From: Dr. Axel Barcelo Aspeitia -- Investigador (abarcelo_at_minerva.filosoficas.unam.mx)
Date: 2003-01-08 15:54:06
Best of 2002: Mexican New Music: Extended Version
Artist of the Year: Natalia Lafourcade
So, yeah, Natalia may be considered just another new pop singer.
However, without much pretension, she and her fabulous band managed to
come out with an awesome sophisticated pop album (her self-titled debut on
Epic) without alienating neither the mainstream nor the alternative
sectors of the audience. Fresh touches of jazz, funk, house and latin
rhythms spread through a dozen simple pop tunes. She is still a teenager,
and I expect more and better things from her in the fututre, but this
debut album was a very pleasant surprise.
Year in Review:
This was a wonderful year for new acts. Except for Cafe Tacvba and Ely
Guerra, who did not even have a new album out this year, the most
interesting acts this year were brand new bands. Among this years best
records were debut albums from Volovan (self titled, Suave records,
indie-pop), Inspector (Latin Ska), Sussie 4 ('Musica moderna', Deep House,
Nopalbeat Records), Zoe (pop, Sony), Kinky (Self-titled, House not House,
Rock, not Rock) and Balboa (minimal techno).
(Oh, yes, older established acts like Mana, Jaguares, El Tri, and
others put out new albums this year, but none, except older fans, seemed
to care.)
This year's new music scene was dominated by Ska music, which
resulted in two surprising crossovers: Panteon Rococo (punkish political
ska), and Inspector (latin ska), whose songs managed to find space in
almost every major radio format: rock, latin, pop and traditional mexican
music. Another style which enjoyed a surprising increase in exposure this
year was poppy punk, fronted by debut albums from Pink Punk, Division
Minuscula and Pito Perez.
On the electronic side, last years surprising success of the Nortec
Collective resulted in more musicians' collectives releasing
compillations: Noiselab simultaneously released four new compillations
('Play' = house, 'Pause' = downtempo, 'Fast Forward' = Techno and 'Rewind'
= Elektro), Confort released two (abstract and downtempo), Nopalbeat
released three or so house compillations plus a heap of albums, singles
and EPs, . . . and so on. Even Suave Records devoted half of its
'Emergente' collection of unsigned mexican acts to electronic music. A
constant presence on the electronic scene were Alvaro Ruiz and Andres
Sanchez, former members of the Sanchez and Ruiz duo, who released heaps of
new dub, minimal techno and micro house tracks under different aliases:
Balboa, Sanchez Dub, Ruisort, etc. Another electronic artist to fully
exploit the 'alias' gimmick was Uriel Esquenazi, who released a bunch of
excellent house tracks and remixes under names like 'B'n'loco', 'Metal',
'Chilidrop', and 'Uriel E'.
Also worth mentionig was the birth of two new independent labels:
Virus records, by former members of electro pop pioneers Moenia, whose
first release was Fase's debut album 'Ciudad lluvia', a pleasant electro
pop album; and Termita Records, fronted by former Caifanes' guitarrist
Alejandro Markovich, which released debut albums by Pink Punk (pop punk)
and Yucatan A Go Go (Surf Punk for Children).
Song of the Year: "La Tumba del Mojado" by Ely Guerra
Buried inside a mediocre tribute to Norteno legends Los Tigres del
Norte, Ely Guerra delivered the most daring combination of rock,
electronic rhythms and traditional mexican music I have heard in a long
time. Instead of actually singing, Ely whispers the tale of an adandoned
woman facing the return of the man who left her and her children.
Underneath her voice, a minimal electronic beat barely suggests itself.
The rhythm is kept by the constant bassline of a tuba, in the traditional
marching style of northern Mexico. The track slowly builds up with the
incursion of a marching band and, finally, a heavish guitar riff marks the
track's climax.
Runner Ups: "Amargo Adis" by Inspector (Latin Ska), "Ella es Azl"
by Volovan (Indie Pop)
Also worth mentioning: "Soun Tha mi Primer Amor" by Kinky (acid cumbia
house?), "Suite Tropical" by Sussie 4 (vocal deep house), "Dip Suite" by
Digi & Gabo (House), and "Esta Vez" by Sara Valenzuela (Vocal Deep House).
Distribution Label of the Year: Asterisco (Universal)
Runner Ups: Noise Kontrol, JM,
Farewell: Opcin Snica
After more than a decade leading the mexican new music scene, the most
important independent label in recent times fell into bankrupcy and closed
this year. The loss for mexican music is inmeasurable. Many of mexico's
most important developers of Jazz, Folk, Experimental, Electronic, Rock
and other musical styles participated in developing a solid, diverse and
bold base for the label. On its electronic side, for example, it assisted
in the development of most of the most important names in the style, like
Fussible, Bostich, LLT, Galpago, DJ Klang, Moenia, Transceiver, Panoptica,
Martin Parra, Ramiro Puente, Decada 2, releasing some of their earlier
material.
Live Event: K+D et. al., Technogeist 2002, Goethe Cultural Center
Runner Up: Mouse on Mars, Balboa + The Fancy free, Sonic Art
Festival, X-Teresa Current Art Center
Unsigned Bands of the Year: Radar 69 (acid jazz), Dendron (electro pop),
Flux (downtempo), Triciclo (electro), Wakal (deep house)
Dr. Axel Arturo Barcelo Aspeitia
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On Thu, 26 Dec 2002, Dr. Axel Barcelo Aspeitia -- Investigador wrote:
> Best of 2002 from Mexico
>
> Artist of the Year: Natalia Lafourcade
> Runner Ups: Inspector, Volovan, Alvaro Ruiz, Sussie 4, Kinky, Ely
> Guerra, Cafe Tacvba, Uriel Esquenazi, Zoe , Andres Sanchez
>
> Song of the Year: "La Tumba del Mojado" by Ely Guerra
> Runner Ups: "Amargo Adis" by Inspector, "Ella es Azl" by Volovan
> Also worth mentioning: "Soun Tha mi Primer Amor" by Kinky, "Suite
> Tropical" by Sussie 4, "Dip Suite" by Digi & Gabo, "Esta Vez" by Sara
> Valenzuela
>
> Distribution Label of the Year: Asterisco (Universal)
> Runner Ups: Noise Kontrol, JM, Opcin Snica
>
> Unsigned Bands of the Year: Radar 69, Dendron, Flux, Triciclo, Wakal
>
> Dr. Axel Arturo Barcelo Aspeitia
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> + Instituto de Investigaciones Filosoficas +
> + Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico +
> + Mexico Distrito Federal +
> + (52)5622 7213 +
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> www.mp3.com/drxl
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> + /"\ ASCII Ribbon campaign +
> + \ / against gratuitious HTML/RTF email +
> + X Micro$oft Word docs +
> + / \ and proprietary formats +
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>
>
>
>