Festival Report: Antilliaanse Feesten Day 2

Saturday, August 9th

Click above for more pictures. Some are courtesy of tropicalidad.be, you'll recognize them by their sharpness and beautiful composition ;). Dutch version of this article here.

All ready for a second night of caribbean fiesta, I could handle the few raindrops and the dark sky. The queue at the entrance was something else however - the crowd was overwhelming, even on the festival grounds. So I had to skip Amarfis y la Banda de Attake (merengue from the Dominican Republic and frequently featured on this blog), a bummer. Yet another cancellation - Puchy y su Coco Band mysteriously disappeared after they took a bus in Madrid - was the final blow for the festival line-up: on the main stage every band was either a replacement, cancelled or not my taste.

So the night started off in disappointment, but as soon as Gente D'Zona came on stage, it was replaced by awe and joy. The Cuban reggaeton duo only has a small repertoire of mostly similar songs to rely on, but the more exotic and less agressive cubaton had a strong appeal on the salsa-loving audience. A fanatic horde of Cuban girls was lining the front rows and singing along to every word - if you haven't guessed, Gente D'Zona is immensely popular in Cuba. The rest of the tent enjoyed the view of all the youngsters climbing the stage to show off their moves and their bodies - musically there wasn't much to experience anyway.

Afterwards my company and me were listening with a half ear to the sugarsweet bachata pop of Monchy y Alexandra (website) while sipping a cocktail and enjoying the atmosphere. It was raining a little, but nobody seemed to bother: the crowd of 30,000 people from all over the world was here for dancing, singing along, drinking, having fun. The Antilliaanse Feesten are definitely a very laid back festival with an almost tangible positive vibe (if you go next year, be sure to stay camping to be fully immersed!).

Then came the second chance for Son de Cali (myspace). Word of mouth about yesterdays performance filled the Joker tent to capacity - no room for salsa dancing this time, but the Colombian band was in much better shape now they got to know the audience. A phenomenal drummer and percussionist gave the salsa a thriving rhythm not found on their albums - while speedy piano work and great singing improvs fired up the audience.

Headliners Wisin y Yandel had to cancel at the last minute (see previous post), but I was pleased to see Angel y Khriz (website) replace them - I like their softer, more exotic Dominican reggaeton better than Wisin y Yandel's fairly unoriginal bling-bling. But alas the show was a complete disappointment: no live instruments, both rappers just shouting over a bassline (mostly off key as well), and uninspired versions of their hit songs "Ven Bailalo" and "De Lao A Lao". The audience seemed to have fun at least - though many came for Wisin y Yandel and expected a bigger show.

Off to the Joker stage for an unexpected discovery. Djunny Claude is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and as such no material for this latino blog ;) But in the wee hours of the Hoogstraten night, he managed to get our tired legs to jump and dance for more than an hour to his contageous soukous music. The show was crazy, disorganized but wonderfully charming - at one moment the whole band dropped on the floor, after which for some reason Djunny started a dancing contest between the Congolese dancers on stage. Probably to show us white people ways of moving our body that we will never grasp. One to watch if you're into world music!

The honors for closing off two days of passionate, border-crossing music were for Carimi (myspace) from Haiti. It was their third time in Hoogstraten, and in this period they seemed to have picked up a lot from US culture. Which might be good for the show, but I came for the lovely, fast-paced compas music from their homeland, not for r&b and hiphop. After a while they did seem to find the right balance, but while they were building an explosive party on the main stage, I was already heading back through the mud to my tent.

This edition of the Antiliaanse Feesten suffered quite a lot from the many cancellations, though many replacements did a very good job. Altogether we had a wonderful weekend of exotic music, and we'll certainly be back in 2009!

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Festival Report: Antilliaanse Feesten Day 1

Friday, August 8th

Click above for more pictures. Some pictures courtesy of tropicalidad.be (usually the sharp ones ;)). Dutch version here.

A beautiful sunset over the Blue Forest in Hoogstraten (on the border between Belgium and Holland) marked the beginning of an exotic night with lots of surprises. The knee-deep mud and the amount of cancellations couldn't ruin the atmosphere at the Antilliaanse Feesten, the biggest Caribbean music festival in Europe: the multicultural crowd was ready to party all night long with dozens of musicians from all over Latin America and the Caribbean.

And the start couldn't be better than with Rocola Bacalao (myspace), an energetic ska band from Ecuador. The nine members jumped around frantically while putting their heart and soul in their trumpets and guitars - which worked very contageous on the crowd at the Cahier Club stage. Their best songs mixed cumbia (and even merengue) with clever lyrics and an incredibly positive attitude - they just wanna have fun. Only when the guitars were cranked up, things got a little too loud and hyperactive for me.

Over at the main stage, Dominican merengue star Chichi Peralta kept us waiting for a while with a strange and totally unsuitable apocalyptic video - not the kind of intro you want for a sexy session of merengue. Chichi himself was hardly behind his percussion set, entertaining the audience while two not very talented youngsters took care of most of the singing. The usually exhilarating merengue was brought routinely, and though Chichi played the crowd quite well he didn't seem to have a lot of fun - maybe he's tired of performing? The multiple power failures didn't help either. Still, the latina girls jumping on stage to show off their dance moves were nice to watch ;)

Meanwhile, Manolito y su Trabuco (myspace) were setting the Joker stage on fire with their Cuban salsa and timba. It always strikes me how Cuban artists seem to have music and rhtyhm in their blood - with great professionalism Manolito and his band spun 15-minute long versions of their timba hits, playing the crowds with accelerations and improvisations. Lots of room for dancing, so all you could do was get carried away. Manolito ended the concert with a whirling "Loco por mi Habana", smiling from behind his piano.

Soca music might not be a focus of this blog, I had to see Machel Montano (website). The self-proclaimed king of soca (and honored with multiple awards at Trinidad & Tobago carnival over the years) has an excellent live reputation, and indeed the show was 2 straight hours of jumping and dancing. Realizing the simplicity of soca music can't carry a show on it's own, and being the pure entertainer he is, Machel brought some variation with r&b and dancehall bits mixed between his own songs. And the audience digged it: 10,000 people jumping and whirling around flags is an impressive sight!

I ended the first night with Son de Cali (myspace) from Colombia, who replaced their compatriotas Grupo Gale. They were visibly tired when they got on stage - and to be honest, starting a concert at 3:45 AM is unearthly late (thanks to accumulated delays - or let's just say, latino spirit). They deserved a second chance - saturday on the Joker stage, and I'll tell you more about that in a few days!

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Merengue: Amarfis, Oro Solido

Here are two smokin' hot merengue tracks, to keep that summer spirit up!

Amarfis and his Banda de Attake are always a guarantee for fast-paced hip-shaking merengue. Okay, maybe the lyrics are no literary masterpiece, but as long as you're sweating on the dancefloor you won't even hear that. "Full De To" is vintage Amarfis, a piano arpeggio that's impossible to follow, and dozens of trumpets accentuating the incessant beat. Sorry about the promo talk in the middle of the song, but it's the only file I could find :-\

"Se Me Fue" by Orlando Conga is enterily the same genre: a drum rhtyhm that's impossible to follow unless you're of Dominican blood, repetitive lyrics straight from the daily life of a merengue star (women, women, women) and LOTS of horns. You could call this track a bit more minimal, as the piano and trumpets aren't as prominent, but still there's only one thing you can do to a track like this: dance!

Amarfis y La Banda de Attake - Full De To mp3 myspace
Orlando Conga - Se Me Fue mp3 myspace

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Reggaeton: Arcangel, Nejo y Dalmata

Something's bubbling in the reggaeton scene. The big names like Don Omar and Daddy Yankee are preparing new CDs, supposedly taking latin urban music to a whole new level (yet again). But the real new evolution is that those big names, instead of being the first to popularize a new sound, seem to fall behind on the surge of new talent releasing killer tracks at an unstoppable rate. A softer beat, 120 bpm club/tech pace, ravey synths - you can hardly call it a traditional dembow, but it's the sound of a new front of reggaeton artists. It's hard to see where the trend started (though Casa de Leones' superhit "No Te Veo" last year was certainly responsible for some big exposure) but wayne&wax links it to the early sound of DJ Blass - and to Lil' Jon digging up the rave in hiphop/crunk.

Some of the names that stand out in the constant flow of new releases are Jowell y Randy (also involved in the above-mentioned Casa de Leones), Ñejo y Dálmata (remember Dálmata from the gimmicky "Pasarela") and the very promising young talent Arcangel (who used to be a duo with De La Ghetto).

I had heard of Arcángel before, but it was the rave review of his album La Maravilla on Club Fonograma that really drew my attention to this Dominican phenomenon. La Maravilla was never officialy released though - when the album leaked weeks before its release date, Arcángel decided to distribute it for free on the web. Next week we'll have a full review of the 'official' debut Libre Albedrío (Free Will), produced by superstar duo Luny Tunes (it's been a while since we heard something good of them!). "Pa Que La Pases Bien" is a great example of what to expect - a catchy beat, a ceaseless lyrical flow and a voice as sweet as honey.

Arcángel - Pa' Que La Pases Bien mp3 myspace

"Algo Musical" is somewhat of a surprise hit - Ñejo's sluggish rapping is hardly an asset on the radio. But is it a coincidence that exactly Arcángel is collaborating on this track off 2007's Broke and Famous? The elektro sounds and the synth beat is even more prominent here. That "pa'lante y pa'tra" tempo change is super catchy too.

Ñejo y Dálmata ft. Arcángel - Algo Musical mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon

And the big names? A leaked Don Omar track ("Bom Bom") doesn't show any remarkable improvement over 2006's King of Kings. However, "Pose" off Daddy Yankee's forthcoming Talento de Barrio OST (accompanying the 'biopic' of the same name) shows he is trying to stay with the trend, although last year's El Cartel III album exposed Yankee as an artist hovering between new trends on one side, and gangsta rappin' for the old fans on the other side. Let's see what the future brings!

Arcángel - Pa' Que La Pases Bien

Ñejo y Dálmata ft. Arcángel - Algo Musical

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Back on Track: Tropical

Let's get this baby started again! Sorry for our unusually long period of abscence (the culprits were heavy exams, and the well-deserved rest afterwards). A lot has happened in the latin music world since our last post, and during the following days we'll give you an overview of all the great tunes you missed. We start with two great tropical songs.

Los Hermanos Rosario already make infectious merengue and bachata since 1978, and brothers Rafa & Luís Rosario are responsible for many tropical hits throughout the last decades. In fact their album Insuperable (1992) is part of the Holy Trinity that introduced me to latin music at the age of 8 - thanks dad ;) (The other two are Mi Tierra by Gloria Estefan and Bachata Rosa by Juan Luis Guerra). And let's not forget the successful solo career of brother Toño Rosario, who had his own share of merengue hits. But anno 2008 his brothers hit back with "Alo", a catchy exotic tune with booty-moving merengue parts and subtle bachata bits. If this doesn't bring the sunshine to your cold stormy winter, nothing will!

José Alberto aka "El Canario" is even more experienced, he's in the salsa trade since the early 1970's, and recognized for his talent for improvisation and his characteristic voice. I'm quite a fan of his vocals - rough, skilled and versatile. "La Calle" has a difficult start, but near the end the improv part really shows José Alberto's abilities.

Get ready for some reggaeton tomorrow!

Los Hermanos Rosario - Alo mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon
José Alberto - La Calle mp3

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Merengue: Elvis Crespo, La Banda Gorda

It's been a while since I've served you some truly tropical tunes. Here are two merengues to keep the summer spirit alive when the fall kicks in!

"Lloré y Lloré" is a quite atypical merengue for Elvis Crespo, with the fast singing and the soundplay in the chorus. Though of course you'll recognize his voice and the somewhat sluggish beat. An interesting track, even though it's not being played as much on the radio as it deserves.

The last time I featured La Banda Gorda was back in '05, but little has changed in their music. "Dejen Esos Perros" is badass Dominican mambo, filled with double entendres and sexy rhtyhm fills. Singer José Peña Suaso has that tongue-in-cheek kind of voice that makes merengue so damn sexy - and funny at times. Enjoy!

Elvis Crespo - Lloré y Lloré mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon
La Banda Gorda - Dejen Esos Perros mp3

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Merengue: Elvis Crespo, Zona D'Tambore, Ilegales, Monchy y Alexandra, Juan Luis Guerra

Yes, Elvis Crespo is back. He's still a master of merengue, and still looks like that guy from 5ive. Only now he's adopted the guys of Zona D'Tambore, a boysband-ish tropical rap collective. I know that sounds awful, but believe me, their song is great. Crespo's characteristical voice stands out wonderfully against the (bland) ZDT vocals. "La Foto Se Me Borró" is a slow merengue with a contemporary romantic theme: he's lost the picture of some girl on his mobile. The horror! I'm surprised about the trivialities youth are concerned with these days ;) No, serious, this song will be a continent-wide hit very soon, and Crespo will sell lots of copies of his upcoming album Regresó El Jefe!


Next, we dive into even more commercial music: Ilegales is a merenhouse combo from the Dominican Republic, not to be confused with the legendary Spanish rock band of the same name. (Side note: merenhouse is to merengue like Crazy Frog is to the Beverly Hills Cop theme). Ilegales teamed up with the bachata stars of the moment, Monchy y Alexandra, on "La Otra". The result is an eclectic mix of rhythms and instruments one can only classify as 'latin pop fusion'. The song has grown on me: the chaos is in some way very latino, and Alexandra has totally convinced me that she will not be la otra, the other girl.


And as promised in the previous merengue post: here's another track off THE tropical album of 2007, La Llave De Mi Corazón by Juan Luís Guerra. In our review we mentioned "Como Yo" as one of the groovy dance tracks on the album, but maybe we should say the grooviest dance track. Everything about this song is irresistible: the quiet start, the hesitating rhythm change, and most of all the magnificent chorus. I bet you'll be singing "Te quiero como yo" for the rest of the day!

Elvis Crespo ft. Zona D'Tambore - La Foto Se Me Borró mp3 buy@Amazon
Ilegales ft. Monchy y Alexandra - La Otra mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon
Juan Luis Guerra - Como Yo mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon

Ilegales ft. Monchy y Alexandra - La Otra

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Merengue: Fulanito, Kalimete

It's been ages since I posted some tropical tunes. So, in honour of the drought record breaking today here in Belgium (35 days without rain! weeha!), here's some steamy merengue.

Though merengue is suffering popularity at home (bachata and reggaeton appeal a lot more to the Dominican youth), songs with a high fun factor still manage to become big radio hits. The two hottest bands of the moment are Fulanito and Kalimete, both excelling in fast-paced, minimalistic mambo with nonsensical lyrics. And slightly irritating vocals too ;) Still it's irresistible on the dancefloor, and the tongue-in-cheek text can be quite funny.

For example: Kalimete's "Como Ella Lo Baila". Take one half pulsating conga beats, one half maniacal brass, add crazy lyrics and stir well. You love it or you hate it - I'm inclined to the loving side, as long as they don't make me watch the ridiculous video. Lyrics cross-reference dancing, cooking and sex. Whatever :)

Fulanito is the thriving force behind a popularization of the near-forgotten merengue típico or perico ripiao (after the brothel where the musical style originated - interesting history bit here!) They update the aged accordeon sound with poppy beats and rapping. "Mira" is okay, a bit chaotic however. One thing I hate about merengue bands like Fulanito though: why do they all have to look like the chubby latino counterpart of the Backstreet Boys? (photo above).

Conclusion: I admit it's hard to get these songs out of your head, but I think I still prefer a proper song over a contagious beat. I'll promise you another Juan Luís Guerra track on the next merengue post, okay? ;)

Fulanito - Mira mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon
Kalimete - Como Ella Lo Baila mp3

Fulanito - Mira

Kalimete - Como Ella Lo Baila

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Merengue: Juan Luis Guerra - La Llave De Mi Corazon

When Juan Luis Guerra sings, the world listens. Ever since Bachata Rosa gave him global fame, everything he touches turns in to gold. Grammy nominations and critical acclaim have been piling up, even for his evangelically inspired 2004 album Para Ti. And with reason, to me his music has always represented joy, sun and energy.

With La Llave De Mi Corazón, Guerra throws himself onto the Anglo music market. Spanglish is ubiquitous throughout the record, two tracks are even entirely in English (he has to work on his accent though). And -thank God- I didn't hear any religiously influenced lyrics, Juan Luís goes back to singing about the best subject of all: love.

Love songs equal ballads, and that's mostly what you'll hear on this album: bachata and bolero-influenced baladas.

Si tú no bailas conmigo, prefiero no bailar
(If you don't dance with me, I'd rather not dance)

seems to be the philosophy behind the album: the merengue that made him famous serves to express his joy over love, as in title track, first single and damn groovy dance track "La Llave De Mi Corazón" (and the English version "Medicine For My Soul"). Also check out "Como Yo".
The baladas are more like a window into his soul, as in the hopelessly romantic "Que Me Des Tu Cariño". And "Cancioncita de Amor" combines the best of both: starting out quietly and sensitive, but ending in joyful trumpet chaos.

I definitely prefer the upbeat songs to the slower ones, but then again, seldom have I enjoyed ballads this much. Overall, I think the album suffers a bit from too much tempo changes. However, that won't keep me from putting it on "endless repeat" for some time ;)

PS: iTunes link coming soon, you can click the ad on your right in the meantime, if you want to buy the album. Be sure to take a look at the 'retro' video for "La Llave de Mi Corazón", just click on 'Show Videos...' below.

Juan Luís Guerra - La Llave de Mi Corazón
mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon
Juan Luís Guerra - Cancioncita de Amor
mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon

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Tropical: Bonka, La Banda Chula, Los Toros Band

Get your groove on with the latest cumbia and merengue hits.

If you're in need of positive vibes, "Traga Maluca" by Bonka will certainly please you. We've had Bonka on these pages before, and to be honest this song sounds exactly the same as the one posted before. But no other cumbia band succeeds in creating such a sunny atmosphere - Traga Maluca is a song to forget all your problems and enjoy.

Two typical merengue songs: "Un Nuevo Amor" (Los Toros Band) and "El Candigato" (La Banda Chula). I love the semi-outdated sound of the first song - the echo on the voice, the sentimental tone, the melancholic trumpets all contrast wonderfully with the fast and modern rhythm. The instrumental parts remind me a lot of Juan Luis Guerra's nineties classic Bachata Rosa (a timeless album, if you don't have it, buy it now).
El Candigato on the other hand, is pure fun. Lyrics are nonsense, all that matters is rhythm and dancing. No wonder this was a big club hit in the Dominican Republic...

Bonka - Traga Maluca mp3
Los Toros Band - Un Nuevo Amor mp3
La Banda Chula - El Candigato mp3

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Merengue: Victor Manuelle, El Faraon, El Jeffrey, Limi-t 21, La Makina

The ¡Arriba los Latinos! series comes to a premature end with the elimination of Argentina in the quarter finals of the World Cup... I was really hoping one of the latino teams would make it to the final!
Anyway, the heat wave here in western Europe begs for tropical rhythms... Here's enough merengue to keep you going all summer.

Ballad and salsa singer Victor Manuelle is not usually associated with merengue, but in "El Pelele" his vocal talents support a young talent named El Faraón. I have to admit not everything about this song is clear to me.. why does Manuelle go merengue? Who is El Faraón? What does "pelele" mean anyway? I do know that this song is best enjoyed on a hot beach party, while the sun sets, with a sensual female/male body dancing against you, and an ice cold drink in your hand.

Dominican merenguero El Jeffrey has had his share of problems lately. His manager, his promotor, and thirteen of his musicians left him, only to form a new band with young merengue singer Darlyn. But he hasn't shown defeat, a few days ago he announced that he's working on three new albums (one merengues, one bachatas and one baladas). He's even found a new band, only days after his old compañeros left him. Now he's uniting Dominican artists to promote the merengue genre, as reggaeton and latin hip hop are proving to be increasingly popular among Dominican youth, at the expense of the country's traditional genres.
His album Mi Vida is still selling good however, and "Sufriendo De A Duro" is being played a lot in the Dominican Republic. Enjoy!

You might remember Limi-t 21 of El Baile Pegao, a song which they called merenguetón. On "A La Nena Le Gusta", they continue in the same mix of genres: fast merengue interrupted by a booming reggaeton beat. It might not be the most sophisticated song you heard, both lyrically and musically, but it's plain good fun!

And we end this tropical post with La Mákina from Puerto Rico, who add "Toda Mi Vida" to a long list of great merengue annex love songs. A bit melancholic even... A perfect soundtrack to a soaring hot summer!

Victor Manuelle ft. El Faraón - El Pelele mp3
El Jeffrey - Sufriendo De A Duro mp3
Limi-t 21 - A La Nena Le Gusta mp3 buy@iTunes
La Mákina - Toda Mi Vida mp3 buy@iTunes

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Summer Night Party

The skin-scorching temperatures here in Belgium are an excellent reason to start thinking about a hot summer night party.


Let's start the party in Spain, more specifically in Barcelona, where Ojos de Brujo treat us to a fusion of hip hop and flamenco on their latest album Techarí ("Free" in gypsy language). "Silencio" starts as a quiet song, but the flamenco guitar and handclapping take the song to another level, evoking a sensual and ritmic noche de verano. (Though I wonder where we should hear the hip hop influence?). More about modern flamenco in last month's article about Chambao.

Crossing the ocean, in Puerto Rico there's no party without reggaeton. Tito 'El Bambino' (former parter of Hector 'El Father') is scoring for the first time with a solo single (Caile), but on the album Top of the Line (produced by Luny Tunes, who else) there's a better tune called "Tu Cintura". Tito is still the worst singer in the whole of Puerto Rico, but in this song Don Omar joins him in a lyrical desciption of female forms.

Eddy Herrera might be Dominican in origin, but his music is nowadays almost equally popular in Central America as in his home country. At bailes (parties) in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, his latest song is a certain floor-filler. "No Le Cuentes" is a very typical modern merengue: lyrics about a love triangle and jealousy, musically not very innovating, but the formula still works!

Ojos de Brujo treden op 4 juni op in de AB in Brussel. Niet te missen! Tickets 22€ in voorverkoop. Hopelijk later ook integraal te bekijken via AB TV.

Ojos de Brujo - Silencio mp3 buy@iTunes Europe
Tito 'El Bambino' ft. Don Omar - Tu Cintura mp3 buy@iTunes
Eddy Herrera - No Le Cuentes mp3 buy@iTunes

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Merengue: Los Toros Band

It's been a while since we've heard from Los Toros Band. The Dominicans had some internal struggles, after Hector Acosta (one of the fifteen members of the group) left the group early March because of disagreements with the financial administration. Acosta stated that "a band playing at so many parties should be swimming in dollars, but it isn't". He now has his own band, which remarkably includes twelve other Toros members. The remaining members needed a good song to compensate all that negative publicity, and "Dale Con To'" fits the description perfectly. It's merengue at it's best, a fast-paced rhythm with energetic lyrics, confirming Los Toros Band as an institute of latin music.

Los Toros Band - Dale Con To' mp3

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