Its that time of year again! The CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival. We were all really excited about it here at Remezcla especially when we heard Pitbull was playing! (We’re just kidding. Sort of.)
Digging through their very extensive list of bands (took us hours, by the way, probably a billion bands), we were expecting to see more of a Latino wave than what we found.We wag our finger at you, CMJ! (Or is it the recession?)
However, we found some pretty cool stuff you should check out and super-condensed it for you, so you won’t have to sit through things you don’t want to hear!
This Brooklyn duo blew up with their song “Pizza Hut Taco Bell” and since then they’ve been the official anthem for the deliciously tacky restaurant. One half of the group is Victor Vazquez who is half-Cuban and half-Italian and hails from San Fran!HOTTEST TRACK: “Shorty Said”
For all our ska-heads out there! King Chango blew up in 1996 with their self-titled album, but damn it are they back! Establised and based in NYC with lead MC Blanquito Man hailing from Venezuela, this band is a mix of traditional ska beats with a bit of a hip-hop in some of their tracks. The are playing on the 20th at SOB’s.
HOTTEST TRACK: “Rebel Youth Vet”or “Latin Ska”
Reaching way into his Cuban roots, man-about-town Poveda is tapping into jazz and and lounge for a sultry mix. He is part of the very cool showcase CMJ: Habana-Harlem presents Alternative Narratives at Drom on the 23rd.
HOTTEST TRACK: “Cadena Perpetua” It reminds us a lot of lazy Sunday morning in the Caribbean…
LESSER GONZALEZ ALVAREZ
Although he would not be traditionally placed under the “Latino tab”, he deserves a look at. This Cuban singer/songwriter made his acoustic folk sound his own. He is playing at the Cameo Gallery on the 24th.
HOTTEST TRACK: “Mostly a Friend”
ROSALIA ROIO
Rosalia Roio is someone you listen to on one of those lazy Sundays. Born in Madrid, this singer-songwriter has that new jazz sound that even those hipster/indie kids will like. She is performing with Poveda at Drom‘s Habana-Harlem presents Alternative Narratives on the 23rd.
HOTTEST TRACK: “Papeles”
POIRIER
This DJ-producer has a sound with beats to blast the floor (no joke). In fact, this talented dude is not of Latino descent, but the way he uses those Caribbean beats in his tracks, we can’t ignore it.
So I’m giving him the latino-stamp of the day!
Poirier has worked with MCs from London, Montreal, and Jamaica and in between and after CMJ, he’s touring in Brazil and is going to hit up Mexico soon!
He is playing at multiple locations and dates for CMJ, such as the very popular Santo’s Party House on the 22nd.
HOTTEST TRACK: Wha-La-La-Leng feat. Face T