Indie Princess

Some music for the day, the Spanish version of all those breathy frenchy ladies. The diosa of Spanish indie-Christina Rosenvinge. Enjoy!

Algo de música para empezar el día, la versión española de todas esas frencesas sin aliento. La diosa del indie español, Christina Rosenvinge. Disfrútalo!

Con duende

Christmas carols are a bit different in Spain, not as many jingle bells and snowmen and not quite so commercially successful and 24/7 as in the states. But, I have to admit my favorites, and maybe the most surprising, are the flamenco Christmas carols. And, I do like how the songs are about the real Christmas story, usually centered on Mary and Jesus and the shepherds.

Ana Kiro

Ana Kiro, famous throughout Spain for her singing career in the 60's was a Galician, living in Barcelona, who became one of the first artists to perform and record in Galician in Spain during the Franco dictatorship when Galician, Catalan, and Vasco weren't permitted. Her record "Galicia Terra Meiga" included only one song in Galician, but made such an impact that after her many doors were opened to include the marginalized language in pop culture. She recently lost her battle with cancer, and Spain and Galicia is mourning her loss and remebering her pride.

do norte

I've been meaning to blog this forever, and was reminded yesterday when my BFF told me she was off to a summer concert in the park. In May we went to Festival do norte a weekend music festival getting together some of the most popular Spanish indie music. We went on the second day to see Los Planetas-Granadine legends of Spanish indie that all my friends are crazy about-but we also saw a few others. Top on my list were La bien querida-a singer songwriter with a sweet voice and romantic lyrics, and later in the night a crazy afro-beat, tropical beach, dance band called El Guincho. Who doesn't love to dance to this stuff on a warm summer night...or any night for that matter. Click on the bands to hear more.

Sin documentos

Latin American love songs, boleros, are hard to beat. Mariachis, a trio of guitars, and the cheesiest but loveliest words being sung under the moonlight, at least that's how I always imagined them. I learned Spanish listening to them with my mom in the car. Maybe you have to understand the lyrics to really love them, but the last love song of the month is a classic by Los Rodriguez, a modern Aregentinian take on Latin American boleros, with lines like: "mientras espero por ti me muero, no quiero vivir sin ti...while I'm waiting for you I'm dying, I can't live without you" and "Quiero saber que la vida contigo no va a terminar...I want to know that life with you will never end" etc. So they are singing on a mountain in the nineties with weird shots of a girl on a horse-put all that aside, and listen to the words (sorry English readers you have to learn Spanish to really feel this one). It's quite romantic...and it's one of the songs Diego included on a CD he made for me back in Kalamazoo-maybe that's why I love it so much too.

Be my baby

It's almost valentine's day. Another great love song to inspire some valentine making. (ps...we had our wedding dance to this song!)

Love songs

It's February. It's time for love. To start the month of one of my favorites. Enjoy!

música finale

And...not to leave you waiting too long, from Galicia a bit of indie and some more traditional sounds from The Homens and Roi Casal.




Ps...Isn't Galician bealutiful? Galician (gallego-portugués) was the language of the arts in the middle ages and King Alfonso X used it to write his poems.

música 2

Bet you can't guess where they're from...



Arizona Baby...from Valladolid, Spain.

música

Time for a bit of music from Spain aside from Flamenco. To start a band from Mallorca singing in Catalan: Antonia Font.

Press Pass

Summer fun continues....
Last night we went to see Wilco as guests of Diego´s newspaper...seats in the press box, oh yea. A fun way to see Midwest meets Spain...and for the 2nd encore the crowd yelled -Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole- you know, that song from soccer games. I think the band thought it was pretty funny...I sure did, I´ve never heard an encore quite like that before.
What adventure will come next? Not quite sure, but it´s time to pack my suitcase...

Motown

It's pretty nice to be sitting in the sunshine in a cafe in Santiago between classes listening to a little motown music, makes me feel at home. Last time I went home we went to the Motown Museum in Detroit. The museum is the house where all the ideas came to life, and it's a visit that can't be missed if you're in Detroit. My favorite part was acting like Diana Ross and the Supremes with my sister in the studio where they recorded (and see Diego be volunteered by the strangers in the group, "THE SPANIARD, THE SPANIARD!",to act like one of the Temptations). And if you do go, check the world map, the pin in the northwest corner of Spain represents Diego-he got to mark Santiago! So, what's your favorite motown song??

Camaron

It's cooold and rainy in Santiago today, so I'm going to escape a bit from the cold with my warm and sunny Sevilla memories. While living in Sevilla in 2003 I took a class called about the linguisitics of flamenco. As any Spanish speaker can tell you, in Andalucia (southern Spain) there is an accent unlike any other in the Spanish speaking world. It is an accent that turns "Joder, qué calor" to "Joé, que caló" and "pescado" to "pecaó". But beyond the dilectal differences this class journeyed into the sounds, rythms and movements of flamenco, going far beyond the commerical image of flamenco It was easy to go to the class one evening a week, sitting in the University that was once the Royal Tobacco Facory where the opera Carmen was inspired, and listen as my Gypsy professor strummed his guitar and brought in his family to sing and dance for is as he explained the rythmic differences of a Fandago versus a Buleria. Although I don't remember much about the differences in the rythms, the duende spirit that inspires the sudden outburst of song and dance still haunts me. Camaron de la Isla is the king of this music and the gipsy culture that surrounds it. Enjoy this video.

CHANGE!!!!!

OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GANOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=A0dMxqgS1-8

this is the song...badabadaaaadadaaaaa

This song is everywhere here in Spain right now...i hear it a few times a day, and it gets stuck in my head everytime...and i have to admit i like it. It's upbeat, bubble gum, fun and I love me anything that looks like figure skating...so watch the video on youtube...and you'll be humming it all day too...

ps: if you havent noticed by now, im quite blog illiterate an dont know how to get the actual video onto the blog...sorry, maybe next time!

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=8IzfnhVLuuE

Mi novio es un zombie...

Less than a week until Halloween and the cultural invasion in in full force. This week all around the city Halloween window displays and pumkins with glued on faces are popping up. I've decided it would be fun to have a little party, so D and I are getting things prepared and decided to start yesterday with the music. It is going to a little bit Americana and a little bit Spanish. To start with the Spanish jams is Mi novio es un zombie, by Alaska (translation, My boyfriend is a zombie), circa 19eightysomthing and representing the post Franco era freedom in the 80's. Beyond just singing and making music, Alaska was also responisble for a kids show called La bola de cristal (The Crystal Ball), if you have time, and speak Spanish it is worth checking out on Youtube. Also, if you know anything about Latin Pop music you've probably heard a few of their songs as covered by an endless of the bands and singers, including Thalia. Today Alaska is called Fangoria still hit the stage dressed in vinyl and, as I discovered in Mexico, they recently made a duet with the Argentinian band Miranda. But with that, here are the lyrics in Spanish and in English, and a link to watch Alaska singing Mi novio es un zombie on YouTube. You'll want to add this to your Halloween playlist too...

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=kA5Eu14vvGc

Mi novio es un zombie My Boyfriend is a Zombie

Sus dientes no son blancos, sólo tiene tres, His teeth aren't white, he only has three
su piel es transparente y verde a la vez His skin is transparent and green at the same time
sus ojos amarillos me hacen enloquecer, His yellow eyes drive me crazy
tiene algo ese chico y yo no sé que es, He's got something, but I don't know what it is
somos inseparables We are inseparable
y veo muy probable And I think it's very probable
llevarle al altar. I'll take him to the alter.
Siempre viste de blanco He always wears white
y le sienta muy bien And it looks really good on him
nunca lleva zapatos He never wears shoes
él sabrá porqué Only he would know why
somos inseparables We are inseperable
ya conoce a mis padres He has even met my parents
él es feliz y yo soy feliz. He is happy and I am happy.
Mi novio es un zombi My boyfriend is a zombie
es un muerto viviente He is a living corpse
que volvió del otro mundo He came back from the other side
para estar conmigo to be with me
mi vida ya tiene sentido My life now has meaning
recuperé el amor perdido I'll revive my lost love
intacto pero podrido. Intact but rotten.
Sus ojos amarillos me hacen enloquecer His yellow eyes drive me crazy
tiene algo ese chico y yo no sé que es. He's got something, and I don't know what it is
A veces pienso que no puede ser Sometimes i think this can't be
pero yo sé que nadie me separará de él, But i know no one will seperate me from him
está muerto, aunque lo niegue, He's dead, and he can't deny it
él es un zombi pero me quiere. He's a zombie but he loves me.
Somos inseparables We are inseperable
ya conoce a mis padres He has met my parents
él es feliz y yo soy feliz. He's happy and I'm happy.
Mi novio es un zombi My boyfriend is a zombie...
es un muerto viviente
que volvió del otro mundo
para estar conmigo
mi vida ya tiene sentido
recuperé el amor perdido
intacto pero podrido.
Mi novio es un zombi
es un muerto viviente
que volvió del otro mundo
para estar conmigo
mi vida ya tiene sentido
recuperé el amor perdido
intacto pero podrido.
Mi novio es un zombie
Mi novio es un zombie
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
uh ou uh ou
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
uh ou uh ou
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh