LAMC 2011 Lineup: Rita Indiana, Ximena Sariñana, Napoleon Solo, Francisca Valenzuela, Hello Seahorse! + More

Club Fonograma had LAMC fever last year when our beloved writer Blanca Méndez (a newbie back then) and guest photographer JP Abello brought the one-week experience to our personal computers. CF won’t be covering this year’s Latin Alternative Music Conference unfortunately, but that doesn’t stop us from getting excited about it. Plenty of people we love will be there. LAMC week will run July 6-9 and, as it does every year, will bring Latin Alternative’s cream of the crop to New York City. What we love about this event is that it’s not only an industry forum, but is also people-oriented. Some of this year’s exciting performers include Los Lobos, Ely Guerra, Hello Seahorse!, Ximena Sariñana, Choc Quib Town, and Francisca Valenzuela. New York will also get to see hot new bands like Venezuela’s La Vida Boheme and Spain’s Napoleon Solo. And, of course, there’s something about RITA INDIANA playing at Central Park that just seems epic.

♫♫♫ Poncho feat. Shannon Funchess of !!! - "D.I.S.C.O"
♫♫♫ Anthony Santos (Uproot Any Moombachata Mix) - "Vete"
♫♫♫ Ximena Sariñana - "Tu y Yo"
♫♫♫ Napoleon Solo - "Lolaila Carmona"

LAMC 2010 Lineup

This has to be one of the hottest lineups in the 11 editions of the Latin Alternative Music Conference, aka the Latin-Alt event of the year. No festival brings as much attention from major media and no one brings as many fans. In fact, in the past two years since our blog has been around, we see our site traffic sky-rocket during the weeks around the conference (including our link on the New York Times), we seem to be a good source for many of the up and coming bands in the showcase. This year is particularly exciting as New York will welcome some truly exciting bands like El Guincho, Toy Selectah, Los Punsetes, Furland , Los Rakas and La Bien Querida.

Last year your CF editor did a piece for the LAMC guidebook on our favorite blogs out there, this year, I’m back with another piece on the 12 Twitter profiles any Latin Alternative fan should be following. Make sure to grab a book and as always, look around for the LAMC’s awesome compilation discs, they’re always fun. Act smart and take advantage of the $99 registration fee, register here.

Artists performing at LAMC 2010:
Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich+Fussible, El Guincho, Anita Tijoux, Los Punsetes, Maleco Collective, Ocote Soul Sounds, Chico Mann, Furland, San Pascualito Rey, Sol Okarina, Alex Cuba, La Bien Querida, The Pinker Tones, Locos Por Juana, Jumbo, Los Tres, Pacha Massive, King Chango, Moderatto, Los Rakas, Mexican Institute of Sound, Yotuel, Isa GT, Ozomatli, Fidel Nadal, Maldita Vecindad, Profetas.

MP3: La Bien Querida - "“Hoy Empieza Todo”

With the release of La Bien Querida’s Romancero in the states (through Nacional Records) here comes another fanwave, we can hardly contain ourselves as we revision the album, an absolute masterpiece. As you might have heard, Julieta Venegas invited her to be the opening act at a few of her concerts in Mexico, where she has found a fan base of her own. Ana Fernandez-Villarde has also been announced as part of the Latin Alternative Music Conference to be celebrated in New York in a few weeks.

But let’s get into “Hoy Empieza Todo” (Sintonia para Hoy Empieza Todo), it’s a rare, virtually unknown song we got a few days ago and as expected, we’re digging it. Turns out this is part a series of compilations by Producciones Doradas (Tarantula, Internet2) that work around a concept, in this case to recreate and play homage to Radio 3, a well respected station in Spain that has been hit badly by the Internet. She shared the compilation with other Club Fonograma favorites including Joe Crepusculo, Extraperlo and Manos de Topo. Download the free compilation here.

♫♫♫ "Hoy empieza todo"
MySpace

LAMC Announces Showcase Lineup

The Latin Alternative Music Conference has announced its lineup for what will be the 10^th anniversary of the most important showcase for any artist from our region. Sure, there are other events throughout the year to keep an eye on, like SXSW, but there’s never as much as exposure of media, labels and artists watching. As an interesting fact (haha), I wrote a piece for the LAMC’s 10^th anniversary guidebook which goes out to all the conference registrants about what I believe to be the most essential blogs, podcasts and websites for the latin alternative scene, so don't skip that page. Registration this year is only $99 dollars, so make sure to register now … or you could do the walkup registration for $299, act smart!

“With past conferences averaging more than 1,250 music industry attendees and 25,000 concert fans each year, the big 10th anniversary of LAMC promises to be yet another exciting year. The five-day conference provides networking opportunities with the genre's leading artists, label executives, journalists, marketers, managers, retailers and programmers, making it the most extensive to be offered by a Latin music conference to date.”

Here are some of the acts performing:
Juana Molina, Los Hollywood, Monareta, Domino Saints, Curumin, Maluca, Ceci Bastida, Banda de Turistas, RH+, Natalia Lafourcade, Bomba Estereo, Los Amigos Invisibles, Javier García, Ella Fuksbraun, Gaby Moreno, Los Delincuentes, Federico Aubele, Niña Dioz, Leon Polar, Aterciopelados, Los Amigos Invisibles, Eric Bobo and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs.

And the conference panels, which sound soooo interesting:

• Staying Vivo In The Economic Downturn: Opportunies for changing times
• Radio Revelance: Debating the role of terrestrial stations in a digital age
• Quiero Ser Tu Friend: Social networking, online advertising & making a living in the new music business
• You Can Go Your Own Way: Touring success stories & tribulations
• Politik Kills: Latin artiss & political engagement in the Era of Obama

Ximena Sariñana at NPR and KCRW

by Jean-Stephane Beriot

Very early this year Carlos had raved the first album by a young and quirky actress that was unknown to most of us. Very few weeks later she became a favorite on internet radio and a favorite of MySpace. However, the bomb didn’t explode until we experienced one of the best performances an artist has given at the Latin Alternative Music Conference. She had wowed me and every artist, producer and general attendees. That performance followed a wave of rave after rave, from The New York Times referring her as a new Fiona Apple and Edith Piaf, others found a new Astrud Gilberto and a lineup of jazz singers that clearly influenced this new promising artist. It’s rare, but she is one of the few artists that first got attention from the big media and now is finally getting the attention from the indie scene. Rolling Stone was impressed; giving the album the highest rating they have given a Latin album in many years. Latin pop radio stations don’t play her, but it’s not sad as she is getting regular programming on so many indie stations across the U.S., reminds us of when Ely Guerra amazed us all with her masterful Lotofire, one of the best albums in Spanish I have ever heard.

The British act Metronomy, one of the coolest electronic bands in the world, even made a remix for "La Tina". A hard worker now getting many nominations at both the Latin Grammy and MTV Latin-American Awards. The album is no masterpiece and doesn’t fully capture her marvelous voice, but it is one of the most accomplished albums of the year. Her performance at Morning Becomes Eclectic (KCRW) was simply astonishing. Now Ximena has been featured on NPR, which is HUGE for any new artist, such a big cultural institution of the media and especially of music. I had no idea she was so fluent in English, we will be listening to a full English album very soon, people are already asking for it. I’m not sure if Mediocre will be getting an special edition as it did in Mexico, but I’m loving a new song by her called “Pajaritos” which is an English and very cute. I will leave you with links where you can hear her session on KCRW and her great interview at NPR. Also, a majestic performance of Ximena before recording Mediocre, she is covering the classic song “Volare”, her most popular video on YouTube and watch-or-die kinda thing.

Just as a note, my favorite songs on Mediocre: "Sintiendo Rara", "Normal", "Un Error", "Mediocre" and "Gris."

Ximena Sariñana @ KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic.
Ximena Sariñana @ NPR