Latin Alternative Music Conference Takes Over NY

Latin Alternative Music Conference is taking over New York with bands from Chile, Venezuela, and Mexico! Click below for information about LAMC, including bands and schedules.

Melissa Nash

Chilean rap. Venezuelan punk. Mexican electronica.
Hybrids like these highlight this year’s Latin Alternative Music Conference and festival. For the last 13 years, this event has brought the best, and boldest, acts from Latin America to the city.
The year 2012 proves no different, as seven showcases stand ready to storm through town, from Wednesday, July 11 through Saturday, July 14. Better yet, many won’t cost you a cent.
Here’s a look at stars you dare not miss:
Ana Tijoux: Singer-rappers seldom do both sides of their hyphen justice. Not so for Chile’s Ana Tijoux. She has a voice that’s admirably fluid and a rapping style of genuine force. Her second U.S. CD, “La Bala,” finds her spewing agile rhymes, or singing in a rapturous haze, over live string and horn arrangements that make her music uncommonly rich.
Tijoux has plenty to rap about. She spent her early years in Paris, where her parents fled during the fascist regime of Augusto Pinochet. The family returned when Tijoux was a teen . Though she first rapped in French, she eventually battled her way to the front of Santiago’s hip-hop scene. Tijoux’s Spanish releases have made her one of her country’s hippest exports.
(July 12 , S.O.B.’s, 6:30 p.m. July 13 , the Bandshell in Prospect Park, 6 p.m. The latter is free).
Eric Bobo and Latin Bitman: Two talents perfect themselves in a new project joining Eric Bobo with DJ Latin Bitman, titled “Welcome to the Ritmo Machine.” Hipsters know Bobo from his smacking percussion work with the Beastie Boys, as well as his work with Cypress Hill. Others know Latin Bitman as Santiago’s most broad-minded and exciting DJ.
Yet nothing in their past prepares you for the danceable jazz and hip-hop of the “Ritmo” CD. The duo had plenty of help on this fierce stew, including Jurassic 5’s Chali 2na and Chile’s aforementioned Tijoux. To give their scorching CD an of-the-moment political bent, it’s dedicated to the Chilean student rebellion that, since May 2011, has galvanized the nation. (July 13 , Bandshell in Prospect Park. 6 p.m. Free.)
Kinky: In the music of Mexico’s Kinky you get the whole enchilada — rock, electronica, funk — as well as norteño, tejano and cumbia. The band, born in Monterrey in the late ’90s, scored major play in the U.S. nine years ago with its brutally sharp rock-dance song “Mas.” The group’s fifth and latest CD, “Sue ño De La Maquina,” boasts production from the Dust Brothers’ John King, who has shaped the sound of everyone from Beck to The Beasties. Once again, the disc features fast and funky beats pushing riffs that catch the ear. It’s dance music delivered with a rocker’s brutal cool. (July 11, Central Park Summer Stage. 6 p.m. Free)

La Vida Boheme : In the first U.S. single from Venezuela’s La Vida Boheme, the four-man band repeatedly yelp “gabba gabba hey” (the sainted old Ramones’ slogan). But the song sounds more like The Clash circa “London Calling,” turned Latin. That combo has made La Vida Boheme one of Caracas’ most popular acts. Their debut, “N uestra,” features riffs as heavy as metal and as fleet as punk, all laced with sleek electronics. (July 12, Gramercy Theater, 9:30 p.m.)
3Ball MTY: Like Kinky, 3Ball MTY hail from the gigantic northern Mexico city of Monterrey, where they’ve become one of the leading lights of the Latin house scene. The trio employ a host of guest singers, rappers and DJs to change up their sound. If the beat-centric and synth-heavy thrust of their music dovetails with the dance bent of modern, commercial U.S. radio, their rhythms could only come from below the border. (July 14, Central Park Summer Stage. 3 p.m . Free.)
Carla Morrison: The high voice of Carla Morrison haunts. There’s a breathy girlishness to it that seems not slight but eerie. Though Morrison has worked in aggressive styles, drawn from batucada, on the latest CD from this Baja-born star (“Dejenme Llorar”), she lays her floating vocals over acoustic ballads arranged with a baroque formality. (July 12, Gramercy Theater, 9:30 p.m.).
Alex Anwandter: Synthetic dance beats of the ’80s fire “Rebeldes,” the second solo CD from Chile’s Alex Anwandter. But his earnestly romantic vocals lend the sound a singer-songwriter’s warmth. Anwandter first made a name for himself in Santiago in 2005 as leader of the band Teleradio Donoso. But two years ago, he went solo, forging a sound that treats club music with a sound that, like the Pet Shop Boys, has a lush grace. (July 11, Mercury Lounge, 8 p.m. July 12, S.O.B.’s, 6:30 p.m.).
Ximena Sariñ ana: Many stars aim to update new wave pop. The Guadelajara-born singer Ximena Sariñana offers the most flip reinvention yet. Her self-titled latest CD, the singer’s first in English, matches wittily self-deprecating lyrics to suitably deadpan vocals. The music, full of whooping whistles, sprightly piano runs and gurgling synth asides, could not be more animated or sly. (July 11, Central Park SummerStage, 6 p.m. Free).
For the whole festival’s schedule ,go to LAMC.com

LIVE FROM NEW YORK:
– CBGB Festival
Thurs. through Sun.
Everywhere
To be honest, this new fest has little to do with the original CBGB, other than the fact that many participating bands hail from its home city — and even more aim to channel its spirit.
Towards that end, more than 300 bands will slam and wail through over 30 venues. Check all info at CBGB.com.
One clear highlight has to be Friday’s show at Webster Hall, featuring the cream of the early ’80s hardcore scene: The Cro-Mags, Sick of It All, and Murphy’s Law. After the CB’s true ’70s heyday, these acts gave the club its last gasp of cool.
– Scissor Sisters
Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m.
Terminal 5, 610 W. 56th St., (212) 260-4700
They’re coming off their best, and most mature, CD, “Magic Hour.” This disc features more songs about relationships than sex, and leans towards the pop side of their sound. Live, you can bet the group will throw the emphasis back on the dance end, with all their hedonistic heat intact.
– Roger Waters’ “The Wall”
Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m.
Yankee Stadium
Yes, it’s the same show this ex-leader of Pink Floyd brought to arenas last year. But, at Yankee Stadium, “The Wall” will be twice the size, doubling its impact.
– Donovan Frankenreiter
Sat. 8 p.m.
Brooklyn Bowl, 61 Wythe Ave., (718) 963-3369
Like Jack Johnson, Frankenreiter started as a mellow surfer rocker. Thankfully, his music has gained speed and funk. Better yet, unlike his name, his organic rock songs come trippingly to the ear.