Video: Piyama Party - "Paz Mundial"

Piyama Party’s glorious shoegaze waltz “Paz Mundial” opened Álbum De Oro with the kind of serenity and wisdom reserved for album closers. Luis Angel Martínez took us along as he scaled that familiar “wall of sound” where a new perspective was waiting to deliver bliss. It was a bold move, but months after sifting out less essential 2015 records, one can appreciate a whole lot better. 

Recently Sefárdico, pen name for Austin-based director Luis Eduardo Flores, took on the mission to deliver visuals for the underrated “Paz Mundial.” Jumping in we see a charismatic and terminally chill cult leader meditating and vegging out. His psychedelic landscape tinged in purple fauna pulls from Richard Mosse photos (h/t Remezcla), then flips to a reality where young people, plagued by failures and regret, announce their departure from the material world into a more meaningful existence inside a purple paradise. The treatment is notable because it presents a narrative that edges by, never encroaching the song’s gravitational pull and leaves us feeling as serene as the lyrics promise, “Qué bien se siente.”

Ivy Queen - "Que Se Jodan"

A photo posted by @ivyqueendiva on Apr 1, 2016 at 5:43pm PDT

Ivy Queen's 2016 return is buzz worthy by its own merit, but these are no ordinary times for Ivy Queen to release a single. Javiera Mena's revelation to Club Fonograma last week that she is determined to work with Ivy Queen has our musical mythologies reeling. The prospect of such a collaboration is the stuff pop dreams are made of. As legend would have it, Shakira released three merengue singles from 2010's Sale El Sol as per Club Fonograma's suggestion. Evidently, Rita Indiana's excellent El Juidero made it to the ears of Shakira's production team, thereby inspiring the Caribbean sounds found in her last decent album. Or so the legend goes. Since 2009, Club Fonograma has been a haven for the analysis of provocative sounds from both the underground and the mainstream. It is our belief that a Javiera Mena / Ivy Queen collaboration could pave a road towards a certain type of immortality for both artists. On one hand, Javiera Mena could gain the notoriety and respect of going to the source- the Queen herself- for the reggaetón backdrops she employs on everything from "Cuando Hablamos" to a few tracks from Otra Era. On the other, Ivy Queen could steer her industry towards a different plateau by incorporating emerging left field talent from Latin America into her repertoire. Javiera Mena could be Ivy Queen's first of many fortuitous collaborations with a hipster underground. I mean, "Que Se Jodan" already sounds like Ivy and her producers have been listening to Puerto Rico heavyweight, Füete Billete.

"Que Se Jodan" is hip-hop, showcasing the strong rap element Ivy Queen honed in on for 2014's ambitious Vendetta, a multi-part album that dedicated itself to substantiating four different genres of music: reggaetón, bachata, salsa, and hip-hop. Ivy Queen does a lot of posturing during "Que Se Jodan," a nefarious if short lived number. Ivy Queen flaunts her two decades-long artistic career, her rap skills ("¿Qué sabes tú de letra?), and proclaims her love for hip-hop ("esa es mi medicina"). Ivy Queen is a good enough rapper, but it should be noted that some of the braggadocio on "Que Se Jodan" is not befitting a 20 year veteran. Still, her claim that she reminds womn to fill themselves up with greatness is pretty powerful. Consider "Que Se Jodan" a reintroduction to Ivy Queen, a good enough track that has us hoping she can channel the brilliance of 2003's "Yo Quiero Bailar" at least one more time.

Video: Princess Nokia - "Tomboy"

Small titties, big bellies, the allure of cannabis, gold chains, sweat pants and a Blues Clue's sample in the hood. Destiny AKA Princess Nokia AKA A Stripper Named Equality, AKA Wavy Spice is back. We talked at length about her convictions as an African-Taino warrior when we covered her Honeysuckle breakthrough, "Orange Blossom"- our #71 song of 2015. Now, we can begin having broader discussions about the impressive and appetizing cultural musings Destiny has been offering through anti capitalist, anti colonial, anti patriarchal social healing initiatives such as Smart Girl Club, We Are Brujas, and of course, the reason we even pay attention, the music. The breadth of these conversations has been revitalized as attached to Destiny through the power house that is "Tomboy". Everyone can fuck with this jam.

Engines ignite. Vintage (1990s) family portraits adorn the wall of Destiny's housing project apartment. Black & Brown girls of many shades delight in sororal street subversion, in sweat pants. The fashion throughout "Tomboy" is decidedly baggy 90s.  Blunts of modest proportions are smoked in public spaces, in a family kitchen with dirty plates chilling in the sink. Girl on girl love is mutual, adorned in gold. The chains that decorate their diverse bodies are precious and gaudy, relics of quinceañeras, bodas, and bautizos. Coal plants in the background act as menaces of anthropogenic global ecocide & Destiny pisses off abuelita- intergenerational skepticism. "Tomboy" is a tour de force that will continue inspiring editorial think pieces and street turn ups alike. "Tomboy" is a party jam- the type of cultural ammunition that we enter Summer 20,016 with.

Video: Babasónicos - “Vampi”

Does Babasónicos still matter? Do we need another melodious ballad in which Andrián Dárgelos displays all his lyricism ability? In the rather desolated mainstream Argentine music scene, they still stand out. They may not be the band from the Jessico days, which started a revolution in the mainstream radio by speaking on the inner thoughts of youth with a delicacy and straightforwardness that was both seductive and defiant. However, their new single, “Vampi” – a live recording to be included on their upcoming live album Desde adentro – shows that the band still has a lot to say.

If you thought Babasónicos’ position in the music scene was stable because “everyone” knows them, Adrián Dárgelos is here to mess it all up. On the chorus to “Vampi,” he asks himself: “So what if I am a vampire, if I am going to fall in love anyways? What’s the use of being immortal if you can’t die of love?” The possibility of being an observer in the periphery is not an option. Society has defined him as a rather cold and extravagant persona more interested in building up a character than in his emotions, but on “Vampi” he recognizes that you can’t live isolated – not even a character – because everything reaches you sooner or later.

The canonized status of Babasónicos have detached them from society. There are no longer passionate to death discussions about them because they won that debate and became immortalized. However, what was the use of winning? Revolution and outrage was left in the past and replaced by imitation bands who’d rather see them dead. But being mainstream doesn’t necessarily mean that people won’t point you out in a crowd. “I don’t want to be a freak anymore,”Adrián Dárgelos sings exhausted, but we all know that he is maybe bound to it.

Juana Giaimo writes about music for The Singles Jukebox and on her Tumblr. 

De antro con Zemmoa + LA ENTREVISTA

Donna Summer playing at Sofia Moreno's apartment in Pilsen

It was late April in Chicago and the entire world was collapsing as islands of opulence exerted their methods of social control across entire populations of traumatized and heartbroken mortals. Chicago had just broken a new record: 1,000 people had been shot between January and April 2016, a 400 person increase juxtaposed to the same time period in 2015. This in combination with interpersonal and personal miasma meant that I would dance that weekend. I needed an escape. I needed to get lit. I arrived at Sofia Moreno’s apartment in Pilsen for breakfast at about 2:00PM with some angst, some journalistic prospects and a desire to connect to the brilliant, artistic resilience of those of us who live in one of the many purgatories of capitalism, Chicago. Me and Sebby were greeted with besos en la mejilla, conchas, and a panic-inducing cafecito. Cafecote. There was disco already playing on vinyl: Donna Summer. Zemmoa picked the record. Zemmoa was Sofia Moreno's guest of honor. Sofia Moreno. Perhaps the most controversial anomaly in the Chicago art scene. And the most essential. She is one of the chief architects of s+s project, a curatorial practice creating direct cultural exchange and dialogue between artists in Mexico City and Xicago. Don't be skeptical about the pre-hispanic, Indigenous art that adorns many of s+s project's promotional imagery.

Sofia Moreno as A$$ Pussy @ TRQPITECA. Photo by Zé Garcia Puga

Sofia Moreno- a grotesque and bewitching survivor of European commanded genocide- is aware of her Indigenous, Mayan ancestry. s+s project is the reason Zemmoa is in Chicago and showcasing at the idiosyncratic TRQPITECA. As I sip my coffee, Zemmoa grooms her nails, and talks about her conflicted origins, her present resentments, and her uncertain future. It is remarkable how beautiful Zemmoa looks without makeup, in baggy clothes, disheveled. Zemmoa and Sofia Moreno just woke up. Its 2PM. Zemmoa begins our interview by calling Mexico City home but explains that she was born in the “city of the eternal spring,” Cuernavaca. She lives in the Coyoacan neighborhood of DF and was neighbors with Frida Kahlo at one point: “we used to be friends”. Not even 5 minutes into cafecito & chill with Zemmoa and her pedigree begins to show: “my grandmother played piano for Frida Kahlo once. Music has always been in my family.” She isn't joking this time, she comes from a strong lineage of classically trained musicians. Zemmoa abruptly changes pace, her body movement tense and her explanations become terse. Zemmoa is on the run. Not from the law, mind you. Zemmoa is on the run from a supreme power. Zemmoa is on the run from love, from heartbreak. In a span of 1 hour, Zemmoa returns to speaking about the man that broke her heart a few times, her face in sincere anguish each time. “I’m tired of Mexico. I fell in love. Typical. This güey stopped seeing the light inside of me so I began to question myself and I had to escape.” I usually self destruct, but when you’re Zemmoa and a güey breaks your heart, you go on tour. But Zemmoa won’t just play anywhere. Her performances are methodical, precise. She explains her DIY approach but makes clear divergences from a “play anywhere, anytime” punk praxis. We delve deeper. Zemmoa speaks on recurring feelings of self doubt and emptiness. I sense self hatred, the same self destruction that propels each and every one of us to the depths of a disfigured sense of self worth. “I feel without love, self love or otherwise. I am crazy and this is how I feel, abandoned.” Self deprecating tendencies are the reason behind Zemmoa’s search for optimism: NNVAV (Nada Nos Va a Vencer), also the name of her most recent album. It is a nostalgic record indebted to 80s synth pop that simultaneously pays homage to the sounds of that era while addressing the current landscape of 21st Century pop. It is one 2015's most underrated albums in the Club Fonograma scene.



Zemmoa has valid reasons to hate and want to conquer the pop underground. Zemmoa resents life because of the tribulations she has undergone as a gender non conforming trans person in Mexico, a country that routinely murders its origins: its indigenous ancestors and its womn. She seems to be channeling some total destrucción vibes and talks at length about the intrinsic human desire to search for meaning and happiness beyond the current suffocating paradigms of everyday misery. Very early on our conversations became deep cuts and I realized these were fresh wounds for Zemmoa so I had to change course. Zemmoa had just met me and here I was pressing for more intimate, jarring details- I had to back off and asked her about Mexico’s underground music scene. “I am very much part of the underground,” she explains. “But what has changed is that now I am part of the global underground. A lot of friends tell me to simply believe it, that I have made it. But I think the moment I believe it, I will lose my humility."

Zemmoa @ TRQPITECA. Photo by Zé Garcia Puga

We talk about record deals and her artistic process. “I am very DIY, all my videos I direct myself, with the help of friends. This is out of necessity, everything costs so much money so I have to do it myself." We talked about her search for a disquera: "record labels in Mexico were not ready for a persona like me so que chinguen a su madre. I started my own.” She is apparently good friends with Julieta Venegas and asked me to say hi to Javiera Mena on her behalf in the coming days during our exclusive interview in LA. We turn the conversation towards her first album and the #LaEdadDeAcuarioTour (her first tour) which showcased in Madrid, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Milan, Barcelona, New York, Los Angeles, Tijuana, Guadalajara, Leon, Aguascalientes and Mexico City. We talk about DF nightlife, los antros: “the Patrick Miller is a must, my song ‘Te Enterraré El Tacon’ is a classic there.”



As violence against trans womn and gender non conforming people continues to not make (inter)national headlines, it should be noted that Sofia Moreno and Zemmoa are brown trans womn from Mexico. On April 22nd 2016, their alchemy was devoted to a night of mischief, mystery, and dance. TRQPITECA was the showcase for MALA NOCHE (co curated by Jonathan Summer of s+s project) which also featured performances by Sofia Moreno (A$$ PUSSY) and BONBON. We got lit until closing time, courtesy of CQQCHIFRUIT and La Spacer- seminal figures in Xicago’s queer underground nightlife. La Spacer took us through cybernetic reggaetón wormholes whereas CQQCHIFRUIT reminded us of some of the origins behind the likes of "El Fondo Del Barro" and Adrianigual: Alaska y Los Pegamoides. TRQPITECA's MALA NOCHE- a space curated by queer and trans brown womn- and its collusion with incomprehensible and magnificent ways of self liberation felt like a zenith in Chicago's measurable tradition as a fulcrum of underground self expression. To me, it seemed like the next battlefield was to take such elated degrees of nightlife to the streets, to the illegal warehouses, and conflictual spaces where our fullest potential for dangerous liberation could manifest into a weaponized turn up. Sonically, the cutting edge was already here.

La Spacer & CQQCHIFRUIT @ TRQPITECA. Photo by Zé Garcia Puga.