Monkey Business: Ozomatli and "Chango"

Today's song is by Ozomatli, which plays Latin, hip hop and rock music. Now a six piece ensemble, Ozomatli was formed in Los Angeles in 1995 and have made a name for the wide range of styles that they play such as salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, rap and other genres. Their name comes from the Nahuatl word for the monkey astrological symbol from the Aztec calendar - Ozomatli is the god of dance, new harvest, fire and music. They got an early break when Carlos Santana used them for his opening act on his 1998 Supernatural tour. They are also known their social and political activism, including fighting for Latino and workers' rights. This song, Chango, is from their 1998 debut album Ozomatli, and a live version can be found on their 2005 album Live at the Fillmore.

Lighting the Way: Tish Hinojosa and "Farolito"

Farolito, or Little Street Lamp, is our random tune by south Texas Mexican-American singer-songwriter Tish Hinojosa. Originally from San Antonio, Hinojosa sings traditional Mexican folksongs and her own compositions in both Spanish and English. She accompanies herself on guitar, playing right-handed even though she is naturally left-handed. Farolito can be found on her 1995 album Frontejas.

A New Song: Daniel Viglietti and "A Desalambrar"

Uruguay is the source of today's random tune by Daniel Viglietti. A folk singer, guitarist, composer and political activist, he is a main exponent of Uruguayan popular song and the Nueva Canción of the 1960s and 70s. He co-founded the culturally important record label Ayuí/Tacuabé, and he engages in research to preserve, promote and support Uruguayan music. In 1972 he was imprisoned by the Uruguayan government because of his activism, which was leftist and focused attention on the social situation in Uruguay. His imprisonment brought him international support, including support from Jean-Paul Sartre. Rumors of his mistreatment were so rife that the Uruguayan government brought him out to prove that his hands were not hurt, and Viglietti complained that his treatment was much better than other Uruguayan political prisoners. He lived in exile in Argentina and France, returning to Uruguay in 1984. His own music mixes elements of classical music with Uruguayan folk music and other Latin American styles. This song, A Desalambrar (To Tear Down Fences), can be found on Viglietti's 1968 album Canciones Para El Hombre Nuevo and on the 2004 compilation album Uruguay: A Desalambrar.

Not Lost in Translation: Los Crazy Boys and "La Novia de Mi Mejor Amigo"

Today's song is a blast from the past from Mexico's golden age of rock and roll in the 50s and 60s. I don't know about you, but I was born in early 1960s and so the music from that time, though familiar to me, is not something I grew up with. When they talk about 50s and 60s music, I relate more to Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole because that was the 50s and 60s music my mom and dad played on the stereo. When I was growing up, the rock and roll of the 50s and 60s was cute songs about itsy bitsy bikinis and monster mashes. I didn't truly get into rock and roll until almost high school, and by then the late 70s style of rock was in vogue, everything from hard Led Zeppelin, country rock like The Eagles, and pop stuff. So it has been a bit of an education to revisit some of the 50s and early 60s rock and realize just how revolutionary it was - for example the rock of Buddy Holly and Elvis. Not only was it revolutionary, but it also had broad appeal around the world so that nascent rock bands in other countries, just by translating a song into their own language, gave a song a broader appeal and shelf-life than it might ordinarily have. In turn, this helped spark creativity around the world. It's kind of extraordinary, when you really think about it.

Today's tune is an example of a band in Mexico following the American rock style and perpetuating it for the Mexican music market. Los Crazy Boys were formed in 1959 and were at the forefront of the English to Spanish translation of popular rock songs for the Mexican music market, as well as penning their own hits. They were also notable for being the first Mexican rock and roll group to use violins. The band is still performing, though not with its original lineup. La Novia de Mi Mejor Amigo (My Best Friend's Girl) can be found on the 2013 retrospective album Los Exitos de Oro de Los Crazy Boys.

Fixes Your Wagon: Buena Vista Social Club and "El Carretero"

The random tune for today is from Cuba - appropriate given our newfound relations with that country. El Carretero is by the Buena Vista Social Club. The Buena Vista Social Club was the name of a club in Havana where musicians met and performed together in the 1940s at a time when new Latin styles were being created. Juan de Marcos González and Ry Cooder assembled a number of those musicians that had played there and recorded them for a CD in 1997. After the release of the CD, they were invited to play as a full ensemble in Amsterdam where filmmaker Wim Wenders captured the performance on film and interspersed that footage with interviews of the musicians in a documentary called Buena Vista Social Club. The documentary went on to receive an Academy Award nomination, and made stars of the once forgotten musicians as well as reviving interest in Cuban music and Latin music in general. El Carretero is a guajira, and has Eliades Ochoa on lead vocals. The song is about a wagon man who brings the harvest of the plains to the harbor. It can be found on the 1997 CD Buena Vista Social Club. Interesting postscript - Ry Cooder was fined $25,000 by the US government for breaking the Trading with the Enemy Act in regard to the Cuban embargo. I guess that obstacle will soon be coming to an end.

It's Better in Spanish: The ValRays and "Yo Me Pregunto"

Sometimes things just sound better in another language. I often think that rap and hip hop sounds cool in French, and I have been pleasantly surprised when I hear Celtic songs in another language, like the Celtic songs in Italian performed by The Modena City Ramblers. There's also covers of famous songs by people in other countries - Bebel Gilberto covers Neil Young, Albert Pla covers Lou Reed, and the like. So it shouldn't come as a surprise when a song that seems like it is "American" just sounds good in another language.

In that vein, a little treat for you in the random tune department today. Yo Me Pregunto is a 1960s doo wop dittie by The ValRays. There isn't much about The ValRays on the internet, but I was able to glean that they were, surprisingly, a group of two white guys out of New York who released a string of records in the 1960s. Yo Me Pregunto (I Ask Myself) was originally written in English, but they liked the sound of the lyrics better in Spanish. Ironically, it became their biggest hit considering that all their other songs were in English. I think it was released as a single, so I couldn't find an album for it.

Don't Cheat: Ojos de Brujo and "Quien Engaña no Gana"

Short and sweet today, because I went on a hike and I have to go to an event tonight.

Today's random tune is Quien Engaña no Gana by Ojos de Brujo. The tile means "He who deceives doesn't win." Ojos de Brujo (Eyes of the Sorcerer) was a Spanish group from Barcelona active between 1998 and 2011. Flamenco was a central part of their sound, to which they fused hip hop, rumba, Afro-Cuban, dub and other types of music into a sound they called "flamenkillo." The group also took on social and political issues in Spain, but never directly. For instance, in highlighting poverty they wrote a song which looked through the eyes of a person who woke up hungry every morning. This approach made them popular among Spanish youth. Because their style was not pure flamenco, they came under criticism from flamenco purists but the group responded that they were under no illusion that they were a flamenco band. "...I would say that flamenco is the strongest ingredient, but we don't pretend we are doing flamenco," said one member of the band." Quien Engaña no Gana can be found on their 2005 album Bari, and also on the BBC R 3 Music Awards for World Music compilation album of 2005.

Self-Reflection: Ana Tijoux and "1977"

In today's random song, French-Chilean musician Ana Tijoux takes a reminiscent look back at her life and what influenced her in her life's path. We often have to look at those events and occurrences in our lives that may have had a big effect on what we have become to understand why we are the people we are. I have done a lot of this type of reflection out of necessity. I came from a dysfunctional family, and without self-reflection and examination, I would still be flailing about in the shadows of uncertainty and doubt. Luckily, while I sometimes still find myself struggling in the deep end of the pool of life, weighed down by guilt and at times a poor self image, my examination of my life through counseling and therapy, through creative outlets such as writing and music, and through the loving attentions of my wife, close family and friends, I am a better and more self-aware person today than I have ever been in my life. I am also more at peace with myself.

That's the place that I perceive Ana Tijoux is coming from in 1977. The lyrics tell her story in the first person, starting in 1977 in the Year of the Snake. She remarks that she is like an open book to others, but also that there is small text in the margins, that she learns that some people want damage (to self, to others?), and that she learns by watching her father and others and learns both her own competence and impotence. She then tells about her adolescence, framed by her awareness of the military domination of her home country of Chile (her parents were Chilean exiles in France) and how she learned to channel her adolescent anger ("a girl who only sizes swords" and who is "looking pissed") until she found her "first rhyme that sounded and wrapped me up." At least that is what I pick out of the words - there is more that I am still trying to understand in her song but I can hear the self-reflection and, as a critic argued, the maturity in a person who is looking backwards to understand and interpret what is now.

Ana Tijoux is a French-Chilean musician who was indeed born in 1977 in France, just as she raps. She first traveled to Chile in 1983 and moved there for good in 1993. She then became involved in the country's nascent rap and hip hop scene. In the late 1990s she became famous across Latin America as the female MC of the rap group Makiza. After a successful eight years, the group broke up in 2006 over creative differences. Tijoux went solo and began to move away from rap and hip hop and more toward the Chilean pop scene, and did some work in that genre that was well received. In 2009, she returned to her rap roots with her album 1977. Thom Yorke of Radiohead urged his listeners to listen to the title song 1977 and listed Tijoux and the song on a list of artists and songs that were his favorites. 1977 was also featured on the award winnning TV series Breaking Bad in its fourth season.