So, today's artists: Calexico, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Vicente Fernandez.
Calexico - Crystal Frontier
Calexico is an Arizona-based Americana, Tex-Mex, indie rock band that have attracted me heavily in mid 2000-es with its 'southern', latino flavoured music. I collected all of their LPs and listened to them a lot till some point; still love their music - not for distinctive pop hits / lipstick melodies, but for the fragrant sultry soundscapes soaked in the hot Mexican sun. (By the way, the name 'Calexico' itself is coming after a small border town in California).
Musically, they mix traditional music of mariachi, cumbia, tejano with some post-rock, country, jazz, and the result is original and refreshing. You cant see their songs and albums at the Billboard charts, and perhaps, this also was the part of the pleasure for me personally - knowing that you listen to little-known and rare music, not like everyone else :)
This certain song, is one of their most well-known and recognizable hits, and I do love the videoclip... The band's songwriter Joey Burns explained in Bomb magazine:
"'Crystal Frontier' describes the history of the Southwest as always having been a crossroads. A place of illusions and even delusion. The first verse follows Fray Marcos setting out to find Cabeza de Vaca's seven lost cities of gold and running into the Zuni instead. The second verse is about a maquiladora worker in Juarez trying to support her family by working in a tire factory. And the last verse is from a story I read in a Tucson paper about kids that live on both sides of the border and have access to both sides. They're kind of players that can get you whatever you want cheap, drugs or sex if you're coming from the US side, and Air Jordans, Nike garb and label stuff back over to the Mexican side. This place has always had a quality of struggle."
Vicente Fernandez - Guadalahara
Vicente Fernandez is a classic, pure Mexican mariachi, iconic name, which actually I am not well acquainted with, so I can't tell you anything intresting. But I was completely fascinated by this song - blame it on Tom Waits, who included it in his favorite / influentual music selection. So, enjoy the classic mariachi song from 1937.
Fanfare Ciocarlia - Fiesta de Negritos
And the last, but not the least! Now back to good old Europe, and Balkanbeat... but not without the LA flavour: this song featured columbian virtuoso band Puerto Candelaria & Maite Hontelé. Fanfare Ciocarlia is Romanian brass band that I already presented you in one of my previous issues, and surely will share more in the future. Their music is an endless source of positive vibrations and vibe. I better not talk anymore, just enjoy the tune, have fun and DANCE!!!
I hope you enjoyed today's music selection, discovering new names and travelling around the globe without leaving the Hive. 😎 The post goes for Three Tune Tuesday challenge run by @ablaze. Previous issues: 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 118
