One of the billion awesome things about New York City is that one never runs out of things to do. And the CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival is your injection of high music adrenaline for five days and nights straight. Trust me, it gets pretty crazy, and I’m kinda scared (in a good way). With your overload lists of 1,300+ artists in more than 80 venues that’ll rock NYC in about two short weeks, it can get somewhat overwhelming making good use of your time and making sure to not miss worthy acts. And because you read us and “like” us for bringing you the best Latin music of today, we’ll make this a lot easier for you. So, here’s your guide to the best Latin acts of 2011 CMJ, baby. Wooooooooo!!
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¿Cuándo? Wed, Oct. 19, 11:20pm – 11:45pm
¿Dónde? Knitting Factory
Known for making rock ‘n’ roll fun as hell again rather than cheesy or umm?, this Boricua garage punk band began their musical journey in Puerto Rico’s underground punk scene (where ‘undergrounds’ still exist). This cool grungy sextet have been compared with the likes of Iggy & The Stooges and The Ramones for their nicely distorted, fuzzed-out rhythms, and raucous sound, but these guys sing to their native Spanish, loud and raw. Don’t miss out!
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¿Cuándo? Thurs, Oct. 20, 11:15pm – 11:30pm
¿Dónde? Canal Room
This New York-based, Dominican-blooded diva intermingles her own recipe of ghettotech, tropical punk, and New York wave with more sass than class. Signed under Mad Decent, Maluca Mala creates bilingual club banger music it’ll make ya wanna shake your ass despite your co-workers giving you weird looks for doing so in the office. A self made artist, this self-proclaimed “hood hipster” has been doing it hard for over two years; she’s also self-proclaimed broke, and she’ll be the first to tell you it’s not for the money, but for the music.
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¿Cuándo? Thurs, Oct. 20, 10:00pm – 10:30pm
¿Dónde? S.O.B.’s
Birthed in Venezuela, Mr. Pauer (née Toto González) rocks Miami’s Latin alternative scene hard with his original style of electropical mixes from. This DJ gained recognition for his unique brand of music that blends the grooviest of tropical sounds, cumbia, and electronic beats. His latest album Soundtrack eclectic mix is unlike anything you’ve ever heard. It is no surprise that Mr. Pauer got nominated for a 2011 Latin Grammy for Best Alternative Album. Puro Power!!
Cumbión Del Sur – Feat. Itagui by Mr Pauer
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¿Cuándo? Thurs, Oct. 20, 10:00pm
¿Dónde? S.O.B.’s
By way of Venezuela this Brooklyn-based duo dropped us like a dunk in the cold waters of Rockaway beach, and it was soooo refreshing. In their Playa LP, Cem and Su Patafunk introduce us to a groovy amalgamation of tropical funk, hip hop swag, electropop, and sunshine reggae. These guys are a favorite pair to the Remezcla team, not only for their meticulously creative works under the umbrella of funk and soul, but for their allure of traveling vagabonds who do music with lots of soul.
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¿Cuándo? Fri, Oct. 21, 7:00pm – 7:45pm
¿Dónde? Webster Hall
Mexico-birthed via Texas frontman Alan Palomo leads the hazy, chillwave group of Neon Indian — though this quartet wouldn’t audibly be considered your conventional Latin band in its traditional sense, but hey who does nowadays. The synth mastermind uses old school gem synths (where Alan gets out of pawn shops) and conventional noise pop sounds that creates that sound the blogosphere buzzes about. Neon Indian has been touring European and US lands where the band has been premiering the latest release of Era Extraña (strange era or she’s strange) completing this particular cycle at CMJ.
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¿Cuándo? Fri, Oct. 21, 10:00 pm
¿Dónde? Public Assembly (back room)
This Monterrey native and Control Machete alum is probably one of the most dedicated DJs, producers, and creative directors of today. Toy Selectah is a brain child behind a realm of amazing remixes from artists like Vampire Weekend, Santigold, Morrissey, Babasónicos, Banda de Turistas, and his very own Sonidero Nacional. The man also discovers a breed on new bands bands, and within them created scenes like Monterrey’s guarachero with 3Ball MTY. His pioneering infusion of cumbia and urban rhythms without a doubt makes him one of the major players of today’s Latin music scene. Check out this Selectah remix below.
Jaguar House (Toy Selectah 20.08 Refix) by Tonatiuh!
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¿Cuándo? Fri, Oct. 21, 10:00 pm
¿Dónde? Public Assembly (back room)
As hardcore as his moniker implies and how his unveiled face may scare us, is Mexicans with Guns straight up from San Antonio, Texas where you’ll probably still encounter border crossing Mexican mafias. Mexicans with Guns is another worthy DJ and producer of today, usually paring up with Toy Selectah. And by the way, you’ll check him out doing his solo thang’ premiering his latest LP Ceremony and joining forces with Selectah where together, they are called Gun Selectah.
Gun Selectah – Como un Perro by mexicanswithguns
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¿Cuándo? Sat, Oct. 22, 7:00pm – 7:45pm
¿Dónde? Webster Hall
We still think this dance pop quintet is as sexy as ever (though their band name implies they’re tired of it), just look at their sloppy hipster T-shirts and funky hairdo’s, plus their young and pretty and are from Brazil……sexy. Their electro new wave dance tunes are catchy, charming, and distorted; most lyrics are about dancing and having lots of sex….. fun! Cansei de Ser Sexy will premier their latest release La Liberación and I’m sure there’ll be lots of ass bouncin’ around to their songs, so get yours in there too.
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