I am still in Mexico and had all kinds of plans for postings with cool pictures, but alas I forgot the cord that connects my camera to a laptop and I’m screwed. Now I have to take the memory card somewhere and get a CD burned if I want to upload anything. Meanwhile, your cell phone works here—if you’re willing to pay $1.50 or more a minute. WiFi is available in lots of spots—if you already have a Prodigy Movil account. I can call home with a phone card, for a mere 50 cents a minute instead. Thankfully I don’t need a cord or a password or a registration code to buy tequila.
Since my travel posting plans were thwarted, let’s talk about music. I don’t do that much here, leaving it to Perceptive Travel’s world music reviews, but here’s something worth talking about.
Just out now is the live CD/DVD combination from Ojos de Brujo called Techari Live. Last year, if someone had asked me which single concert I would like to go to more than any other, it wouldn’t have been some lame reunion show from some aging rock band I listened to in the car on my first date. It also wouldn’t have been the latest too-hip indie band. (Though I must say that the Spoon show I went to was excellent.) No, the band I would have ponied up good money to see and maybe even have driven a few hours to see would be Ojos de Brujo. This Spanish rock/salsa/reggae/kitchen sink hybrid band is the kind critics used to call a “tour de force” before that phrase became as hackneyed as travel writers saying “charming historic center.” In short, they’re amazing.
If you want to hear something that combines King Crimson, a Flamenco band, a Salsa horn section, and Latino rap, go check them out. If you’re not sure what to make of all that, check them out anyway. Here’s the review of Techari that ran in Perceptive Travel. If you buy the physical package, you get a great concert DVD that also includes their music videos. If you just want the music, visit SixDegreesRecords.com and you can download the whole live album for $9.99,
Or just grab one track for free to see if you like it. It’s a plain old open-standards MP3, so no restrictions on what you do with it. OK, maybe some technology works right after all.
