I Went To See A Band...

[Ries]

On Monday, Bajofondo played at Teatro Coliseo, and we were lucky enough to go see them.
Bajofondo dates back to around the year 2000, when there was a movement that was labelled Electronic Tango, even though most of the bands were just tango, with maybe an electric keyboard.
The two that I found the least "tango" were Bajofondo, and Gotan Project, both of which were more international, with more types of music blended in.
Bajofondo is basically a Gustavo Santaolalla project, although the core group of 5 or 6 musicians have played in it since 2000 or so.
He is an Argentine who lives and works a lot in Hollywood, and has done a lot of soundtracks for film and TV, as well as producing albums for dozens of Latin American bands over the years. The 8 part netflix series Rompan Todo was produced by him, and depicts a lot of the bands he has worked with, along with an overview of Rock Nacional, and some other Central and South American music scenes, and is well worth watching.
This band gets together intermittently, when its many quite busy members have the time.
They are doing a mini-tour of South America, after this show they went to Quito, and then, I think Columbia, and a few more dates.
Excellent musicians, all very very accomplished and capable of playing the mix of tango, candombe, rock, jazz, and hiphop in the bands repetoire.
They put on a great show, with a resident VJ who has done their visuals for 2 decades, and an amazing 16 people on stage, all playing together and hitting every note together.
Sadly missing was the amazing violinist Javier Casalla, who had a health issue, but should be back with them in the future.
His absence was skillfully covered by the 8 piece string section, whose parts were arranged and conducted by the great Alejandro Teran.
4 violins, 2 violas, and 2 cellos, along with 2 guitars, a bassist who played both electric and acoustic bass, a bandaneon player, drummer and keyboards. Plus a couple of guest vocalists for a song or two.
Santaolalla is no spring chicken- he had a quite popular rock band, Arco Iris, way back in 1967, and yet he was blazing on lead guitar, doing some pretty fiery solos, as well as a bit of charengo, and he sang most of the lead vocals as well.

This is essentially the lineup I saw, with Teran and the string section. You can see the incredible energy of Casalla, the violinst. I have seen him play twice this year, he is wonderful.

Here they are in 2004,younger and more energetic.

Arco Iris in BA in 72

 

[Ries]

Tuesday night found us at Moran, a neighborhood cultural center in Agronomia, which host everything from theater to ping pong to poetry. That night, it was Axel Krygier, doing a one off show jamming with drummer Carola Zelaschi and theremin player Manu Schaller. They were working roughly with the songs from Axel's album Axelotl, which came out in 2021, but spontaneously making them into something very different.
And, they let me DJ before the band came on.
Only a few cell phone videos on instagram, no links to this show, but here is a bit of Zelaschi drumming-

and here is manu and his theremin- he literally pulls music out of the air.

 

[Ries]

Friday afternoon, the City of Buenos Aires was quiet and deserted, as everyone was inside, gathered around screens, to watch the quarter final game between Argentina and the Netherlands. Each time a goal was scored, a shout went thru the City, from every direction at once, effortlessly coming thru the thick walls of the hundred year old building we live in. It was as if the City itself was shouting, not people.
Then, with the penalty kicks, there was a quick succession of vibration, as everybody yelled again and again.
And then, it was over, and we had won, and the air was full of horns honking, and drums, shouts and whistles and singing. Every bus and taxi was honking, people dragged their speakers out on their balconies and played pop music, and the City went wild.
A block from our house is the intersection of Coronel Diaz and Santa Fe, where all 4 crosswalks are painted in the colors of the Argentine Flag, and hundreds of people gathered there, drinking and shouting and singing and dancing and just smiling.
Into this madness, we set out on an adventure.
It was drizzling when we left the house, but within a block or two, it began to rain fiercely.
Great sheets of water, quick winds, and the temperature fell from 97 to 75 F within ten minutes.
We were forced to shelter in the open overhang of a building foyer- to stand in the rain, you would be drenched in a minute or two.
We debated just going home, but it was too wet even to do that.

Then, miraculously, as the streets were pretty much barren of traffic due to the volume of celebrating pedestrians blocking them, a taxi drove right up to us with its Libre light on, and we hopped in.
As we drove across town in the torrential rain, we saw amazing things- people soaked, but smiling and singing, motorcycle riders with capes made of the Argentine flag fluttering behind them, a man wading thru 2 feet of water as he crossed the street.
Our taxista, like many here, had an encylopedic knowledge of the city- when I told him the street address we wanted, he immediately responded, in Spanish, of course, "oh- the Okinowan Community Center".
And he dropped us off in front.
We ate a meal of Okinowan food at the restaurant there, perfect for the now blustery night- stir fry and gyoza, chicken and pork and tofu, hearty and simple but good.
After dinner, the rain had died back to a tiny drizzle, and we walked a few blocks to our destination, Planta Inclan, one of the many small venues this town is studded with.

Over the years, we have been to many places like this-
In the mid 1500s, when Buenos Aires was first being laid out, the archaic spanish unit of measurement, the Vara, was used. A lot is 10 varas wide, which, oddly enough, equals 8.66 meters. This is why the lot size, in most of the center city, is narrow and deep- 8.66 meters/28 feet is quite narrow by modern standards, but it results in a lot of variety of design in the average block.

Small performance spaces and cultural centers all over the city occupy old warehouses and auto repair shops and even parking garages like this, and I have probably seen music in 20 of them over the years.
This one had a pair of bathrooms and a kitchen in the back, but the rest of the space was large and open, with a projector for films, a sprung wooden floor for dance, a PA for music, and lighting so that performances of all types could be staged there.
Small, funky, and comfortable, they had beer and wine, and specialized in vegan falafel.
We were there to see the band Clan Caiman, a wonderful band we had seen live a year or so ago.
I have been lucky enough to have seen many many great bands live in my life, but this one is truly magical and special.
Its a band that is a labor of love for its members, all of whom play in other bands, or work as producers, composers, and musicians with many other performers.

A very few times a year, however, they get together to do this.
They play a music that is ethereal and mysterious, that sounds almost electronic, but is played on all analog instruments, slowly and carefully.
They play in the dark, with mysterious projections curated and created by their VJ, all over patterns that make it seem as if you are in a jungle, or underwater, or in deep space, or perhaps shrunken to microscopic size inside some living organism.
On the left, Emilio Haro is playing the Kalimbatron, an instrument made of 3 kalimbas he plays with soft mallets, each processed thru different effects to sound different, shimmering and echoing like gamelans or gongs.
On the right the quietly demure guitarist Gonzalo Cordoba plays a lap steel guitar, again with effects, that sounds sometimes like a synth, sometimes like a string section, sometimes like a thermin, always like nothing you have heard before. On some songs, he picks out resonating patterns on a more recognizable electric guitar.
The rest of the band is subtle but powerful, a simple drum kit that is mostly played with soft mallets, a bass and second guitar laying down patterns.

Its not rock music. Its not jazz or ambient, either. Sometimes there is feeling of surf guitar, or wisps of the shimmering delay of Terry Riley, the layering of Sandy Bull, but they dont really sound like anybody else.
It is transporting. We zone out to a higher plane, in the dark.
And then, well after midnight, we drive home thru the empty city, everyone peacefully at home, happy with the win.

 

[Ries]

I have been going to see some music, but for a variety of reasons, less. Still, I did go see Ibiza Pareo in a jewelbox of a theater on the top floor of Galeria Pacificos, a venue I hadnt know existed. Its part of the CCBorges up there. They were, as always, great, and the audience, again, as always, was full of audaciously dressed and elegantly coiffed lesbians.

Then more recently, we went to ArtLab, in Villa Crespo, and saw this show- First, Susobrino, a Bolivian who lives in Brussels, and plays a mix of Bolivian/Andean folk, and house music. He is pretty young, and I think as he matures, he will become more and more interesting.

Artlab Presenta: Club Del Ritmo /23:30 a 00:00 - Susobrino (Live)

Club del Ritmo:23:30 a 00:00 - Susobrino (Live)00:00 a 02:00 - Kaleema02:00 a Cierre - Uji@uji_music es un productor de música electrónica cuyas composicione...

www.youtube.com

Followed by a DJ set by Kaleema, which got everybody dancing.

Artlab Presenta: Club Del Ritmo /00:00 a 02:00 - Kaleema

Club del Ritmo:23:30 a 00:00 - Susobrino (Live)00:00 a 02:00 - Kaleema02:00 a Cierre - Uji@uji_music es un productor de música electrónica cuyas composicione...

www.youtube.com

we bagged out around 2:30, and missed the final set by Uji, who was a member of the Argentine/Columbian band LulaCruza, and is now solo. I would have liked to see him, he is always good, but, as Clint Eastwood once said, A Mans Got To Know His Limitations...

 

[Ries]

A couple of weeks ago we went to see Estupendo and OK Piramides at ArtLab.
Opening with a DJ set by Lolo Gasparini.
Estupendo is a pretty intellectual and oddball band- they had an album in 1994 that was cult hit record here, moody electronic wanderings- and, every few years, they put out another album. But they make no attempt to be a conventional rock band. They go years sometimes without playing live. Their music is a mix of electronic and traditional instruments, and is always different.
I have been lucky enough to see them live a couple of times now, and its always very interesting.
Here is a recent song-

But their entire oevre is on bandcamp, and well worth checking out.

 

[Ries]

The Main Act was OK Piramides, which is the latest band of Julian Della Paolera. He has been leading various post punk indie bands since 1991, and was briefly famous for marrying, having a son with, and then splitting up with movie star Sofia Gala. He is certainly more known for that, by most Argentines, than the 30 plus years of live shows, dozen or so albums, and various almost hit songs he has produced.
But he is one of those musicians who just doesnt stop, and doesnt really care about commercial success.
I love all his music, going back to the band Victoria Abril, named after another starlet, who sued over the use of her name, and forced the band to become Victoria Mil.
the current incarnation includes the aforementioned Lolo Gasparini, who also has a long history with Argentine music, including singing on one of Gustavo Cerati's most well known solo albums, being in several popular 2000s era bands, (Entre Rios, Isla de los Estados, and AltoCamet and DJ-ing wild techno sets all over town.
She is a perfect foil to Della Paolera, as she has the physical presence and incredible voice to match his crazy guitar walls of sound.
Here is a little clip of them a month ago at Camping. Cant find video of the night I saw them at Artlab.

 

[Ries]

I also found this video of Estupendo on the night I saw them.

 

[Ries]

Buenos Aires is a city where almost all the buildings are built right up to the sidewalk. The facades hold back the craziness of the city.
Inside, however, are magical kingdoms.
There is a law that requires the centers of each block to be open space, to allow light into the backs of buildings.
And there are hidden courtyards, secret gardens, and rooftop terraces that you dont see from the street.
The advantage to living somewhere, as opposed to just being a transitory visitor, is that, with time, you get invited inside.
Last night we had one of those invitations, to a house show, a concert in a private house.
The house itself, more than a hundred years old, had 4 meter ceilings, stained glass everywhere, original wood moldings and wrought iron and sweeping staircases.
It presented a stern face to the street, but inside, it was magnanimous and generous, and it was a family home, not a club- the owners paintings on the walls, books on the shelves, carpets on the floor, furniture in every room.
And yet, they invited in close to 100 people, with open arms. (of course, we paid admission, but that was for the musicians)
There was a pop up catering tacos in the owners kitchen, the table taken over by the big plancha they were cooking tortillas on. There were tables and chairs in the back yard. Glasses of wine and cans of Corona, with, of course, a slice of lime.
This is not a one time thing, its part of a series of occasional concerts, readings, and events, but its still an incredible act of hospitality.
First was a collaboration between experimental musician Javier Bustos, who builds many of his own fantastic instruments, and musician and vocalist Morita Vargas. Standing across from each other across a huge mound of wires and electronics, they each created soundscapes of abstraction that floated thru the old house, while Vargas, who uses her voice more like an instrument than a narrative, wove human sounds into the mix. The crowd sat on the floor and up the stairs, silent and transfixed.
Then, an intermission, where people smoked outside in the yard, ate tacos, and talked with old friends. We saw a few people we dont see often, and caught up.
The second act, as it were, was Axel Krygier .
We have been fans of his since the first week we were in Buenos Aires, in 2007, when we bought his first CD.
He is a shapeshifter, a magician, who can play pretty much
everything. Charmingly Irreverent.
Tonight, he had at his disposal a beautiful grand piano.
Axel grows in size and reach when he sits behind a good acoustic piano- he slips into a historic memory of classical music, with a bit of Chico Marx and Charlemagne Palestine mixed in. His face lights up.
But he also cant live without the other side of his mask, his electronic keyboard, loaded with samples, sound effects, filters, and a pandoras box of tricks. He doesnt want to fall into the trap of the acoustic, he has to always be the Perverse Imp, the trickster who makes something new from something old.
He began with a song in French, his left hand in New Orleans and his right in Paris, on the Piano, singing in the voice he obviously doesnt think is as good as it is- and drew everybody in right away. He is always goofy, in the best way, able to play seriously at the highest level, and then play with his playing, to make it less serious.
He began swivelling back and forth between the two keyboards, sometimes playing both at once, adding beats or sampled spoken word, or transforming his own voice with the opposite of autotune.
He ranged from re-mixing himself in real time, using bits and pieces of older songs of his, but changing them by the moment, to playing only slightly altered versions of songs from his most recent album. Some things were magic fragments, others real songs.
Slowly he built up momentum, back and forth from the two keyboards, until, close to midnight, he broke loose, and got everybody up and dancing for a 20 minute finale of very funky stuff.
And then, like magic, the house cleared out, and there was nothing left but a few people talking, and the glow of the occasional cigarette from the straggler or two in the dark in the back yard.
This video is from his recent album, about a year ago.

Javier Bustos, at home during the pandemic. https://youtu.be/GaRwWrMdOMY

YOUTUBE.COM
Javier Bustos Live Set - Concerts From Home - Nendo Dango Records -26-4-20

Morita Vargas, from a recent album.
https://youtu.be/yHZYS4Cjo7s

YOUTUBE.COM
Garganta
Garganta

 

[cortazar]

I'm enjoying these writeups. How do you find these gigs?

 

[Ries]

It’s hard to track concers these days, compared to ten years ago, whe; there were several websites with pretty good music sections. I pay attention to the social media sites of many venues, like niceto, camping, cck, tangente, moran, and rosetti. I follow a lot of individual musicians. And I miss a lot of stuff.