To the mamas who give us life with their bodies

To the mamas who give us life with their ideas

To the mamas who give us life with their songs

To the mamas whose love crosses borders

To the mamas whose love crumbles prison walls

To the mamas whose love is forever and ever and ever

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

[the artwork above is by  Melanie Cervantes, and is featured on one of the original e-cards from mamasday.org, a project of the Strong Families Movement]

Y pa que se pegue mas la nostalgia…

Y porque a veces no sabes expresar ese deseo de agredecer a tu mami por todo lo que te ha dado…

Y porque ese canto nace de tus adentros…

Y porque te duele tanto cuando se vaya…

Y que vivan las madres que no dejen de luchar!

Y que vivan todas las madres!

I stumbled across his first album back in 2006 while pouring through the newest record reviews on Boomkat.com. I was real intrigued by his music and instantly wanted to buy the record, but there was just one problem. Boomkat is in the U.K., and the album wasn’t available online in mp3 format. His record label, Gutfeeling, turned out to be based in Munich and didn’t have an American distributor. I checked Amazon.com and about a dozen independent record stores in the U.S., and not a one of them had it. A friend in Germany told me he would look for the record and bring it to me the next time he was in the U.S., but that might be months and he was never a very reliable friend in the first place.

It seemed ridiculous that a guy living in DC would need to go all the way to Germany to get a record by a guy in New York, so I sleuthed around the internet, found Jorge’s webpage, and sent him an email. “I’d like to buy your album, but I’m not going to Germany to get it. What do I do?” It turns out he’s a real amicable dude. He wrote me back pretty quickly and suggested we discuss things on aol instant messenger. I chatted him up online. He was in the process of moving to Portland, OR, living between two cities in the middle of a breakup, and we actually ended up chatting about girlfriends and life and things. A couple weeks later, I stuffed $10 cash into an envelope with handwritten instructions on a piece of notebook paper, and mailed it off to Portland. The CD arrived 3 months later.

I never kept in touch with Jorge, something I regret, but I do love his music, and I’ve always loved this story because it reminds me of what a weird, tangled-up, exciting time we live in. I also think this is how we should feed our musicians. 100% of that $10 went to the artist, and more importantly, we shared something human and real with one another, which at the end of the day is what music is really all about.

DJ Mario el Terrible animando with DJ Rat

This past March Maracuyeah brought Isa GT, a Colombian singer and DJ, and invited DJ Mario el Terrible a.k.a. Mario Cruz to play with them at Tropicalia. DJ Mario el Terrible is of Salvadoran descent and the crowds he brings are very different from that of Maracuyeah because his style is more tropical, playing more bachatas and merengues. His main crowd is from his cocina, Judy’s Restaurant, where he plays regularly. Mario says that he met DJ Mafe and DJ Rat at Judy’s Restaurant and that they have known each other for some time, but the Isa GT event was the first time he was playing for them.

Selecciones mixing with Maracuyeah DC

DJ Selecciones a.k.a. Hugo Najera, also of Salvadoran descent, is another one of Maracuyeah’s recent guest DJs. Both Maracuyeah and Selecciones opened for the famous Colombian group, Bomba Estereo, at the Howard Theater this month. Selecciones has his own show called American Pupusa (yumm…more comida) and together with Maracuyeah they cook some good cumbias. Selecciones says he enjoys playing with Maracuyeah DC because of their open atmosphere and because their parties allow him to reflect on his mixed musical past. Most importantly, Selecciones says he enjoys playing “music not bound by western imperialist culture or mainstream industry and music that challenges you to think, from the environment of oppressed and repressed peoples, without exploitation or corny connections to stereotypes; music that creates an escapist, yet purposefully grounded space to take back our culture and re-present it in a forward futurist kind of way.”

Bomba Estereo performs at the Howard Theater

With these guest DJs and musicians, Maracuyeah DC is starting to create collaborations that can only promise one thing, more great music. For their second year anniversary, Maracuyeah DC has already invited Mexico’s DJ Guaguis (Kumbia Queers/Ultrasonicas) and DC’s DJ Wanako and Son Cosita Seria. DJ Guaguis a.k.a. Ali Gua is part of the Kumbia Queers and travels across countries bringing the best of nu cumbia in her DJ set with guacharaca at hand. DJ Wanako from radio CPR is linking up communities in DC, El Salvador and beyond with rico beats. Son Cosita Seria is bringing son jarocho, traditional music from Veracruz, Mexico, to DC. And if that list does not convince you to join Maracuyeah DC at their second year anniversary (May 9th at Tropicalia at 10 p.m.) they will also have other surprise guests. So come get a little taste of what Maracuyeah is cooking and celebrate the amazing community these ladies have built in the past two years…y que viva la cumbia!!!

by: La SalvadoReina a.k.a. Cindy Zavala

dj mafe y rat han estado jugando con ritmos y canciones

Aca va el ultimo experimento

Here goes the latest experiment

Un edit a la cancion de Carla Morrison – Hasta la piel

An edit of the song Hasta la piel by Carla Morrison

Si notan la diferencia ?

Lido Pimienta- Colombian musician is coming to sweeten us with her electro tropical rhythms!

Known as “Colombian darling” and “Soundsister” Lido jumps back and forth from electronic music to afro colombian rhythms to out of this world chanting.

with resident djs rAt & Mafe

www.8tracks.com/maracuyeah
www.soundcloud.com/maracuyeahdc-1

10pm- 2am
21+
$7

FB Event

 https://www.facebook.com/events/517913631600887

we’re less than a week away from the april 10th mobilization for immigration reform.

the march will bring together a diverse group of activist organizations, each with its own distinct perspective on immigration reform, and i look forward to the dialogue the mass meeting will create. spring is in the air, and change feels imminent. there’s no better time than now to demand profound changes in this unjust system that has seen so many of our brothers and sisters locked up, deported, and torn away from their loved ones.

lately i have been inspired by the la Voz Indocumigrante, a blog with a lot a of heart. Check it out!

——————

nos falta menos de una semana para la movilización por la reforma migratoria del 10 de abril.

la marcha juntará un grupo diverso de organizaciones activistas, cada cual con su perspectiva distinta sobre la reforma migratoria, y estoy muy emocionada por ver los diálogos que la reunión masiva creará. está llegando la primavera, y se siente un cambio inminente en el aire. no hay mejor momento que ahora para exigir un cambio profundo en este sistema injusto que ha encarcelado y deportado tantos de nuestros hermanos y hermanas, violentamente separándolos de sus seres queridos.

ultimamente me ha inspirado mucho la Voz Indocumigrante, un blog con mucho corazón. Visítenlo!

——————-

i’ll leave you with my top five migration-themed songs. see you on the streets!

les dejo con mis cinco canciones favoritas sobre la migración. nos vemos en las calles!

5. juan luis guerra – visa para un sueño

4. los tigres del norte – somos mas americanos

3.  la santa cecilia – el hielo

2. calle 13 – pal norte

1. las cafeteras – la bamba rebelde

Es importante recordar la medicina tradicional que todavía existe en los
bosques y selvas del mundo, y así evitar ser víctimas de los grandes
laboratorios. Aquí encontraras seis recetas para curar males cotidianos..

It´s Important to remember the traditional medicinal practices that still
exist in the jungles and forests around the world; and avoid falling pray
to the corporate pharmaceutical cartels. Here you can find six recipes to
cure simple ailments..

*Escucha tambien los “Paisajes Sonoros” de por Karin Milangos
*Press play to get inspired by this awesome audio landscapes!

MORDEDURAS DE CULEBRAS, GARRAPATAS
Está perfectamente demostrado que el Tabaco sirve contra las mordeduras
de Culebras, Garrapatas veraneras, etc. Simplemente se dan fricciones con
el Tabaco en aquellos lugares del cuerpo afectados por estas dolencias.
Tales fricciones hacen desaparecer los malos aires que se apoderan de la
cabeza y afectan la vista.

PARA MALEFICIOS PUESTOS EN CASAS Y HOGARES
Se toman para sahumerio el corazón e hígado de pez de escamas, con
especialidad el del Sábalo, se ponen a secar al sol o al fuego lento
y se pulverizan para quemar sahumerio. Este sahumerio sirve para toda
clase de hechizos y sahumerio

DESVELO
Para los que sufren de insomnio tomar el vino con cáscaras de adormidera
o hacer pastillitas de culantro seco con azúcar y comerlas a tiempo de
acostarse. Si no se tuviere el vino a mano, el solo cocimiento de la
adormidera bastaría para dar buenos resultados.

HEMORRAGIAS NASALES
Bórax en polvo. Úsese como taponamiento. En la misma forma se puede
usar el perejil en maceración. Si hubiere hielo aplíquese a la cabeza y frente.
Inhálese el vapor del cocimiento de “cola de caballo”.

GALLINA NEGRA (Yuca negra)
Así se llama en magia al tronco o palo de yuca negra.
Haciendo un bastón de este palo, el mago queda completamente favorecido
de los asaltos de la magia negra pero hay que arrancar este palo el Viernes
Santo a las doce de la noche. Si se cuelga este palo con tallos en el techo,
quedan allí los vampiros enviados por los magos negros.

LOMBRICES
El cocimiento de la planta llamada “AJENJO”, tomada por algunas mañanas en
ayunas, arroja del estómago las lombrices y hasta la Solitaria, se toma el
zumo del Ajenjo, de dos a tres cucharadas, mezclado con polvos de yerbabuena.

*Samael Aun Weor, Tratado de Medicina Oculta Y Magia Práctica, 1978

I’ve been thinking a lot about weeds lately as I work to embrace greyness and imperfection in my own life. Indeed, imperfection is the idea behind Malezas, the most recent album by Colombian art collective Las Malas Amistades. Through 28 (mostly) acoustic songs and 70+ minutes of music, they weave together disparate, unfinished ideas and accidental melodies. Their DIY approach lends the album a genuineness that’s missing in music these days, and even if not every track works, some of the songs are beautiful and enchanting. In their own words:

By the way, Maleza means unwanted weeds, the kind you get when you are trying your best to grow something edible but end up with a bunch of strange plants instead. But there is a beauty in those plants too, and maybe this record in a way is about that.