Traveling: Puerto Rico

In this cold italian winter I can't help to think about the caribbean. I dream of the sun, the smells de las calles, the sounds. So, I dedicate this post to the most caribbean place of "North" America, Puerto Rico. I'm fascinated by this place, where mestizaje is pushed at the limits, not without contrasts and contradictions. And this is well reflected by the music. Listen to that:


Sometimes I think there's more Puerto Rico outside than inside the island. Here there's an extremely good band, based in Washington, where every influence is perfectly melted into the true and original caribbean sounds. Here cumbia, funky and reggaeton go nicely together to reflect the real sound of the new latino generations.


Sometimes I think that hip-hop would somehow be already dead if it wasn't for the latin influence that made it revive and regenerate into something new and powerful. Latin rap and reggaeton, if well done, are irresistible. They make you dance even if you don't want, and they taste like a ron shot: sweet and hot. This album is a very good example of what latin hip hop is capable to do. Try to believe.


Puerto Rico is not just salsa and rap. There's something for every taste. I liked this album because it feels different. Mima is a musician between worlds. She somehow reminds me of the spanish singer "La Bebe", but with that latin sounds that gives her a good push on on the rhythmic side. Nice lyrics and interesting fusion research. Keep en eye on her.


This album is a mix of different elements, all melted in a folkloric athmosphere of latin rhythms, but not totally "classic". I like the lyrics, and the simplicity a little melancholic. The author is a multiinstrumentalist born in Puerto Rico that makes all by his self, and makes it good.

Etta James, a little goodbye.

Another great voice of soul and blues has faded these days. She started fading, actually, a while ago, when her mind started to surrender to dementia and illness. But she was there, a living witness to what she was capable to do in the music world. There's no female singer of our times that didn't try to test herself on Etta James hits, and it was never an easy test to pass. Now she's gone. But sure as hell she's going to last.

Etta James singing her most popular hit in 2009. She was beautiful, and she had that sad vibe in her voice like it was the first and the last time she was singing that tune. Awesome.

I think that Aguilera is one of the few contemporary singers that found a personal way to render Etta James songs. She's got a different style, of course, but the same strenght and power and that touch of rage that I think has always been one of the signatures of Etta.

Maybe it should have been Etta that night. But still, Beyoncé gave a great rendition of this song and the couple dancing on the stage made everything very very special. Etta was mad about that, but she was shining on that stage even if she wasn't there. A nice tribute, freshly done, were Etta James voice shines out like a spark on a funky base that honours well her name. Free to download.

John Lee, voodoo's forever!

I have a special place in my heart for mr.Hooker. I saw him live in Italy a bunch of years ago (better not say how many). I was kind of new in the blues vibes, and I will never, never forget the thrill I felt when I heard that voice. It was something coming from inside, not from my ears, but from my bowel, or just around there. It was the power of the blues, the real one, that I was experiencing and those incredible frequencies that John Lee Hooker was able to get out of his vocal cords. I can still see the man, dress all in black, hat on, sunglasses, singin' Tupelo Blues and thousand of people falling in complete silence, hypnotized by the rhythm of the shoe on the floor and the hand on the guitar. I was looking for that feeling when I started the search and, surprise surprise, I think I found it! There are tons of tracks that make feel like Hooker's still alive and rocking. Listen to these, and you'll know he's still here, bluesing around the music of our days, hat on, unforgettable.

john lee hooker - hobo blues / karim full moon dub by `DJ KiMO Irresistible tune with perfect balance between the bluesy sound of Hooker voice and a base line that can't let you stay still. This is the right way to make a classic brand new. Great job.

Blues Brothers-John Lee Hooker (Bobby C Sound TV remix) by Bobby C Sound TV This track booms right in the middle! One of the most played tunes of Hooker & friends rended in a way that makes you wanna jump.

John Lee Hooker - Mad Man Blues (miX&dorp edit) by miX&dorp Mad Man Blues got new sounds, excellent sounds must say, and it shines like it was composed yesterday.

Tupelo (Blues Cover, All Vocals,Guitars & Bass by The Fat Man) by FatFreeProductions Making a rendition of this tune it's not easy at all. How could anybody compete with those bass frequencies that John Lee was able to reach like they came from his stomach? Nobody could. So, better try something different. And this is what these guys do, and they've done good.

And here's the real thing:

Music thoughts for the new Titanic

These days have been all centered on the story of the Costa ship sunk just a mile from Tuscany coast and the 4200 and more people that were on it. Apart from reports, controversies, polemics and news, there's the big wounded body of this new version of the Titanic, laying on a side in a wonderful piece of Tirrenian sea, there are deads, and survivors, heroes and bad guys and all the imaginarium that eventually comes along with such an event. I tried to find some music to talk about all this.


This album is about boats. There are many type of boats represented here, the little ones and the biggest, like the "Concordia". They're all here as they should be, sailing, traveling and building dreams for the sailing people. I liked the global sound of this album. Quiet, relaxing, like a calm navigation, with that touch of melancholy that comes with the cruise package.


Talking about melancholy, here's Mr Hiro's comment to the Costa Concordia accident. Music, noises, sounds that slowly sank in a dark, quiet water, living just silence, and floating debris.


This track made me shiver. When I heard it I immediately visualized the night on the sea around the sunk boat. The almost silence, the dark, the work of the search and the loss of people and things floating on the surface of the water. It seemed to me exactly the sound of the post-disaster. With that little light of hope.


Another electronic music comment to what happened. Like the day after with the sense of loss but also the light of the day, the noises, the talking, the rescue...
A beautiful track by Tiago da Silva, a guy that perfectly knows how to make music talk about things and facts.

Homenaje a "El Goyo", igbaé bayen tonù.

Hace unos pocos dias falleciò en la Habana Gregorio "El Goyo" Hernandez, 75 años, uno de los representantes de la màs autentica voz afrocubana de la isla. El Goyo no solamente ha sido un gran artista de la rumba y de toda la cultura afrocubana, si no también un maestro para generaciones de cubanos y extranjeros que através de su personalidad, conocimientos y capacidad de comunicar aprendieron los secretos de tan grande y profunda cultura.

Igbaé, Goyo, ahora estas rumbeando con los grandes.

It's a cold, cold world.

I'm not a snow type. I'm the kind of person that would absolutely choose a winter in bikini on a tropical beach rather than ski slopes and snow boots and all the rest. But, winter's come eventually and it's undeniably cold. Some people love it, some people get the magic of a snowy night and icey air. This post is for them.


These russian guys know what cold and ice are. You can feel it in this music, made by "real" musicians, with a solid rhythmic and armonic backbone and a range of athmospheres that can surprise track by track. Beautiful.


If you want to relax with a cup of hot chocolate in your hands, looking out of the window on a chilly night, this is the album you should listen to. Relaxing without being soporific, electronic without being disturbing, it's a nice example of how chill and ambient can go together without making you instantly sleep.


Chill is certainly appropriate for cold weather, but there are times when chill is too much. So what about some rock? Cool and icey rock, obviously, like this, made by a one-man-band of Dayton (Ohio, I presume..). Healthy and refreshing, or warming, you choose.


And then... then sun comes out, and all that ice and snow start to melt, and it's time to get out and breath. Winter's over. Ok, I'm dreaming. And that's why I wanted to close this post with this album. It's an "old" one, but I totally loved it at the first listening. It has everything it takes to be cool: rhythm, sounds, imagination. From Texas, where they're not suppose to know exactly what a winter means.