I was introduced to Kansas City rock band Making Movies during last month’s CMJ Music Marathon in NYC. They fuse Afro-Cuban rhythms with indie sensibilities to come up with bilingual songs that rock.
When they’re not working on their own music, the band is passing their knowledge onto the next generation. But it’s far more than just a guitar lesson here and there. Recently, Making Movies teamed up with the Kansas City-based nonprofit, the Mattie Rhodes Center, to put on “Musicians United by Social Influence and Cultural Awareness (M.U.S.I.C.A.)“, a camp which introduces high risk Hispanic youth from the northeast Kansas City area to the world of music.
As you’ll see in this video, they’re reaching a great group of youngsters who might not otherwise be exposed to the arts. Even better, they’re becoming young artists. The smiles on their faces as they’re playing guitar chords or belting out “La Bamba?” Priceless.
And for more information on the band, check out my Q & A with lead singer Enrique Chi in Sounds and Colours here.
The show is on behalf of Amnesty International and will also benefit the American Red Cross and other Hurricane Sandy relief efforts! Tickets available here.
If you follow me on Twitter you know that I have a neighbor who sings, and trains others, in opera. (And also other styles, such as Broadway show tunes.) Her name is Carmen Elisa Cancél.
It’s the coolest thing because it’s like living in a musical. One time, she was training a guy on West Side Story (one of my favorite musicals) and I spent a couple of weeks constantly humming along while he rehearsed “Tonight.”
Anyway, I ran into her in the elevator today and she’s performing this very weekend and it’s for a good cause! Here are the details:
WHO: Hailed as a singer possessing a “crystalline timbre and intense acting ability,” Puerto Rican soprano, Carmen Elisa Cancélis quickly establishing herself as an artist in the lyric soprano repertoire.
What isn’t there to like about a week of live music events in New York City?
Just as some people look forward to Fashion Week in the Big Apple, I look forward to the CMJ Music Marathon. The four-day event brings 1390+ bands to 90+ stages throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. You’ll go to see one band and catch about five others, whom you may end up liking, in the process. And sometimes there is free booze involved. You can’t go wrong!
Here’s a mini-round up of the bands I saw (all photos by me except for Making Movies):
there’s a chance we could meet under the likeness of summer and there’s a chance we could fall under the highlight of winter there’s a parked car that won’t let me over and there’s one thing i’ll regret, but you’d be the last
This trio is super approachable and I was able to chat them up about their first time in New York City. Goldy, the band’s drummer, and Sarah Lynn, who plays stand up bass and the banjo, had a blast and it showed. Recently signed to ORG music label, you can check out their EP, “Four Steps in Corsets,” here.
Kansas City’s Making Moviesat Desmonds: Bilingual indie rock? Yes, please. It’s as if this music was made for me– a kid born in the States to Colombian parents who instilled in me a love for amazing Afro-Latino music!
Founded by brothers Enrique and Diego Chi, Making Movies fuses Afro-Cuban rhythms with indie sensibilities and bilingual songs. Currently, legendary artist and producer Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, is producing their sophomore album. In the meantime, check out “Hangover Blues” off their EP (with its cool album art) Aguardiente here. Buy the EP on iTunes. Read my interview with lead singer and owner of awesome dreadlocks, Enrique Chi, at Sounds and Colours here. And check out this short video of them covering Aguanile, one of my favorite Hector Lavoe songs of all time, here.
New York City’sPillow Theory at Bowery Electric: Kelsey Warren from Pillow Theory and I go way back, when my brother, Richie, stumbled upon one of their shows in the late 90s. These guys have been rocking for quite a while and it only gets better. I’ve had friends compare them to Living Colour (whom they opened for at Central Park’s Summer Stage) and even Bush– both bands from the 1990s. True, yet Pillow Theory finds a way to keep their sound relevant. Seriously, they get better, they rock harder every time I see them. And Kelsey sounds like Seal. (Hear his solo album here.)
Kelsey tells me their critically acclaimed EP, MELTDOWN, will be re-released November 5th via Europe’s FILTER label “with some extra spices on it.” In the meantime, check out 2007’s Outpatience here. You can watch their latest music video for Blipsters & Buppies (yep, you guessed it–black hipsters and black yuppies) here.
Also at Bowery Electric:
From Brooklyn — The Disappointment: It’s quite the opposite. You’ll be pleased with this foursome that play rock-n-roll tinged with blues and soul. Reminded me of Black Crowes with a New York edge. Listen to their EP, Damn Righteous, here.
From New York City — Man on Earth: The folks at CMJ once described Man on Earth as “Glistening, wide-open arena rock with spirited choruses and a charged romanticism.” Yet I also hear something new wave in them (listen to “Sometimes.” You’ll see what I mean.) Add to that an energetic stage show and therein lies your reason for checking these guys out. (Bonus points for the lead singer who sang right into my camera!) Check out album, Things They’d Never Believe, here.
From Brooklyn — The Last Royals:If your lead singer’s style reminds me of INXS’ Michael Hutchence at all, I’m going to listen, and chances are, I’m going to like it. This Brooklyn duo, who make “beat-laden indie pop,” had the lower level of Bowery Electric intently watching as writer/singer/producer Eric James dropped down to the floor once or three times. According to their Wikipedia page, James and drummer Mason Ingram first met in 2010 while recording a record to benefit Restore NYC, a charity focused on ending sex trafficking and restoring the well-being and independence of foreign-national survivors. For that reason alone, you should give their stuff a listen here!
From New York City — Bear Ceuse: They describe themselves as LOUD ASS ROCK. Sometimes. But I also thought frat party, and not in a bad way! A fun way. Let’s just say this band had the girls dancing right at the front of the stage. Check out their tunes on Bandcamp here.
There are so many bands who played the CMJ Music Marathon to discover!! Visit CMJ’s website for a great roundup. Their site is a great resource for music year-round.
New Mix By DJ Smutlee in which he shares his favorite UK tunes from the past five years in an exclusive for BNTL. Stream below and download the mix over at BNTL.
A great bit of “thinking out loud” by DJ K. Sabroso:
“Dancers upset about Chris Brown in a B-Boy feature film. EDM musicians salty about sounds going mainstream and merging with Bro culture. Comic heads up in arms about the inconsistent quality and fidelity of film/TV adaptations. Anime heads freaking out about an all white cast of Akira…
“For most of my life, “the mainstream” has not been something worth envying from a cultural perspective. Its goal is to sell the most product to the largest consumer base.
“I can see how it seems like something you love becoming popular might bring more attention to your heroes/influences, provide a higher flow of revenue to the people we feel deserve it, increase consumption, and open up more opportunities for new and talented artists, but only under the condition that we format our craft for the masses and often remove a large part of what made it so beautiful to us to begin with.
“Success and fame are dangerous commodities (that often travel alongside their friends compromise and mediocrity) and it’s well worth reviewing what they have done to previous people/cultures before wishing that they come and visit the things you care for.
“If you truly love something, it might be wise to appreciate it for what it is instead of wishing it was something else. Almost everything I treasure would be considered “fringe” or weird but maybe that makes it more meaningful when I meet those rare people who think my weird shit is cool, too. Rant over.”
People can travel many miles before they find their true selves.
Camilo Rodriguez traveled roughly 2,496 of them. That’s the distance between where he grew up (Bogota, Colombia) and where he discovered his adult voice (Jackson Heights, Queens).
“When I came to New York, I needed to find out who I was in the middle of all this madness,” Rodriguez says. “I found out through the music of where I came from.”
MEDELLIN, Colombia–Henry Arteaga could have been a drug dealer.
Growing up during the 1990s in Aranjuez, long one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Medellin, Arteaga could have been a soldier, a gang member, an insurgent, or followed any number of violent paths which have attracted Medellin’s youth over the last 30 years.
periMENTAL 