Joliette - Principia [2013]

Post-hardcore is not lacking at all in Mexico, but a few bands rise to the surface amongst the sea of breakdowns, and one of those is Joliette. They hail from the city of Puebla, which to me is especially annoying because I lived in Puebla for 5 months and didn't even hear of them until I left. Fortunately they seem to have some connections with the various scenes in the US so maybe they'll get the chance to tour the west coast and I'll finally see them play. It's always exciting to see bands from different countries (with different languages) crossing borders (they're currently on tour in Mexico with Chicago band Ittō!).

Joliette is a band that I'm really into but secretly don't really want to be. I think it might just have to do with their genre, given it's popularity and the inundation of similar sounding bands that really need to stop using the same hooks and oversimplified riffs in a cookie-cutter structure. Joliette, however, is different. Their experience as musicians and talent is apparent in every moment and it's exciting to watch them play (I've never seen them live, but they have some cool videos they did with Audiotree the last time they were in the US, see below).

Genre: Post-hardcore, Post-everything

Joliette - Principia [2013]

1. Todos Temen

2. Todos Odian

3. Quiral

4. Martina, Merlina y Dale con Martín

5. Say Hola!

6. Czirros

7. Qúmulos

8. California Yisus

9. Juan Matón

10. Norte y Bravo

11. Die Stunde des Käses

Ostende - Ciudades de Mimbre [2011]

Ostende is an emo-violence band from Buenos Aires, Argentina that takes influence from bands like Orchid and Ampere. There's a small, tight-knit group of folks playing screamo in Buenos Aires that make/made up bands such as Federico Luppi, Arde Hollywood, Bahía and Beatrice Kaleth. This is one of the more established long-term bands of the group, though they've gone through a few lineup changes they keep pushing forward and playing the good stuff. It's pretty shreiky and a little rough around the edges, but it'll hook you good.

Genres: Emo-violence, Screamo

Ostende - Ciudades de Mimbre [2011]

1. Ser Conciente No Te Hace Inocente

2. Seguimos Siendo Ciegos

3. Sie Esta En Tus Brazos, No Lo Creo

4. Malformaciones De Una Reelección

5. Cuantos Chicos, Tantos Chicos...

6. Los Convencidos Caminamos Por La Vereda De Enfrente

7. Palabras, Palabritas (A Los Conservadores)

8. La Gran Pregunta Es Una Respuesta (Tomo I)

9. Greg Ginn Vs Tommy Dunster

10. Un Rio Menos

11. La Suma Es La Resta De La Conciencia

Also, the background of this blog is a photo I took of Ostende playing in Buenos Aires :^)

Zat/Avitación 101 Split [2011]

Bazinga, I'm back in the U.S. and for real this time I'm gonna be posting consistently again. This one's a twofer I guess, it's a split between two radical Latin American screamo bands that's sure to rock yer socks off.

Avitación 101 is from Uruguay (I assume Montevideo but I haven't found anything that actually says) and define themselves on their facebook as neoscreamocrust, which is definitely accurate as heck. Bass heavy, driving and riffy is how I'd describe it. The first riff of every song is always so damn catchy. The vocals stand out quite a bit, they seem to have a nice mix of sass, screamo and hardcore influence. It's one of my biggest regrets that I didn't go see this band when they played in Buenos Aires while I was there.

Genres: Screamo, Crust, Hardcore

Zat is from Buenos Aires, Argentina and plays a sort of punk/screamo. The guitars are a bit angular and can even get reminiscent of Fugazi in their discordance and the way they play off each other. For the most part they walk with a sort of dark, catchy melody that can be a little off-putting or make you ask where they were going with it, and it's like chunky and doesn't necesarily make sense and it comes off pretty well actually. Like, pretty stripped down, but not 3 chord punk but somewhat reminscent of it.

Genres: Punk, Screamo, Post-hardcore

Zat/Avitación 101 Split [2011]

Zat

1. Levanta tus palmas y sacude tus balas

2. Sabor a Troya

3. Bosques

4. Arma calibrada

5. Charlas, descontentos, universos

6. Tribunales

7. Camino al juzgado

8. Estallido

Avitación 101

9. Intro 

10. Iglesias

11. Oxido

12. Pesadilla

13. Tengo miedo

14. Trazada

http://institucionzat.wordpress.com/

https://loszats.bandcamp.com/
https://myspace.com/havitacion101

Walle - Vómito de Notas [2010]

I don't know why it took me so long to make a post on Walle. Maybe because Walle was the first Mexican band I ever really got into, and since then they have just been ubiquitous in my headspace and I go wrongfully assuming everybody knows about them. This is basically the worst logic ever because Walle is probably the most underrated band I've heard or seen in my life, and if there's any band that seriously needs to be paid attention to it's this one. These folks are from Tijuana, México.

In terms of bands seeking to push genres into something much more unusual or unheard previously, Walle is at the forefront. They have strong roots in punk and emo (members of Maladie, Satie and Growing Pains - all bands I will eventually post on and that you should check out), but with this project head much more into the math, shoegaze and 'experimental' realms. They have a really attractive interest in creating catchy riffs and then tearing them apart or ending them abruptly, or entering an environment that I might call psychedelic but is perhaps even more accurate to the strange emptiness and alien feeling one might experience while on drugs than the more commonly known music under the same name (the best part about this is they're straight edge).

If there's anything Walle captures really well it's the feelings of joy, humor and gratefulness that somehow sprout from an underlying pervasive sense of anxiety, loneliness and desperation. Vómito de Notas is like a giant mood swing, or a metaphor for an existential crisis. It's the moment when you realized everything sucks but life is still sick because we have each other. I recommend you listen to Mexico 2 - Francia 0.

One of the funny things of the album they like to quote other people and works, which actually works out quite well. I never thought dialogue from Tarkovsky's Stalker or quotations from the bible would sound so good next to experimental punk. Ok, maybe I did. Bukowski is basically ubiquitous if you like anything emo-related. The point is, delve into the lyrics on their bandcamp (if you read spanish), you won't be disappointed.

Genres: Punk, Math Rock, Experimental, Post Rock, Shoegaze

Walle - Vómito de Notas [2010]

1. Apocalipsis 6 - 15 (pm)

2. Tortis

3. México 2 - Francia 0

4. Utopía

5. Mientras Más Conozco A La Gente Más Quiero A Mi Perro

6. Stalker

7. The Worst And The Best

Vocero - Vocero [2001]

I've been quiet for a while, I'm sorry ya'll. Posts are gonna continue to be spotty until I get back to the states in a couple weeks and things are less chaotic. To make it up to you though, today I'm featuring one of the most, if not the most radical emo band from South America - Vocero.

They only ever released one album, a short 15 minutes of innovative emo that takes influence from other bands of the era like Braid and Falling Forward. It has a danceability and an unpredictability that I would also liken to Fugazi in some senses. To me, the most exciting aspect of the band is the vocals. The main vocals at times are like raw punk but slightly refined and placed in an emo context, and at other times are a more predictable raw melody that you find in emo. Meanwhile the backing vocals are generally more melodical but less predictable and kinda surreal in timbre.

Please enjoy the crap out of this band, it's pretty hard to find any information on them but theres a few things posted on a facebook page that was created for them and a review translated into spanish from a Bulgarian blog that actually has a lot of sweet information on other Argentine bands as well (that I have posted and not posted about).

Genres: Emo, Post-hardcore, Punk

Vocero - Vocero [2001]

1) Track 1

2) Track 2

3) Track 3

4) Track 4

5) Track 5

6) Track 6

7) Track 7

Fun fact: One of the members plays Tango on the accordion

Hungría - Fjóplavi [2014]

Do you like math rock? J-rock? Super fricking precise guitar-drum riffage? If so, listen to this. If not, listen anyway, because possibly the most impressive shit out of Buenos Aires I've heard yet (except maybe Vocero, who I have yet to do a post on). Basically, if you want an idea of what it's gonna sound like, just look at the album cover, because it's probably gonna make you think about space or the future. It's actually kinda bewildering that this band is from Buenos Aires, as they sound absolutely nothing like any other band I've heard here and trust me this style of music is not popular, even in the "scene."

It's extremely japanese in tone and rhythm, like if you think of the clean guitar tone in mudy on the Sakuban or tricot. I guess you could call it experimental too, as its got some really chill structurelessness and low-key strange tones. So, get ready for some radical space laser sounds and sick flangers. The band is only a two piece so there are some sweet loops used nicely that bring out dynamics and show off the guitarist, not to mention that the drums are impeccable. Two-pieces generally need to be pretty tight and this band is very much so. Anyways I've again found myself amongst a genre I don't know how to talk about so I'm gonna let the music do the rest of the talking.

Genres: Math Rock, Experimental, I don't even know

Hungría - Fjóplavi [2014]

1. Noventa y siete por ciento.

2. Reykjavik.

3. La trilogía de Andy Carroll I.

4. Úthafskarfa.

5. La trilogía de Andy Carroll II.

6. Los nórdicos.

LÖRI - Split 12" w/ Yusuke [2014]

LÖRI was one of the first Latin American bands from Perú I found, as they form part of La Flor Records in Lima (two members also play in Procrastinación Uno Yo Cero, see older post). At the time they were known as Löri Berensön. I was particularly ecstatic about this album when I found it, and had Sajid Ñopo from La Flor send me a copy to the US all the way from Perú. Okay, I suppose it's not that far, but it was a momentous occasion for DIY for La Flor and I was pretty stoked to get a CD from Peru (living in Buenos Aires these days makes acquiring South American music a little easier, so looking back on it feels kinda silly, but it had a romance to it so just go with it). With this album he also threw in Caídas y Vueltas from P1Y0 and the Angkor Wat/Día Gris split on a scratched up mini CD (to this day I haven't gotten a chance to try and play it, but I suppose it doesn't really matter since I have the songs on the compy). I'll do a post on Angkor Wat soon, they rule.

Anyway, LÖRI is a fierce band that was a bit more emo-violence on the first releases and are now have a lot of post-rock elements. The band shrieks and growls and plays some heavily distorted stripped-down riffs that feel punk as frick. Whether they're conscious of it or not, the band definitely takes some root in hardcore punk, from the abrasive shout/scream distorted vocals to the heavy walking drumbeat. Maybe it's just a hardcore punk band that has tastes that lean towards emo? Maybe I've classified this band all wrong, but either way it's pretty slick and contains that serious abrasion and disgust that I sense in a lot of aggressive Peruvian bands. Check out their other stuff on their bandcamp, as their old stuff is super rad and is a bit rougher around the edges.

So, here's the important part: YOU CAN ORDER THIS RECORD RIGHT NOW. Friendly Otter (Chicago) has it up for pre-order HERE, so get your hands on it while you can because Latin American screamo on vinyl is pretty rare and v exciting. It will also be available from Zegema Beach (Canada), La Agonía de Vivir (Spain) and Off Cloud Nine (Michigan).

Edit: Now available at Zegema Beach HERE

Genres: Screamo, Emo-violence, Hardcore Punk, Post Rock

(this is from an older album, listen to the split below)

LÖRI - Split 12" w/ Yusuke [2014]

1. La Taza Medio Llena

2. Cada vez que te levantes a las 6 AM

3. Coherencia

You can listen to the Yusuke side here!

Paroxetina - Paroxetina [2011]

Paroxetina is an instrumental rock band from Santiago, Chile. They have a lot of elements of math, progressive and post-rock, but above all else they just jam heavy. The riffs are solid, the tones are nice, put it on and get some work done. It just sort of fluidly soars around without ever stopping to take a break. Heavy rock 'n' roll riff after riff. Lots of sound bytes from movies or shows or I don't know what. There's a bunch of neat stuff like this in Chile, so I'll be posting some similar bands later.

Genres: Instrumental Rock, Post Rock, Jam

Paroxetina - Paroxetina [2011]

1. Guardando las apariencias

2. Celebrando la muerte de dioses blancos

3. Cruzando el limite de la perversidad

4. Pon el lugar

5. Cuando te extraño me visto con tus ropas

6. (-.-. .- -... .-.. . ..)

7. La gloriosa marcha de las bicicletas al horizonte

8. Siempre leo mal las instrucciones

9. No hay suficientes piedras para arrojarle al destino y morir siendo unos niños

Asilo - Comunión [2014]

When you play this, get in the mood for some noisy heavy shit that gets a little cheesy sometimes but damn, it's worth it. I found it sounds especially devastating on a rainy day on some old speakers (subwoofer necessary fersher) in a friend's apartment in Caballito, Buenos Aires. The distorted bass seems to sort of create a ripping sensation while the noise envelopes, supported by some furious vocals and, though simple, very solid drumming. The riffs just seem to drive and drive on, not in the same sense that a band like Bongripper will hang on the same riff and you just lose yourself in it, but more in the sense that if you don't keep playing over and over again and pushing forward you're going to suffer from some bizarre disease and whither away and die. In other words, it's a little more anxious than your typical sludge/crust/doom/stoner/whatever record and the noise makes it feel like a science fiction film.

For me, this is one of the best developed sludge records I've heard yet. The piano interludes with spacey ambient sound in the background gets me every fucking time, and it functions with the exact intentions you expect - the heavy parts are just crushing after you hear those pretty scores. I could do without the sound bytes though. Asilo is from Buenos Aires, Argentina and their release for their latest tape is in a week - I'll be picking up more than one, because this band needs some exposure outside it's native country.

Genres: Sludge, Doom, Noise, Crust

(the video doesn't do it justice, listen to the album on bandcamp)

Asilo - Comunión [2014]

1. Geografías

2. Pichiciega Fe

3. (epidemia mundial de desencanto)

4. La Paciencia del Cuchillo

5. Arquitectura del Silencio

6. (anti voz)

7. Dinámica del Cambio

8. Miedo y Curiosidad

9. (no a la vida)

10. La Ultima Voluntad

Le-Mat - Diálogos de Sol y Luna [2013]

Le-Mat is a crushing hardcore punk/screamo band from Monterrey, Mexico. It's moments of fast and discordant hardcore that nearly reach the realm of powerviolence or emoviolence are really jarring, displaying an aggressive strength that reveals signs of desperation. You can pretty much feel the record weeping in loneliness amongst a world of a disparate outlook. It's is a really serious record. The number of quotations from famous authors and dramatic sound bytes may be a deterrent to those interested in just hearing the music. That said, it's really tastefully constructed and the topics covered are socio-politically relevant and a coherent philosophical message is on display.

Their mixture of hardcore and screamo is unique and is definitely appealing to followers of both genres. It's pissed off, hopeful, unstoppable, pensive, engaged and heartbreaking. Keep an eye on this band, they're sure to tour the US sometime soon (they just finished an impressive South American tour).

Aquí tienen una entrevista muy buena de la revista Vice que proporciona una mejor idea del impacto social que puede hacer la banda (el entrevistador aparentemente lloró cuando los vio en vivo):
Un Salto al Vacío Con Le-Mat

Y aquí otra entrevista en Santiago de Chile durante su gira latinoamericana:

Genres: Hardcore Punk, Screamo

Le-Mat - Diálogos de Sol y Luna [2013]

1. Prefacio

2. La Roca Hace Cantar al Río

3. Montegrey

4. Llanto de las Abejas

5. Postales desde Roma

6. Elegía

7. 5-7-5

8. Le-Mat

9. Reminiscencias

10. (a)tormenta

Insumisión - Perú Pueblo Imbécil

Insumisión is intense, noisy, chaotic, difficult, fascinating, fun, very political and holy fuck. They're from Lima, Perú and are totally nuts. I don't delve much into their genre but they've been described as Industrial Hardcore and I'd place them in the noise/experimental genres as well. To me this genre is pretty new but either way Insumisión feels pretty unique and particularly Peruvian. If you're into noise, this is some required listening for sure. It's in many ways similar to other noise/electronic projects I've heard but just seems much more driven in a specific direction and more pissed off. 

Si hablás castellano, recomiendo los siguientes links para más información de la banda porque realmente no conozco suficiente el genero. 

Perdiendo El Tiempo: Insumisión - Perú Pueblo Imbécil

Peru 21: Insumisión - La Frustración No Lo Cubre Todo

Genres: Industrial Hardcore, Noise, Experimental, Electronic

Insumisión - Perú Pueblo Imbécil

1. Perú Pueblo Imbécil

2. Liberación Animal

3. Ne Protecto (Tus Ojos Remix)

4. Un Fascista Pelucón

5. No Se Puede

6. La Reacción del Cangrejo (Cero Errores Mix)

7. La Frustración Lo Cubre Todo (Yesabella Remix)

8. Policias Corruptos

9. La Banda de Hola Yola

Note: I can't find anywhere to download or buy this, if you're in the know send me an email!

Luxemburgo - MDXCII [2011]

Luxemburgo is from Santiago, Chile and plays some really beautiful heartfelt emo/screamo. If there's anywhere in Latin America you should be looking for really good screamo, it's Chile. There's a solid history of good stuff especially if you're interested in European/U.S. style screamo (with of course a certain Chilean feel). Luxemburgo uses a lot of strong clean tones and rich overdrives and it's mixed well, overall its just pretty to listen to. There are some nicely anxious jam sections so if you're into longer form this is definitely for you. I really don't know how to talk about this band other than that it's fresh, and you should check it out. This album is their first from 2011, and they have an EP that came out the same year and another LP that came out in 2013.

Genres: Emo, Screamo, Post-hardcore, Punk

Luxemburgo - MDXCII [2011]

1. 2060

2. 1968

3. 0 a.c.

4. 1907

5. 1948-1984

La Última Canción del Mundo - 2007 [2007]

Screamo fans, this is your dulce de leche. In reality, there's not an incredible amount of screamo in Latin America, especially in Argentina, but there are definitely some gems to be found. This group from Rosario, Argentina is one of them. Okay, so they have all the cliche screamo requirements - clean guitars with delay break up the heavier chaos, multiple vocalists pour out their feelings into microphones, everything is recorded imperfectly, etc. However, there are some keys to this band that really make it stand out. The most notable is the tasteful use of a melodic/clean voice and screaming voice at the same time, in a way that reminds me of The Kodan Armada or Alexisonfire's first album. The other thing is they take advantage of a great vocalist and slow things down while she sings, so her performance really stands out. These calmer moments tend to be little less anxious than most screamo - City of Caterpillar for instance always has the sense of impending breakout, the slow build up to explosion - making the experience slightly stranger and showing influence from Argentine rock.

I don't know how this album was recorded, but given the different recording qualities and how the female vocalist doesn't appear until halfway through, it seems it was done in multiple sessions over a long period of time and the album serves more like a combination of recordings than a single, complete piece.

They have another album that came out in 2011 and are on a noteworthy compilation with Chilean and other Argentine bands that I'll post about later. I'm also going to go see them play in two days so I'll try to take some photos/video and include them in a later post.

Genres: Screamo, Emo

La Última Canción del Mundo - 2007 [2007]

1. hoy mis manos ardieron

2. tu palabra y mi razón

3. marionetas

4. esperando el momento

5. el juego

6. juancito

7. run

8. silencio

9. ignorantes corazones (nada que decir)

10. dulce tan dulce

11. fin

12. el lamento

13. la última canción del mundo

Bilis Sicario - Encuentro de Sutilezas [2012]

Bilis Sicario is from La Paz, México and they play pyschedelic/desert stoner rock. At times it gets pretty ambient and totally beautiful, and at others very textbook stoner rock. At first I'd hesitate to call it experimental, given their adherence to typical blues/stoner song development and chord progressions, but the final song in the album definitely stands out as something more avant-garde. Those interested in the genre should give this a listen, I personally enjoy it as something to listen to while reading or doing schoolwork.

Genres: Stoner, Psychedelic Rock, Experimental

Bilis Sicario - Encuentro de Sutilezas [2012]

1. Grietas de la Rutina

2. Encuentro de Sutilezas

3. Devegan

4. Tormenta en Cautiverio

Human Plague - Y la muerte vendrá con el tiempo [2011]

This band is devastating. I think I'd describe them as a hardcore band with heavy influences from crust and a taste of screamo. It's pretty crusty, there's no doubt about that, but they take vocal styles and song structures from elsewhere. "Entre palabras olvidadas," for instance begins with a pretty screamo-esque cleaner jangle from the guitar, and the opening vocals also are reminiscent of the genre. Pretty quickly however, it becomes much more hardcore, d-beat and all, and even later we find ourselves in a really tense exchange of heavy rhythms and softer melodies that feels more crusty. Band members like to call it gordito trincado, which I think means something like "drunk fatty," but a bit more coloquial/vulgar I think. However you define the band, it's definitely really heavy. This is unfortunately the only full length these tapatíos left behind (they have a short EP that came out in 2010), but members did go on to form Bocanegra (on hiatus), and Malastare, both of which I will post about later. Human Plague is from Guadalajara, México.

Genres: Neo Crust, Hardcore, Punk, Gordito Trincado

Human Plague - Y la muerte vendrá con el tiempo [2011]

1. Y la muerte vendrá con el tiempo...

2. Al final del camino

3. ¿En busca de nada?

4. Entre palabras olvidadas

5. Cólera

Invierno - El Tiempo Lo Probará [2012]

Invierno from Santiago, Chile packs a punch with a strong combination of emo and indie rock, likely to attract fans of one or the other and definitely those who enjoy both. They really create a powerful sound using pop-influenced riffs and structures and the recording quality of this album really emphasizes how tight and clean they are. The vocals are really strong throughout the entire album, moving in and out of the screaming realm at times while maintaining melody and force. Overall, I'd say the band is easy to get along with and is free of surprises.

Genres: Emo, Indie, Alternative

Invierno - El Tiempo Lo Probará [2012]

1. Si Me Permites

2. Náufrago

3. Entre Seis y Siete

4. Escondite

5. Capítulo Cuatro

6. Carta (anónima)

7. Inesperable

8. Retórica

9. Progresión

PYRAMIDES - EP [2014]

Pyramides is a really anxious and driving post-punk band from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Despite the constant sense of my guts rising up my throat when I listen to them, they are still a fairly chill sound and something I'd put on while falling asleep or reading. Essentially they sound like a day spent walking around in the rain refusing to interact with other people and contemplating the precarious relationship between your body and the overwhelmingly inorganic concrete structure of a city you exist within and even stretch as far as to call home. Fans of Morrissey or New Order would probably get down with this.

Genres: Post-punk, New Wave

PYRAMIDES - EP [2014]

1. Nada Cambia

2. Poco Proporcional

3. Lluvia

4. Pelicula Francesa

5. No emitas Sonido

6. Contraluz

7. Afuera

8. Intactas

9. Deberias matarlo

10. Las Coordenadas

11. Hermano

12. Invisible

Procrastinación 1 Yo 0 - Caídas y Vueltas [2012]

P1Y0 (pronounced pee-yo) is some real heart-felt emo from Lima, Perú, great for dancing by yourself in your bedroom or singing along to with your friends. It started out as a solo project by Paulo Contreras under the same title, until it was done justice as a full band soon after. The riffs and lyrics alike are really catchy, it's a pleasure to see them play live and watch everyone shout along to the choruses. Procrastinación is one of many bands under La Flor Records, an extremely active and strong label in Lima that puts out a ton of music and is constantly making connections all over, but I'll talk more about La Flor in a later post!

Genres: Emo, 90s, Punk

Procrastinación 1 Yo 0 - Caídas y Vueltas [2012]

1. Dos

2. Pop para la frustración final

3. Jenga (Cuando te dejaba ganar)

4. Canción

5. A veces es tan perfecto extrañar

6. Satisfuckción

Fractal - Demo/EP [2013]

Fractal forms part of the strong scene in Tijuana, México and like many bands in TJ seem to pull from a wide range of genres to put together something that sounds reminiscent of things you've heard before but never in the same song, let alone in the same band. These folks are putting elements of hardcore punk right next to post-rock, and just when you thought you understood where they were going they toss in a ripping guitar solo. They seem to like to let the songs really play out (they're relatively long), which seems to give some sense to their swings from genre to genre, as though each one were a journey through the different emotions one might feel over the course of a week. I really have no clue how I feel about this band, but I do know they're good at their instruments and are worth listening to. As a first listen, I recommend Cuatro Miedos (which I think is the first song that plays on their bandcamp anyways).

Genres: Hardcore Punk, Post Rock, Metal

Fractal - Demo/EP [2013]

1. Polvo

2. Disiento

3. Sin Sangre

4. Cuatro Miedos

5. Julia

Lxs Jugadxs - Demo [2013]

Lxs Jugadxs is one of the fastest bands I've seen play live, they are brew brew bruuutal. No matter how fun they are to watch live (the drummer is a fricking superhero), their recorded material is just as good. I found this band through a facebook invitation to a show in Buenos Aires before I arrived. Fortunately, I got to see them just a week ago, so they are at the top of my mind right now. They hail from La Plata, a small city just south of Buenos Aires that contains a really solid amount of good bands and great people considering how boring the town is. This is their first demo, delivering 5 minutes of absolute heck.

Genres: Grind, Powerviolence, Blast

Lxs Jugadxs - Demo 2013

1. Imperio

2. El manija

3. Negro

4. Eden

5. Mercvrio

How do I begin?

This is the commencement of something I've been thinking of creating for a while now. After spending a short time living in Mexico in 2013, I began to delve into spanish speaking music from not only México but all over Latin America. By following links and scouring the internet, I started to discover bands from México, Perú and Chile, and later on Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela. I currently live (temporarily) in Buenos Aires, and thus have had the wonderful opportunity to see and meet some of the bands that I discovered, discover even more music and form a part of the scene, even if it may be for a very short time.

A few notes:

1) I was originally planning on posting in both English and Spanish, but I feel that this would be just incredibly time consuming. My target audience is mostly English speaking, since my intention with this is to shed light on scenes that are mostly unknown in the U.S. and elsewhere due to political and linguistic barriers. What's more, the google translate function at the top right of the page is surprisingly not as awful as I expected it to be - you'll at least get the idea of what I'm saying.

2) I have no knowledge of what's going on in Brazil. Someone feel free to help me out here. I don't speak Portuguese and I keep myself busy with the hispanic side of America enough. There is a goldmine to discover there, I'm sure of it. Feel free to send stuff to me, or start your own blog/what you feel is appropriate!

3) So far I've found little to nothing within the realm of what interests me musically from Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay or Ecuador, nor from anywhere in Central America, so if anyone knows of anything, please send it my way (email at the right).

4) I'm not a music nerd (at least not yet), so bear with me as I pretend to know how to classify genres and influences and describe styles.

5) This blog is inspired by and embarrassingly modeled after a really impressive blog made by a really impressive guy and good friend. If you're interested in Japanese screamo/emo/hardcore you can check it out here!

Ok, enough shit, I'll be posting real stuff from now on.

-Brian // United Americas