Que viva Quito! in music

Today concludes the week-long festivities for the Fiestas de Quito, a big celebration with lots of municipal events, including free concerts, free museum hours, cultural events, etc. I thought I'd include a musical exposition of some of the acts that have come to Quito recently.

I mentioned the Fiestas last year, and one of the bands that came to perform- Calle 13. I really enjoyed seeing Calle 13 live, so I decided to put one of their videos up, even if they were here last year.

Here is Calle 13 performing Baile de los pobres (Dance of the poor) in Viña del Mar, Chile at their annual Summer Music Festival.

This year for the Fiestas, a popular Argentine band called Babasónicos came to perform. I'd heard  Babasónicos a few times in Chile, and the truth was they were a little bit too hard rock for me, but I definitedly enjoyed the concert last night. Here's one of my favorite songs called Los demás (The others) which is calmer than lots of their other stuff.

On Saturday night, Mala Rodríguez and Los Van Van played in the park. Los Van Van are from Cuba, and they were comically freezing on stage at altitude at night- they all had big, thick coats and scarves. Los Van Van are considered one of Cuba's most famous bands, and they're led by Juan Formell who is really important in Cuban contemporary music- Los Van Van blend lots of styles together. Here's their song El negro está cocinando (The black one is cooking).

Tonight Oscar de León plays- he's an international salsa superstar from Venezuela, and his most famous song by far is called Llorarás (You will cry). I'm not going to see him tonight- I'm not a great salsa dancer (OK, that's an exaggeration- I'm an awful salsa dancer) and I've been to enough concerts in the park already! But lots of people are really excited about Oscar's performance tonight.

Finally, here's a video of one of my favorite Latino pop songs. Admittedly, my taste when it comes to music in Spanish is embarassingly pop oriented- probably because society hasn't taught me that I'm not "supposed" to like it as a mature adult, whereas I easily recognize and internalize stigmas related to pop related artists in the US- when was the last time that an adult told you that their favorite artist was Mariah Carey or The Backstreet Boys? Thankfully, I am completely oblivious to these stigmas when it comes to Latino music, so I'm free to have the music taste of a fourteen year old. With that said, let me introduce you to a guilty pleasure of mine- Carlos Baute, who seems to constantly be on his motorcycle in scenic places, singing or writing in his notebook.

Here's Venezuelan Carlos singing Quien te quiere como yo (Who loves you like I do). Those who have spent considerable amounts of time discussing Carlos Baute with me know that my absolute favorite song of his is called Colgando en tus manos (Hanging in your hands), which he sings with Spanish singer Martha Sanchez, oddly enough inside a car instead of on a bike, but I thought I'd introduce you to another gem of his.

Carlos is best listened to while washing dishes, making the bed, or generally just tidying up around the house.