Currently (as of May 20), three of the top five, or technically top six because of a four-way tie for third place, best records of 2006 are made by (in some cases exclusively) Hispanic artists.

I think this is a great thing, as multiculturalism coupled with different viewpoints are bound to make for some interesting music and, hell, an interesting culture in general.

I'm usually not one for the whole "in light of recent times," false parallelism stuff, but do you think this is somehow, indirectly concurrent with the rise of the immigration debate and its accompanying marches and accusations of racism and overall social strife?

I just find it interesting that Dan Bejar and Howe Gelb are the only two white people up there. Something I can't help but notice, since I tend to see things in terms of race a lot. Maybe that's just me.

Your thoughts?

Is it really that helpful to see things in terms of race? I reckon it's pretty fair to say that the average poster around these parts has a music collection, where, in terms of race, beliefs, style, genre etc. the artists would have precious little in common with each other. I just went from MF Doom to Jenny Lewis right there as I write this. Is the music of "three of the top five...Hispanic artists" in the list of a similar style? If not, it's spurious to group them as "Hispanic" in my view, and then attempt to draw conclusions from that. But I'm not arguing with you my friend, and perhaps I might actually be in the minority here...

I think it's more of a coincedence..some good South American comps came over at about the same time Alejandro Escovedo released a good album.

Maybe the critical community is becoming more accepting of latin music, but I think that's just evolution of styles and tastes more than any response to the immigration thing.

Alejandro Escovedo is of Latin heritage but he makes americana/alt-country music, which is about as American as you can get.

There are different kinds of Americas. Southwest American culture is almost completely dominated by Native American and Mexican American culture, yet its very different from the culture of, say, New England.

Besides, I hope you're not implying that the alt country subgenre is "more American" than other genres of music. It would be difficult to quantify that sort of thing, but if I were to do that, I'd say jazz (also music that has been primarily propigated by people of color) is THE premiere American genre of music. Most music scholars would agree with me on that.

And I'm not saying we HAVE to see this in terms of race or even ethnicity, but more of culture. I suppose that's most important here. I don't want the word "race" to get some people all in a hubub. So don't get it twisted. I am a strong proponent of a strong cultural identity tempered by flourishing multiculturalism.

Tropicala, Estudando o Pagode and The Boxing Mirror represent, in some way, cultural viewpoints that have undoubtedly been underrepresented on Metacritic (to note: Ry Cooder and Los Super Seven have placed highly on Metacritic previously), in most music publications and (more than likely) in all of our record collections.

I think its worthy to point out where we lack diversity and to improve upon that in earnest by making a concerned effort to reach out to cultural perspectives other than our own. The fact that the sway of music cultureand Metacritic is doing that makes me happy to frequent this site.

quote:

Originally posted by Yay!:
Besides, I hope you're not implying that the alt country subgenre is "more American" than other genres of music.

Yes, yes I am. Americana is "more American" than Tropicalia. I don't really think you can dispute that some types of music are more closely tied to the culture of certain places, especially since you then go on to say that jazz is "THE premiere American genre" (a point which I don't dispute).

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Valeron Esq.:
Is it really that helpful to see things in terms of race? I reckon it's pretty fair to say that the average poster around these parts has a music collection, where, in terms of race, beliefs, style, genre etc. the artists would have precious little in common with each other. I just went from MF Doom to Jenny Lewis right there as I write this. Is the music of "three of the top five...Hispanic artists" in the list of a similar style? If not, it's spurious to group them as "Hispanic" in my view, and then attempt to draw conclusions from that. But I'm not arguing with you my friend, and perhaps I might actually be in the minority here...

I'm assuming that because you're from Cuba, and presumably Cuban, you take particular interest in this... or no? Tom Ze and the artists on the Tropicala record bring a Brazillian flavor to the table, whereas Escovedo is Mexican-American and might bring that mentality to the table. Juana Molina, who is from Argentinia and whose new record "Son" should be on Metacritic, brings not only that South American perspective, but also one of a woman.

Are there Cuban artists you think represent the culture well through music?

quote:

Originally posted by dano:

quote:

Originally posted by Yay!:
Besides, I hope you're not implying that the alt country subgenre is "more American" than other genres of music.

Yes, yes I am. Americana is "more American" than Tropicalia. I don't really think you can dispute that some types of music are more closely tied to the culture of certain places, especially since you then go on to say that jazz is "THE premiere American genre" (a point which I don't dispute).

Sure but alt country and Americana are ultimately subgenres of folk, country, blues and (wait for it) jazz. Jazz is a full-on genre and it is far more significant. It has been more of a soundtrack to the changing time of America for the past century or so. Besides, folk and country are known to have European origins. The blues can be grouped together with jazz because it was expressly invented on American soil among Americans.

Right...I don't see what you're getting at here. If you're disputing me saying that Americana is about as American as it gets, that was a bit of hyperbole, I was sort of making a jocular reference to the fact that "American" is in the name. Bottom line is that Alejandro Escovedo isn't making Latin music, despite what some might infer from his name.

Also, techinically you could argue that the blues is influenced by African tribal music, and is therefore not a truly American genre. Everything is influenced by everything, you don't really hear someone like Ryan Adams and think about how strong the European western classic influence is do you? Just like you don't listen to the blues and think about the African tribal influence. Music comes to be associated with the culture it most strongly influences, not with cultures it drew (often distance, and not immediately apparent) influence from.

I agree with bob that it seems to be a mere coincidence that there are 3 Hispanic artists in the current top 5. Unless there's some conspiracy to 'legitimize' the Hispanic community through music present in the music industry, I'm guessing it's just luck. Outside of his ancestry, I'm not sure Alejandro Escovedo is an artist that is very ethnic-sounding. For me, it doesn't matter one way or another. I don't listen to an artist because of skin color, or gender, or political affiliation (although I will refuse to listen to artists if they were particularly vile), but because I like the music. Hispanic, black, white, purple, straight, gay...who gives a shit?

Whether it's a coincidence or no, it's still better than the "Latino explosion" from the late 90's/early 2000's (the one that brought us J Lo, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, and Enrique Iglesius), que?

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
I agree with bob that it seems to be a mere coincidence that there are 3 Hispanic artists in the current top 5.

Actually only one guy with a Hispanic name, and I agree that he's not making Hispanic music. The other two are Brazilian which is, broadly speaking, a Portugese/African culture but one with a very rich and varied mix of cultural contributors just like the U.S. The Tom Ze btw, has some very fine moments but overall is below the quality of his truly magnificent Estudano o Samba.

I think it is not just a coincidence that they are both in the top 5. The Tropicalia compilation is a very good one of music that is often very difficult to track down in even the best record stores. My suspicion is that this music is truly a new discovery for many of the young music writers producing these reviews and brought some very fine musicians to their attention. Tom Ze (courtesy of David Byrne) is now back making music that is still creative and challenging and because of Tropicalia they noticed it when otherwise it would remain just another faceless, ignored "World music" album.

Since Hispanic refers to peoples of a Spanish ancestry, I see little merit in this discussion as one dealing with multiculturism. I mean you already base the discussion on what is at best a bicultural stance if you ignore the fact that the United States (which is decidely different than America) is comprised of a heterogeneous population. While ignoring the fact that hispanic includes peoples from as disparate cultures as Cuba to Peru touching down in the Phillipines to boot. As a peripheral argument dealing with immigration it also lacks any merit since our present political arguement seems to focus on the influx of Mexican nationals at the expense of, say Vietnamese or Somali immigrants. We focus on what Vincente Fox says about immigration not the words of Ali Muhammad Ghedi.

But as far as the music is concerned, I like the presence and influence of our southern bretheren.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: juanboy,

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
Hispanic, black, white, purple, straight, gay...who gives a shit?

Not to start a fight, but Hispanic, black, white, purple, straight, gay people give a shit. They live those lives. As people of privilege, its a luxury for us (specifically you, Eric, or even me sometimes) to say "who gives a shit?" As much as I'd like to say that sometimes, and be colorblind and idealistic about the word, I simply can't bring myself to be that naive.

Maybe race/culture is overly important to me, I don't know. I don't think it enters enough people's minds, though. We can't just "all get along." I wish it were that easy, but I don't think it works that way. I hate to say it, but I think the harsh reality is that cultural differences divide most of us, but they can (at least) unite and even strengthen a select few of us, which is why I value multiculturalism so much, especially in music/the arts.

I don't think anyone else here shares my viewpoint. And that's cool.

I would have to call you on that, even if you don't believe me. But I do agree that this is a never-ending saga, and the most difficult thing about it is that it takes everybody to "just all get along". It's very difficult when they're so many people who have no exposure to "multiculturalism", except for fear.

It's far more complex than liking/disliking certain types of music. You open up a can of worms when you think you can see into everyone's heart and somehow "measure" their intent.

I know, which is why I prefaced my comments with not wanting to start a fight. I was trying to hint at much bigger things, because that's what music criticism does, relates music to a bigger cultural picture. Its what we as listeners have a right, perhaps even a responsibility, to do.

I don't mean to pick at specific people, that's the last thing I want to do. I don't want to single people out, point a finger at them and say: "You don't love music enough because you only listen to white indie rock!" Because I'm not trying to even imply that. I just want them to understand that there's a crazy series of worlds out there completely different from their own. Music is (one of) the most accessible way to explore them. In my opinion, its the most desirable.

I think its great that Metacritic, in its own small way, might be encouraging people to do that. I think its goddamn awesome is what it is.

Just saying.

I completely agree with you, Bro. I was calling you on your last sentence about nobody sharing your viewpoint.

I just wanted to make sure that everybody understands that it's alright to make comments about specific albums and put them in a racial context if there's some real "criticism" going on. Oftentimes, the comments seem "knee-jerk" or unsubstantiated, and that's when we have "problems", even here in our Wonderland.

We're understood.

And yeah, now that you mention it, this is an incredibly orderly messageboard with a concentrated base of productive, smart posters.

quote:

Originally posted by Yay!:
And yeah, now that you mention it, this is an incredibly orderly messageboard with a concentrated base of productive, smart posters.

I've been meaning to mention this, too. The group of regular contributors here is just outstanding, articulate and thoughtful (I am, of course, excluding myself).

Well, its three months later and someone's responded to that compliment.

You're welcome, Daniel.