MetaFilter posts tagged with latinamerica

Echoes of Latin America in José González's music

umbú — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:19:50 -0800

Guitarist and singer José González's myspace page mentions [lots of youtube ahead] Low and Elliot Smith. And no review of the Swede whose parents left Argentina in the 1970s is complete without a reference to Nick Drake. But what about the influence of styles from the hemisphere his parents left behind? After listening to González, Cuban Nueva Trova singer Silvio Rodriguez's early work sounds remarkably familiar, and Northeastern Brazilian rhythms picked on nylon-string guitar also resonate. Here are some examples by Gil berto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Marisa Monte. Lyrically, however, in contrast to Rodriguez's poetic Marxism, and Gil and Veloso's dadaist Tropicália and subsequent MPB pop styles, González's new record "In our nature" is currently influenced by, yes, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

Short Stories by Roberto Bolaño

Kattullus — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:47:21 -0800

7 short stories by Roberto Bolaño Gómez Palacio, The Insufferable Gaucho, Álvaro Rousselot’s Journey, Phone Calls, Dance Card. From Nazi Literature in the Americas: Edelmira Thompson de Mendiluce, Luz Mendiluce Thompson & Ernesto Pérez Masón and The Fabulous Schiaffino Boys. If you know the fiction of Roberto Bolaño you know what you're in for. If you don't, any of these stories is a good place to start, though the first three are perhaps the most natural starting points. One more story in audio form: A Literary Adventure [Miette's Bedtime Story Podcast] Poems: Self Portrait at Twenty Years and My Life in the Tubes of Survival. Interviews with his two main English language translators Chris Andrews and Natasha Wimmer. Biographical Essay on Bolaño by Wimmer. [pdf] Carmen Boullosa, a friend and contemporary of Bolaño's, describes the literary scene the young Bolaño participated in during the 70's. Paul Berman explains how Bolaño's novel The Savage Detectives fits into the literary history of Latin America. [Bolaño previously on MetaFilter]

Virtual Museum of Art

netbros — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 15:42:51 -0800

MUVA El PAIS has been conceived as a dynamic, interactive museum bringing together the most renowned works of contemporary Uruguayan art, an important contributor to Latin American art. MUVA is devoted to quality, content, education, information and recreation through the knowledge of visual arts. In Spanish and English, Flash and/or HTML.

IN YR BACK YARD QUIETLY EXPANDING MAH GLOBAL INFLUENCE

Bletch — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:41:21 -0800

China expands its influence in Latin America. Last time we looked, China had become a major investor and player in Africa. But in the last four years, the rise of Chinese-Latin American trade, investment and influence has been nothing short of explosive. And with not just the usual suspects, but many nations, and including sensitive arms deals to Bolivia. A good thing? Opinions differ. The rise of the softer superpower continues. Well, when the world's #1 has other priorities, they're bound to neglect their own back yard...

South/Latin American composers after 1900

invitapriore — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:37:01 -0800

While the first pioneering forays into atonality and free chromaticism were starting to occur in Western European music, the talents of Latin and South America were discovering the Romantic beauty of re-interpreting the past. [much, much more inside!]

Interesting times

Abiezer — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:07:36 -0800

Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security "By far the most ambitious and integral project in the burgeoning field of cold war history"

Nueva Orleans

ColdChef — Tue, 09 May 2006 10:35:05 -0800

Nueva Orleans Before Katrina, Hispanics accounted for 3 percent of New Orleans’ population, with just 1,900 Mexicans showing up in the 2004 Census. No one knows for certain how many new ones have arrived, but estimates put the number between 10,000 and 50,000.

Bolivia Nationalizes Natural Gas

redsparkler — Wed, 03 May 2006 09:56:00 -0800

My mother is very worried. ExxonMobil moved in and helped Bolivia develop, she says. Now they have food and medicine, thanks to the kindly hand of Big Business. But now Bolivia's kicking them out. After Exxon spent 3 billion dollars helping them! What will happen to the next poor country that needs Exxon's help?

South American dominoes

wilful — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 21:25:03 -0800

[NewsFilter] A leftist candidate from one of Bolivia's Indian peoples who wants to legalise coca-growing has claimed victory in the presidential election. Mr Morales, an admirer of Fidel Castro, said on Sunday that he wanted ties with the US but "not a relationship of submission". He also promises to make foreign oil and gas investors pay what he says is a fairer share to Bolivians.

National Security Archive

plep — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 05:11:24 -0800

George Washington University's National Security Archive carries a collection of declassified US documents and articles on Saddam Hussein; Mexico, Cuba and other Latin American countries; Nixon's meeting with Elvis; the CIA and Nazi war criminals; etc.