Wow, what amazing five days in sunny L.A.!

Go make yourself a cup of coffee or a nice cup of chai, this is a looooong read..  ;-)

So I got a free trip to Los Angeles with my coworker Abe courtesy of our employer and of course I just had to make the most of it. haha

So here are just some highlights....
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Weds. 2/25
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I arrived LAX at about 5pm local time, picked up our rental car (which happend to be a 2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse, can you say "pimp"?) and immediately went to the hotel to check in and drop off our bags.  Thanks to Gil, lead singer of the band "Kinky", I was put on the guestlist (plus backstage passes) for Kinky's show that night at the House Of Blues in Anaheim.  Fifteen minutes after dropping off our bags, we left the hotel and shot over to HOB in time to catch the opening DJ sets by Mexican Dubweiser and Chico Sonido.  Just about an hour after arriving, we were joined by my good friend DJ Santi and Kinky came out to start their show.

Kinky was awesome!  The HOB is my favorite venue for concerts and Kinky, one of my favorite bands.  They rocked not just your socks off, you could say the rocked the pants off the crowd that night.  Playing songs from their new album "Barracuda" and the sure fire hits, one of my favorite moments was when they played "TachiMariPedonCocongo"  and the entire place started jumping up&down.  That's what a rock concert is supposed to be !

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Thurs. 2/26
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Went to work, got some stuff done for a project that will take me back to L.A. in May.

Abe and I took a drive to Venice Beach and Santa Monica since it was his first time in LA.
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I heard about some lunch truck that served up Tacos made with Korean BBQ that was supposedly all the rage in LA.  They drive around different locations in LA and there's usually a long line already waiting for this truck to arrive.  They've had famous people visit them, it sounded so "LA", so we had try them out for ourselves.  It just so happened that Thursday's location was a few blocks from Santi's job, so he went ahead to get in line and wait for us.  It took us about 1.5 hours to travel 15 miles to get from the LAX area to Downtown LA.  I love LA, but you can keep your F*$&!kin traffic!  It was about 50 degrees, maybe a little colder that night but there was a line of about 60 people already waiting for the Kogi BBQ truck when we arrived.

I ordered the BBQ Short Rib tacos, and they were FANTASTIC!!  I can't really describe the flavor, it was well worth the drive and Santi said it was worth the wait in the "freezing" cold. haha

Right after the tacos.....

I had received the confirmation that I would be taking photos @ the Enrique Bunbury concert for Remezcla.com, complete with a press pass!  This was really exciting since it's really my second official photo assignment.  The pressure was on because I had taken concert photos before but never officially, and much less of someone with Bunbury's rock legend status.  I think I was able to get some great shots which I will post as soon as I have permission.

The concert was way better than the Chicago concert I had just seen the previous week.  Maybe it was the venue, the sound, or maybe it was the LA crowd, but the arena was electric way before Bunbury took the stage.  He performed for a little over two hours and gave his fans no less than THREE encores!

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Fri. 2/27
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Went to work again, met with a vendor and surveyed our facility in Manhattan Beach.  Had lunch with a Chicago friend now living in LA, Jorge Garcia @ PF Chang's, then met up with Santi to spend the rest of the weekend.

We ended up going to a party called "Underground" at The Echo.  This party was very cool, very hip, and it sort of reminded me of Chicago's "Panic" party held at "Darkroom".  This night they had a couple of live bands and we got there in time to catch the last band "Two Sheds".  The name made me wonder if they meant to say "Two Shits" but I didn't get to find out for sure.  Met this cool kat from Matador y Toros who took these pics.

I had planned to meet up with another Chicago friend and very talented actress, Rosa Frausto, who had just moved to LA to pursue her dream of getting discovered.  (Keep at it Rosa, all your hard work is bound to pay off!) about a month ago but we ended up partying at different ends of Sunset Blvd.

After the bands, we were treated to some cool 60's Funk and Soul music by The Club Underground resident DJs.  They also played some electro jams after the 60's set.  The dancefloor was full from the time then went on until the lights came on at 2am.

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Sat. 2/27
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Okay, it's Saturday morning and I'm on very little sleep.  It's was getting hard to stay away and I had not hit a Starbuck's the whole time I had been there, you can imagine how much I was fiending for some caffeine!

Santi suggested some pancakes from a place called The Pancake House.  They make these gigantic German pancakes that fall off edge of the plate.  They're served with powdered sugar and lemons.  You sprinkle the sugar over the pancakes and squeeze the lemon juice all over them.  My mouth is watering just writing about it!

After the pancakes, we decided to take a trip to Amoeba Records in Hollywood to kill some time and spend some money.  I picked up a cd of a pre-punk band from Spain recorded circa 1979.


It was now around 4pm and we had to head back to get ready for our dj gig later that night for Automatico @ Señor Fish in Little Tokyo.

We arrived at Señor Fish around 9ish and promptly set up the DJ booth/stand.  I ran into a few familiar friendly faces like Natalia Linares (Nacional Records), Kolo Barrera of AudioElementalRadio.com (formerly of SuperEstrella), Marthin Chan (Volumen Cero), Benito, and Rosa who made it this night.

The easiest way to describe this event is by quoting their myspace page..

Automatico is Los Angeles' ORIGINAL unique monthly dance FIESTA ! We take place on the last Saturday of each month in Downtown LA ! AUTOMATICO resident DJ’s "Ané & Maurice De la Falaise" along with monthly guest DJ’s mix up an eclectic mix of yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s obscure favorites, new up and coming undiscovered music from all over the globe, and of course those fun guilty pleasures we know you love, but wont admit. Our current bi-monthly resident DJs are: DJ Santi-TURN OFF THE RADIO MONYCOMETA-AUDIOELEMENTALRADIO.com AUTOMATICO’s handpicked music includes everything from Spanglish nouveau-ochenteras (80’s), Indierock, 60’s soul & YéYé, 70’s Funkquero, Electro Fresapop, to Post Punk Garage hits and novela music all mixed up and translated in SPANISH.  In the 90s there was the Generation “X”, now in this turn of the century we reintroduce: “Generation “ñ”. A Espanglish cross culture revival. What is Spanglish (Eh-span-glish) you ask? Mix one part Spanish and one part English with a pinch of your own slang and you get SPANGLISH. Add a heavy doze of AUTOMATICO / AUTOMATIQUE into the mix and you’ve got an unbelievable “glad you did it” experience.

Santi opened up the night with his trademark blend of Latin Alternative, Spanish Indie, "je ne sais quoi" and drove the crowd into full blown party mode by 11:30pm.  To be honest, I was a bit worried about what to spin since I have not mixed in LA in quite some time, and I usually play much of the same music in Chicago that Santi was playing.  I got ready and started my set around 12:30ish.

Santi had left off with Manu Chao - "Me Gustas Tu" just to slow things down a bit and I kicked off my set at that same bpm, which in retrospect wasn't probably a good idea because I managed to clear the floor after about 10 more mins of downtempo music.  It took about 15 minutes for me to regain the floor after switching to Electro.  After spinning about 3 sure fire electro bangers, the floor was full again with the crowd facing me and getting into the music.  I started to find my groove and stuck with the electro bangers since the crowd was really feeding off the bass and electronic sounds, the sound system was loud and I pumped the bass up accordingly. :-P

There was a table setup directly in front of the elevated DJ stand and I knew I had redeemed myself when some girls got on the table and started dancing.  By the end of my set, I felt I was in the zone and ended up my set by dropping the bass and tweaking the EQs as the crowd just let themselves go.  I haven't had this much fun spinning since the INDIEcent parties last year.

I will neither confirm, nor deny, the sexual act taking place in the corner of the room, just to the side of the DJ booth, but it was pretty graphic.  I guess alcohol and loud music has that effect on people.

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Moral of the story
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All in all, it was an amazing trip.  I ran into so many old friends and made many new ones.  It was so good to get away from what seems to be our never ending winter and get some much needed sun.

After all of the drinking, I'm really surprised I was able to retain most of this. haha

I'm definitely looking forward to going back again.



Check out all the names dropped in this blog here:
(website) LA Remezcla
(Band) Kinky
(Band) Enrique Bunbury
(Band) Volumen Cero
(Band) Two Sheds
(Korean Tacos) Kogi BBQ
(Party) Automatico
(Party) Panic!
(Party) Club Underground
(DJ) DJ Santi
(DJ) Chico Sonido
(DJ) Mexican Dubweiser
(Photographers) Matador y Toros
(Actress) Rosa Frausto

It's not often that I write about something unless it's some long diatribe complaining about the crappy music that Chicago Latin DJs seem too reluctant to put into long-term storage and never play again.  Lately, I've been talking to a few people here and there and I've come to the realization that not everyone knows what "Latin Alternative Music" actually is.

I've heard it being described as everything from Gay Music, Punk, Reggaeton, Rock en Español, Electro, Spanish Reggae, Spanish Hip Hop, Electronica, Synth Pop, Indie, Ska, you name it, it's in there.  Since I've been a little more involved in trying to build a "Latin Alternative Music" scene here in Chicago by collaborating on a few events, I've decided to take a shot at defining what may seem like mysterious music genre to some people or at the least help shed some light. 

Disclaimer: I'm just a DJ, not an authority on the matter by any means.

The task sounds pretty easy enough, Google the words "latin alternative music definition" and just copy and past what comes up, right?  No such luck.  Here are just a few.

Wikipedia: "Latin Alternative, or Alterlatino, is the brand of Latin music produced combining genres like Alternative Rock, Electronica, Metal, New Wave, Pop Rock, Punk Rock, Reggae, Heavy Metal or Ska with traditional Latin American sounds. Because these genres are generally considered to fall under the broad Rock en Español or Latin Rock category, media coverage start to used the word Latin Alternative, especially in the US in the 1990s."

NPR:  "An eclectic range of influences is at the heart of Latin Alternative, a music created by young players who have been raised not only on their parents' music but also on rock, hip-hop and electronica. It represents a sonic shift away from regionalism and points to a new global Latin identity.  The name "Latin Alternative" was coined in the late 1990s by record company executives as a way to sell music that was -- literally -- all over the map. It was marketed as an alternative to the slick, highly produced Latin pop that dominated commercial Spanish-language radio, such as Ricky Martin or Shakira. Artists within the genre, such as Candela Soul and Maldita Vencidad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio, have set out to defy traditional expectations of Latin music. Now, in an age of Internet connections, downloading and sampling, Latin Alternative has become not just a reaction to outside influences but its own genre."

Latin Alternative Music Conference:  The LAMC website simply states, "Rock, Hip Hop, Electronica, Funk, Punk, And Everything In Between."

I personally like NPR's statement of "..an alternative to the slick, highly produced Latin pop that dominated commercial Spanish-language radio, such as Ricky Martin or Shakira." , add Juanes, Mana, and RBD to that list and you get the idea.

What about Reggaeton?  To be honest, Reggaeton was considered Latin Alternative right around 2005 before it hit mainstream as a form of Latin Hip Hop with a Dancehall beat.  I personally classify it as "the slick highly produced garbage that makes my ears bleed", but I digress.  Technically the popularity of Reggaeton has allowed it to cross over to commercial radio and whether it has the staying power of English Hip Hop or Reggae remains to be seen.  However, with the recent format change of Chicago radio station 103.1fm La Kalle (Papa), my vote is a resounding "NO".

Rock The Diskotek (2007)
Mixed By:  DJ Nando

This is a mix that I recorded with no intention of sharing with anyone until I heard the finished product.  It started out as a mix for myself with some of the music that I currently can't stop listening to.  If I ever recorded a mix that really describes my musical taste, this is it. 

I was influenced by the 80's New Wave scene in High School, and here you can check out some of the bands that took that influence and put a modern spin on it today.  It really can't be classified into a single genre, like my live sets, I try to make it a journey from point A to point B.  I chose to alternate between English and Spanish artists because that's probably the best thing about being bilingual.  You aren't limited to just one language or one culture, and it allows me to experiment and be a little more diverse.

Rock The Diskotek (2007) Playlist [NEW DOWNLOAD LINK!]
* Right Click the New Download Link and select "save as".

1. Kinky - Tres Heridas
2. Plastilina Mosh - Human Disco Ball
3. Glamour To Kill - Somos Angeles
4. The Sounds - Tony The Beat
5. Panico Ramirez - En Mi Entierro
6. Cycle - Confusion
7. Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko
8. La Prohibida - Flash
9. Le Castle Vania - Trouble In Paradise
10. The Dance Inc. - The Boy Who
11. Ladytron - Sugar
12. Santos Inocentes - Rockstar
13. Bonsur - Sicarios
14. Digitalism - Pogo
15. Autobus - Humo
16. Le Tigre - LT Tour Theme
17. Belanova - Cada Que...
18. Masheaux - Dream Of A Disco
19. Belanova - Niño
20. Belanova - One, Two, Three, Go!
21. Mole - Graffiti
22. Debbie Harry - Two Times Blue
23. Zoe - Via Lactea
24. The Cure - Just Like Heaven
25. Jumbo - Cada Vez Que Me Voy
26. Vanexxa - Superguay
27. Liquits - Pachanguero
28. Los Babasonicos - Asi Se Habla
29. Mole - Sucia
30. Volovan - Bailas
31. Alaska y Dinarama - La Mosca Muerta