August 2009
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Babasónicos: “We are a cosmopolitan band”
When the dust settles, Babasónicos will probably be considered one of the fundamental rock bands to come out of Argentina, no small feat if you consider that country —as I do— to have produced the best rock canon after the United States and Great Britain. That’s why when I had the chance to interview two…
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The Island Where Presidents Try to Relax
The new Qué Pasa magazine, a Chilean weekly, has a little column by yours truly on Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts island where presidents try to feel like just another folk among the powerful. Read here.
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Nereo: “I don’t know how I took that picture”
Colombian-born photographer Nereo has been telling stories through his photographs for 60 years. The New York based artist recently has published his first book outside of his native country, “Images from Half a Century,” which includes images from his photographic essays on the Amazon jungle, Bogotá and his friend Gabriel García Márquez. Interviewed at NY1 Noticias,…
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DJ Afro: A Certain Latin Music
José Luis Pardo, a.k.a. DJ Afro, plays guitar for the ubiquitous Los Amigos Invisibles, that New York-based crew of Venezuelans that have been making raunchy disco-Latin blends for more than a decade. Pardo discovered his DJ persona, he says, once he became tired that before the Los Amigos’ gigs, the fans had to listen what…
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Meet the Prensa #2: Gerson Borrero
The second installment of my Meet the Prensa columns on Mediaite is online. In this interview, Nuyorican commentator Gerson Borrero reflects on his career, soap operas (“they make people stupid”), Fox News (“drive-by racists”), and Telemundo and Univisión (which he accuses of discriminating against Sonia Sotomayor). It started as a quiet radio talk show—a dialogue…
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Toto La Momposina: No Such Thing as Third World
Colombian music legend Totó La Momposina visited New York to perform at the Chase Latino Cultural Festival. In this interview, she explained how Afro-Colombian music can be nothing short of “exhuberant,” and why it is wrong to talk about a Third World.
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Depeche Mode: A Study in Contrasts
[Review of Depeche Mode’s concert at Madison Square Garden on August 3rd, published on El Mercurio]
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Pedrito Martínez Project
Interview with percusionist Pedrito Martínez and composer Onel Mulet, before their performance at Central Park’s Summerstage. Watch here.
José Manuel Simián 