Today's Music Scene

[David Gordon Burke]

This was a hugely popular thread on the old site so I thought I would start it up again.

I had an interesting experience last week which I mentioned in another thread. Went to see a concert right in my neighborhood at Parque Tucan here in Monterrey.

There were three bands, Los Gallitos, a tropical cumbia band and Arnulfo. Los Gallitos were fantastic.
Then last night I saw their video for the Sin Bandera songe "Que Lloro." You would never guess it was the same band that I had seen the week before.

I call this "Dumbing Down" the tunes. Why do they do this? What I am talking about is the studio versions of the songs that really don't sound like how the band really sounds live. Just plain dull. The vocals are still very good, great harmonies, but the band is super laid back. Live this tune just exploded off the stage.

You all know how I hate commercialization of the music scene. Maybe it is the producers or the record executives or maybe it is that the engineers don't really have a clue what they are doing or a combination of elements. But some very popular bands like Ramon Ayala or Intocable or Pesado don't suffer this problem, so why do so many bands do this? Is it to make the songs RADIO FRIENDLY or what?
(There is a slight difference between a live Intocable, Ramon Ayala or Pesado recording, but at least on the studio versions the energy is still there)

For my tastes, I prefer a band that sounds the same in the studio as live. Sure live should be a little more high energy, but the studio stuff shouldn't sound so dull.

Maybe I need to go out and see more bands in a live setting before passing judgement on them. Or maybe they need to make more live albums of Norteña music.
My two cents.
Stoney

[amaya]

When I went home this past month, I had the pleasure of going to a fundraiser dance in Houston, for a little girl that was sick.

The dance was on a Wednesay night, so it wasn't as packed as the club could get, very few people. I got to see 8 different bands play. I almost got to play the congas for my homeboy's band, but their conga player ended up showing up at the last minute. I got to see all these local bands, and I recognized at least 4 people in the bands from my old high school. The only groups whose names I remember are Predilecto, Alanzia, Deseo Norteño (this band pissed me off, because this was the exact name of the band I was about to start right before I joined) and Relampago, which I guess, are pretty big in Houston, cuz they had a crowd of girls dancing and singing along to their music.

I know how some people don't like slow songs, where the accordion isn't as active, but I gotta admit, most of the bands were awesome. Nothing beats a live performance, no matter how dull some of the instrument parts are. My homeboy's band (Predilecto) remade a spanish rock song called "Te Vi Venir" by Sin Banderas (whom I've never heard of) and the song has been stuck in my head for about 3 weeks now. If you listen to it, it's a slow, rock ballad, but their remake, although it wasn't as active, is bad ass.

I like live performances, but I also like to be able to listen to a "dumbed down" song from a CD. Hearing a CD song, and then hearing it live, with the extras stuff played on the accordion/drumset makes the song that much better, I think. So I agree on the more Live CD. By the way, Solido just came out with a Live CD, and it's pretty good. Y'all should check it out when yall get a chance.