Interactive Poll # 6 - Latin America!

Doug Sahm - Medocino ~  This one, going to not vote…..although I’d said I might.  Still, it’s own place somewhere above the Top 3, if there was a heaven above 1.  Thank you for bringing Doug Sahm to the party, I almost did, myself.  Extra points for using “Mendocino,” mentioned elsewhere a family favourite summering spot from the 1950’s into the 1970’s and beyond.  Great aunt & uncle owned a 100 acre ranch there since the 1930’s.  Obviously, this got a lot of radio play there, locally, so sentimental for me. And I know the “real,” Mendocino he was referring to, before it became a tourist destination.  It was a hauntingly, beautiful coastal town, almost, but not quite, a ghost town, except for a few artists who’d settled there. Also enjoyed your potentials.  And especial thanks for Nuevo Laredo on Friday.  Lampshade?  What lampshade?  That was a Folklorico skirt.  

1.       Inti Illimani - A La Caza del Nandù ~ Oh, I just love this.  Complex guitar work, lovely ornamentation with the violin, the Andean pipes, brass and flute, punctuated by the percussion  Dynamically engaging.  Perfectly in my wheelhouse of this kind of music and extra points for something like this that I wasn’t familiar with.  I love hearing music that is so good and hearing for the first time is like reading a wonderful novel for the first time, can’t quite be repeated.

2.       Francesco Guccini - Scirocco ~ I enjoyed this one, on first listen, the singer sounded a little strident to me, second time around, less so.  I used a translator for the lyrics (even though you’d said not as important, I did want to know what he was singing about).  I like the use of accordion or concertina, brings the café feel into the song. I watch clouds a lot (mentioned in lyrics).  Also loved the beautiful Tango video you posted and your review was, as always, very insightful.  Your deeper explanation of the dance was very appreciated as well.

3.    Meta Meta – Logun ~ Enjoyed this one….moved right along and swept me with it.  I was not as fond of the first singer as I was the music…..Until the backup singers came in.  Then I loved that part.  Then the female singer was fabulous.  As expected, this grew on me and I ended up hearing, in my mind’s ear, the various parts throughout the day.  There’s something about those hypnotic kinds of chorus-y voices, the horn section and even the occasional siren noise cutting across that’s kind of addictive.