Art Rock guys who play Latin Music

…because there may not be another blog showing the many sides of guys like Arto Lindsay and Marc Ribot.

Aurora en Pekin by Marc Ribot – if you like this I highly recommend his two albums with Los Cubanos Postizos. They are basically a tribute to one of this earliest musical influences – Arsenio Rodriguez (who I featured in this blog a while back).

Disposable Head by Marc Ribot – here is the art rock side of Ribot(who also plays guitar with Tom Waits). Some of it can be difficult to listen to but I did really like his album Yo, I killed Your God which sounds like punk jazz for lack of a better term.

Mar De Gavea by Arto Lindsay – I don’t own any of his latin albums but that needs to change. His voice reminds me a lot of Caetano Veloso’s son Moreno.

Blonde Red Head by DNA – Arto was the lead singer of DNA(and the Ambitious Lovers) back in the 80s. This excerpt was taken from the movie Downtown 81 (with Basquiat). This is also the song that gave the band Blonde Redhead their name.

…and just because I mentioned Moreno Veloso above…

Duesa do Amor by Moreno Veloso – FINALLY a good youtube clip featuring Moreno’s music. He has a loose association with two other musicians who he plays with quite a lot. They take turns with who “leads” the band, but it’s essentially all the same. Moreno leads on “Moreno+2” and then there is “Domenico+2” which he plays on…you get the idea. I don’t think the 3rd one has made an album just yet but the first two are fantastic – especially Moreno’s album.

Caetano & Moreno Veloso

…there really isn’t too much I can say about Caetano that hasn’t already been said. The guy has made unique music for 40 years – keeping his music fresh throughout that period. Starting out as a key member of the creatively fertile 60’s Brazilian psychedelic pop movement, he was later imprisoned for his leftist stance and assimilation of American pop music into traditional Brazilian music. Eventually after spending time in prison, he was exiled and spent some time in London where he continued his recording career until he finally was able to return to his home.  As far as American music goes, he was a collaborator in the successful “Los Super Seven” albums which drew from a broad range of mostly latin artists(and some who just have a respect for the music like Lyle Lovett) to create new hybrids of latin music.  It features collaborations between members of Los Lobos, the Texas Tornados, Ozomatli, the Mavericks(who has the Mexican Roy Orbison in Raul Malo), Susana Baca, Veloso, and many many others.

…what I can add to to this story is that his son Moreno Veloso is also a recording artist and makes very good albums too. He has recorded two albums with Alexandre Kassin and Domenico Lancelloti under the band names “Moreno+2” and then “Domenico+2”. I cant wait for “Kassin+2”(which drops in a few weeks here in the states). I couldn’t find many Moreno Veloso videos – he isn’t near as popular as his dad, but instead, the band names above are linked to their respective myspace pages.

Cucurrucucu Paloma by Caetano Veloso(from the movie talk to her by Pedro Almodovar): I highly recommend anyone who hasn’t done so to watch every Almodovar movie ever.

Various songs by Moren, Domenico, and Alexandre: most of the quieter material you hear on this one is from the Moreno Veloso CD Musical Typerwriter. I recommend it with no reservations at all.