Nacional Roadtrip at the Elbo Room (with animated gifs!)

November 18, 2010 yanez

This past Saturday I ventured down Valencia street to the Elbo Room to see Pacha Massive and Banda de Turistas perform as part of Nacional Records’ roadtrip concert series. I’m a big Pacha Massive fan so I jumped at the opportunity to see them live and in the Mission District no less. I loved their performance and they featured a mysterious new singer who was great (and had awesome style).

The show was my first time seeing (or hearing) Banda de Turistas and I enjoyed them as well. The highlight of the show was when the lead singer and guitarist both jumped into the crowd and finished the last few songs of their set on the floor.

At the show was KPFA’s Rosi Reyes as well as my fellow members of the SMFF Crew: Calitexican and Meligrosa.

To round out the night I shot some animated gifs of the show and post-concert boozin’. Check ’em out:

Peace,

Rio

Day of the Dead Opening Reception Animated Gifs

October 9, 2010 yanez

Wooohooo! It’s been a crazy last 72 hours leading up until tonight. I’ve felt a lot of love and support these last few days as I’ve worked my tail off to get the show up. Tonight was a dream come true. As I type these words it’s almost midnight and I’m still at SOMArts, facing the monumental task of turning off all the multimedia components of the exhibit. To stall for a moment I thought I’d share these animated gifs that I shot tonight.

meli — Meligrosa dancin' like a superstar

rosi — Ms. Rosi Reyes and the Calitexican

Peace,

Rio

Podcast Episode #8: The Sunnyside Gardener & River Rio

October 5, 2010 yanez

Two weeks ago I was a guest on KPFA’s Ritmo de las Americas. Alongside Professor Katynka Martinez (AKA The Sunnyside Gardener) we had our playlists broadcast by DJ Rosi Reyes. It was a great night of music, cheap beer, and delicious chile rellenos cooked by Rosi. Episode 8 of my podcast is our segment on the show, give it a listen below.

Podcast Episode #8: The Sunnyside Gardener & River Rio

Playlist

CuCu Diamantes & Los Tucanes de Tijuana – El Burrito (Nortec Panoptica Remix)

Up, Bustle & Out – Cumbion Mountain (Chico Sonido & Toy Selectah Remix)

Up, Bustle & Out – Blue Night / Mavi Gece

Ivo Meirelles & Funk’n Lata – Baile Funk Medley

La Santa Cecilia – Chicle

The Armenta Brothers – Miss Jenny

You can listen to Ritmo de las Americas every Saturday from 7:00PM – 9:00PM on KPFA 94.1FM.

Peace,

Rio

Podcast episode #6: Natalia LaFourcade and the Pocho Hall of Fame

October 1, 2010 yanez

Sometimes it ain’t easy being a 4th generation Chicano. As down as I try to be my deceitful tongue outs me as a pocho every single time. When I went to the Natalia LaFourcade concert this past Monday they announced that she would sign copies of her album at her merchandise table after the concert. While most of the adults I went with hung out with Bang Data after the show I got in line with all the teenagers to have my CD autographed.When it came time for me to meet Natalia she took my pronunciation of “Rio” to be “Real” and signed my CD accordingly.

Usually my awkward moments of pochismo happen with friends or with Spanish speakers that I meet over mundane circumstances but this was my first moment of pocho embarrassment with a celebrity. Listen as the events unfold in the latest episode of my podcast which features Margarita Azucar, Rosi Reyes, DJ Aztec Parrot, and special guest star Natalia LaFourcade.

Careless Whispers Episode 6

Video footage of my moment of pocho infamy is below.

Peace,

Rio

SF Zine Fest 2010 – With Podcast!

September 8, 2010 yanez

This past Sunday I ventured to the 2010 SF Zine Fest in Golden Gate Park’s Hall of Flowers. This year’s Zine Fest had a surprisingly strong Chicana presence: I arrived with the host of KPFA’s Ritmos de las Americas Rosi Reyes and also in attendance were chola muse Mayra Ramirez, Mission Loc@l Editor Amanda Martinez, my good friend Allison Martinez, and photographer Amanda Lopez. My big purchase of the day was a copy of Isy Morgenmuffel’s Diary of a Miscreant, a collection of her zine simply titled Morgenmuffel.

I also had the debut of my very limited run zine Dulce Beatdown. It’s a sampler of the various collaborations between Mayra Ramirez and I including various photoshoots and purikura sessions that we’ve done together. The title is an homage to one of my favorite pop albums of all time, Belanova’s Dulce Beat.

I’ve also been experimenting with doing field recordings with my trusty iphone. I am for sure a humble amateur when it comes to audio recording and editing but I’m really happy with the results. Here is my first foray into podcasting:

SF Zine Fest 2010

Peace n’ Zines,

Rio