(at) odds and (brazilian) ends

thanks to simon for pointing me to funk carioca impresario dj marlboro's new fotolog. lots of amazing pictures of brazil's hottest baile parties here and plenty of gushing testimonials (if you know portuguese). dj marlboro's been at the forefront of the favela funk/rio baile/funk carioca/brazilian bass scene for a while now. and he drops some knowledge about the whole shanty-shebang in this hyperdub interview.

also, check blissblog for simon's measured riposte to chistgau's drubbing of his ambivalent review of the new MIA record. i think simon makes some great points here and raises some necessary questions about the 'politics' of everything from the sampling practices on arular to its projection of a terrorist/freedom-fighter image. (i'd like to weigh in on this myself at some point, but i still haven't heard the whole thing. we'll be listening to M.I.A. in next week's electronic music class, though, so i'll be putting together my thoughts pronto.)



finally, in other 'shanty-house' related business, the BBC has a new piece that seeks to make sense of the rise of reggaeton by excavating some of its complex history. clearly, there is still some debate as to reggaeton's birthplace. i remember seeing a poll a while back which seemed pretty equally divided between panama and PR. at this point, the defining history has yet to be written, though it seems as though both places have a genuine claim to the music--panama as a late 80s birthplace of sorts (though undoubtedly puerto ricans were tuning into reggae around the same time) and PR as the place of real commercial flowering (though i'm not sure we can leave new york and new jersey out of the picture). the story is certainly one with lots of twists and turns, and it hinges on migration to and through NYC. i'm enjoying watching the story unfold, which is better, even with (and perhaps especially because of) all the contention, than it remaining untold. (thanks to tobias for pointing me to the beeb piece.)