I've lived in the constantly changing, quickly gentrifying, predominantly Latino Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen, since returning to my hometown from the small town of Pasadena, Texas where I grew up.
Though the community is continually changing, there was always what seemed to be an underlying respect for the artists in the neighborhood and their work.
As of late, though, their has been a surge of violence against each other. Don't get me wrong, it's always been there in some for or another, but lately - woah, wow, ugh, ick, yuck, wtf!
A young artist was killed this week. Artwork at our local community radio was vandalized.
What is going on, Pilsen? Are you angry at the infiltration of hipsters and jocks from UIC? Then let's get together and discuss ways of dealing with it. Are you angry that the city wants to displace us with the 2016 Olympics? Let's strategize and plan a proposal for change, indicating our needs and OUR VALUE in this community WE BUILT.
Violence should never be the first option.
-ST
- - - - -
Tribune staff report
July 27, 2009
A man captured by two off-duty police officers has been charged with first-degree murder in a Pilsen shooting that prosecutors said one officer witnessed.Marcelino Sauseda, 25, is accused of firing into a van traveling on 18th Street near Loomis Street about 4 p.m. Saturday in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, hitting Jeff A. Maldonado, 19, in the head.According to court documents, an off-duty Chicago police officer driving his personal car saw the shooting. He chased the suspect, joined by an off-duty Cook County sheriff's officer.According to court documents, the officers arrested Sauseda in an alley near the 1700 block of South Loomis Street.
July 29, 2009
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicanisima/
An immigration-themed mural that Latino youth were painting was vandalized in the Pilsen neighborhood overnight. Scribbled over it were the words "lies" and "Mexicans are racist."The mural is an extension of a past exhibit put on by the National Museum of Mexican Art called a "Declaration of Immigration." Silvia Rivera, general manager of Radio Arte, said the mural is on their building at 1401 W. 18th St. Rivera said she doesn't know who did it or why but there is definitely a sentiment against Latinos and immigrants right now in the country."There is a certain tension in the air. The issue of Sonia Sotomayor is being played out. There's tension over whether or not immigration reform is going to happen," Rivera said.
But Rivera said they are going to try and turn something negative into a positive. The youth will paint over the vandalism and they are thinking of having a town hall meeting to talk about immigration and other issues. "We're going to look at it as a life lesson," Rivera said.This is a hard learned lesson. The people who defaced the mural are the real racists. It's just another example of the increasing anti-Mexican and anti-Latino sentiment that the right wing is spreading. We have to band together and fight against it.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
(07/16/09) Review: Virus Digital Tour at Congress Theater
It seems the current economic crisis across the world has led some angsty musicians to try and redefine their music by unsuccessfully attempting to create quirky fusions of contrasting genres together. This is leading to what seems like an alarming rate of copycats. Yes indeed. Thankfully, there are musicians like Bostich & Fussible of Tijuana based Nortec Collective, who confirmed to Enchufate before taking the stage Saturday at their "Virus Digital Tour," that they will continue to expand on the success of the norteño-techno concept they originated. "We grew up in Tijuana and our lives are influenced by the city. We play what we know and what inspired us on a daily basis. We'll continue to do that."
Featuring a setup and control deck straight out of Star Trek, ("as if paisas took over the Starship Enterprise" said an enthusiastic DJ Scarecrow) and surrounded by visuals that made no sense until you made them make sense, Bostich & Fussible riled up the crowd with hits from their previous two albums The Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 1 and Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 3 including Tijuana Makes Me Happy, Tengo La Voz and Tijuana Bass. They brought along their trumpet and accordeon players, jokingly referred to as their own "Tijuana Sound Machine," to accompany them and performed more music from their last production, the Grammy-nominated Tijuana Sound Machine, including TSM and Shake It Up. If you were in the crowd you were either dancing along or staring in awe. The surreal amalgamation of traditional banda, norteño and electronic beats pulsated feverishly, echoing throughout the gargantuan theater. This was definitely classic Nortec Collective, exactly what the audience had been waiting for. The experience, although short lived due to time constraints, was definitely well worth the wait.
Before NC's performance, Mexican Institute of Sound engaged the crowd in a modern, redefined set of cumbia, dance, hip hop, electronica and rock. Camilo Lara, creator, DJ and now vocalist, began his set by showering the crowd with dozens of logo-infused face masks in comedic tribute to the night's theme. With an MC/DJ and live guitar player along, M.I.S. hit us with sweet morsels of everything from Mejico Maxico, Piñata and our current favorite Soy Sauce. Cumbia, like in the album, was the first song in the list followed by Alocatel, Yo Digo Baila, interspersed briefly with a quick "Feliz Cumpleaños, Cafe Tacuba" shout out. We also heard Escribeme Pronto and Hiedra Venenosa. Overall it was a great sampling of all of M.I.S.'s hits. We can't wait to see him perform again in Chicago.
And what can we possibly say about Silverio, su majestad imperial, the man with the hypnotic ability to conjure up shrieking woman to the stage, one, two then three at a time until he was compleletely surrounded? We believe Ben Ortiz described it best, even before experiencing the live performance (posted in the Chicago Tribune): "Local buzz suggests that Silverio will be the stage-stomper of the lineup, as he usually dons a straight-to-video narco-villain ranchero mullet and strips down to blood-red Hanes briefs, to tweak raunchy electro break-beats from the DJ decks." He did just that, performing the same material he graced us with during his last visit, sweaty blood-red briefs and all. Local music blogger MeanLittleBumbleBee referred to Silverio as: "[...] juicy and moist!"
The Virus Digital Tour also featured local bands Saber and DJ WillyJoy, and a special surprise guest appearance by Kampion, who was the initial reason why the crowd began to dance. Unfortunately he was quite rudely interrupted by an uninformed MC, who must have not realized Kampion had only been playing for about 20 minutes before he just got up on stage and began hassling the crowd with Pitbull tickets. It was an awkward moment for everyone involved, including Kampion who was quite visibly upset about the situation. Regardless, shortly thereafter, the night continued to run smoothly.
It's also very encouraging to see Congress Theater producing so many great shows featuring such talented independent artists. Bravo!
-ST
Featuring a setup and control deck straight out of Star Trek, ("as if paisas took over the Starship Enterprise" said an enthusiastic DJ Scarecrow) and surrounded by visuals that made no sense until you made them make sense, Bostich & Fussible riled up the crowd with hits from their previous two albums The Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 1 and Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 3 including Tijuana Makes Me Happy, Tengo La Voz and Tijuana Bass. They brought along their trumpet and accordeon players, jokingly referred to as their own "Tijuana Sound Machine," to accompany them and performed more music from their last production, the Grammy-nominated Tijuana Sound Machine, including TSM and Shake It Up. If you were in the crowd you were either dancing along or staring in awe. The surreal amalgamation of traditional banda, norteño and electronic beats pulsated feverishly, echoing throughout the gargantuan theater. This was definitely classic Nortec Collective, exactly what the audience had been waiting for. The experience, although short lived due to time constraints, was definitely well worth the wait.
Before NC's performance, Mexican Institute of Sound engaged the crowd in a modern, redefined set of cumbia, dance, hip hop, electronica and rock. Camilo Lara, creator, DJ and now vocalist, began his set by showering the crowd with dozens of logo-infused face masks in comedic tribute to the night's theme. With an MC/DJ and live guitar player along, M.I.S. hit us with sweet morsels of everything from Mejico Maxico, Piñata and our current favorite Soy Sauce. Cumbia, like in the album, was the first song in the list followed by Alocatel, Yo Digo Baila, interspersed briefly with a quick "Feliz Cumpleaños, Cafe Tacuba" shout out. We also heard Escribeme Pronto and Hiedra Venenosa. Overall it was a great sampling of all of M.I.S.'s hits. We can't wait to see him perform again in Chicago.
And what can we possibly say about Silverio, su majestad imperial, the man with the hypnotic ability to conjure up shrieking woman to the stage, one, two then three at a time until he was compleletely surrounded? We believe Ben Ortiz described it best, even before experiencing the live performance (posted in the Chicago Tribune): "Local buzz suggests that Silverio will be the stage-stomper of the lineup, as he usually dons a straight-to-video narco-villain ranchero mullet and strips down to blood-red Hanes briefs, to tweak raunchy electro break-beats from the DJ decks." He did just that, performing the same material he graced us with during his last visit, sweaty blood-red briefs and all. Local music blogger MeanLittleBumbleBee referred to Silverio as: "[...] juicy and moist!"
The Virus Digital Tour also featured local bands Saber and DJ WillyJoy, and a special surprise guest appearance by Kampion, who was the initial reason why the crowd began to dance. Unfortunately he was quite rudely interrupted by an uninformed MC, who must have not realized Kampion had only been playing for about 20 minutes before he just got up on stage and began hassling the crowd with Pitbull tickets. It was an awkward moment for everyone involved, including Kampion who was quite visibly upset about the situation. Regardless, shortly thereafter, the night continued to run smoothly.
It's also very encouraging to see Congress Theater producing so many great shows featuring such talented independent artists. Bravo!
-ST
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
(123456789) Tropipower Party + Digital Virus Tour + Wicker Well Discharge
I'm sure you heard about the uniqueness of today's 123456789 once-in-our-lifetime ocurrence. It hasn't hit Facebook yet but I'm sure in a couple of more hours everyone and their mother will be posting about it. Heh.
Last Saturday at my casa was fantabulous too. Our hosts, Giroscopio and Eddie, on the one's and two's, played all sorts of vintage tropicalia, samba, funk, cumbias and yeye all night as the music-loving guests danced 'til the wee hours of the morning. We were louder than the fireworks outside. How's that for bad@ss? Because this is so fun and it's not music readily available elsewhere in Chicago (as far as nights dedicated to this) we'll be hosting a Tropipower Night on a weekly basis coming soon. Oh si. ¡Que delicioso!
On Sunday after our TV recording, we went to Cobra Lounge to celebrate Chris Decker's birthday. I was looking forward to celebrating for at least 45 minutes of Misfits tunes, covered by the best friends tribute band - Devilocks - but, as usual, they ran out of time and the band only got to play 20 minutes. Ugh. It was a rockin' 20 minutes, though. Thanks, guys. You made the night end on a high note.
Speaking of delicioso, the Bostich & Fussible boys of Nortec Collective, together with the boys of Mexican Institute of Sound and 'su majestad imperial' Silverio are performing this Saturday at Congress Theater. Enchufate gave away tickets to this show and it is so exciting to see so many people asking about the tickets and the concert, despite not really knowing all that much about the artists. (I can confirm this through our online contests. When I ask simple questions, most of the answers received are wrong, but obviously these folks want to go and find out more.) So we've been doing our best to expose more of the artists' music through brief bios, links back to their sites and video postings. I love you, technology.
[[Side Note: Eeeek! It was a huge compliment to be asked by three, count'em THREE different reporters (two city newspapers, one magazine) for more information about the artists performing on Saturday. They asked me! Me! Wow! Me! I'm beyond flattered. Thank you!]]
E>N>E:Chicago Rocks will be recorded Sunday at Tiger O'Stylies. Performing: Kelroy, Herencia de Zapata and Urban Twang. 6-8PM, free.
After the taping, we're heading over to Wicker Well for Rockotitlan's "Rock & Roots Sundays" featuring Benjamin Anaya & Los Extraños Unidos and my boys, [.DESCARGA.] Punk rock and samba. Lovely!
So, let's start rockin' the weekend beginning today! Watch our tv show tonight at 8PM on Channel 25. Three new bands are featured: Oui Si Only You, Tomorrow Has Arrived and Ruta 120. Right after, tune in to 88.7FM for Rock Sin Anestesia, the longest running latin alternative radio program in the country. Si, si!
Tomorrow, Les Nubians perform at Green Dolphin and there's our weekly Karaoke Night at La Botana plus Resistol Cincomil will be spinning over at The Zoo. Sweet!
See you at the next show!
-ST
Last Saturday at my casa was fantabulous too. Our hosts, Giroscopio and Eddie, on the one's and two's, played all sorts of vintage tropicalia, samba, funk, cumbias and yeye all night as the music-loving guests danced 'til the wee hours of the morning. We were louder than the fireworks outside. How's that for bad@ss? Because this is so fun and it's not music readily available elsewhere in Chicago (as far as nights dedicated to this) we'll be hosting a Tropipower Night on a weekly basis coming soon. Oh si. ¡Que delicioso!
On Sunday after our TV recording, we went to Cobra Lounge to celebrate Chris Decker's birthday. I was looking forward to celebrating for at least 45 minutes of Misfits tunes, covered by the best friends tribute band - Devilocks - but, as usual, they ran out of time and the band only got to play 20 minutes. Ugh. It was a rockin' 20 minutes, though. Thanks, guys. You made the night end on a high note.
Speaking of delicioso, the Bostich & Fussible boys of Nortec Collective, together with the boys of Mexican Institute of Sound and 'su majestad imperial' Silverio are performing this Saturday at Congress Theater. Enchufate gave away tickets to this show and it is so exciting to see so many people asking about the tickets and the concert, despite not really knowing all that much about the artists. (I can confirm this through our online contests. When I ask simple questions, most of the answers received are wrong, but obviously these folks want to go and find out more.) So we've been doing our best to expose more of the artists' music through brief bios, links back to their sites and video postings. I love you, technology.
[[Side Note: Eeeek! It was a huge compliment to be asked by three, count'em THREE different reporters (two city newspapers, one magazine) for more information about the artists performing on Saturday. They asked me! Me! Wow! Me! I'm beyond flattered. Thank you!]]
E>N>E:Chicago Rocks will be recorded Sunday at Tiger O'Stylies. Performing: Kelroy, Herencia de Zapata and Urban Twang. 6-8PM, free.
After the taping, we're heading over to Wicker Well for Rockotitlan's "Rock & Roots Sundays" featuring Benjamin Anaya & Los Extraños Unidos and my boys, [.DESCARGA.] Punk rock and samba. Lovely!
So, let's start rockin' the weekend beginning today! Watch our tv show tonight at 8PM on Channel 25. Three new bands are featured: Oui Si Only You, Tomorrow Has Arrived and Ruta 120. Right after, tune in to 88.7FM for Rock Sin Anestesia, the longest running latin alternative radio program in the country. Si, si!
Tomorrow, Les Nubians perform at Green Dolphin and there's our weekly Karaoke Night at La Botana plus Resistol Cincomil will be spinning over at The Zoo. Sweet!
See you at the next show!
-ST
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