club fonograma

Video: Banda De Turistas - "Cada Día"

2012-01-28T18:11:00.001-07:00

It might be disingenuous to categorize Banda De Turistas by U.S. groups they relate to (i.e. the Southern Cone Strokes*), but it would be criminal if I neglected to acknowledge their exaggerated appropriation of UK pop, a staple in the decades-old musical diet of Argentines. In “Cada Día,” the group is stripped of their Sgt. Pepper uniforms and left with casual street wear. While their outfits reek of '90s nonchalance, director Alaviu (Martin Bordini**) exerts a surplus of intellectual and skilled labor with new media technology in the likes and on the levels of Radiohead’s “House of Cards.” Similar to the data-mashed “El Rogadero,” the group willfully serves as a guinea pig for a new media experiment, in which color warmth—of photographic faces and bodies—is transformed into a gridded curtain of light-signifying points. In turn, the light points are given their own life as time-enacted, ambisonic sine waves (a total abstract breakdown of a Gestaltian whole). Don’t worry if you can’t make out their faces, I’ve seen them live, and they are gorgeous***.

* I couldn’t resist…Buenos Aires Beatles. Burger Record Rock Cannibals!
** I should recognize and send much love to the fellow new media collaborators: R3nder, Alex Dogrush, Salome, Valeria Laura, Estado Lateral, and the MCCWN community.
***#yeshomo

Video: Installed - "Brochacho"

2012-01-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

One of last year’s biggest revelations was Chicano Fernando Álvarez’s enveloping project, Installed. This week, the astonishing follow-up to the emotively quaint Plancha, Paisajes de Invierno, was released through netlabel Grabaciones Amor. Based on Installed’s first official video and EP’s witty lead single “Brochacho,” we can add him without hesitating to the list of artists like María y José or Rebolledo that naturally exude swag. Armed with a classic Death to the Pixies t-shirt, a “THE MAN!” sign, and some epileptic badass moves, Álvarez humorously sings about those youngsters (well, brochachos) pissed off about nothing, keen on absurd art (“hay que comprar focos en la tienda para quebrarlos”), and whose subsistence plan doesn’t imply getting a job (“quiero ser rico pero no quiero trabajar”). In a minute and a half he succeeds with an entertaining, simple clip for this kick ass track. Oh, and I would also totally love if my caguamas were served by a guy in a suit and in such a fashionable way. Makes it look expensive. After all, Installed is The Man.

☯☯☯☯☯ FESTIVAL NRMAL — Lineup 2012 ☯☯☯☯☯

2012-01-27T11:54:00.004-07:00

MP3: Los Embajadores - "Peso"

2012-01-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Danae Morales has a voice that naturally lends itself to fragile, urgent pop ballads. Her heartbreaking performance in the brilliant “El sol” by Niños del Peru illustrated emotional defeat while advancing a loose narrative on two compilations concerned with “ the end.” The end of an era on Los Herederos (the final Fonogramáticos) and the end of the world on Michita Rex’s Música para el fin del mundo.

“Peso,” the first proper single from Los Embajadores, shows Morales channeling the same fragility that marked “El sol” but with a newfound strength thanks to the aid of some beautiful and focused production from other band members, including Cristóbal Gajardo of Voz de Hombre. This is a song that confronts the weight of the world with serious restraint, then progresses into a celestial time-lapse. Pure joy. Los Embajadores will soon release Faisanes, their debut LP, and “Peso” has quickly converted it into one of the most anticipated records for 2012.

♫♫♫ "Peso" | Download Single + Remixes

Andrea Balency Trío - "Lover"

2012-01-25T16:53:00.002-07:00

Andrea Balency’s race to stardom seems unstoppable. “Lover,” the second single (and last one with her band before going solo) from her forthcoming EP under the same title, makes it evidently imminent. Following the gorgeous “El Desorden,” and as classy as we’d expect from the ensemble, “Lover” is a crestfallen chamber pop track, which encounters the leader’s melancholic heights-reaching singing manner in one of her very best performances. Like a spy film, the initial guitar base suggests mystery, which is quickly suppressed as the other instruments–piano, accordion and Balency’s blissful voice–fall effortlessly into place and draw nostalgia as the song potently progresses into an emotional ride where tears might be shed and susceptibilities may be affected. Andrea Balency Trío, which lamentably will dismantle after this release, already possess a characteristic sound of their own and, based on the two tracks released so far, Lover EP appears to be the work where they’ve fully polished without venturing into eccentricity or unnecessary experimentation, simply with a lot of class.

MP3: Carrie - "Boats" (feat. killyourcat)

2012-01-24T13:38:00.001-07:00

It’s been four years since the release of Carrie’s superb 1981. As we waited for a follow up, Guadalajara’s melodically refined Laura B. has announced the unforeseen departure of this project. But it’s not all bad news. She promises to come back stronger than ever with a new project and is giving the Carrie era a soothing closer with one last single. “Boats,” unlike most of Carrie’s shy-at-heart singles is significantly plainspoken. The quiet vocals are still echoing from the artist’s fountain of naïve pop, but, lyric-wise, she has grown in temperament. As she sings “I don’t care about boats, I don’t care about cities… not anymore,” you can tell Laura B. has scattered Carrie’s ashes into far-reaching emotional waters. Boats’ instrumental B-side, “Pendulum,” plays as a cleansing encore of the remains. Grab the single + its b-side HERE.

♫♫♫ "Boats"

MP3: Mañaneros - "Baby Tropical"

2012-01-22T18:35:00.001-07:00

When Mañaneros’ grandiloquent hit “El Volcán” came our way, I think we all cringed a bit. Here we had an out-of-nowhere band that was so loud and so monstrously into themselves that they had us saying, “Jeez! Chileans are also freakishly great at tribal.” In a weird way, “El Volcán” officially took Chile’s indie from an all-the-family pop scene into a prospecting and more diversified field. The four-piece act is prepping the release of their first EP, Levantate y Come, and has unveiled another badass single that intermingles tribal dub with merengue and polka. “Baby Tropical” is a subsequent home run for Mañaneros, who score another hit devoid of any templates, instead surveying as many platforms as Edgar Wright in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. “Baby Tropical” is like the meeting of Proyecto Uno and Das Racist, so blissfully satanical and so celebratory of the morning erections.

♫♫♫ "Baby Tropical" | Facebook

MP3: I.E. - "Smartphone"

2012-01-20T13:15:00.001-07:00

With great pleasure, Club Fonograma introduces the Angeleno techno-chola, I.E. Margot Padilla might already be known for her crude humored homage to “Party in the U.S.A” in “Party in the 909,” a (brown) Skins-like weekend bender with the super vatos of the Inland Empire. After expatriating to the Los Angeles punk scene, Padilla has quickly established herself as the female counterpart to Captain Ahab. This is a fitting match when considering the sugar high that is “Smartphone,” off of Choose Your Own Adventure and released on Deathbomb Arc Records.

Happy to be Hardcore, “Smartphone” plays like a Mario Kart 64 marathon on Rainbow Road, colored in with gabber, IDM, and general techno. Her J/K pop infatuation explains her blissful autotune chorus, “You can look at me if you feel alone/ if you’re feelin shy or paranoid/ I love you I’m your android.” The song plays on the techno-mysticism of our time. It misdirects the listener to infer that android relates to a new transhumanism (or a entirely social life online), but instead photoshops together a new anthropomorphic and angelic companion, your 4G smartphone! As Dan Deacon says, “Enjoy your future while it lasts.”

♫♫♫ “Smartphone” | Facebook

MP3: Tony Gallardo II - "Líder Juvenil"

2012-01-20T00:13:00.001-07:00

Ruidosón emperor María y José, responsible of our most anticipated album of 2012, has a new project under the artistic name Tony Gallardo II. Through social networks, he openly expressed his adoration for two of the best records of last year, Rebeldes (Alex Anwandter) and Super Vato (Rebolledo), and warned that both were the primary inspiration for this side project. Under this context, “Líder Juvenil,” the first single from his upcoming, self-released EP Líder Juvenil as Tony Gallardo II, is definitely the culmination of his obsession with those two albums and a departure–but not a drastic one– from his trademark María y José sound. Packed with Rebolledo-esque refined techno nuanced with Christian Heyne-like disco strings production and Gallardo’s distinct vocals, the not exactly optimistic, yet funky and hilarious “Líder Juvenil” is another delicious slice of genius from the extensively creative mind of Tony Gallardo.

♫♫♫ "Líder Juvenil"

Mujercitas Terror - Excavaciones

2012-01-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month we wrote about an editorial guilt for not giving Félix y Los Clavos’ Continuara the amount of attention it deserved. Well, there’s another superb Argentinean album out there that we simply failed to come across. Mujercitas Terror’s Excavaciones is so good that we just can’t keep on posting 2012 material without at least winking at it through this tiny blurb. Excavaciones is, like the title suggests, a down-to-the-bone excavation to gnarled sensibilities and wounded shoegaze. How we’ve failed to acknowledge this band for years is a bit discomforting but it’s also stimulating to know there’s so much industrial music out there we still need to hunt for. The good news is we’ll get a chance to redeem ourselves soon as Mujercitas Terror will share a 7’’ split with the great Mueran Humanos, and they’ll be doing it that through Vale Vergas Discos (Juan Cirerol, Mentira Mentira). The scene as we know it is bound to strip off its couture and go darker, hopefully for the better.

♫♫♫ "Excavaciones"

Treli Feli Repi - Massacre EP

2012-01-18T15:45:00.001-07:00

Massacre EP, Treli Feli Repi
Transufão Noise Records, Brazil
Rating: 71
by Pierre Lestruhaut

You wouldn’t think that extremely short releases of a few under-2-minute scuzzy lo-fi numbers sung in a language none of us really understand would be motivation enough to write a whole review, yet what the kids from Brazilian label Transfusão Noise Records have been doing with the awkward form is riveting enough to have another CF writer excited about discussing it. A few months after Babe Florida’s ten-minute, 14-people-involved EP, Treli Feli Repi comes out as a more personal enterprise (the increasingly common one-man rock band), with Lê Almeida himself taking on all vocal, instrumental, and songwriting duties.

Because of this EP’s striking similarities, in form and references, to Babe Florida’s debut EP, I could have probably gotten away with just paraphrasing everything Carlos said in his review of Depois Eu Te Explico Melhor about the use of track timing as a narrative tool for short lived experiences, that judging by the album description and song titles, are apparently related to women (“Muitas Garotas,” “Laura”), death (“Cardiopatia,” “23 Suicidio”), and alcohol (?).

But, as much as I like both EPs for their strict adherence to a seemingly unpolished and unusual M.O., the guy's lack of interest in long-form composition makes it hard to like it specifically for this concept. Which is why, as obvious as it may seem to drop a Guided by Voices reference right when their “classic lineup” releases a new record, this is an album that’s held together by the charm of the individual riff, the killer chorus, or even the 30-second fuzzy outro - all the elements and loose ideas spread around the EP that have you constantly coming back to it for the same reason die-hard GBV fans keep randomly coming back to individual tracks in any of their “classic” records.

This is not the kind of album you need to go to if you’re looking for a satisfying front-to-back listening experience or a well thought out concept record, or even the occasional two or three hit singles you’ll be playing on repeat. But, despite the album’s general lack of focus and development, you might just find yourself interrupting your daily activities to rediscover that melody you were humming all day, or that riff you couldn’t get out of your head. Even if it’s only for a minute and a half.

♫♫♫ "Muitas Garotas" | Download EP

Video: Los Ginkas - “GIN-kanarama-Gabba-rama-MaNIA!!!”

2012-01-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

Even if you’ve been living under a rock and feel like you don’t belong to an Internet community, chances are you are still intrigued by today’s all-across blackout regarding SOPA and PIPA. This is something that will affect everything, from your visually discreet homepage to your crowded digital suburbs. Instead of joining the blackout today, Club Fonograma has opted to make a brief case on the kind of material that would be deeply hurt by a legislature that threatens creativity, innovation, and a generation’s welfare. A few days ago, Spanish gum pop revivalists Los Ginkas released a perfectly-synced collage clip for their new track “GIN-kanarama-Gabba-rama-MaNIA!!!,” an ode to B-movies and the gimmicks of William Castle, is an obvious multi offender of service terms, but one that still sustains intellectual composition in beautiful ways. To legally persecute something like this means to persecute our understanding of pop culture. But this isn’t even a worst-case scenario. It’s the too wide-ranging and vague language of the bill that we should be worrying about. The ideas of massive censorship, corporate abuse, and the punishing of individuals and global domains for human-celebratory leisure simply goes against our sacred “Internet Is Ours” living model.

Telephones Rouges vs. Piñata - Max Split

2012-01-17T14:16:00.001-07:00

Max Split, Telephones Rouges vs. Piñata
Mama Vynila Records, Spain
Rating: 75
by Carlos Reyes

As pop music writers, we should strike for broadcast vigilance. That is, to involve oneself beyond what’s presented. For better or for worst, those of us putting it in practice have become more seduced by structures, print commissions, and formats than by the actual songs that comprise unorthodox releases. And that’s okay. Sometimes songs are only suggestive paradigms of a larger cause. Shared artistic references carry a need for deeper assessment, especially when printed on something as amorous as a split vinyl.

Following the recent wax smackdowns of Kana Kapila vs. Los Claveles and Manos de Topo vs. Tarantula, two of Spain’s hottest emerging bands have co-signed on a split album that should rise above and beyond its novelty significance. Cacophonous divers Telephones Rouges and tropical punkers Piñata have come together not for the sole reason of splitting the costs of an album, but to share guardianship of a tiny scene, a label (Mama Vynila Records), and a band-to-band bromance. Through the premise of this release one could presuppose these are two bands hailing from the same tree, but it’s this same medium that allows both groups to grasp for identity and biosphere bonding.

Within a couple of spins of Max Split it’s easy to understand the success of this relationship. On one side, we have a band that strikes to be cerebral, even if swimming under nocturnal depth. On the other, there is a band that points to propulsion at any cause. Telephones Rouges is aptly smoky in the industrial punk opener “Gute Krankenheit” and then makes smart use of space by flipping the coin in the seemingly mournful, yet all-colorful “Ei Meu.” Piñata’s side (produced by Telephones Rouges’ Matias Unruh) is equally striving, sounding more teen-spirited than usual in a proper recording of rising hit “Tambourine” and the incredibly catchy “Cadillac.” In a weird way, Max Split is the venerated progression from a split gig to a split album. Beyond its well-crafted, catchy songs, this is a vinyl that breathes brotherhood and potential.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://telephonesrouges.bandcamp.com/track/ei-meu"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Ei meu by Telephones Rouges VS Piñata&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

♫♫♫ Telephones Rouges - "Ei Meu" |♫♫♫ Piñata - "Cadillac" | Download Album

Video + MP3: quieroStar & Mamacita - "Destrucción total"

2012-01-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Multiple changes of exquisite wardrobe (from goth glam to elegant aristocrat), stellar projections of space, and an overall aura of darkness (take a look at those sexy-creepy shots of Mamacita and Sofía Oportot glamorously dressed in black) take place in quieroStar's video for “Destrucción total,” which features compatriot and sensational progressive pop diva Mamacita as a vocal guest. Kitschy as it comes and sensually defiant, “Destrucción total” is a highly infectious, bubbling synth-fueled track. Mamacita's vocoded entrance sets a weird tone (Mamacita vocoded?), subtly embellished by Oportot's serene performance. Meanwhile, the sticky chorus merges their voices and transforms this track into something truly great -dramatic electropop that invites you to the dance floor and confidently intones “sólo te pido que no me dejes de amar.” While we're still waiting quieroStar's Lo Haré Público, “Destrucción total” has got us craving for even more. Mamacita, on the other hand, recently shared the 7'' split Humedad/Sentir Amor with Chilean friends Makaroni, via Ku De Ta.

♫♫♫ “Destrucción total”

Video: Pedropiedra - “En Esta Mansión”

2012-01-17T03:40:00.001-07:00

When CF writer Pierre Lestruhaut wrote about Pedropiedra’s sophomore record, Cripta y Vida, as a departure from his debut’s comedic hubris, he also did a fine job highlighting what have since become the album’s singles. Lestruhaut described third single “En Esta Mansión” as a track that “delves into that old human incongruity through which wealth and boredom are often strongly related to each other.” The idolization of wealth as means of contentment by the working class has been a recurrent thematic source for Pedropiedra, whose involvement in Sebastian Silva’s La Nana might have added to the craftsmanship of psychotic characters that linger between tragedy and absurdity. When Pedropiedra wonders if boredom is a feeling (or state of mind) derived from foolishness, he turns to clip director Pedro Vial and a varied army of wildlife figurines, only to find out he’s been self-absorbed and self-resolved all along.

El Guincho feat. Javiera Mena - "Novias"

2012-01-16T04:48:00.003-07:00

During the weekend, our inbox flooded with emails from readers asking about an out-of-nowhere collaboration between house favorites El Guincho and Javiera Mena. Apparently the track received a quiet run on Mexican FM airplay last week. The pairing of these pop virtuosos shouted historic (both artists have had #1 albums with us) and, although we were hoping for a new track made from scratch (to prevent all aural and sentimental attachment), this is still material worthy of some excitement. This collaboration comes just in time for Mena's planned U.S. tour and El Guincho's current visit across Latin America. Well, to be fair, we could hardly call this a collaboration because its tags should read more on the lines of, "the Javiera Mena Remix."

This new edit of Pop Negro’s catchy as hell “Novias” (premiered by Spain’s Esta Pasando!) is a bit misplaced: it's spotty in its production, conservative on every turn (for a rework), and perhaps even unnecessary. But it does push the right buttons when expanding its percussion lines into an interestingly dense, boy meets girl narrative. The jumpy, almost uncomfortable vocals by Mena make this version seem more like a b-side out of Piratas de Sudamerica than something from the almost flamboyant Pop Negro. Yes, this is forgettable and middling at best, considering we're talking about indie royalty, but El Guincho doesn’t collaborate too often, and we’re glad he’s chosen ladies like Julieta Venegas (“Mientes”) and Javiera Mena for his intercontinental affairs.

Video: Félix y Los Clavos - "Babel"

2012-01-12T21:34:00.001-07:00

It might be a case of editorial guilt or the fact that it’s a pretty darn good album, but lately I’ve been spinning Felix y Los Clavos’ Continuará with the kind of dedication that any under-the-radar marvel deserves. When describing the outstanding single “Sensacional,” we claimed the Argentine act had “surpassed narrative curiosity and climbed all the way up to the melodic skyscraper.” The same could be said by the equally stunning “Babel” or any other song on the album – they crafted a conceptual album like very few could last year. But enough said about the negligence, the album has all its ligaments in place to transcend on its own. On a recent visit to Chile, the band stopped by the infamous Radio Horizonte (Chile’s ultimate indie broadcast) and recorded Tras la montaña, an electronic-inclined set featuring Continuará’s biggest highlights. This clip documents the live recording of “Babel” in a blown-up version that is even better than the original.

MP3: ...Al Cruzar la Calle - "Romanticismo Ultravioleta"

2012-01-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan indie darling Linda Sjöquist (…Al Cruzar la Calle) made quite an impression on all of us with 2011’s miniature-turned-colossal track, “Asuntos Internos.” The rising singer seems determined to translate momentum into a new year that seems especially promising for a line of featherweight troubadour ladies that includes Argentina’s Lucila Ines and Dominican Republic duo Las Acevedo. Unlike the giant, all-consuming poltergeist hidden in her hit, the new single, “Romanticismo Ultravioleta,” is a see-through manifesto where demagogy drives artistic populism and the virtuosity of an entire generation is put into question. “Soy tan facil de amar y tan facil de olvidar,” she sings. We strongly disagree with the latter. Romanticismo Ultravioleta (a two-sided release with her two published singles) is the latest reference from Maracaibo’s recently emerged label Entorno Domestico, where Al Cruzar la Calle shares a home with fellow Venezuelan acts Jan Pawel, TLX, and Ulises Hadjis.

♫♫♫ "Romanticismo Ultravioleta" | Download Release

Video: Dani Umpi feat. Marabish - "3 Pasos"

2012-01-11T12:16:00.002-07:00

Uruguayan polyrhythmic maniac Dani Umpi is celebrating the release of his first proper reference the only way he knows how to: contemplating (and eventually exploiting) pop as a fetish. Countdown pop numbers are always fun, and although Umpi’s clip for first single “3 Pasos” is decoded in a simple one-two-three bracket, it gives Beyonce’s “Countdown” a run for its money as far as stylistic narratives go. Brand sneakers, soccer jerseys, and cool haircuts outline a street transaction led by the singer who seems to have visited Yo Gabba Gabba! (or the Derbez sitcom) right before paying his gangster duties. Novel director Luciano Demarco is the sober-yet-fearless accomplice someone like Dani Umpi needed to transpose his eccentric proposals. The chronic use of polivision (the neglected tool of the aughts) here is quite intriguing, mainly as it’s used as a prime meridian rather than a time partition. “3 Pasos” is the first single off Umpi’s Mormazo, which is severely weird on every track and features guest appearances by Fito Paez, Lido Pimienta, and Wendy Sulca.

Lila Downs - Pecados y Milagros

2012-01-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

Pecados y Milagros, Lila Downs
Columbia, USA/Mexico
Rating: 70
by Andrew Casillas

Lila Downs might be the most underrated Latin musician of this young century. Since 2000’s Tree of Life (Yuyu Tata) she has evolved album-by-album-by-album, gaining confidence and fine-tuning her command over various pop styles. This culminated in the borderline-masterful 2008 album Shake Away, one of the highest-rated records from the early days of Club Fonograma (that review features a reference to MySpace, no less!).

So anticipation was high that the follow-up, Pecados y Milagros, would continue this ace winning streak. However, anyone with hopes that this would serve as Downs’ masterpiece will be left disappointed. Pecados y Milagros is as nuanced and eclectic as any of her previous albums, but leaves her trademark sense of vibrancy at the door. Not that the record lacks quality tunes. The opening 1-2 punch of “Mezcalito” and “Tu Cárcel” definitely fit into the peak Lila Downs oeuvre. The former is a punchy Mexican romp (as evidenced by the title), while the latter is the sort of tender ballad someone like Downs could do in her sleep. Goddamn is it captivating.

But from there the album never really clicks. Downs continues the global music sample sale she came close to defining in Shake Away, but the resulting pastiches don’t capture the spirit of the original genres or their interpreter. Something like “Zapata se Queda,” her tribute to Celso Piña-style cumbia (which includes a cameo from the man himself) doesn’t get off the ground after the first 10 seconds, languishing in the middle of the road. Her '80s pop kick, “Solamente un Día,” suffers from schizophrenic production (either play up the electric drums or the bachata rhythms, but not both), even though Downs turns in a pretty solid vocal.

Indeed, Downs herself is still on her game. She gives 100% to every song, but the songs just don’t give back. Her vigor alone saves many of the tracks and helps shine substantial light on the record’s other solid songs, such as the shimmying “Palomo del Comalito” and the passionate “Cruz de Olvido.” Perhaps a letdown was inevitable after sustaining such previous highs. And it’s not a crime for a musician to make a record that’s not as good as their previous record (unless you’re The Strokes). Besides, Pecados y Milagros isn’t a BAD record—but it’s definitely underwhelming. The problem is, underwhelming isn’t a word you would have ever thought of ascribing to a talent as vivid as Lila Downs.

Club Fonograma's Best Films of 2011

2012-01-04T21:50:00.001-07:00

01 Jodái-e Náder az Simin (Asghar Farhadi)
02 The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
03 Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn)
04 Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
05 Nostalgia de la Luz (Patricio Guzmán)
06 Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan)
07 Morrer Como Um Homem (João Pedro Rodrigues)
08 Tomboy (Céline Sciamma)
09 Miss Bala (Gerardo Naranjo)
10 Copie Conforme (Abbas Kiarostami)

11 Mysteries of Lisbon (Raúl Ruiz)
12 Las Marimbas del Infierno (Julio Hernández Cordón)
13 La Vida Útil (Federico Veiroj)
14 Kyatapirâ (Kōji Wakamatsu)
15 Las Acacias (Pablo Giorgelli)
16 El Sicario Room 168 (Gianfranco Rosi)
17 Octubre (Daniel Vega Vidal & Diego Vega Vidal)
18 Bridesmaids (Paul Feig)
19 Presunto Culpable (Roberto Hernández)
20 The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Göran Olsson)

Fonocast #7: Last Call

2011-12-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

Fonocast #7: Last Call

by Blanca Méndez & Pierre Lestruhaut

The end of the year is a time to reflect on the past year, on events that changed you and the world you live in, on what you’ve accomplished and what you’ve surpassed, on the new relationships you’ve built and perhaps the ones you would like to rebuild. For music nerds, this time of the year is also a time to reflect on the music that made an impact. Whether it was because of their audacity or subtlety, polish or irreverence, production or delivery, there are sounds that stayed with us. And just when you thought we were done reflecting (an 100-song list seems long enough, right?), we’ve got a little more in us. For this podcast, the Club Fonograma staff compiled a playlist of songs that might not have made it on our list (or high enough on our list) but are still worthy of a little recognition.

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Download Fonocast 7

Monte - "Cielo Aparente" (INDEPENDIENTE, COSTA RICA)
La Ola Que Quería Ser Chau - "Ey Bonita" (INDEPENDIENTE, ARGENTINA)
Babe Florida - "Gigante Vermelha" / "Coleção de Amigos" (TRANSFUSAO NOISE RECORDS, BRAZIL)
Ximena Sariñana - "Lies We Live In" (WARNER, MEXICO)
Francisca Valenzuela - "Buen Soldado" (SONY, CHILE)
Colateral Soundtrack - "Me enamoro cuando" (feat. Apache O'Raspi) (INDEPENDIENTE, MEXICO)
Los Poca Soda - "Solo, loco y abandonado" (COCOBASS, BRAZIL)
Algodón Egipcio - "El Escapismo" (LEFSE RECORDS, VENEZUELA)
Matilda Manzana - "Trópico Del Álgebra" (GRABACIONES AMOR, MEXICO)
Fakuta - "Aeropuerto" (MICHITA REX, CHILE)

Club Fonograma's Best Albums of 2011

2011-12-20T21:46:00.001-07:00

40. Antoine Reverb - Everything is a foreign language to me
In the best of Club Fonograma tradition, every year there's an album in our list that, at least for publishing purposes, we like to refer to as the "hot potato" record of the year. Antoine Reverb's Everything is a foreign language to me was the one record every writer on our staff got its hands into at some point or another, passing it over and hoping the next person would do something proper with it. We couldn't get around it to review it, but collectively, we can pretty much agree this is a close to outstanding album. Perhaps it's the over-assumed outlandish feel derived from its title, or the fact that it's got a song titled "No Universals," but this is the kind of alienating text that first pushes you away and later on reconciles with you through its seasick, extrapolating melodies. In all its profound ambition, the band is unyielding of providing a crowd-pleasing experience, but cloaked-clouded albums can be beautiful too, especially when embroidered in this amount of rococo pop. - Jean-Stephane Beriot

39. Javier Estrada -
Ritmos del Mundo (Series)
Mixes, remixes, refixes, and originals from DJ Javier Estrada have been giving Soundcloud’s bandwidth a run for its money. Also catapulting his name to the frontlines of almost every relevant urban publication out there. The Monterrey-based DJ is building an impressive resume, melting genres and cultures alike with culinary effervescence in his series Ritmos del Mundo. Even more interesting is the fact he’s currently the melting pot of the nu-rural world villages, communities that include digital cumbia, guaracha, tribal, moombahton, ruidoson, and third world hip-hop. Estrada drops more mixes than we could possibly review or the general cumbia lover could hear, but he has recollected an impressive body of work in the four published volumes of Ritmos del Mundo. Estrada is still in limbo when it comes to approaching actual structures and space, but with the expert advice of Diplo and Toy Selectah, he seems destined for an even brighter future. - Carlos Reyes

38. Torreblanca - Bella Época
With exceptional talent, determination, and passion for creating music that transmits vivid imagery and sensations through finely crafted melodies and precisely chosen words, Torreblanca has rapidly become an audience favorite delivering highly complex pop music combined with confrontational structures that incorporate a great palette of musical influences like swing, jazz, and alternative rock. Torreblanca’s first full-length, Bella Época, is a captivating work crafted by a five-piece of distinguished musicians that, under the direction of visionary leader Juan Manuel Torreblanca, have created a record whose compositions, with a certain level of obscurity and irony, remind us of past eras that appear to be distant, comfy, and sometimes scarily violent. - Enrique Coyotzi

37. Mexicans With Guns - Ceremony
It's weird: it's usually the po-faced residents of the World Music ghetto who get caught up in some misbegotten politics-of-representation stuff, but this is as perfectly Europhilic, and apolitical, a bass record as anyone's made; how this has gotten filed under "música mexicana" so often is a little inexplicable.What Ceremony is most like, in fact, is an oughty-teens update of the nineties-era Mo' Wax/Ninja Tune template: stylistic shifts through all the colors of the electronic-music rainbow, peppered with exoticism like falling confetti, and focused on very-Now fractal syncopation and American-style trunk rattle. I might hazard that it matters some that he's a native of San Anton', but I'm pretty sure it doesn't, anymore than it matters that dyed-in-the-wool guarachereño Untold went to Mexico that one time. In the end, Ceremony comes hard enough to render its own presentation obsolete, and these days, that's saying something. - Jeff Siegel

36. Voz de Hombre - Hombre Solo
Though lately many of our favorite releases from Chile have been using disco as their ground for crafting great pop songs, Voz de Hombre’s first release, Hombre Solo, displays a different concept for creating great timeless pop music. Like many of the “michitos," Gajardo sets his music’s backbone on a ground constituted by minimal techno and its child branches of electronic music in order to give birth to songs that are traditional in structure and interpretation. Just think James Blake or Jamie Woon and all the talk there’s been about them reworking dubstep around traditional song forms and you’re actually not too far from what Gajardo’s doing here. Hombre Solo is the kind of album that manages to display a personal vision of pop music amidst a great deal of nods and references to other types of music, a release that can only make us feel more hopeful for the future of the idiosyncratic roster of the Michita Rex label. - Pierre Lestruhaut

35. Selena Gomez & The Scene -
When the sun goes down
When the Sun Goes Down is expertly produced and executed with the kind of poise and professionalism that can only come from having gone through the hated Disney machine. Riddled with cliches like "diamond in the rough" and "we'll sleep when we die," the album doesn't exactly reach great lyrical heights. But musically, When the Sun Goes Down is smart and well-crafted, a solid work of pop with plenty of party potential. I know many (or most) of you are skeptical. You may dismiss Gomez as just another product of the Disney machine, one that consumers will get bored with and discard in favor of whatever fresh-faced, wholesome youngster Disney is grooming to be the Next Big Thing. And you may be right. But, for now, it's great to have a young Latina so prominent in mainstream American music, especially one who such is a veritable force in pop, not just on Radio Disney. - Blanca Méndez

34. Las Ardillas - Las Ardillas
For over 10 years, Puerto Rican enfant-terribles Las Ardillas have not only shown signs of that runaway diaspora link, they’re so consciously into it that they’ve actually looped its urgency notions into noise-auteur transcendence. The self-titled debut record from Las Ardillas is a daring and sonically traveling piece of noise punk. Sharing two members with the universally beloved Dávila 666 (which has reached a must-enlist status in the music festival circuit) means a few things in the consolidation of Las Ardillas: 1) it has prepared them to contemplate a fondness for an intercontinental stage, 2) it has forced at least two if its members to make a homecoming to earlier roots (in sound and in mapquest), and 3) it has thought them about intellectual reshuffling. The unlikely entourage comprised by Gianky, Koki, Raul, Gio, and Latin Snake may lack the bushy tail appendages of the rodents they’re named after, but at least in perception and spatial memory, they’re more than assuring with their noise punk ecosystem. - Carlos Reyes

33. Violeta Castillo - Uno & Otro
At first listen, the 10 songs that shape Uno and Otro (five in each one) may not be particularly grabbing. This happens due to the length of the pieces (the majority of them last less than three minutes). It may be difficult for the listener to find something instantly memorable to grab onto in such a short time (although “Mi Cárcel” is an evident exception), especially considering that, while these are pop tunes, the structure they are built under is somewhat atypical. But Violeta's sharp craftsmanship is truly hunting. Presenting top-notch production by Tucumán’s psych-poppers, Monoambiente (Castillo’s favorite band), this is a provoking release that draws spectacular sophistication in the instruments it utilizes. There’s a placid flow throughout both EPs, ornamented by sharp electronic bleeps, texturized glossy synthesizers, and noteworthy rhythm bases that accentuate Violeta Castillo’s delicious guitar playing skills, as well as her sensitive fiber-moving singing. - Enrique Coyotzi

32. Kali Mutsa - Ambrolina
Celine Reymond, a Chilean popular telenovela actress, has smartly taken advantage of her performing capacities and elaborated the alter ego known as Kali Mutsa. Her imaginatively invented background indicates she’s a famous 90-year-old performer, yet she was absent from the musical world for decades, until she recently made her comeback to present Ambrolina. Each of the five songs included in her exotic EP are grabbing on their own, charged with unpredictable flavors ranging from Bollywood-esque essence to Andean music, nuanced with gypsy vibes and sophisticated quirky electro. Similar to what the Sri Lankan controversial rapper (M.I.A.) did with her debut album, Kali Mutsa’s expansive spectrum of influences result in a highly original work. - Enrique Coyotzi

31. Los Claveles - Nacional 42
The return of the 7’’ single is nowadays, one of the few current glimpses of the romanticism of the record. Empty alphabetized CD shelves are the horrific ruins of the physicality of commercial records. Indies are however, on a journey to become music collectors. If such transition causes a generation of MP3 & OGG buffs to start archiving music through discs you can actually touch or lineup, than let’s welcome such consumer conduct with open arms. One of the bands doing their share to prevent the record slaughter is Madrid’s new sensation Los Claveles. Their rock takes them back to the early (and dusty) progression of “new wave”, to a time-gap of stand-by insecurity regarding the genre’s future. The wave found glory with its contextualization of electronic equipment, but as Los Claveles show, the movement also left some string-wavers behind. - Carlos Reyes

30. Caravana - Caravana
It’s a beautiful thing when the personal approach becomes universal. I can’t remember the last time I heard a line diagram of bird chirping, bird calling, and bird singing and actually found it cute. This is the gorgeous vignette that surrounds Caravana, an album enriched by melodic muscle and moody cohesion. Quemasucabeza’s music director, Rodrigo Santi, departs from his previous music adventures (Congelador, Paranormal, Barco) to find his most intricate project yet, Caravana. Recruiting the MVPs from the prestigious label (Gepe, Pedro Piedra, and Fernando Milagros), Caravana is the extension of the one-man band into a perfect-pitched pilgrim. Caravana is woody but also garnished in an evocative fatalist crimson. It’s also the kind of half-broken album that’s more about its space than about its spirits. Slow-paced and obliquely self-indulgent, Santi’s solo return to the front stage plays as a surreal garment of compositional prowess. - Carlos Reyes

29. Varias Artistas - Se Puede
Four years ago, prolific Argentinean singer-songwriter Lucas Marti formed Varias Artistas, an ambitious project showcasing some of the finest and most buzzworthy female singers in the Latin pop landscape.Varias Artistas second collection, Se Puede, continues the momentum Martí established with the first album, Papá (Popart, 2007). However, where the first record was seemingly focused on influencing a non-starter of a gender politics debate with its song collaborations and subject matter, Se Puede is a far more celebratory affair, reveling in the sheer talent at its disposal. Indeed, the intonation from track-to-track shifts like the tide off of a coastal wave. The mix as a whole runs the heady gamut from precociously coy to sexually charged, and at no point does it ever feel disarmingly jarring. Varias Artistas project develop into something quite promising, and into something that smart and keen fans of outside-the-box pop music will hopefully have to look forward to for years to come. - Andrew Casillas

28. Adrian Juárez -
Tu Nombre Es Fresa
The indie kid totem is such a scary and sensible topic. It’s hard to imagine anyone arriving at progressive pop without ever going through the cutesy twee, folk-inflected initiation. When going back to it, you could either cringe (taking part in the collective backlash) or feel nostalgic, but once in a while an exceptional album comes along and you can’t help but to shoot back up into the dreamy clouds of indie pop and adjusting alarm clocks. On his first proper record, Argentine songwriter Adrian Juárez offers an irresistible music sachet of seemingly harmless (yet heart-arresting) melodies in an album that’s ready for the winter gift wrap. There’s nothing really groundbreaking about Tu Nombre Es Fresa musically, aesthetically, or in its personality, but look further into its proportions and you’ll find an album that’s been gorgeously mounted and predestined to abduct a handful of your senses. -- Carlos Reyes

27. The Beets - Let the poison out
The Beets could easily be described as just another innocent lo-fi act from New York, but this Jackson Heights band of outsiders manages to compose atypical tunes that create an inimitable and infectious slacker rock garage sound and a delirious washed out image. There is a disconcerting authenticity and simplicity about them that perhaps only their live shows can reveal. With a kitschy Native American doll decorating the stage and Volz’s banners proclaiming auto-derisive slogans like “I’d rather watch paint dry,” Wauters, Garcia, and Mori’s evident chemistry and stage presence make these spontaneous performances seem like big dislocated parties where you feel happy you got invited. The whimsical, folksy experiment of Wauters once again captures the feeling of a chemically altered campfire sing-along session on Let the Poison Out, an album “about getting everything out of your system,” being yourself, and being free, which is arguably the best “collection of songs” the Beets have produced yet. -- Souad Martin-Saoudi

26. Babasónicos - A Propósito
A Propósito marks the band’s tenth studio album, yet another success in their fruitful career. Babasónicos understands the basics of discography digestion and, after a trio of precedent establishments (Infame, Anoche, Mucho), they’re back into the field of narcotized rhythms and baroque distortions. Babasónicos makes the most sylvan and thorny sexual songs (see the album cover), but this time around they all come with an extra sense of ceremonial hunch. These tracks include the masquerade-erotic suggestion in “Fiesta Popular," the love-on-a-boat shipwreck in “Tormento," and the savagely romantic “Barranca Abajo.” Babasónicos has never been the most optimistic band out there, and they almost go emo on this one. But there’s not much to be worried about; worst case scenario is you empty a bottle of wine and declare war on humanity singing to “Ideas.” A Propósito will hardly earn Babasónicos any new fans, but for those of us already on their bandwagon, it is a great chance to fall in love with them all over again. -- Carlos Reyes

25. Fother Muckers -
Entrega Tu Espíritu
The demise of Fother Muckers seems deceptively bittersweet in many fashions. For one, they aren’t exactly going away—the band has already announced plans to reassemble under the moniker Los Ases Falsos. As for lamenting their musical legacy…well, they hadn’t really built a substantial one. While they were certainly active in their time, releasing nine proper albums and EPs, they weren’t going out in some Relationship of Command-like last gasp. Fother Muckers was a good band that was getting progressively and measurably better but never quite hit that ceiling. It’s sad that this incarnation of the band is quitting while they’re ahead, but they aren’t exactly going away or squandering their potential. In that context, Entrega Tu Espíritu serves as a proper denouement to the Fother Muckers era, while slotting neatly into the band’s musical progression. The end-of-the-world vocals, the witty lyrics, the classic rock posture—the aesthetics are rote and familiar. But this record also packs in the most professional work in their catalog.-- Andrew Casillas

24. Poliedro - La Manifestación
The kick-ass album cover of La Manifestación makes the idea of the auteur-technician a reality. If you’re ever at an arthouse and you realize the sound isn’t as crystal-clear as in most Hollywood films, realize that burning-sound has an idea behind it. As far as breakthrough albums go, Poliedro’s La Manifestación is the embodiment of those grainy brave ideas comprising a truly great first album. Working with the most stripped-down tools of the lo-fi methods, this new Chilean one-man act has crafted a rainbow-hued EP built from all the corners of sonic complexity. And he does that, through atmospheric lens. Despite all the songs feature (some form of) vocals, not one track goes beyond the 16-character word count. The album’s title suggests the idea of a manifestation; a sign of existence, spiritual appearance, or the materialization of a revelation. Poliedro’s auteur approach to the premise is essential to the album’s triumphant results. -- Carlos Reyes

23. Hypnomango - Hypnomango
From Monterrey, Mexico rises René Rodríguez’ noise pop project Hypnomango. Rodríguez has recently become the guitarist and newest member of soon-to-takeover indie rock pioneers Bam Bam. Earlier in December of 2010, ClubFonograma's editor Carlos Reyes commented that Hypnomango EP killer-opening track “El Mundo No Es Real” “could translate into ‘No Hope Kids’, but this one is actually alive”, and I agree. Unlike Wavves’ Nathan Williams whose work, at its worst, can be perceived as a soulless experience (see 2009’s Wavvves), there’s plenty of life and mind-bursting energy in Hypnomango EP to assure Rodríguez as a passionate artist, one that might be seeking to achieve Thurston Moore/Lee Ranaldo status in the future. This EP might be just a warm up for the real deal, but what an amazing entrance to rock & roll. -- Enrique Coyotzi

22. Escuela de Trance -
Doktor Van Der Ger Ger Ger Ger
With acts like this, it’s really not difficult to feel excited about the young crowd of Argentine indie bands that have been blossoming these last couple years. But Escuela de Trance are really onto something of their own, to the point that sometimes they even remind me of the unfuckwithable band that is Deerhoof in pretty much everything I described in this review: being decidedly cute, pleasurable, nice to hear, but also straight-out nuts and incoherent. Still, what I like the most about these guys is that they actually managed to simultaneously create the album I was hoping other bands would: the erratically beautiful record Prietto Viaja al Cosmos con Mariano couldn’t pull off, the childishly charming Los Animales Superforros sort of failed at, and the musically challenging that La Ola doesn’t really seem to want to make. In the end they’re so terribly great because they’re making ballsy pop music like we rarely hear coming from the South American indie. And they’re actually succeeding at it. -- Pierre Lestruhaut

21. Helado Negro - Canta Lechuza
At this juncture in time, there is an overlapping presence of traditional instruments and electronic production tools. Yet, only a few folk artists play around in the surmounting pile of electronic gadgetry. During this embargo, we find an exception and a pioneer in Roberto Carlos Lange as Helado Negro. While previous work, Awe Oak, introduced an already dynamic Latin American folk artist, Canta Lechuza audaciously navigates through a new fertile territory in the same Latin folk vehicle, now powered by electronic energy. Canta Lechuza is a digital time-lapse photograph of the surrounding natural environment, which was taken during Lange’s month-long residence in Connecticut. While Lange actively processes his surrounding space and its organic life, he anachronistically places sound sculptures to visualize anatomical and atomic structures of nature. -- Adrian Mata Anaya

20. Luciana Tagliapietra -
Diagrama de Ben
Of gargantuan confection and gorgeous sophistication, Luciana Tagliapietra’s sophomore album, Diagrama de Ben, is an astounding collection of sonic motifs packed with enough progressive elements for an individual’s revolution and a collective warfare. Recorded in the fertile Tucumán Province in Argentina, this record nuances the solidification of Tagliapietra as one of the most exciting new voices on the continent. Targeting personal overhaul rather than crowd-pleasing delegacy, Diagrama de Ben arrives at grandiosity with a lavish orchestration worthy of a Renaissance affair and an allocated space in its digital environment. Tagliapietra’s instrumental wardrobe is rich and eccentrically hermetic, like a demoiselle’s turnaround toward social interaction. Yet, it is the songstress’ analog lyricism that also finds her as an immaculate renegade. -- Carlos Reyes

19. Los Mundos - Los Mundos
“It’s just that I can’t wait to see your face again,” claim Mexico’s newcomers Los Mundos in a climatic state of angst and clouded strings. Their name might be a derived fanatic upshot for Los Planetas, and the album cover of their self-titled debut might have a post-adolescent Little Red Riding Hood on it (well, that or some type of hipster witch, or nu evangelist). Yes, there are already too many maybes up for second-hand conclusions in this review, but really, what is shoegaze more than just a hazy feeling that is also, floating in the mist of pop music, awaiting for the endorsement of a generation of romantics to swell its transcendence to the rest of the pedestrians. Los Mundos carry their influences with so much charm that pointing them out would come off as obsolete. Impeccably timed and devoid of any fillers, Los Mundos is delightful - a work about the visibility of crescendos in a world of hazy melodies, topped by the duo’s assessment to make every action part of their idiosyncrasy. -- Jean-Stephane Beriot

18. El Medio - El fin del sueño del helicóptero personal

Leonardo Velázquez’s approach to songwriting is as personal as you can get. His subjects of interest are his own life, memories and experiences; his favorite medium to express them is a room-constructed arrangement of string instruments and ambient synth washes that are finally shaped in the form of a lo-fi home-recorded product uploaded for free on bandcamp. As much personal as it is DIY, yet it’s through his own DIYness that his songs excel as universal entities. Take his outstanding single “Que bueno que nadie piensa en mí” from last year. While its whole construction responds to all these different levels through which Leo developed his very own personal vision of loneliness, its appeal eventually resided in how it managed to transcend the small sphere of the songwriter and actually become a universal manifesto for the lonely kids of the digital era. The ones who would rather spend a Friday night listening to the stuff they downloaded through the week and waiting for a (1) to appear on their twitter account. -- Pierre Lestruhaut

17. Anna-Anna -
Last night I lit the moon
The woman behind this project is Manuela Leal, a Brazilian visual artist who moved to the U.S. as a teenager, but later returned to her home country, where she’s been making “indie electronic” music for less than a year. Her debut EP, Last Night I Lit the Moon, is the sort of record that’s immediately striking for its outstanding uniqueness and, because of this, it's a record that can be enjoyed both as an easy listening experience and as a wholly immersive one, where her distinctive soundscaping and jaw-dropping lines hit you even harder. Which is why easy comparisons can be drawn between Manuela Leal and other women making avant-pop, like Laurie Anderson, Trish Keenan (Broadcast, RIP), or even the rising Claire Boucher (aka Grimes). Yet, these comparisons would seem to be a lot more fueled by gender and overall edginess, than in an actual similarity in their distinctive approach to song-crafting. -- Pierre Lestruhaut

16. Mueran Humanos -
Mueran Humanos
For most publications writing about Mueran Humanos, an Argentine couple based in Berlin, it’s precisely their move from New World to Old World that has raised some eyebrows, primarily in how their music seems so tied to the musical heritage of Berlin and Gemany, despite them not totally dismissing their Argentine roots by writing their lyrics in Spanish. One might also easily see this as being in hand with the duo’s unearthly aesthetics, as most of these musical references refuse, or at least try to separate themselves from, the effortlessness and melodic appeal of pop music in general (though without wanting to explore the limits of noise either). Yet, in their greatest songs, Mueran Humanos actually find their beauty behind the heavy melodic work in their use of vocals and how it eventually manages to share pop music’s desire to gratify its listeners by treating them to something that is ultimately very pleasurable to listen to. -- Pierre Lestruhaut

15. Adrianigual - Exito Mundial
The national idiosyncrasy is the heart and cerebral consciousness of a country’s musical legacy. That secretive, almost tabooed understanding of existence and infrastructure gives music a national aroma. This is not a reflection of national pride, but a common denominator in how the romanticism of the arts is inclined to a form of collective absorption. In the words of Club Fonograma’s chairman, Carlos Reyes, “Chileans carry the poetic vein.” Almost mirroring the history of Chilean diplomacy, Adrianigual has decoded their storytelling abilities, appreciation of the music form, and techno-anthem ambitions into the realm of pop expression. Éxito Mundial feels like a tailor-made blockbuster full blown into a pop record. Adrianigual’s practices are often questionable and relentlessly aggressive, yet for every midnight escapade they also kiss the sun. Self-empowerment at its core. - Jean-Stephane Beriot

14. Astro - Astro
Crowds of deer running towards the golden sun, armadillos used as cannon ammunition, legged snakes with flashes on their heads, and watermelon tree branches growing out of the human body are only a handful of the fantasy cards that comprise something Astro has come to describe as “La Super Felicidad.” The self-titled, first full-length album by Chilean pop excursionists Astro is a liquefied, never-restraining plate of polyrhythmics. Designers of one of the most universally beloved indie hits to come out of South America in years (“Maestro Distorsión”), Astro is also the protagonist of one of the most divisive young careers in our Iberoamerican pop landscape. Having the melodically belligerent Le Disc De Astrou under their pair of full-spread wings, the lurching of Astro is just what’s needed for fans and retractors to sort things out. Colossally imaginative on every track and contentiously militant with its resources, Astro is beyond what’s suggested; it’s earnest. -- Carlos Reyes

13. Mentira Mentira - Meaningmore
Back in the winter holidays of 2009, before the exile of the Monterrey indie scene to the Mexican capital, our circle of trusted tastemakers made sure to build significant buzz for the new great band in town, Mentira Mentira. Two years later, the promising band has proven to be more than a stroke of infernal glow. The opening sequence in MM’s debut LP, Meaningmore, is a combustive line of resonant drums where MM’s conductor, Gaby Noriega, makes us jump drastically into a blood-rushing chase that seems to be spiraling from many blocks away. When the melody mutineer shouts, “Let’s keep on waiting!” one learns to recognize this procession as an admonition to formative rock and an amendment to the Mentira Mentira jargon. Meaningmore is the bewilderment of feeling meaningless in an absurd world. -- Carlos Reyes

12. Odio París - Odio París
Here’s a quick summary for the simpletons in the audience: Odio París’ debut full-length sounds pretty similar to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. So however you feel about that band’s first record, this album will leave you with pretty much the same taste in your mouth. Thanks for reading Club Fonograma! Alright, for the rest of you, here’s the low-down. This Odio París debut LP is fantastic. Like the sort of fantastic that makes you want to go to sleep ASAP so you can get up and go play this record for all of your friends the next day. Some people out there may instantly turn off when they hear white noise; some may still listen to Loveless once-per-week (for real, I know you’re out there). Whatever your previous experience is with this sort of rock music, Odio París is definitely a band that’s worth giving a precious listen to. Who knows? You may fall in love with them, or they may fall in love with you. -- Andrew Casillas

11. Juan Cirerol - Ofrenda al Mictlan
Think of Mexicali, then think of Nashville. Think of Michael Salgado, then think of The Tallest Man on Earth. You might feel like I’m adjusting your ink cartridges but I’m just setting the tone for this one (cheesy enough?). You could consider this as an exercise for the extension of the mind (and the music horizon), but that would be somewhat offensive, instead, think of it as a warm-up for one of the warmest, most heart-felt albums we’ve received in a while. But we can’t go on into a rave review without making a confession; it’s distressing to know just how much we like this, it’s quite disturbing actually. Mexicali’s Juan Cirerol could be classified as a Norteño folk troubadour, a storyteller, a romantic, a stylist of the popular song. Ofrenda al Mictlan is an emotional album that reconciles Mexico’s popular music with country blues. The tactics are questionable, barely authentic, but show brilliance through every decision Cirerol and his spirited guitar take. -- Carlos Reyes

10. Fakuta - Al Vuelo
It's a magnificent work constituted by ravishing pieces, precisely built under a meticulous architectonic conception. In a year where guitar-driven acts have dominated our radar, Al Vuelo’s intricate playfulness, larger than life audacity, and math pop grandiosity, arrives like a deep breath of sweet, fresh air. Ending a long, anxious wait, Al Vuelo is a masterful breakthrough which possesses the chances to harvest international success. Longtime Fakuta followers will most likely be already familiarized with the majority of these songs, since live recordings have been floating around on YouTube for a while, but every track is executed with current freshness that it seems incredible they’ve been in gestation for such a long time. With its mesmerizingly clever compositions, the blissful majesty that is Al Vuelo will position Fakuta in the line of cream of the crop of Chilean stars, in the meantime bringing us transcendental anthems of monumental proportions. -- Enrique Coyotzi

09. Installed - Plancha
Listening to his intimate music you get the sense that it betrays him, like it’s revealing secrets that he didn’t intend to disclose. But he’s more in control than that. At times the intimacy is even mischievous and wry. In Plancha, Installed knows the ins and outs of his conflicts, acknowledges the battling states within him, and delivers this awareness so intelligently and poetically, it might just break your heart. That remote feeling in the music is present on much of the album, acting as a foil to the personal lyrics. And a lot of the album is made up of elements that contradict each other, but somehow harmonize in the soundscapes that Alvarez creates. As tumultuous and haphazard as it all may seem on the surface, what Alvarez has orchestrated is an album of delicate balances much like the meticulously crafted turmoil in the poetry of Anne Sexton (though perhaps not quite so dark). Plancha is a bold exploration of sound and self and one of the most ambitious albums of the year. -- Blanca Méndez

08. White Ninja -
Sounds Like Cocoon Fever
Musical and visual composition tends to respond well to otherworldly abstraction, especially when the surfer of its wavelength is in full dialogue with the human condition. Part space opera and part velvety chillwave, White Ninja’s sophmore album is a triumph of gorgeous digital sequencing, analog proverb, and individual grooving. Two years ago, Leo Marz astonished us with his debut Guacala Los Modernos y Su Electro, a spellbinding record we described as “a series of adrenaline rushes, jammed technos, and unbounded clutter.” Marz’s comeback is less militant in its execution, equally intricate in its assortment of beats, and more affecting to the creator’s well-harvested, shoegazing morph. -- Carlos Reyes

07. Neon Indian - Era Extraña
In many ways Era Extraña is a far more serious album than its predecessor. Thematically, it tackles heavier topics and emotionally it explores much deeper than Psychic Chasms. It has a more defined concept and narrative and approaches the experience of heartbreak, which countless of artists have undertaken in their art, in a way that hasn’t really been done before. At least not in the precise and nuanced way that Palomo has. Perhaps the most notable difference, most noteworthy growth, is in the album’s production. Even though there are still just as many elements this time around, they are much more refined, much better orchestrated, and much more indicative of Palomo as an artist. When you speak to him you get the sense that there’s so much going on in his head, but he somehow filters all of it into thoughtful, articulate, and engaging conversation, which is exactly what he did with Era Extraña. -- Blanca Méndez

06. Dávila 666 - Tan Bajo
In Tan Bajo, their second LP releaed through In the Red, the guys from Puerto Rico show nothing to get rid of that idea, in fact they had rarely sounded this much like a garage rock revival act. But this is also probably the album where Dávila 666 has finally managed to underline the difference between being a revival retro-rock act in the wrong place, and appearing as an out of time channel for dazzling rock songs and impossibly catchy hooks. Because even if their vastly discussed “Menudo on drugs” self-description sounds a lot more like a gimmick than anything else, Dávila’s approach to songwriting doesn’t differ significantly from that of the popular boy band. Take Menudo’s use of lyrical repetition and playful melodies in “Subete a Mi Moto” as a frivolous conduct for teenage love angst and compare it to Dávila’s abrasive yet very catchy mourns of “Esa Nena Nunca Regreso” and “Eso Que Me Haces” and you’ll see that structurally and lyrically they’re on a very similar page. -- Pierre Lestruhaut

05. Rebolledo - Super Vato
Somewhere out there is a room that’s darker than anything in Entertainment 720’s color palette, where aged whiskey and justifiably-priced champagne flow like lava. Where lights exist for the sole purpose of looking cool. A place where shiny shirts are banned in favor of comfortable, tucked-in button downs, and where nothing matters except how deliberately outmoded your hairstyle is. This is the coolest room in the world. And, right now, Super Vato is spinning on the P.A. in an endless loop. The debut full-length from Xalapa, Mexico’s own Mauricio Rebolledo is a confident, irreverent, and fundamentally funky slice of new world techno. While other producers are equating “progression” with “throwing extra shit on top of my old shit,” Rebolledo, a former industrial designer, is finding reasons to fit disco, funk, synth-wave, rock and roll, and street festival cacophony into the same space. -- Andrew Casillas

04. Algodón Egipcio -
La Lucha Constante
Like the well-packaged titles of his songs, Algodón Egipcio’s shrewdness for craftsmanship is of inner expression and experience, but also attentively in dialogue with its era. In dialogue, but not in tune; Cheky’s platforms neither practice nor reject vocation, - they’re just ‘flowy.’ All these conditions allow for such a song like “La Transformación” to be read as a piece about the alteration of data, genetics, your virtual 'Second Life' character, or a full metamorphosis (and how sadly, there is no 'back button'). The cultural epochs in La Lucha Constante aren't allocated to a time frame; instead, we get a comprehension of its installment through the negotiation of rhythms that are presented to us. It’s as if Cheky’s infamous afro was the epicenter for sylvan ideas and actions. The execution of such ideas - and how they come to action through the music- is more suffocating than nurturing, but trust me, for a visionary fascinated by The Smashing Pumpkins, Akron/Family & Destiny’s Child, the outcomes are phenomenal. -- Carlos Reyes

03. Jessy Bulbo - Telememe
A few years ago during the MySpace golden age, a hot punk girl showed her panties to the world, as you would assume, she got herself a few millions of profile views. But once you actually sent her a friend request, she would respond back with an automatic message celebrating the new friendship with an excerpt from Timbiriche’s “Somos Amigos.” This is the kind of personality switch that makes Jessy Bulbo such an interesting character in Latin Rock music, many have not realized it yet, but nowadays, she is Latin Rock’s most talented lady. In 1998 Julieta Venegas and Ely Guerra appeared on TIME magazine’s cover as the publication announced the surfacing of the ‘Era of the Rockera’, if the TIME was to recreate the cover today, Bulbo should be leading the pack. Telememe is a round record, perhaps the first Jessy Bulbo that actually feels complete. The album cover outlines the album’s roundness, and as it suggests, she seems to have found a sense of absolute freedom. -- Jean-Stephane Beriot

02. Alex Anwandter - Rebeldes
Anwandter, by going back to pop basics, has created a kind of self-centered world with Rebeldes (the very first album under his name). The album may strike some as too straightforward, but the music’s beauty lies precisely within that simple framework of lustful melodies, romantic strings, and direct lyrics. Rebeldes feels so youthful, so idealistic in its pursuit of what feels right. We all know Anwandter is a musician who is always exploring. Even though we loved Teleradio Donoso and mourned its end, the marvelous and fascinating dystopian landscape created by Odisea last year quickly healed that wound. Not one to lag between ideas and inspirations, Anwandter has, this time around and with the help of Cristian Heyne, crafted an album that seems to almost retreat into simplicity. But when you hear the bare honesty of it, it’s a purity that’s almost virtuous, and you know that this is no retreat. Alex Anwandter only moves forward. -- Blanca Mendez

01. Bam Bam - Futura Vía
Albums that are determined to become legendary milestones seem to be appearing less frequently during the 21st century. With the immediacy of the Internet, as listeners, we consume a bigger number of projects than we did during our adolescence by just watching MTV. In the thousands of MP3s by countless artists, most are forgettable, ephemeral movements whose days are numbered. But a few reveal themselves as classics that may even transcend into consolidated sub-genres. Monterrey’s beloved indie rockers Bam Bam surprised music blogs with their fascinating self-titled debut EP, astonishing the indie circuit geeks with fresh, out-of-this-world grooves. Although their success was moderate, hopes for the regiomontanos to release an even more impressive first full-length were in. And Bam Bam has surpassed all expectations, opening an exciting new chapter in Mexican rock history with the stellar Futura Vía, a psychedelic pop record equivalent to an intergalactic experience. Futura Vía is bound to be a reference in years to come, a majestic exercise about the universe, a meticulous work in conceptualization, and an undeniably fantastic achievement in the psychedelic field. - Enrique Coyotzi

Club Fonograma's Best Songs of 2011 (20-1)

2011-12-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

20. Odio París -
“Cuando nadie pone un disco” ♫♫♫
Since you hear the clicking of the drumsticks announcing the following explosion of noise in Odio París’ dissonant single, you know you’re up to something good. Setting the cadence for the rest of their excellent self-titled album, this anthemic distorted opener is the band’s definitive entry point. With its tense build up and blissful development, melodically captivating and powerfully striking, this track stands as one of the finest pieces to come out from countless shoegaze revival acts and as one of the year’s most splendid rock marvels. - Enrique Coyotzi

19. María y José - “Rey de Reyes” ♫♫♫
“Rey de Reyes” was the unforeseen and outlawed anthem of the winter season. This is the first time in which we see María y José (whose veins carry royal blood) immersing in 3Ball territory, and he's so brutal to the dancefloor that this is the sole definition of SWAG. The way Tony’s vocals chase the Aztec rave beat while dragging some elements of ruidoson into the ritual speak of an artist ready for his own crown. Through comedic hubris and some corrido-striking guts, “Rey de Reyes” is the idolization of the forbidden fruit. - Carlos Reyes

18. Neon Indian - “Polish Girl” ♫♫♫
"Polish Girl" may be Neon Indian's most straightforward pop statement to date, a song that infects every indulgent nerve in whatever part of the brain processes music. But that's no reason to accuse the song of being some kind of red hearing, everything about "Polish Girl" matches the dense sci-fi aesthetics of Era Extraña. Just as classical works go through dynamic changes, this is an allegro movement bursting in chillwave crescendos and a brilliant trip into a grooving territory that Alan Palomo is in full control of. - Giovanni Guillén

17. Juan Cirerol - “Toque y Rol” ♫♫♫
“Toque y Rol,” the heart in Cirerol's vernacular-conquering Ofrenda al Mictlan, tells the story "as it is." Stripped down to a raspy profound voice and affectionate strings, the Mexicali hero picked up a guitar and rolled with it until his valve ports bled out. Towards the end of the song he starts to mumble, a hit of weed tends to do that. Is this the ultimate definition of rock&roll? Probably not, but in a contextual culture where notions are hard to hold on to, Cirerol’s bared talents translate as hugs. Emotional range and powerful songwriting are the backbone of a one-man’s poetry that’s in itself, a nation’s legacy. - Carlos Reyes

16. Furland - “Faladó Falá” ♫♫♫
The Furland guys always manage to find that ideal organic-synthetic balance, creating soundscapes that are at once cosmic and arboreal. "Faladó Falá" continues to strike this balance, but takes the Furland sound into bolder territory with bright synth, bouncy folk strings, and hazy, yet punchy vocals. At times it seems like the folk and electronic elements are two separate conversations, but two conversations coexisting instead of conflicting. It's one of those songs with such depth and breadth that it envelops you in an unexpected elegance that's almost symphonic. - Blanca Méndez

15. Pegasvs -
“El final de la noche” ♫♫♫
If M83’s Midnight City has been described as a “hook in search of a song” then Pegasvs “El Final de la Noche” would be more of a hook vacillating with the thought of being a song. Despite the fact it's got a very well executed first half with all the roundness of Jessy Bulbo’s “Permanentemente,” and that it becomes an incredibly exciting prog pop jam towards the end, it’s really that hook that’s gonna stick with you for weeks, no matter if you think its catchy as hell or just plain obnoxious. - Pierre Lestruhaut

14. Alex Anwandter - “Tatuaje”
Anwandter’s return to heart-on-your-sleeve songwriting. In this song, the Chilean pop visionary reconditions his past as a sort of explicit capsule, moving forward under the warmth of a four-minute song that marches its pulse under a stripped-down sense of pop songcraft. The image of ink carving beyond the human skin reveals Anwandter as a dreamer and a romantic. “Tatuaje” is so cleansing, fetching, and stirringly-tailored, that it’s, ultimately, Anwandter’s most cultivating shot at newfound freedom. - Carlos Reyes

13. 3Ball MTY feat. El Bebeto
& America Sierra - “Inténtalo”
In an interview with Noiselab a few years ago, Toy Selectah––who has served as a sort of mentor figure for 3BALL MTY since their inception–– predicted that, in the coming years, rave music would become “la música de las periferias,” or the music of the urban outskirts, as it were. “Inténtalo” is a testament to tribal’s new stature as an authentic regional Mexican style with its goal firmly bent on mass appeal. But, almost as if preempting global commodification, it winks at its presumed hipster audience, all the while basking in all its pointy boots glory. - Reuben Judah Torres

12. El Columpio Asesino - “Toro” ♫♫♫
El Columpio Asesino became a whole new band the minute “Toro” was unleashed. For one, because this year they're holding an intercontinental hit. It's their widest known song and a critics' darling already rolling in transcendence. Featuring a simple bassline, a sung-kinda-spoken conversation between lead singer, drummer, and leader, Álbaro Arizaleta, and singer, guitarist, and front woman, Cristina Martínez, the song gently builds up until it sonically bursts (“no me vengas con que es vicio”) and emotionally concludes. Hinting at sex, decadence, and excess in its lyrics, “Toro” already feels like a classic. - Enrique Coyotzi

11. Jessy Bulbo - “Belzebú” ♫♫♫
Equal parts songstress and sorceress, Jessy Bulbo might be the most powerful rocker in Mexico. Bulbo's "Belzebú" can be heard as a downtempo and delirious inversion of M.I.A's "Paper Planes." At the same time, the track's hypnotic spells of piano breaks serves as a reference point to White Magic, among other analog dissensions in the mapping of the witch house field. Throughout her dark prayer to Belzebú (or Lucifer), Bulbo medidates on the poetic journey of the diabolic figure. Ultimately, I am left wondering when will we see the immersion of a new Mexico City banda dedicated to the realization of the Cult of Bulbo. - Adrian Mata Anaya

10. Rebolledo feat. Matías Aguayo
& Diegors - “La Pena”
Since my very first spin of "La Pena," I've been selling this as the meeting of El General and Ry Cooder at the microdisco, when in reality, I should've been shouting how this is the single most life-celebrating song since Celia Cruz's "La Vida Es Un Carnaval." Yes, the horror disco whips might articulate early onset dementia, but this is the labor of a sinister virtuoso. Because life is indeed, worth it, Rebolledo and friends evoke that Latin-American sorrow (the same Bolaño and Rulfo wrote about) that is in itself, a merriment of our very own idiosyncratic. - Carlos Reyes

09. Mueran Humanos -
“Monstruo” ♫♫♫
If your own mother says you're garbage, and reaffirms it right afterwords with an accentuation that echoes all the way down to diabolical caverns, than you probably are a monster indeed. This is the gore notion you get in the year's most brutal song. Affection and harm start with the family, and when the soul and body are nourished with such dissonant aggression, smiling to the world isn't a gesture you can afford. Yet, the beast in this landfill finds the goodness in him. Even if it's pure compassion, you can't help but to sing along when horror is turned into gorgeousness. - Carlos Reyes

08. María y José - “Granada” ♫♫♫
Fuck Bruno Mars. Tony Gallardo made the best song about a grenade this year. Remember that ending scene in Reygadas' Batalla en el Cielo when a Mexican army retrieved a colossally large Mexican flag from Mexico City's Plaza de la Constitución to the wounding drums of an infantry band? Well, "Granada" is the song that should've followed during the ending credits. This visceral piece starts on the edge of redemption and marches its way into a baroque, step-by-step danced tragedy about loosing sanity. Gallardo is not looking to catch a grenade, he's searching for the peace that will make his body and torned-to-pieces heart even. - Carlos Reyes

07. White Ninja - “El Alfa” ♫♫♫
White Ninja’s flirtations with wavelength allocate the act as part of the exciting group of artists pulsating rhythm into faded synth-pop memories (Neon Indian, Washed Out, Toro y Moi). But unlike these contemporaries, White Ninja has the psychotropic vertebrate to travel within its own grooves. When, in the first sequence of compression, springs start bouncing in “El Alfa," you just know this will be a bewildering adventure of proportion and digital blossoming. This is a song that progresses from a perplexed urban number to a sort of futuristic cumbia. - Carlos Reyes

06. Violeta Vil - “Amish” ♫♫♫
Perhaps the most seductive song in a while. In this track (explicitly referred as a demo), we've come to understand what the VV fuss is all about (watch out 2012!). "Amish" is the story of a teenager in the sect who finds it in his heart to venture to the outside - to an exotic world we find normal, and yet, for him, is the embellishment of his identity and his last act of faith. Even more fascinating is the way VV juxtaposed the Amish character within his environment. See, the real secluded element in the track is a line of whispered microhouse in hopes of relief from its isolated, tormenting noise. - Carlos Reyes

05. Bam Bam - “Abismático” ♫♫♫
"Let's hear us in silence. Make an attempt." That's how it starts. Except, instead of going back to your house, Bam Bam would rather invade your brain. Behind the maniacal chanting and rumbling percussion lies the feeling of all tension and pathos being ripped apart with no regard. Push and pull, lightning crashes, etc. It's rock and roll but that type that WILL DESTROY YOUR (metaphysical) SHIT. Cause that's what maniacs do. It comes together, the way it does in GREAT films. - Andrew Casillas

04. Mamacita - “No Eres Tú”
“No Eres Tú” presents itself with a disembodied armor of disco sequences, and a whispering disco string announcing a hurtful realization: “Te he conocido todo este tiempo, me he dado cuenta quien eres tú.” Vocally, Mamacita could be described as an encounter between "upside-down" Diana Ross and Las Chicas del Can, occasionally exploding into the fetishism of Mariah Carey’s songbird abilities. A consumption song had rarely been this introspective. To feel like you’re not yourself once in a while is a beautiful and thrilling thought. - Carlos Reyes

03. Dávila 666 -
“Esa nena nunca regreso” ♫♫♫
Any song that causes your mom to sing the chorus within 30 seconds of playing it must contain some inkling of genius. Either that or it’s just really damn catchy. Somehow I suspect that “Esa Nena Nunca Regresó” is both. While I admit that the whole sunny, 60s garage rock revival has mostly eluded me, there’s no denying that Dávila 666 rocked the year like no other Iberoamerican act, delivering an excellent album that is all but devoid of fillers. Also, Scarlett Johansson was at their Cinco de Mayo party in New York. Probably. Maybe. - Reuben Judah Torres

02. Adrianigual -
“Me gusta la noche” ♫♫♫
Before the booming of Chilean pop, Adrianigual had already secured a page of on our history book through their kill-your-generation anthem “La Mistica Espiral.” Four years later, they've achieved linear progression in the year's most polished and fulfilling jam. Armed to the fullest, "Me Gusta La Noche" is rowdy and chaotic, yet so warm and orchestral. Without marginalizing its topics to adolescent agony, Adrianigual sings about “dancing your dreams,” and I don’t know about you, but that just makes me sweat all over the dancefloor, walls, and ceilings. - Jean-Stephane Beriot

01. Los Claveles - “Nacional 42” ♫♫♫
“Nacional 42” is a dissertation of Spain’s highway A42, described by Los Claveles, as the horrific intersection where ruin and routine meet. Like some classic road songs (AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”, Roam’s “B52”, etc), this is not the most optimistic song out there. On the contrary, it’s an emotional tragic squash that at times feels profane and brutally disenchanting. The dexterity of guitar riffs outlines a doodle that feels humid, harmonic, and hazard. The band sings about a road without a landscape, and sing-prays they don’t get to die among the dried flowers that populate a road God seems to have stopped watching over. A man’s confrontation to the road parallels with that of his love life; it haunts him in triumph and hardship, and it keeps him away. Guilt and redemption flirt with the track’s hooks, even saving some room for irony as they claim that love is to be afforded. A42, where religious entity is put into question and nostalgia reaches its saddest course. This is carved to-the-bone harmonious poetry, so austere and so achingly human - Carlos Reyes

100-71 70-41 40-21

Club Fonograma's Best Songs of 2011 (40-21)

2011-12-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

100-71 70-41

40. Kali Mutsa - "Tunupa" ♫♫♫
Diving into the majestic depths of Kali Mutsa means to give 3/4 of yourself away to a world of crafty rituals, afflicting gastronomical feasts, and powerhouse operas. In its demo version “Tunupa” was already a standout, but its finished edit substitutes the demo’s program-based skeleton and reconditions the adventure with the warmth and romanticism of wooded instruments. This healing piece achieves the sort of celestial plethora that can only be experienced by immersing your soul into the fragmented pupils of a black cat. A boundless, irresistible, and velvety single that placed Celine Reymond on our list of platform-hoping visionaries. - Reyes

39. Helado Negro - "Regresa" ♫♫♫
By now, readers of Club Fonograma might be keenly aware of Lange's exploits in projects such as ROM, Savath y Savalas, and Epstein. Lange proves that his scope expands beyond these creative endeavors through his powerful ability to reference outside of himself. Appropriating the ocean wave distortions of chillwave, “Regresa” introduces a snowstorm of distortion and feedback. While Lange’s love letters (or vague text messages given that this is an electronic record) are sung aloud in a crooning fashion, his voice is often matted as sotto voce, made to pose as a chorus or even an owl singing. - Mata-Anaya

38. Violeta Vil - "Toronjil"
Band members Monica Di Francesco and Yanara Espinoza describe their sound as tropical goth, and “Toronjil” makes that premise a reality. This piece is a fest of affiliated, bone-deep sentiment portrayed with a mundane narrative and shadowy instrumental sequencing. “They took out a molar the day of her communion” is the first line in a song that sounds like it was carved by a cult of Catholic dentists, so austere in its form and yet, so obtainable in its rhythm. - Reyes

37. Babasónicos - "Flora y Fauno"
After mingling with pop on their last two records, this is the grand entrance in which the band acknowledges they’ve been dealing with exotic lands. "Now let me deceive myself, I understand that I'm not to be trusted," bursts a self-sabotaged Adrian Dargelos in this western-like number that feels dualistic, vile, and shaken to tears. In the most poetic and metaphorical of diagrams, the band screams to the world that they have not lost any muscle or their emblematic smugness. They do however, warn of a new approach to conversation obeying an almost dry panorama. Babasonicos, the eternal troublemakers. - Reyes

36. Shakira feat. El Cata - "Rabiosa"
We all know that after Shakira made her successful crossover, she hasn’t remotely released anything as brilliant as Dónde están los ladrones?, yet it’s hard to go wrong with most of her subsequent albums' singles. The Colombian pop icon expertly offers hit after hit, and, without Pitbull’s intervention (no, thanks), pairs up with Dominican rapper El Cata (like in "Loca"). The Spanish version of “Rabiosa” is way better. It’s a hot and sexy club banger that, yeah, invites to rub bodies on the dancefloor and even get kind of nasty (“aráñame la espalda y muérdeme la boca”); sweaty shirt, vodka drinks, and flirtatious night included. - Coyotzi

35. Dani Shivers - "Witch" ♫♫♫
Tijuana newcomer Dani Shivers is our favorite mean girl out of all the bloody femme fatales coming out of Iberoamerica. For years she’s been under the radar, flirting with formless freestyle beats and putting her witty psyche into music boxes. When her first proper single “Witch” came our way, we immediately knew she was employing form and was determined to sneak into our generation's most exclusive line of enfant terribles. "Witch" discloses the artist’s resourceful methods: a semi-cute voice colored in crimson, articulated throbs, and nostalgically sinister aesthetics. The death of innocence through casiotone. - Reyes

34. Bam Bam - "Ragatrón" ♫♫♫
It only takes a second into the song to feel you’re being lifted to a higher ground in a whimsical dance battle between light, instruments, and electronic swarms. The soundscape in “Ragatrón” is as packed as our galaxy, yet it gravitates with ease amongst the nebulae, cosmic rays, and all that stellar matter surrounding intergalactic space. The lyrics narrate a beautiful story of a galactic creature/force who invites a "lost dreamer" into a life-changing journey. - Reyes

33. Lido Pimienta - “Luces” ♫♫♫
Listening to Lido Pimienta’s Color album from last year felt like a roller-coaster experience, as we were witnessing the evolution of an artist who could display a diverse array of sounds and make us feel a great disparity of emotions. “Luces,” the only material Lido has released this year, brings into one track so many elements from that EP together: the uneasiness and gloomy tones of “Buena Persona,” the optimistic message of integration delivered in “Humano,” and the sophisticated samples and string arrangements of “Progreso.” It’s music that feels despairing as much as it is encouraging. - Lestruahut

32. Adrianigual - "Arde Santiago" ♫♫♫
If El Medio’s “Que bueno que nadie piensa en mi” is the embodiment of the #ForeverAlone meme, then Éxito Mundial’s opening track, “Arde Santiago,” must be the epithet of #DisasterGirl. Under eloquent production by Alex Anwandter (a master of disco songcraft), this first track pictures Chile’s capital city in devastating flames. Our character, however, gazes back only to rejoice the burning of his bridges (“atras arde Santiago, es un dia muy feliz”). - Beriot

31. Natalia Molina -
"Cuna de Piedras" ♫♫♫
This is a shimmering analog recording that evokes anger, infatuation, and a seamless tenderness that make for one of the bravest numbers of the year. Unrestrained of any emotion, Molina crafted a song about hitting bottom and getting back up into a world of nourishing cruelty (a place where happiness is only suggested). “You taught me to live like this, I don’t fear lying down to die,” she sings in a rallying cry. Shading its topics between unconditional love and conformity, Molina sings from somewhere very deep. And when I mean sing, I mean SING like singing is supposed to be done. - Reyes

30. Installed - "Que No" ♫♫♫
In “Que No,” Installed repeats the line, “doctor, estoy bien,” as a reassurance that seems more targeted at himself than his doctor, like a self-affirmation that he is, indeed, fine. It’s a revealing almost-mantra that seems very personal, like the listener is intruding on a very private moment. Even when the song talks about someone else, it feels very introspective, examining Installed’s own relation and reaction to that person. - Méndez

29. MKRNI - "Humedad" ♫♫♫
Through Punto’s seductive yet disconcerting tonality and a dulcet beat bordering on cumbia, "Humedad" tastefully refashions tropical psicodélica sounds. This gem could easily be described as one of the most exciting pop tunes to come out this summer. The warm and almost whispered "hace calor sin sol, hace calor sensual" made those particularly execrable hot, sticky days in the city seem bearable. "Humedad" clearly demonstrates MKRNI’s ability to create music that will get you moving the coffee table out of the way, kicking up heels, and dancing til dawn. - Martin-Saoudi

28. Alex Anwandter - "Shanana"
Everything about "Shanana" is perfect - the light silverware-to-glassware rhythm section in the backdrop, the dream disco vocals of the chorus, the slightly wobbly bass line, the delicate, yet direct lyrics...all of it. I like to imagine this song as Anwandter singing to himself and the farewell that he mentions being him saying good-bye to the self that lacks feeling and is afraid of the world to step into that world that so terrifies him. This is perfectly illustrated at the end when the cymbal crash gives way to a limbo of strings, then the machine gun-esque percussion finally breaks through to the clarity of the trumpet-synth in the last few seconds. - Méndez

27. Mañaneros - "El Volcán" ♫♫♫
As proven by this boiling tribal piece, Chilean pop holds more tribes than we know of. Mañaneros’ “El Volcán” is an audio screengrab of the album art fronting Mexicans with Gun’s LP, Ceremony. While that MWG album can be seen as an anthology of the electronic music consumed by Chicanos in the past twenty years, “El Volcán” is a triumphant march toward a horizon of contemporary ethno-technos. Eruptions of wildcats and interruptions of pre-Columbian prayers all build up to form one of this year’s mostly timely and complete dance numbers. - Mata-Anaya

26. Fakuta - "Virreinatos" ♫♫♫
The sublime tears generator “Virreinatos” is probably my favorite song of the whole thing. Like dubstep wunderkind James Blake, Fakuta values space and silence, extracting gems out of these qualities. A melancholic realization about how at times we believe we’re indestructible as a fortress (“¿cómo es que tu imperio no ha de caer?”), the glitch fragility of “Virreinatos” is boundless. - Coyotzi

25. Roman S - "La hora de bailar" ♫♫♫
This is what the folks at Discos Pegaos call a “hedonistic dance statement.” And they’re absolutely right. It’s all about unapologetically giving in to the pleasure of dance. The track begins with early morning sounds, the kind you hear when you’ve been partying all night and finally stumble home as the sun rises. And dancing until morning is exactly what the song wants you to do. First you ease in with the subdued percussion and pseudo-slow mo provocative bass, then you amp things up with the spacey, jittery synths, then the alluring repetition of “es hora de bailar” seals the deal, and you’re not leaving the dance floor until dawn. - Méndez

24. Hypnomango -
“El mundo no es real” ♫♫♫
Something about a song named “El mundo no es real” is immediately grabbing. The concept of isolation at such affirmative terms is moving, almost heart-wrenching. Here we got a song that’s almost cheerless (“nada es real”), but self-responsive (“yo ya no existo”). In its own fuzzy way, it’s celebrating its existence, and that’s just what we needed back in January as we boarded the youth-in-revolt train. Well-punched sequences, self-destructive drums, and dissonant vocals describe Hypnomango, the hot new band from Monterrey. - Reyes

23. Astro - "Ciervos" ♫♫♫
Astro's first long-winded single “Ciervos” simulates the spacing, elevation, and movement of a post-industrial world where the variables of a natural environment and a human-built environment are still struggling to find order. And just like that, frontman Andres Nusser and his Astro clan make it really clear that they’ll use every technique they know (even if they turn out excessive) to force you to puke all logical narratives and all your city demons. - Reyes

22. Algodón Egipcio -
“La Transformación” ♫♫♫
Like the well-packaged titles of his songs, Algodon Egipcio’s shrewdness for craftsmanship is of inner expression and experience, but also attentively in dialogue with its era. In dialogue, but not in tune. Cheky’s platforms neither practice nor reject vocation, they’re just "flowy." All these conditions allow for such a song like “La Transformación” to be read as a piece about the alteration of data, genetics, your virtual "Second Life" character, or a full metamorphosis (and how sadly, there's rarely a "back" button). - Reyes

21. Prietto Viaja al Cosmos
con Mariano - "El Bombero" ♫♫♫
Regardless of what side of Prietto's double album you decide to pop in first, this number is the undeniable core of Prietto's symmetrically reflective experience. Psychedelic ambiance and dusty strings bundle up into deeply disorienting landscape. In two discs that sound quite monotone and quiet, the stirring “El Bombero” is a shout from the band to say they're on duty. Also, a ready-for-archive epic moment in continental rock. - Reyes

Club Fonograma's Best Songs of 2011 (70-41)

2011-12-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

100-71

70. Silva - "12 de Maio" ♫♫♫
Your inner hipster might initially reject a song like “12 de Maio;” it’s too pretty, to ready-made to be used in some cheesy movie trailer. Well, hopefully you also have a change of heart around the 3-minute mark, because this is a damn near perfect slice of tropical baroque. In a lot of ways, 2011 was Brazil’s breakout year at Club Fonograma, and “12 de Maio” plays along like an anthem of the things to come. - Gillén

69. Selena Gomez & The Scene -
"Middle of Nowhere"
From the very first menacing seconds of its stomping intro, "Middle of Nowhere" crafts a compelling narrative driven by vulnerability, dismay, and resilience that would make Kelly Clarkson proud. The second verse approaches perfection with the extended broken record metaphor in the lyrics accompanied by creaky record scratch effects that manage to reinforce the metaphor without cheapening it, which is an impressive feat. And the crushing chorus is some serious "Dancing On My Own"-style devastation on the dance floor. - Méndez

68. Félix y Los Clavos -
"Sensacional" ♫♫♫
Any pupil or protégée of Daniel Melero deserves our undivided attention. Argentine pop maker Felix Cristiani isn’t new to our radar, but rather, a contender for the year’s most improved indie act. Owning up to its poised title, “Sensacional” is a colossal piece that strikes for pop infinitum. Arousing to the point of desperation, and following the lyrics’ premise of a curse that enlightens the heart, Felix y Los Clavos have surpassed narrative curiosity and climbed all the way up to the melodic skyscraper. - Reyes

67. Los Rakas - "Ta Lista" ♫♫♫
Whatever your definition of a 2011 Alternative Urban hit is, it better sound like "Ta Lista." Panama's Los Rakas sing about family business, panties, and national and circumstantial identity in what they’ve rightfully classified as “El Flow Californiano.” The front single off Chancletas y Camisetas Bordada is a tour-de-force number that's so high caliber, you better believe the duo when they claim to be "dangerous." Its fragmented depths and hinting disco strings work perfectly under the Panabay slang, one in which the Oakland cruisers once again plays ode to its beloved Mexican fanbase. - Reyes

66. Escuela de Trance -
"El viaje de la pipi" ♫♫♫
Sure, “El viaje de la pipi” has a charming verse section with a playful acoustic guitar and lyrics that speak of singing Beatles songs and wearing coloured “pull-overs,” but what’s really awesome about it is when you finally reach that batshit chorus that seems to hit some sort of strange sweet spot in pop music that gleefully marries the cute with the catastrophic. It’s terribly catchy, childish, and an emotionally affecting quest in finding the ideal balance between straightforward pop and musical absurdity. - Lestruhaut

65. El Medio -
“Publio Ovidio Nasón” ♫♫♫
El Medio confirms himself as an outright versatile and offbeat songwriter in his “destacado” EP El fin del sueño... Though with his last track to date, “Publio Ovidio Nasón,” Leonardo Velázquez has seemingly decided to sacrifice his leaning towards melodical naivete, electronic venture, and personal song-writing style, in order to explore pop ingenuity through more traditional musicianship in the form of bossa-inspired guitar, thus remaining a songwriter that never truly stops surprising his own listeners. - Lestruhaut

64. Piñata - "Mexican Machotes" ♫♫♫
Under the hyphenated premise of a garage-tropical sound (like that of Margarita or Kana Kapila), Spain's newcomers Piñata claim to have an affinity for punches in the mouth, sexy moves, and an adoration for counterfeit idols. The unveiling of a tribal-harmonious exposé in “Mexican Machotes,” makes this five-piece band just seem like the real deal. There’s something very special when hearing a band shout “Uno, dos, tres, cuatro!” between the bridge and the climax of their songs; they’re immersing us into their garage rehearsals and, in a way, make us part of the pushing of the pedals. - Reyes

63. Pernett - "La Galáctica" ♫♫♫
Colombian cumbia wizard Pernett talks about star seeds as if these luminous spheres of plasma grew from the soil and were eventually catapulted into the constellations of our Earth's sky nights. Pernett is our generation's AstroTropical god, and "La Galáctica" is his most overwhelming work on asterism. Embalming a composition of drums that (through bite rate) transcode into cosmic dust and howling to his ancestry brigade, Pernett shows he's a sonic maverick and the most intricate gardener. - Reyes

62. Nubes en Mi Casa -
"La Ventana" ♫♫♫
"Solo quiero sentirme un poco mejor." Have you ever been so heartbroken that you've lost all desire? Or how about that eternal afternoon you spent looking through a window in hopes of feeling something. Hopefully you haven't hit pavement this hard, but if you have, Nubes En Mi Casa has crafted this year's amendment on hanging by a thread. Beautifully orchestrated in slow-paced melody lines that build up to a soaring finale that finally brings out the luminaries. This isn't a song about a breakup, it's about the brutal letter/email/text you know it's coming your way right before absolute devastation. - Reyes

61. Víctor Hugo - “Así es como se
arruina un verano” ♫♫♫
Only seconds into the track, you can almost feel the tension of an old spaghetti western duel building up. The initial heavy pounding beat and steady guitar strumming are joined by an almost frightening backing vocal harmony. Then the track morphs into a stunning series of chord progressions leading us into the inevitable grandiose climax and finale. Víctor Hugo directly embraces the same compositional form and structure of great Morricone climactic tracks like “L’Arena” or “The Ecstasy of Gold,” creating something that emotionally brings us back to the experience of watching films. - Lestruhaut

60. Lucila Inés –
“Todas las letras de tu nombre” ♫♫♫
Argentina’s adorable singer-songwriter Lucila Inés’ first work has yet to be released, but she has already acquired the faith and interest of many publications with her her exquisite and gorgeous craftsmanship. Accompanied mainly by her acoustic guitar, Inés metaphorically explores the possibility of her instrument’s strings becoming birds, flying by their own will, obtaining their own form. Poetically, when personified musically, they grant her the letters of her beloved which she caresses and protects as precious jewels; just like we do, one way or another, when we fall in love. - Coyotzi

59. Maifersoni – “Andina” ♫♫♫
Tracing immersive soundscapes through resonant walls of mind-altering electronic beats and rough abysmal textures, Chilean experimenter Maifersoni has beautifully pushed his creativity to another level with the enveloping “Andina.” Reaching ecstasy, the song violently but playfully swirls to a stirring, sublime climax that by the moment it peaks, its spell won’t let you go. Then everything flows naturally, as it resplendently unravels, perplexing and surprising with stupefying qualities. - Coyotzi

58. Los Migues -
"A vos no te importa nadie" ♫♫♫
If you were to search for "virtuously catchy," you'd fine Migue somewhere in there. Unlike "Oso Panda" last year, this song has overcome its novelty phase through its close-to-the-heart warmth; we should’ve expected you love your pets as much as we love ours. “A Vos No Te Importa Nadie” tells the story of a highly energetic dog that has to stay tied up because of his misconduct. This touching story is accompanied by an equally sad composition comprised by lo-fi riffs, claps, and some depressing (but engaging) strings. - Reyes

57. Doble Pletina –
“Música para cerrar las discotecas”
A lovely, lighthearted anthem that hit our radar during these final weeks of the year, boy-girl duo Doble Pletina’s “Música para cerrar las discotecas” is indie pop renaissance at its finest. Bringing impossibly catchy hooks (think of Family’s Un Soplo en el Corazón) and an indelible melody, both of the singer’s voices function remarkably (like in El Columpio Asesino’s “Toro”). The song raises the question of what’s the ideal tune to end a clubbing night. In an ideal dimension, this would be a perfect one to finalize the party and raise some smiles (“música que acabe con todas las fiestas”). - Coyotzi

56. Mentira Mentira - "My L.S.D." ♫♫♫
"I need something to be happy. To stop sadness. Ecstasy? Marijuana maybe? What I really want the most is my L.S.D!" I bet you never cared to stop and read the lyrics. This is the declaration of a user's psyche and a veneration of the substance. Meaningmore's ultimate highlight plays like that big rushing anthem every band should be entitled to, and yet it also has the characteristics of an anti-single. It’s this raw combination in Gaby Noriega's escalating noise and catchy hooks that might alienate more than a few, in fact, the majority. An individual's relationship with drugs should be this raw and self-indulging. - Reyes

55. Monte - "Imperios" ♫♫♫
Contrary to what Monte's Bandcamp tags might suggest about their sound (krautrock, experimental, noise), their avant hybridity doesn’t necessarily slap its listeners with tireless ignorance. “Imperios” stays within that exercise of turning ambient noise into noise rock for the purpose of laying bridges upon bridges of churning grindstone riffage, eventually telling us that these guys aren’t really making noise via rock songs (as opposed to many bloggable 2010 lo-fi acts), but they’re actually subduing noise to great riffs and better bridges. - Lestruhaut

54. Capullo - "Pretextos" ♫♫♫
It seems that guitar-driven '90s revival acts won’t be the only popular tendency that transports us to that decade this year. Capullo’s new single, “Pretextos,” evokes the kind of dance pop that, mixed with subtle house elements, generated a great number of hits during that period. However, the track goes further into provocatively exploring this aesthetic, introducing us to a sparkling reinvention of that era that resembles acts like Jeans or Paradiso, accurately including parts with disco strings, which work deliciously and also remind us of our recent obsession with them. - Coyotzi

53. Pegasvs -
"La melodía del afilador" ♫♫♫
When Spanish newcomers Pegasvs broke into our conscious with this song, they immediately disoriented our senses and dislocated every appendage in our appendicular skeleton. “La Melodia del Afilador” is SHARP and it gets you straight to the bone. It carries what we would now call "the new great Spaniard rock flair," a sort of left-field progression of rock and roll, almost satanically conceived by bands like Triangulo de Amor Bizarro and El Columpio Asesino. - Reyes

52. Alex Anwandter -
“Como puedes vivir contigo mismo”
The nervous percussion of Rebeldes' opener “Como puedes vivir contigo mismo” serves as an undercurrent to the song’s “Luz de Piedra de Luna”-evoking disco strings, like the jittery pulse beneath the rapture of the if-this-is-wrong-I-don’t-want-to-be-right sentiment of “aunque sea pecado yo me siento en el cielo.” The music is layered so meticulously that it’s hard not to get wrapped up in that same sentiment. (If this song is wrong, I don’t want to be right either, Alex.) - Méndez

51. El Sueño de la Casa Propia -
"Pobre Ave" ♫♫♫
Wherein ESDLCP delivers the same glitchy, carefree, electronica as before. And yet the formula still works! It sounds like you mixed equal parts rainbows, gingham wallpaper, and Frosted Flakes, and then shook them all into one sexy Tupperware bowl. "Pobre Ave" doesn't exactly reinvent Jose Manuel Cerda Castro's sound, but dammit if it isn't his most compelling track to date. - Casillas

50. Maluca x The Partysquad -
"Lola" ♫♫♫
Self-declared Dominican Princess, Maluca, is finally pulling her claws out publishing her first proper release, Massive Pow Pow EP. In the last couple of years, the Mad Decent sensation has built an enviable reputation as a performer, earning broadcast success with “El Tigeraso,” and now it's time for "Lola." In collaboration with Amsterdam-based duo The Partysquad, the Merengue-electrified rebel has found gold. The track is a club banger with the vehemence of a third world political agenda and a structure as round as Jessy Bulbo’s ever-rolling “Comal.” - Reyes

49. Roman S - "End of Times" ♫♫♫

"End of Times" is one of those songs that makes you wait for it. Slow and steady and reverby at first, the song introduces elements one by one: first staticky distortion, then slightly comical lasers, then the hurried click of a drumstick against the rim of a snare before finally getting to the good part. But perhaps it's the buildup that makes the good part so good. The slow unraveling of the song's exposition is what prepares you mentally and physically to reach that first peak in a state of elevated awareness that allows you to feel like you are part of the song. - Méndez

48. Los Amparito feat. Nubla -
"Dicen" ♫♫♫
As a collective work, Los Amparito is one of the few musical ideas which utilizes and yet effectively alters its artistic mission. "Dicen" begins like any of his other songs, rendering gentle, earthy, folk samples with a modern sheen that builds and builds to a subtle, beautiful climax. But of course, there's nothing wrong with that, because its gorgeous. In all, this continues one of the greatest under-the-radar winning streaks in modern pop. - Casillas

47. Fauna - "Para Mi" ♫♫♫
Fauna is here to remind us that ZZK records hasn’t completely forgotten their initial purpose of taking us to the dance floor. Before the passing of Federico Rodriguez (aka Catar_sys), Fauna's sophomore record Manshines was already in its post-production phase, and a few months later they were hitting us with the hopping single “Para Mí,” a dance floor banger of ragga-style vocals, dancehall inspired rhythms, and a crazy psychotropic video to go with it. - Lestruhaut

46. Roman S + Mamacita -
"Tu Amor" ♫♫♫
In this epic cover of Jamie Principle's "Your Love", Roman S elevates the ceiling and pronounces every single crevice in sight--the synth-bass alone sounds like it's been filtered through six shades of Italo disco concentrate. Mamacita, on the other hand, absolutely kills it, playing up the "Disco Queen for the People" image she's cultivated over the past year into something that bleeds through her vocal chords. - Casillas

45. Fother Muckers -
"Dios está aquí" ♫♫♫
A few days before Easter, Chilean cult band Fother Muckers released a one-of-a-kind gospel record while also announcing the news of their breakup. Yes, that was quite a stressful afternoon where we shredded a few tears and did nothing but listen to all their records. Later on that week, we found out they were resurrecting as Los Ases Falsos. We had once again, been victims of the band's witty dramatics (and you know everything's juicier when religion is involved). Whether you choose to embrace "Dios Está Aquí" as a serious piece or an ecclesiastical gimmick, this piece is pure clerical bliss. - Reyes

44. Pedro Piedra -
"Vacaciones en el más allá" ♫♫♫
“Vacaciones en el más allá ” is yet another captivating exercise of how Pedro Piedra embraces the traditional approach of the singer-songwriter or “cantautor” style without resigning to show his great skills as a pop song craftsman, always putting together small pieces of separate musical styles in an irrational manner. Pedro Piedra excels at putting his rap roots to the service of great storytelling and rhyming on that out-of-nowhere synth line in “Vacaciones...” which would seem to fit more in a Justice record than in the lead track of a Chilean pop album. - Lestruhaut

43. Anna-Anna - "Cat Eyes" ♫♫♫
Anna-Anna's debut EP, Last Night I Lit the Moon, is the sort of record that’s immediately striking for its outstanding uniqueness and, because of this, it's a record that can be enjoyed both as an easy listening experience and as a wholly immersive one, where her distinctive soundscaping and jaw-dropping lines hit you even harder. Album standout “Cat Eyes” is a fluttering picture that paints French new wave film characters as persons with otherworldly attributes, as she sings, “I’ve got cat eyes, baby. My laser vision will melt your love” to the sound of a throbbing electronic beat and hypnotic keyboard lines. - Lestruhaut

42. Luciana Tagliapietra -
"Las Carreras" ♫♫♫
If you need to know, Tagliapietra wrote this song right after visiting Buenos Aires' hippodrome. She sings about her desire to fill a room with gifts and craves for the day her lover will return to supervise her own shipwreck. The song’s topics are aligned with astounding structural fluidity, illustrating a Venn diagram’s intersections of love, desire, pain, and illuminating indiscretions. The ending line in “Las Carreras” imagines a surreal scenario in which a dream about a horse race is both the cause and the liberating factor of love’s misfortunes. - Reyes

41. María y José - "Puerto Alegría" ♫♫♫
Oh, that sweet “Puerto Alegria.” Let’s say it’s like a pupil of “Copacabana” without the murderous enigma of the classic. This really is the answer to Barry Manilow’s main inquiry in the song: “They were young and they had each other, who could ask for more?” This conversational song celebrates true love in the most breezy and platonic ways. We tend to drown our own immediate feelings, but when true love shows up, be prepared for those emotions to arise. Sound-wise, let's say it's an accurate depiction of the heartbeat. Love so intense and so pure, it puts you in marriage-mode the minute you see it, “Casate conmigo aquí en Puerto Alegría.” - Reyes

Club Fonograma's Best Songs of 2011 (100-71)

2011-12-13T17:00:00.011-07:00

100. Daniel Maloso - "Hijos de José"
Monterrey DJ and self-proclaimed disco caveman Daniel Maloso stands on the ephemeral viaduct between a disco performer and a disco auteur. It’s this stance of Maloso as a sort of middleman that makes him such an interesting (if circumstantial) character in dance music. Because, really, with all the artists moving away from the all-comprehensive and universal magnetism of the genre, when Daniel Maloso sighs that “we are all sons of José,” we’re back to family business all over again. - Reyes

99. Lê Almeida -
“Eles estão na minha rua” ♫♫♫
Brazili's youth-rushed Lê Almeida, lives the lo-fi style life like very few know how to. “Eles estão na minha rua” is an extract from his debut full-length record, a track that finds Almeida in his most structured moment yet. Beyond the noise revivalist sound, he definitely shares the lo-fi aesthetic and the urgency to tell stories in very short timings. This song breaks most of those principles. Like some of his fellow Latin American lo-fiers there are tropical flairs embedded with the sound, so often confused as psychedelic. - Reyes

98. Super Guachin -
"Me fume el fichin"
Commodore 64 chiptunes, cumbia villera, folk archetypes and Tommy gun dubstep comprise the juicy premise of Argentine audiovisual duo Super Guachin. With this caliber of embeddable intellect, the duo is making a fair attempt to fill generational gaps by referencing the application and cultural awareness of portable and game consoles in the modern man. “Me Fume El Fichin” shows just how evocative the duo is with programmable and interactive media, while letting everyone know they are also pop futurists. - Reyes

97. Michael Mike -
"Lo que a vos el amor" ♫♫♫
You might think disco nights are the same all around the world, but South American disco nights are frivolous to say the least. Everyone finds in disco the excuse to embrace the flesh and the fetish. "Lo que vos el amor" is a fully disavowed pop song about that "flaca" we all know and about the screams of today’s "glitching." The pulse by which Michael Mike's songs are born is a menace, they melt the minute they push the buttons, and turn melody into glassy and all-around wax. - Reyes

96. Hey Chica! - "Lo que nadie ve" ♫♫♫
The title track from Hey Chica's debut album takes their internal conflictions into feverish dreaminess. Hey Chica! builds a spectrum of harmonious grasp to tell a story of restrained sadness. When the girls sing "no creo que ella sea tan especial," the song's acid honesty provides answers. In searching for happiness the band first suggests a revolution, later on they give silence a try, then they finish the war asking for a magical assortment. Almost as sprawling as The Postmarks, and almost as seductive as Warpaint, Hey Chica’s expansive musical gears are admirable. - Reyes

95. The Beets -
"Friends of Friends" ♫♫♫
Some may unwisely peg them as always sounding the same, however, the band’s charm lies precisely in their capacity to draw listeners into their surreal and absurd world. There is a disconcerting authenticity and simplicity about them that perhaps only their live shows can reveal. The accelerated, almost uncanny singl-along "Friends of Friends" is a standout among an eerie-weird collection that just happens to be The Beet's very best so far. - Martin-Saoudi

94. Chucha Santamaria y Usted -
"Fiebre Tropical" ♫♫♫
When trying to grasp the highly stylized ecosphere of Chucha Santamaría y Usted, understanding the fundamental and ultra contrasting elements of noir (as a brutal mood rather than a genre) comes in handy. Knockout single “Fiesta Tropical” fulfills the premise of the duo employing dualistic noir haze as if it were part of their negotiating terms to find sonic mantra. The track is happy catchy on the surface and wildly contemplative in the backdrop, just like the tropical fever they so ecstatically warn us about. - Reyes

93. Niña - "Banzai" ♫♫♫
No Mexican band sounds as nostalgic and cheerful as Niña. A handful of thoughts come to mind whenever they put out a new song: how they’re a pop machine of ear-snagging tunes, how they manage to turn any topic into an anthem, and how everything leads us to the realization that Niña is one of those rare cult bands that will be remembered for both their songs and the generational software they’ve built into us. “Banzai” is the kind of generational monolith that encodes itself into a pop song. More than an easy-to-groove pessimistic song, “Banzai” is the emancipation of internal conflict. - Reyes

92. Hernán Martínez y Las Estrellas –
“Habeas Corpus” ♫♫♫
At first glance, it seems like the occasional catchy pop song, but repeating spins will leave your eyes swelling from such splendor. This track has all the commonalities of the burning-the-bridges vernacular and goes from dust to melodic gold through chord successions, drum summation, and its flawless accentuation. “Habeas Corpus” pushes itself into your soul as a small orchestra that triumphs because of its absorbent normality and feet-on-the-ground freshness. - Reyes

91. Los Macuanos feat. Lucrecia Dalt - "Pasado y Presente" ♫♫♫
We've been salivating over Los Macuanos' first album since we started this blog, but as long as they keep releasing tracks like "Pasado y Presente" we'll always keep our fountain of body fluids at their grace. The ethereal vignette surrounding this track is one of emotional discharge, like the haunted corridor that eventually pours out the pain from past tragic love tales. Los Macuanos crafted a whispering, infernal bolero in which Colombian singer Lucrecia Dalt had no trouble diving in. - Reyes

90. Sonora -"La Selva" ♫♫♫
Content-wise, if 2011 taught us anything, it was to start taking U.S. acts more seriously. Sonora's sound clashing constellations kept us synced to every one of his moves - from his Reinas/diva series, to his most original work. The San Antonio-based producer had shown signs of a skillful articulation, but never this eloquent. "La Selva" is like the true airbender - one that stomps in tribal dub and flies sky high alongside fireworks. Yes, this may strike some as digital rain, but when it comes to digital environments, no song kept it this avant and this human. - Reyes

89. Torreblanca - "Lobo" ♫♫♫
Torreblanca, as a full ensemble. “Lobo” is the contribution of every member in this project at their best; check out that immediately grabbing menacing saxophone opening, Andrea Balency’s dominion of accordion, the last blissful thirty seconds where the whole band double pace. Still, Juan Manuel steals the show with his vocal delivery. He sounds agitated, even kinda sexy narrating his tale about new found freedom by looking into the moon to metamorphose during nights, converting this transformation exercise in his way out of daily social convention practices like religion and politics. - Coyotzi

88. Quiero Club -
"Qué hacer en caso de oír voces" ♫♫♫
The Monterrey band has found itself a new home. Mexico City, nowadays, seems like one of the only relatively narco-free zones of the country. But the Quiero Club’s sensibilities don’t seem to have been altered by the change of scenery. This new track is a comforting celebration for those moments where the simple and extraordinary get a bit too overwhelming to handle. “QHECDOV” is obscure in its title, confronting in its music and, ultimately, as uplifting as Quiero Club’s picture-ready symmetrical formation. - Reyes

87. Mr. Racoon -
"Acceso a la playa pública" ♫♫♫
The promotional cut off Mr. Racoon's Alterablesperanza excels greatly as your typical '90s alt-rock frenetic piece. For a moment you get under the impression that Roberto Polo is one of those musicians capable of creating something great and unique out of such familiar grounds and that he’s actually skillfull enough to embrace pop cues so effortlessly that he manages to blur the line between revisionist and self-defining songwriter. - Lestruhaut

86. Ximena Sariñana - "Shine Down"
She might still have a lot of work to do lyrically, but musically Sariñana is exploring some truly fascinating sounds and, though I, like many of you, sometimes wish she would return to her jazz roots, I’m still excited to see where she takes her “new” pop career.“Shine Down” is undeniably the best single in Ximena's sophomore album. The dreamy chimes, skittish guitar melody, and slightly frustrated-sounding, yet steady percussion clash spectacularly, still allowing the vocals to float effortlessly above the commotion. - Méndez

85. 107 Faunos -
"El tigre de las facultades" ♫♫♫
On their latest EP, the kids from La Plata, known for their petite songs, surprisingly go over the 3-minute mark twice, delivering what’s clearly some of their most laid-back and least amateurish songs in their rising profile. "El tigre de las facultades" is an anthem-striking single off what’s perhaps their most adult record yet, one that’s still packed with that youthful energy, yet is also a lot more paced and developed in its execution and overall structure. - Lestruhaut

84. Violeta Castillo - "Mi Cárcel" ♫♫♫
How many times did you shout "*31416" this year? In Castillo's double-sided miniature wonderland, "Mi Cárcel" stands as its most developed number. Violeta's sharp craftsmanship is truly haunting. Presenting top-notch production by Tucumán’s psych-poppers, Monoambiente (Castillo’s favorite band), this is a provoking song that draws spectacular sophistication in the instruments it utilizes. Unlike most of her tracks that start and end over a breath, “Mi Cárcel” (featuring Tagliapietra's choruses) prevails as an addictive tune that, in a perfect world, would've translated into a crossover radio hit. - Coyotzi

83. Marian Ruzzi & Sr. Amable -
"Una pieza más" ♫♫♫
When we heard Marian Ruzzi and Sr. Amable were making music together we couldn’t help but to raise some eyebrows. They might share their native place of origin (Chihuahua, Mexico), but they couldn’t be more apart when it comes to music taste. With both artists growing into their craft and senses, we knew they would make an interesting collaboration, but never expected something this good. “Una Pieza Más” is a galloping and up-the-ante slice of glass-eyed pop. A song that is as fragile as it is muscular. - Reyes

82.Pájaro Sin Alas –
“Alfombra Mágica Mental” ♫♫♫
This is a disrupting voyage to an unstable, insecure mind. “Alfombra Mágica Mental” is built over Madlib’s “Sitar Ride,” smartly utilizing the sample as the base of the song, constantly repeating it but constructing tension and anxiety as it progresses by adding melancholy and tragedy in strategic moments. “Me elevo gracias a tus alas,” the singer wishes he’d admit to his muse. This quote also directly, and probably unconsciously, makes reference to his artistic name and proves how personal this project is. - Coyotzi

81. Los Mundos - "El sol no sabe" ♫♫♫
“It’s just that I can’t wait to see your face again,” claim Mexico’s newcomers Los Mundos in a climatic state of angst and clouded strings. "El Sol No Sabe" reveals Luis Angel Martinez (Piyama Party) and Alejandro "Chivo" Elizando (En Ventura) as two dudes with a certain affinity for tragedy themes, taking the shock factor out of them and making them feel habitual in an ultimately deviant world. Kids, at your next picnic, obey Los Mundos: bring your guitar, tooth paste, some temporary tattoos and please, use sunblock. - Beriot

80. Gloria Estefan - "Wepa"
Those of you who think that Estefan cannot be relevant in today’s dance scene, have you even heard “Wepa”? Because, like Julianne Escobedo Shepherd once tweeted, “if you ain’t fuckin with ‘Wepa,’ I ain’t fuckin with you.” This dance jam for the working class features some intense percussion (even her voice feels like part of the rhythm section sometimes) and bright trombone, along with a ton of other sounds like whistles and sirens that will make you dizzy in the best way. I’m not even that mad about the Pitbull remix like I’m mad about most things involving Pitbull. - Méndez

79. Poliedro -
"Sweet Home Everywhere" ♫♫♫
As contemplative as the landscape of its artwork and as punching as its boxing champ. When listening to this pastiche it's hard not to link it to Blake's "Limit to your love." Others have their own theories: Jean-Stephane Beriot’s said, “it’s like Devendra Banhart passed out on layers,” while Andrew Casillas points out it's “like Algodon Egipcio, but veiled in more mystery.” Poliedro takes this piece to a sort of limbo, pushing everything to their elemental core and, eventually, using those elements in a march-like parade. - Reyes

78. La Ola Que Quería Ser Chau –
“Ojala que este verano no nos maten!” ♫♫♫
This was the last of many home-recorded hits by La Ola before walking into a proper studio to record their much-anticipated debut LP. It's pop candy for hotheaded people. Also, a celebration of the band's quirky ideals of youth and its messed up notions on existentialism. In this track, Migue accomplished what he's been searching for in the last couple of years: to sound shamelessly (and seamlessly) catchy, enough to afford of an exclamation point. - Beriot

77. Colateral Soundtrack feat. Apache O'Raspi - "Me enamoro cuando" ♫♫♫
Based on Angelica Maria's classic "Cuando Me Enamoro." Edgar Mota provides provides the spaceships, while Apache O'Raspi’s otherworldly voice guides the listener through a blissful escape into an idyllic reverie. It would be easy to designate Mota’s work in Colateral Soundtrack as a Mexican iteration of hypnagogic pop, especially in light of his involvement in Los Amparito. A trite categorization, to be sure, as Mota forges a work that coheres into a unique realm of ephemeral phantasmagoria that is wholly its own. - Torres

76. Al Cruzar La Calle -
"Asuntos Internos" ♫♫♫
Linda Sjöquist calls herself an adolescent dreamer with too much time on her hands and an out-of-tune guitar. “Asuntos Internos” says she’s a whole lot more. It's not even two minutes long, but feels like a colossal response to the eternal dilemma of “what a girl wants.” She wants someone to kiss, someone to hug, someone who can read her Julio Cortazar poems, and of course, someone to bring her coffee to her bed every morning. Is that too much to ask? - Reyes

75. Varias Artistas:
Isol - "No importa tu edad" ♫♫♫
If you were to play our entire countdown at your next family reunion, "No importa tu edad" might dissolve all family feuds (especially if trouble comes from generational negligence). Heck, it might lead to some group hugs. We're also looking at one of the most motherly songs to come our way in a long time. Thankfully, Lucas Marti isn't into sermons. This might have an obsolete feel to it, but this thing is as rebel as those heart-wrenching classics by Jeanette. Because, really, not even classic metal is as action-calling and compassionate. - Reyes

74. Caravana - "Sigue Sus Ojos" ♫♫♫
Think of Argentine filmmakers Lisandro Alonso or Lucrecia Martel and how they’re able to frame emotional depth by painting their characters and landscape at equal density. Rodrigo Santi does that extremely well with music. “Sigue Sus Ojos” is the finest example of a pop narrative working under coats of countryside garments. Felicia Morales’ gorgeous vocal contribution here is only the last slice ricocheting towards absolute pop resonance. - Reyes

73. Fakuta - "Aeropuerto" ♫♫♫
The highly anticipated Al Vuelo did not disappoint. Its closing number, "Aeropuerto" (with all its rumbling sparks and peeling tropicalia) rounds up a deeply moving conceptual album that ascends and descends without any fear. This is the jam the cool kids should be dancing to at the next High School prom after party. It's a ballad, a love letter, and a disco catalyst. But above all, it's a dreamlike assortment towards pop progression. - Reyes

72. Neon Indian - "Fallout" ♫♫♫
Whenever we’re hoping for a tailor-made sequencing number, we know we can always count on Alan Palomo. “Fallout” is no exception. As Blanca Méndez describes it, this is a plea to forget (and it comes with acid chords that will melt something in you). It is whimsical in its anticipation, slowly transcends into a summer jam, and fades away in subtle chops. It might not be a veins-cutter like “Should Have Taken Acid With You” or as catchy as “Deadbeat Summer,” but it welcomes Palomo back to his field. - Reyes

71. Aeiou - "Vivimos in. L.A." ♫♫♫
Juan Son and Simon Pace's first single as Aeiou is a bold and round celebration on its way to the zeitgeist. The first part of the song is like escaping from a city by jumping on a gull’s back (like in The Rescuers), and the second half is a sort of response to JLo’s “Jenny From The Block.” As random as that description might sound, it’s actually pretty appropriate. The call-and-response inner chorus “Oh, yeah!, Oh, si!” is like a cheering crowd for the inner spirit, and the whole “Don’t Call me Mijo… call me Papito (from the Block)" take the song straight to the alleys of Los Angeles. - Reyes

Kali Mutsa - Ambrolina

2011-12-12T08:35:00.001-07:00

Ambrolina, Kali Mutsa
Shock, Chile
Rating: 80
by Enrique Coyotzi

I remember perfectly when M.I.A.’s debut Arular was released. The excitement of an artist merging so many genres (dancehall, electronica, hip hop, reggaeton) into a single pop record resulted in a cultural mishmash that gave a new meaning to the term "world music." Celine Reymond, a Chilean popular telenovela actress, has smartly taken advantage of her performing capacities and elaborated the alter ego known as Kali Mutsa. Her imaginatively invented background indicates she’s a famous 90-year-old performer, yet she was absent from the musical world for decades, until she recently made her comeback to present Ambrolina. Each of the five songs included in her exotic EP are grabbing on their own, charged with unpredictable flavors ranging from Bollywood-esque essence to Andean music, nuanced with gypsy vibes and sophisticated quirky electro. Similar to what the Sri Lankan controversial rapper did with her debut album, Kali Mutsa’s expansive spectrum of influences result in a highly original work.

Unjustly ignored by some of her country’s mediums, Kali Mutsa’s (which also happens to be a band) bizarre universe has attracted mainly foreign publications. Mutsa’s lyrics are a mixture of Spanish and Romani, so even hispanohablantes won’t know fully what she’s saying, but “la gata negra de Pachacuti" isn’t about words; her mysteriousness is grandiose, and the role of the character becomes essential as the voice that directs an atmospheric trip (strengthened by two nature sounds interludes) through Pachacuti’s fertile valley (“Jauja”) to the hot desert (“El Camello”). Hitting the nail exceeding each of the past demos, the production of Ambrolina is adventurous, psychotropic, and collapsing genres with imagination, audacity and originality. Opener “Tunupa” is infectious, rhythmic, and magic. Here Mutsa sings about a godlike man who gives birth to flora and teaches fauna how to speak. Diving into this song proportions an idea of Kali Mutsa’s ritualistic approaches and theatrical singing, sort of like the star of a big Bollywood production.

The dripping sounds of “Parachima” give atmosphere to the EP before we get to the outstanding, surreal “Jauja”, which speaks about Pachacuti's valley habitants who dance under the moon to Chon for abundant harvest and gastronomical feasts – you’d swear you’ve commenced an acid trip. Adding cohesion between tracks, second interlude “Tue Tue,” apparently a calm night through the desert, leads to the fantastic “San Cipriano,” probably the song where instruments are enhanced the most – trombone, clarinet, violin – and where Mutsa delivers some killer verses worthy of La Mala Rodríguez. “Ton King Dom” could be dubbed as the only ballad in here. Editor Carlos Reyes hit the spot when mentioned it’s Aterciopelados-ish. “Devuélveme al niño,” Mutsa cries in this mournful march. Concluding on a propulsive, energetic note, “El Camello” is demented and experimental, a warm closer that wouldn’t feel out of place on Björk’s eclectic Post.

Dispelling –once again- the myth that an actor cannot succeed creatively in the musical field (I mean, Charlotte Gainsbourg did it and she’s got such a thin voice), Celine Reymond’s alter ego Kali Mutsa is a provoking artist whose music (considering she’s supposedly 90 years old) at times feels ahead of its time. Ambrolina stands as one of the most ambitious extended plays of the year, which excitingly announces new possibilities to the World Music tag, packaged with inventive cosmopolitan numbers, introducing us a persona whose mysticism is both intriguing and arousing, and who has a bunch of evocative ideas yet to be cooked.

Gloria Estefan - Miss Little Havana

2011-12-11T18:16:00.001-07:00

Miss Little Havana, Gloria Estefan
Crescent Moon, USA
Rating: 70
by Blanca Méndez

If you’re curious about Miami’s party circuit but are too scared of the beach bods, art deco, and republicans to book a flight out there (guilty!), all you have to do is listen to Gloria Estefan’s latest album, Miss Little Havana. It works even better if you are wearing a white suit or one of those flowy pattern-mixing dresses that Uli Herzner made during Season 3 of Project Runway. Estefan, with her signature battling rhythms and saucy brass, transports you to Miami Beach, and, no, this isn’t Estefan on some retro “Conga” trip (not that there’s anything wrong with that), it’s current and fresh and don’t you dare underestimate or underappreciate Gloria Estefan.

Those of you who think that Estefan cannot be relevant in today’s dance scene, have you even heard “Wepa”? Because, like Julianne Escobedo Shepherd once tweeted, “if you ain’t fuckin with ‘Wepa,’ I ain’t fuckin with you.” Also, y’all are straight up ageist. This dance jam for the working class features some intense percussion (even her voice feels like part of the rhythm section sometimes) and bright trombone, along with a ton of other sounds like whistles and sirens that will make you dizzy in the best way. I’m not even that mad about the Pitbull remix like I’m mad about most things involving Pitbull.

The aptly titled “Heat” (because it’s HOT) is sparse in its instrumentation, and it’s precisely this sparseness that makes it so sexy. The timbales and congas act as the backbone of the song, providing a subtly accentuated rhythm that's surprisingly good for strutting. The track also features the amazing line, “As you’re dancing you look down and stare at your body. It’s so confusing you sip on your drink,” which is like, “What?” Then she’s all, “The ecstasy ends quicker than you think,” and you’re like, “Oh.” There’s also "Make My Heart Go," a merengue track with some insane brass, and "Right Away" hearkening back to the disco '70s. There are some admittedly weaker songs on the album (not the “Let’s Get Loud” bonus track, though!). “Make Me Say Yes” talks about Prince Charming, which ugh, and “Hotel Nacional” is kind of cute with its jitterbug vibe, but it ultimately centers on the build-up to finding rhymes for “hoochie coochie,” which is simultaneously awful and awesome.

It’s been four years since Estefan’s last album, and eight years since her last English-language album, but the time lapse is irrelevant when you listen to something as exciting as Miss Little Havana. And, yeah, Pharrell produced it, but I wouldn’t necessarily give the creator of Qream too much credit. He might have added a little “edge” here and there, but there’s such a wide range of dance styles and they are executed so beautifully that you know that Estefan was the one in charge. This manipulating of rhythms to summon people to the dance floor (or the streets or wherever it is that the party is happening) is what she's been doing since her days in Miami Sound Machine. And it's her innate ability to work with traditional Latin styles while still having her fingers on the pulse of what's occurring in the present to create music for people who take their partying seriously that makes Gloria Estefan such an important figure not only in Latin music, but also on the international dance stage.

Club Fonograma's Best Albums of 2011 - Outsiders

2011-12-10T21:45:00.001-07:00

25 Wild Flag - Wild Flag

24 Kurt Vile - Smoke ring for my halo

23 Junior Boys - It's all true

22 Danny Brown - XXX

21 Kanye West & Jay Z - Watch the throne

20 Peaking Lights - 936

19 SBTRKT - SBTRKT

18 Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

17 Drake - Take Care

16 Real Estate - Days

15 Jessica Lea Mayfield - Tell me

14 Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

13 Prince Rama - Trust Now

12 Marissa Nadler - Marissa Nadler

11 Panda Bear - Tomboy

10 Beyonce - 4

09 A$AP Rocky - LIVELOVEA$AP

08 M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

07 Nicolas Jaar - Space is only noise

06 tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l

05 PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

04 The Weeknd - House of Balloons

03 St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

02 Julianna Barwick - The magic place

01 Shabazz Palaces - Black Up