This week’s edition of Afropop Worldwide brings our listeners to the sounds of the 2009 Latin Alternative Music Conference, the annual forum and marketplace for Latin bands that don’t fit the commercial Latin mold. These artists, who range in style from  rootsy indie rock, to hip-hop to strange mashups like merengue-electro, are Latin America’s tastemakers, calling Spanish-speaking hipsters across the American continent into  action.

This year’s hot item was cumbia fusions – we saw lots of artists making their own brand of what is being called nu-cumbia or nuevo-cumbia, ranging from the psycodelic reggae-influenced cuts from conference stars Bomba Estereo to hard edged avant-dance cumbia from the Zizek Club collective in Argentina. Nu-Cumbia is fast becoming one of the hottest sounds on the global beat exchange.

Below, you can find brief profiles and links for many of the artists featured in our program. Que disfrutes!

Bomba Estereo

Hailing from Bogotá, Colombia, Bomba Estéreo produces what they call psychedelic cumbia.  Their music merges folk from the Colombian Caribbean coast (cumbia, bullerengue and champeta) and influences from electronica, reggae and hip-hop.  The band, a musical project formed by Simón Mejía with singer Liliana Saumet in 2005, has recently released their second album, Blow Up, through Nacional Records in the U.S.A.

Visit Bomba Estereo’s MySpace Page

Follow Bomba Estereo on Twitter

Be a Fan of Bomba Estereo on Facebook

Watch the “Huepaje” Video

Ceci Bastida

Ceci Bastida, born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, became one of the first women to rise in the ranks of Latin rock.  At the age of 15, she joined Tijuana NO (one of Mexico's most important ska-punk bands) as a lead vocalist, keyboardist and songwriter.  In 2006, she started her solo career, releasing the critically acclaimed EP, Front BC, and she is set to release Veo La Marea, her much anticipated full-length debut album.

Visit Ceci’s Official Homepage

Visit Ceci’s MySpace Page

Follow Ceci on Twitter

Monareta

Monareta first came together when composer, producer and vocalist Andres Martinez started mixing break beats and hip hop flows with keyboardist Camilo Sanabria in clubs and festivals throughout Bogota. The bikes they rode were neither Mongoose nor GT, but Monaretas. Influenced by groups like the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, Monareta pays homage to the ’80s break-dance, hip hop, BMX and fashion scene sounds that came from abroad, and captures how it all came to influence the youth in South America.  Splitting time between Colombia and Brooklyn, the group just capped off the U.S. tour for its 2008 release, Picotero. 

Visit Monareta’s Official Homepage

Visit Monareta’s MySpace Page

Follow Monareta on Twitter

Watch a Monareta Interview on YouTube

Natalia Lafourcade
Natalia Lafourcade is a Latin Grammy-winning Mexican pop-rock singer and songwriter. She hails from Mexico City but currently lives in Ottawa, Canada, where she is learning English.  In May, she released her newest, entitled Hu Hu Hu.

Visit Natalia’s Official Homepage

Visit Natalia’s MySpace Page

Follow Natalia on Twitter

Watch a Video for “Azul” on YouTube

Eric Bobo

Eric Bobo is perhaps best known as being Cypress Hill’s percussionist in the ‘90s.  Trained primarily as a jazz musician by his father Willie Bobo, Eric entered the hip hop world by touring extensively with the Beastie Boys.  Last November, he released his first solo album entitled Meeting of the Minds.

Visit Eric’s Official Homepage

Visit Eric’s MySpace Page

Follow Eric on Twitter

Niña Dioz

Niña Dioz, an up-and-coming emcee hailing from the underground movement of Monterrey, Mexico, has quickly started to establish a name for herself on a national level. In November of 2007, Niña released her debut EP, titled Marcapasos, which included the hit single "Cuando, Cuando."  Already having broken through in a male-dominated hip hop industry in Mexico, she is now looking to reach an international audience.  She might just be Mexico's answer to M.I.A.

Visit Niña’s MySpace Page

Follow Niña on Twitter

Zizek Club

Zizek Club began as a weekly party in Buenos Aires that brought together DJs who were working with Colombian cumbias to make innovative, hard-edged electronica. Named after Slajov Zizek, the radical Slovenian Marxist philosopher, the DJ collective turned heads not only in Argentina but around the international club scene. Two of our favorite beatsmiths among them are King Coya and Remolon, each with their own approach to the cumbia mashup.

Visit Zizek Club Online

Visit Zizek Club on MySpace

Visit King Coya on MySpace  

Watch King Coya on YouTube

Visit El Remolon on MySpace

Check Out the El Remolon Mixtape

 
Juana Molina

Argentinean singer Juana Molina's United States debut, Segundo--released last October--is quietly but surely gaining international audiences.  The album’s mixture of acoustic guitars, traditional percussion, electronic textures, and Juana’s disarming vocals is certainly innovative.  National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" praised her and Entertainment Weekly named Segundo "Best World Music Album of 2003."  Look out.

Visit Juana’s Official Homepage

Visit Juana’s MySpace Page

Be a Fan of Juana on Facebook

 
Los Amigos Invisibles

Los Amigos Invisibles is a Venezuelan band that plays a blend of disco, acid jazz and funk mixed with Latin rhythms. They played extensively in clubs around Caracas until David Byrne's Luaka Bop record label signed the group for its sophomore album, The New Sound of the Venezuelan Gozadera, in 1998.  Since then, they have put out five full-length albums, including their most recent, Comercial.  Los Amigos currently reside in Brooklyn.
Visit Los Amigos’ Official Homepage
Visit Los Amigos’ MySpace Page
Follow Los Amigos on Twitter
Watch the Video for “Yo No Se” on YouTube

 
Aterciopelados

Aterciopelados, English for “the Velvety Ones,” is one of Colombia’s most important rock groups.  Led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago, Aterciopelados draws from a variety of influences, including rock and a variety of Colombian and Latin American musical traditions. Their unique sound won them the Latin Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album in 2007 for Oye.  But the group engages audiences all over the world with more than just their sound, as their social consciousness has shed light on issues such as violence, political injustice, women's rights, and environmental destruction.

Visit Aterciopelados’ Official Homepage

Visit Aterciopelados’ MySpace Page

Be a Fan of Aterciopelados on Facebook

Watch Aterciopelados on YouTube

Domino Saints

According to their website, Domino Saints puts together a “cross cultural mix of music that feels alive and can be shared by all who call themselves islanders.”  While probing the Caribbean roots of their music, they maintain a modern, danceable sound, employing Puerto Rican styles, such as Bomba and Plena.  Their self-titled album was released last year in the U.S. and continues to make headway.

Visit Domino Saints on MySpace

Be a Fan of Domino Saints on Facebook

Follow Domino Saints on Twitter

Watch the official video for “Buenos Dias San Juan” on YouTube

Maluca

Maluca was born in the Bronx and raised in Manhattan by Dominican parents.  After meeting Diplo at a karaoke bar, the two starting working together, which resulted in her debut single, "El Tigeraso." The track, released by MadDecent, draws on her Dominican Merengue and electronic vibes, creating an irresistible, even infectious sound. Keep your eyes open and for the self proclaimed "1/2 Dominican, 1/2 pain in the ass.”

Visit Maluca on MySpace

Follow Maluca on Twitter

Curumin

Luciano Nakata Albuquerque, a Brazilian of Spanish/Japanese ancestry, earned the moniker Curumin, a Brazilian term for indigenous children.  His style is sometimes called samba-funk, incorporating jazz, bossa, and hip hop elements. His first album, Achados E Perdidos, was released in September of 2005 by Quannum Projects and has been followed by his most recent, Japanpopshow.

Visit Curumin on World’s Fair

Visit Curumin on MySpace

First published: www.afropop.org