Calle 13 Ready to Storm the U.S.

Repeating Islands

Puerto Rican rap duo lights up Brooklyn, which could be frontman’s home soon, as Sugey Palomares reports in this article for Rolling Stone.

When Calle 13 took the stage at the Prospect Park Bandshell on Friday night, a roaring crowd and hundreds of Puerto Rican flags welcomed them with island pride. Thousands of fans filled the park to capacity and lined the surrounding fences just to get a glimpse of the Puerto Rican rap duo – stepbrothers Residente (René Pérez Joglar) and Visitante (Eduardo José Cabra Martínez), plus sister PG-13 (Ileana Cabra Joglar) – who were the headlining act at LAMC and Celebrate Brooklyn’s free concert.

After performing a brief medley of old and new tracks from their 2008 album up to their latest, Grammy-winning recordings, Entren Los Que Quieran and Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo, Residente gave a shout-out to Brooklyn and the transitional neighborhood Bushwick, which…

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Sofrito: International Soundclash

This sounds like it’s gonna be great. Raw dancefloor rythms.

Repeating Islands

Selection of African, Caribbean and South American gems, old and new—Stewart Smith reports for list.co.uk.

‘This is the sexy part of our music,’ teases Lord Shorty, in ‘Vibrations Groove’, the delicious opener to this selection of African, Caribbean and South American gems. Sofrito masterminds Hugo Mendez and Frankie Francis dig deep for treasure like Kiland et L’Orchestre Mabatalai’s ‘Pour Chercher le Magot’, a gorgeous soukous psychedelicised by liquescent guitar and synth. There’s rubbery disco from Cameroon, vintage Creole pop from Les Vikings, and a magical Kenyan waltz from Melodica Teens Band. It’s not all retro, however, with Groupo Canalon and Nairobi-London outfit Owiny Sigoma Band contributing excellent new tracks.

For the original report go to http://www.list.co.uk/article/43468-sofrito-international-soundclash/

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Art Exhibition: Wendy Nanan’s “Independence”

Wonderful work!

Repeating Islands

Wendy Nanan’s “Independence” opens on Thursday, August 2, 2012, at the Medulla Gallery. The exhibition continues until August 30, 2012. The opening reception will take place from 6:30 to 9:00pm. Medulla Gallery is located at 37 Fitt Street in Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

Nanan describes her work: “The making of Queens, papier-mâché heads collaged with stamps, was first inspired by the hosting of CHOGM here in Trinidad and Tobago, and then by the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The work raises questions of British Colonial Imperialism and that colonial brainwashing has formulated the thinking patterns of the now “independent” peoples. The statement: “How can a woman from Siparia ever be a Prime Minister” is a direct result of that colonial conditioning and the clinging to our own now self-imposed mental slavery. “In the year of the Golden Jubilee, black faces are absent from the crowds celebrating the royal pomp…

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Theater: “Damas! Fragments” Renders Tribute to Léon-Gontran Damas

Repeating Islands

Many thanks to Peter Jordens, who translated and shared this post with us. The ‘Chapelle du Verbe Incarné’ Theater in Avignon, France, has announced the staging of the musical-theatrical show Damas! Fragments from July 7 to 28, 2012. The show is based on excerpts from poems, stories, and essays by the late Guyanese writer and co-founder of the Négritude movement, Léon-Gontran Damas (1912-1978).

Damas! Fragments is a collaborative production of two French-Guyanese performing companies, the Compagnie de l’Homme aux Semelles de Vent and the Troupe du Méridien, who created the show to honor Damas in the centennial of his birth. It was first staged in French Guyana in April and May 2012 is now being presented in France during the Avignon Festival, an arts festival held annually in July.

Damas! Fragments combines theater, music, song and dance in order to embody the work and life of Damas: theater to tell…

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