My boys in Quitapenas played a concert in Tucson, AZ last Friday Sept. 20th at Hotel Congress and I hitched a ride with them for a two-day road trip from Cali to Arizona to shoot a few photos. Many thanks to Logan Phillips a.k.a. DJ Dirty Verbs for his hospitality.
Hecho En Mexico, the musical documentary/love letter about our neighbor to the south, received its second premiere last week with a star-studded concert and screening at the Ford Theatres in Hollywood.
The Topanga Film Institute helped director Duncan Bridgeman celebrate the release of his director’s cut of the film with a VIP party and concert featuring Gull, Sergio Arau, and Ximena Sariñana.
The original cut of the film was released in theaters last year. The movie features a number of important musicians, thinkers, and celebrities on-screen who share their thoughts about modern Mexico.
Yes, you read that correctly: a rock band performed at a church in Los Angeles. A very LA thing to do? I don’t know but the sound inside was amazing (naturally) but it got it hotter than Hades with the lack of/the weak air conditioning system.
The band played the entire album minus two or three songs. Highlights were “Turtleneck” with its extended guitar solo, “Red,” my favorite song off the albu,, and “Mother, Father, Set Us Free.”
Teri’s antics were a lot more subdued from her Le Butcherettes days. She never climbed an amp, hung from a rafter or anything wild but she still had a number of weird dance moves to entertain the crowd with.
Check out a few photos from the set below with more on my flickr.
The past few weeks of work for Remezcla have yielded a wonderful surprise: a revival of post-punk music at the hands of Spanish musicians.
Bands such as Antiguo Régimen are bringing back tracks with thick, metallic bass lines:
That’s a bass line that could’ve come from a long-forgotten Joy Division song! These groups also mix a few elements of New Wave and Goth. For example, there’s El Último Vecino whose debut album is as 80s as you can get without the buckets of hair spray.
Then there’s Triángulo De Amor Bizarro whose name is a Spanish translation of Bizarre Love Triangle. The band’s music varies from one song to the next switching from post-punk to HEALTH-style noise-rock. They tend to keep it slightly old-school with a mix of post-punk and shoegaze.
The latest addition to this group is Despotismo Ilustrado who have yet to release any official recordings other than a few demos recorded during their rehearsals.
For old times sake, here’s Capitán, who I wrote about last year:
A few shots from QUITAPENAS’ album release party at La Cita hardly two weeks after that wonderful trip to Austin.
Full set at my flickr.
My trip to Austin was as fun and exhausting as my previous one. I travelled to SXSW with the talented guys from QUITAPENAS. That story, and a few photos, is up on Remezcla. I was able to catch a few bands at the Sounds From Spain and Sala De Espera showcases, all of which delivered. I was most excited to see El Mato A Un Policia Motorizado on my last night out in Austin. I wasn’t disappointed.
Check out a few photos from SXSW below. The complete set of photos is on my Flickr.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my first ticket giveaway on this site! My friends at artdontsleep will bring Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge to the Mayan Theatre in LA this Thursday where they will perform songs off their collaborative album, Twelve Reasons To Die. One lucky winner will receive a pair of tickets to the show.
Shoot me an e-mail at afroxander@gmail.com with the subject line “Afroface Killah” with your full name to enter. Winner will be announced on Wednesday and also contacted by e-mail. 18+ only.
I’m happy to announce that I’ll be returning to Austin for SXSW this year with an added bonus: I’m travelling with a band!
I’ll be on the road photographing/partying with QUITAPENAS for a tour diary that will be published in Remezcla.
The band is a eight-piece cumbia tropical group from the Inland Empire. It’s their first performance at SXSW and first show outside of California. Stay tuned!!!
Afroxander (aka Iván Fernández) 