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Celia Cruz (con La Sonora Matancera)- El Yerberito Moderno (1966)
Feliz casi summer, babies!
Ive had this jam in my head ever since I put some albahaca in the ground and moved one step closer to being a perma-Californian (excepto que no.Puerto Rico, me haces falta y media!).
Celia is a goddess on earth and though the earlier recording of this (sans La Sonora Matancera) is even better, this video is a gem of gems and reminds me of sitting on Abuela Bennie’s plastic covered couch watching El Show Del Medio Dia during summer vacation,
Our SomArts performance was a total success (and we never say that!), thank you thank you to all who came. If you didnt make it, it will be uploaded to www.sofiacordova.com soon enuff. Working on a new little performance at SFMOMA to be done on June 1 at midnite as part of their closing ceremonies (all new, site specific work!!more soon!) and after that we’re back to working on Act I of Odas aka ALL NEW ORIGINAL SHIT GET EXCITED CUS SHITS REAL GOOD! SLASH SOMEONE GIVE ME MONEY SO I CAN MAKE THIS GODDAMN INSTALLATION A DREAM COME TRU!
Lastly, our loves at East Bay Express wrote a really nice thing about Odas and all that!
Anyway, get in your bikinis, listen to our new shit y nos vemos por ahí, chiquistars.
CSYU
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Prince - When You Were Mine (Live 1981)
When you were mine, you were all I ever wanted to do.
How beautiful is the distortion in this video?
We’re doing a 3rd test of our newest performance, Odas Al Fin De Los Tiempos , an opera about life after the end of days and the perils of not belonging. The piece is being performed as part of SOMARTS’s Night Light* (Apr 27) and though I cant promise the magnificence of the video distortion above, be prepared for 20 minutes of video projection glory and all new sound pieces designed to spook you, freak you and envelop you.
Missing you,
CS
*From their press release:In her performance “Odas Al Fin De Los Tiempos (#3)” ChuCha Santamaria y Usted moves conceptually into a future in which an unidentified apocalyptic event has rendered our present as the last moment of culture. ChuCha Santamaria y Usted appoints herself as guardian of the past and troubadour, spreading her message through pop songs translated from english to spanish. The performance site features chromatic video projections and “Odas,” a shadow opera performed behind a giant projection screen modeled after the sails of a ship.
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Aphrodite’s Child - End Of The World (1969)
Greece’s finest progressive rock band (ok, the only one I really know) deliver a magically florid and stoned out song, that shifts from a weird frantic frug intro to a washy, dreamy apocalypse ballad that sounds like Johnny Mathis on ether. My favorite parts (aside from the awesome music) include: Vangelis (pre-new age/soundtrack fame!) looking like a chubby little impresario and going wild on his organ, Demis Roussos (the singer) and his magical eyebrows, and the fact that they’re playing in what appears to be a high school auditorium.
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Salma Agha - Ye Raat Mein Jo Maza Hai Maza Yeh Kuchh Naya (1984)
So, while trolling youtube in a recent bout of insomnia, I came across this genius bollywood dance number from the mid-80s, which leads off with a riff I can only describe as sounding like Blondie’s ‘Call Me’ as performed by spastic alien puppets. The point where I went from bafflement to ‘WTF AMAZING’ happens about 30 seconds in, as the lead singer starts flipping her hair back and forth in super slow-mo while an ultracompressed string section rises up to ever shriller heights behind her. Of course after that, the video goes on to alternate between slow motion fog-laden disco diva moves and insane jerky dancing sped up to frantic Mexican slapstick comedy/Bernie Mac show levels, so it’s not like it drops off or anything. The hypnotic ‘DANCIN’ refrain that starts at 2:16 (followed by a loopy synth solo) has been playing on loop in my head for the past week. I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS GENRE! On a side note, it’s awesome how even the most seemingly vanilla hindi-pop song (esp. from the 80s and earlier) has vocals bathed in so much distortion and echo that they make the Cramps sound like the Everly Brothers.
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So, I STARTED doing a weeklong series of posts featuring various amazing international pop/rock/dance videos that I’d found during late nite youtube excursions a while back, but I totally flaked on it. Anyway, I’m back on it now - coming your way, a whole bunch of goodness. Imma kick it off by reposting one of the original videos I talked about, because it’s FUCKING AMAZING and deserves to be talked about twice, but new shit shall follow.
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Wire - Ahead (1987)
GOTHMAGIK PT. 9
Wire doing a New Order type anthem in their typically disembodied way - chattering guitar scratches, legend of zelda choir sounds aplenty, and outta nowhere some lovely guitar/synth unison riffs worthy of ‘born in the USA’ or some shit.
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The Chameleons UK - Don’t Fall (1984)
GOTHMAGIK PT. 8:
I could try to intellectualize why this song is awesome, but i’m too busy shouting DONT FAAAAAAAAALLLLL while tumbling down a well with a pile of echoey goth-surf guitars falling down behind me, wheeeeee! also plus a point for unnecessary fbombs. (note: according to this video’s description, the chameleons were described as “quite possibly the greatest band ever” by NME in 1999, to which I can only say: bahahahahahahaha oh, british rock press, you slay me. uh, I dig this song and all, but no, it’s not ‘quite possible’ - in fact, I’m pretty comfortable saying that the chameleons are ‘unequivocally not the greatest band ever, holy shit who would even think that’)
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Hilary - I Live (1984)
GOTHMAGIK PT. 7:
An awesomely busy percolating dance track from one to the lesser lights of the Cristina/Madonna school of artsy early 80s downtown NY whitegirl pomo disco divas (OK, fine, she’s from LA, but she still FEELS like she fits in with those ladies). Admit the goth connection is flimsy on this one, but its vaguely ominous and mechanized, and the album cover is in B&W and thats enough justification for me.
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Plays: 11
Prince - It (1987)
GOTHMAGIK PT 6:
Prince serenades his lady with Twin Peaks levels of intensity in the ruins of a futuristic Final Fantasy robot factory.
note: I’m probably going to get sued by prince’s team of “black female lawyers” (http://gawker.com/5978660/prince-employs-a-team-of-female-black-lawyers-is-clearly-insane) for posting this mp3, but there ain’t a youtube video to be found for it. Anyway, good luck googling the phrase ‘prince it’ and finding my ass anyway, paisley park searchbots!
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Indians in Moscow - indians in Moscow (1983)
GOTHMAGIK PT 5:
Despite my efforts to figure out if this is supposed to be a metaphor or something, this appears to just be a song about Indians in Moscow, by a band named Indians in Moscow. Gotta love how seriously they seem to be taking whatever the fuck they’re singing about!
