Afropop Worldwide

At about this time every year, music lovers in New York City can find themselves buried under a little too much of a good thing. In addition to the usual deluge of touring bands, the city is able to boast at least FOUR world-class series of free outdoor concerts (SummerStage, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, and Celebrate Brooklyn), not to mention the innumerable one-offs that dot the summer calendar. As if all that wasn’t enough, this week, the city is also playing host to the 13th annual LAMC, a gathering that brings together musicians from across the world of Latin alternative music. Given that “Alternative” isn’t really a genre in and of itself (really functioning more as a description of a musician's relationship to the "mainstream") this means that the LAMC typically welcomes an incredible variety of music under its banner. Unfortunately, this also means that it can be pretty difficult to sort through all the bands that are playing. In an attempt to help with this problem, here is a brief compilation of some of the performers we think are well worth checking out. Carla Morrison- Possessing both a beautiful voice and the sense of songcraft to make it shine, this Tecate born, Baja-California inspired singer is definitely a rising star. http://youtu.be/xdfik2FRhck Jotdog- As delicious as its (sort of) namesake, Mexico's Jotdog are an absurdly catchy band that plays pure pop music in the most positive sense of the word. Clear proof that the 80’s revival is a world-wide phenomenon, and that synthesizers are able to turn normal hooks into super-sized, city crushing hooks. http://youtu.be/4C22hBOVbEw Las Cafeteras- Despite coming out of Los Angeles, Las Cafeteras developed a hearty love for the Son Jarocho music originating in Veracruz, Mexico. Taking that sound and fitting it to a modern, almost punkish energy, the band kicks out its authentic jams with some serious force. [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/32597395" iframe="true" /] Ritmo Machine- A collaboration between percussionist Eric Bobo (Cypress Hill/ Beastie Boys) and producer Latin Bitman, Ritmo Machine brings the funk, groove, and swagger. http://youtu.be/sK2NFVHNToM Of course, we scarcely need to mention the Kinky/3Ball MTY/Los Autenticos Decadentes show at the Central Park SummerStage this Saturday. Afropop is going to be there in full force. Come by our table and say hi! And just in case you haven't gotten around to sounds currently rocking the kids south of the border (and a fair number of those stuck up here in the US), you can check out these videos as well. http://youtu.be/kSzeCP5lX74 http://youtu.be/LRYNWfJzfVE