A recent Clandestino party at T.T. the Bear's. |
If Shakira singing with Mana in a reggaeton remix is your idea of the Latin-American music scene, check out the nomad Clandestino party ― this Friday at All Asia in Cambridge ― and listen carefully: Peruvian Christian Hinojosa, the organizer and DJ, plays the rock that young people are actually listening to in Spanish. “They call me the clandestine. I’m the lawbreaker,” sings Manu Chao on “Clandestino.” And it’s the spirit of that song that Hinojosa brings to the monthly party where Bostonians have a chance to experience the Latin American indie rock scene.When Hinojosa first came to Boston three winters ago, he said he felt a “scandalous cold, first, and the mood for some rock in Spanish, second.” So he organized his first party for 250 people with a single Spanish band. Today, there are more than a dozen local crews playing rock in Spanish. The bands come from Colombia, like the Berklee student leader of Santiago Sin Tierra, or Puerto Rico, like Sendero, and the music is similarly diverse. Guillermo Sexo’s “dark Latin freakout action,” as they term it on their MySpace page, has little in common with the sweet pop lady’s voice of Pop Filter Music, or with the band playing this Friday, Dedos.
Rather than a rock concert, Clandestino is intended as a party. The night begins with a one-hour set from a local band. And when the concert ends, the dancing and the rock lesson begin. Hinojosa spins tunes by Gustavo Cerati, Miranda, Kevin Johansen, Andres Calamaro and El otro Yo ― rather than Maná or Juanes. “I think it’s too easy getting people to dance with those. I’d rather complicate things a bit more,” Hinojosa said. “I try, as much as I can, to pick independent bands that offer more elaborate products.”
Tip: if you miss the party, you can listen to the music online on the Clandestino radio atwww.clandestino.us. The radio is another attempt from Hinojosa ― who confesses to being a big fan of the Salsa from the 80’s — to show that the Latin American music scene can’t be restricted to one genre. “Perhaps our music’s charm and its value lays precisely there: in that we are flexible, hybrids, mestizos and in that we are OK with it.”
Clandestino | July 14, 9:30 pm | All Asia Bar, 334 Mass Ave, Central Square, Cambridge | 617.497.1544 | $10
On the Web
Santiago Sin Tierra:www.myspace.com/santiagosinisterra
Guillermo Sexo:www.myspace.com/guillermosexo
Pop Filter Music:www.myspace.com/popfiltermusic
Dedos: http://www.myspace.com/DEDOSROCKBAND
Sendero: http://www.senderomusica.com
