Mana-Oye Mi Amor

Mana is another popular musical group in the Mexican rock genre. Mana differs from Cafe Tacuba and the other listening assignments because they are more pop and cater to the general public. I really like them because most of their songs are about love, and lost, and to me, they are very similar to American rock. What do you think?

Cafe Tacuba-Eres

This is another popular song by the Mexican rock band, Cafe Tacuba. This song realtes to the class because not only does it fall under Spanish rock, but the band it shows how the band likes to experiment with different musical styles. It is very different from the other listening assignments that we heard in class, and also offers insight into their musical style.

Alicia Villareal-Te Quedo Grande la Llegua

I really like this song because it features a woman in the traditional mariachi costume. Alicia Villareal is popular artist who sings in a male dominated genre. This song relates to the class because it is ranchera, which is a genre in Mexico, and features the traditional mariachi attire, but instead it is sung by a woman. As the video progresses, you can also see that it addresses gender roles as the song does also.

A more modern use of the huehuetl and teponaztli.

William Garcia - Rock n Roll in Cuba

Going off of my recent post, I found this incredibly interesting video that talks about punk rock in socialist Cuba. The movie follows a man named William Garcia and his career as a punk rock musician. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDdPKZzPB54

Cuban Rock Map

For my reading report, I chose to discuss rock music and how it impacted Cuba. While browsing through the internet, I came across this cool article talking about how the Cuban government is planning to create a "map," of sorts that will channel the history of rock in Cuba. Ran by a woman named Liliana González, the Cartography of Rock in Latin America project will discuss things such as the underground rock scene during the reign of Castro and the lifestyle it promoted. Here's the link to read more on it.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53127

Lady Gaga Mariachi

This video of Lady Gaga performing a Mariachi rendition of her song "Born This Way" became somewhat of a viral hit earlier in the year. To celebrate her birthday, she joined Jose Hernandez and his Mariachi Sol De Mexico band at a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles. In this video you can see the traditional outfits and string instruments (like violins), used to turn this American pop hit in to a Mariachi-style tune. This just goes to show how versatile the Mariachi sound is is and how it can be applied to almost any song or genre--even Lady Gaga's "Born This Way."