejano music is more than a nationwide fad that dried up. It’s not duranguense. Tejano identity is a powerful and distinct thing, with music as one of its main expressions, and for a brief period of about a decade that musical identity was crucial to America’s understanding of Latinos.

And then all of a sudden it was replaced by a bunch of damn corridos and tubas. You can understand why Tejano fans’ nostalgia would take on a new intensity.

But that oversimplifies the matter. Let’s look at some of the chart’s high points. As you do, keep in mind that I’ve never been to Houston and I probably got some things wrong, so I’ll welcome your comments and corrections. Continue reading “A Guide to Regional Mexican Radio in Houston” →

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Banda MS En La Jukebox

banda ms solo

¿Qué dice usted sobre la música romántica de Banda MS? Si usted escribe por The Singles Jukebox, posiblemente dice la palabra “swooning.” Es justo. Pero ¿cuál es la fundación rítmica para el swoon? El groove inspira a usted mover su cabeza de lado a lado, y la náusea resultante podría causar un swoon, ¿no? Es ciencia.

Escribí:

Ever since that Ed Sheeran song about Alzheimer’s knocked my socks off during last year’s Grammycast, I’ve grown less stingy about allocating slow jam points. These things can groove, you know? In the case of “Solo Con Verte,” the groove comes courtesy of the low brass section, their every note possessed by a rhythmic twitch as delicate as the caresses of that eternally happy slow-mo couple in the video. The tune’s a keeper, too. As for Horacio Palencia‘s lyrics — well, sometimes it’s just satisfying when words rhyme.

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Who’s On the Mexican Radio? 2/2/16

pequenos

ALERTA DE SPOILER: The following may reveal important plot twists from the latest Trakalosa video, a 10-minute saga called “Supiste Hacerme Mal.” (It’s at #7 this week.) Don’t say NorteñoBlog didn’t warn you.

(In other news: yes, Trakalosa videos now merit spoiler alerts.)

The latest radio hit by Edwin Luna and his banda Trakalosa de Monterrey is a study in domestic strife and scandalous romance. Basically, a young woman is planning to marry the two-timing novio of her wedding planner, whom said novio has been treating with cold distance. When the two women discover they love the same man at a reception tasting event, drama happens. So much drama. Edwin Luna turns in a characteristically intense, nostril-flarey performance as the novio in question; novela actriz Yulianna Peniche shows more range as the wedding planner. We’re already familiar with Luna’s boundless ambition — he’s started putting his name in front of his band’s — and scandalous romantic life — short take: Luna left his wife and son for the actress who directed this video, Alma Cero — but I’m not sure how much this not-entirely-flattering video trades on Luna’s IRL circumstances. Do fans see art imitating life?

Regardless of its tabloid inspiration, this isn’t another Muy Especial video in the vein of Trakalosa’s previous epic “Pregúntale” (#17), which boldly came out against wife-beating. There is no moral to be learned or lesson to be had here, unless it’s this pro tidbit for wedding planners: Always learn the name of the husband before drawing up a contract! This video is essentially clickbait, a way to drum up interest in an otherwise forgettable song (seriously, try humming a couple bars of “Supiste” — IT CAN’T BE DONE) and, I’m guessing, to boost Luna’s nascent acting career. He’s not a terrible actor, but I worry his neck tattoo will limit his choices. Continue reading “Who’s On the Mexican Radio? 2/2/16” →

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Fonovisa Phones the Past (¡Nuevo!)

luis humberto

recoditosThe big new album last Friday was Banda Los Recoditos’ Me Está Gustando (Fonovisa). Based on their track record I’ll assume it’s another shiny, debauched, smutty, jokey, not great but actually pretty good 12-song collection with a couple too many ballads. (See this review of their 2014 album Sueño XXX, for example.) This time around, the album cover comes with a paranoia-inducing game: NAME THE EYES THAT SEEM TO BE FOLLOWING YOU. We’ve already marveled at the lead cry for help single “Pistearé,” currently at #4 in Mexico and threatening to enter the Hot Latin top 10 in the U.S., in which Luis Angel Franco (the lower left set of eyes) vows to drink away the memories of the mujer who done him wrong. (In the video he gets into a fight with co-singer Samuel Sarmiento — the lower right set of eyes — over said mujer. The cycle of booze being a vicious one, this drama also drives her to drink.) Even better is big dumb cumbia “La Cruda, which celebrates the inevitable hangover with way more gusto than I’ve ever felt during a hangover. Pick to Click!

Continue reading “Fonovisa Phones the Past (¡Nuevo!)” →

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Marco Flores y Los Inquietos Saluden a Su Madre

inquietos flores

You may remember that last summer the noted TV game show host Donald Trump announced he was running for president. Because he is a “straight-shooting” “outsider” who “tells it like it is,” he decided it would be a good idea to launch his campaign by insulting Mexican immigrants. (Actually, what percentage of Trump’s actions spring from conscious decision making is open to debate and armchair psychoanalysis, but that’s a different blog.) A bunch of other Republican candidates, being “confident” “Christian” “human beings” who “think for themselves,” decided they would also insult Mexican immigrants. And Syrian immigrants. And Central and South American immigrants, just as, when ebola was all the rage, they wanted us to ban travel to and from Africa. These people know how to discriminate against, but among? Not so much.

Since then NorteñoBlog has seen a healthy number of pro-Latino and, in some cases, anti-Trump songs. The latest comes from blog fave Marco Flores and hyphy-not-hyphy stalwarts Los Inquietos del Norte. With his Numero 1 Banda Jerez, Flores made NorteñoBlog’s favorite album and single of 2015; he’s a proud Zacatecan country dude who fills his songs with crass jokes and parties. When he first arrived on the scene a decade ago, Billboard lauded him for “tell[ing] it like it is.” Like Sr. Trump, he’s also a straight-shooting outsider, saying in a Triunfo magazine cover story that, unlike many of his banda-music colleagues, he doesn’t like El Norte. Flores claims he couldn’t afford to live here; he’d need to buy a car; in Mexico he can just ride his horse wherever he needs to go. The straight-shooting outsider is still an attentive modern businessman, though — dude can quickly rattle off his YouTube counts.

In contrast, Los Inquietos may have cousins in Jalisco and Michoacan, but they’ve based most of their 20-year music career in California. Besides devising new and innovative ways to chinga tu madre in song, they’re enterprising businessmen, starting their own Eagle label and bringing their own crass corridos to fans throughout the U.S. Their new duet with Flores, “Requisito Americano,” addresses this cultural difference before uniting in solidarity: If you discriminate against them, “salude a su madre.” I guess they wanna get this song on the radio.

Blast it at your nearest Iowa caucus!

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Desfile de Éxitos 2/6/16 (Wristwatch Porn and White Slavery)

adriel arroyo

From the NorteñoBlog Department of Corrections (no, it’s not a Larry Hernández update): Last week when we were looking at the charts from 2004, I speculated that era’s airplay-only Hot Latin chart “placed five RegMex songs inside the Hot Latin top 10, a percentage we never see today.” Well color me morado — this week Banda MS, Ariel Camacho, La Adictiva, Gerardo Ortiz, and Arrolladora have all crashed the Hot Latin top 10 at the same time. Ding ding ding and cigars all around! In all, more than half the top 25 is made up of our guys. And yes, they’re all guys — where are Alicia Villarreal and Los Horóscopos when you need ’em?

What’s new? This week we say adios to one spritely tune by La Séptima Banda and hola to another. “Me Empezó A Valer” is your typical bouncy ode to a treacherous mujer and the cuckold who’s finally mustering the courage to show her the door. Its video, though, is Muy Especial. Turns out the woman was cheating with a good-looking guy at the gym, portrayed by Séptima’s lead singer. When he takes her “home” to “meet his family,” she discovers to her horror that home is a strip club and his family is a cabal of human traffickers. They lock her in a closet — I’m not making any of this up — and put her to work and she winds up half naked and sobbing on the concrete, mascara everywhere. When she texts the dude she cheated on — like, she can’t call the police? — he’s celebrating a promotion or something with his new girlfriend, so he just dismisses her texts. LESSON LEARNED, AMIRITE? Apparently not, because the final frames display the stark message, “LA SEPTIMA BANDA ESTÁ EN CONTRA DE LA TRATA DE BLANCAS.” You know, in case the video didn’t make that clear. Continue reading “Desfile de Éxitos 2/6/16 (Wristwatch Porn and White Slavery)” →

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¡Nuevo-ish! (doing DEL Records due diligence)

los amos del terror

fernandez pacasWhen we last met the rambunctious corrido quintet Grupo Fernández last June, NorteñoBlog was praising their Regulo Caro and Ariel Camacho feature “La Fuga Del Dorian,” a real barnburner of a corrido. In fact the charisma of the two stars overshadowed Los Fernández themselves, kind of like Nicki and Weezy guesting on a Tyga song, or Jagger and Hendrix sitting in with a slaphappy but faceless British garage band. The band’s runaway rhythm section regularly achieves that sublime rolling feel you find in many of the best new corrido bands, but it’s hard to buy lead singer Elton Aispuro unless he’s singing high and fast. When they attempt a slow song like Camacho’s “Te Metiste,” rhythm and singer sound like they’re wearing lead boots. Unfortunately their new album Las Pacas (DEL) has too many slow ones — actually, too many songs period. 17! Who do these guys think they are, Revolver Cannabis? But they still know how to burn down the barn — witness this week’s Pick to Click “El Pariente De La O,” featuring the high, Keith Richards-worthy backing vocals of bajo sexto player Juan García:

Continue reading “¡Nuevo-ish! (doing DEL Records due diligence)” →

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Archivos de 2004 (starring Grupo Climax, Alicia Villarreal, y más)

Grupo_Climax

Sometimes when you’re feeling whimsical/bored/done with dishes, you just decide to research the chart statistics of Grupo Climax. Or I do — I may be atypical. One thing leads to another, za za za, and so here are Billboard‘s top 10 Regional Mexican airplay songs from July 17, 2004, the week Climax’s only notable hit enjoyed its highest chart placement. Hot Latin chart placement is in parentheses.

Note that in 2004, the Hot Latin charts were still strictly based on airplay: “A panel of 99 stations (40 Latin Pop, 16 Tropical, 51 Regional Mexican) are electronically monitored 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week.” (Today they also incorporate sales and streams, but there remain breakout charts like Regional Mexican that measure only airplay.) This accounting method placed five RegMex songs inside the Hot Latin top 10, a percentage we never see today; but it also meant the Hot Latin top 25 contained 10 regional Mexican songs, pretty typical by today’s standards.

1. “Qué de Raro Tiene” – Los Temerarios (#2 Hot Latin)
Trembly-eyebrowed synth-pop grupero brothers go nostalgic with an album of ranchera covers, including this Vicente Fernández cover that would top the Hot Latin chart. Gustavo Angel unleashes his throat and sounds right at home in this style. (Be sure to check out their AllMusic bio for a fascinating look at how the brothers started their own label and challenged Fonovisa, only to eventually be swallowed by the giant.)

2. “Dos Locos” – Los Horóscopos de Durango (#5 Hot Latin)
“The Durango Gang Busts Out of Chicago,” read the Billboard headline on June 12, shortly after this song had topped the Regional Mexican chart. Los Horóscopos had been a working banda for 30 years before their enterprising leader Armando Terrazas decided to put his daughters, the multi-instrumentalists Vicky and Marisol, up front. This sad polka cover of Monchy & Alexandra was cut from the same bachata cloth as their cover of Aventura’s “Obsesion,” and it hits one of duranguense’s sweet spots — floaty heartache over nonstop oompahs. (The other sweet spot is clattery barely-constrained synth-tuba chaos, but that didn’t chart as much.) Continue reading “Archivos de 2004 (starring Grupo Climax, Alicia Villarreal, y más)” →

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