Austin Sound

Man, talk about a goodwill mission! The Middle East may be forever in turmoil, but we sent over one of our better assets (ahem) in the form of Anita Benner and Los Bad Apples to help perk up our troops. (Check out our Sound Off with them back in June.) LBA apparently brought the party with them, too, as evidenced by this new video for “El Ritmo Me Manda” from the local Latin-inflected quintet. Winning hearts and minds and asses. Who knew our Air Force had moves like this on the ground - it’s like Breakin’ 3: Desert Boogaloo! Or Zeale puts it: “In the desert of rhythm, we’re trying to keep you all cool.” The video was directed by Lisa Kaselak and Ajay Miranda, the latter the host of the awesome local blog ‘Nites. While we’re shouting out ‘Nites, you should also jump over there to check out his live video from this past weekend of the Black and White Years performing their new tune “Steady as It Goes.” As for LBA, you can catch them all over town starting at the end of the month, including at the Pecan Street Festival on the 27th. Watch the video for “El Ritmo Me Manda” below:

There may be no group in Austin right now as suave, sultry, and infectiously grooving as Los Bad Apples. Helmed by Anita Benner with local standout rapper Zeale serving as counterpunch and opposite anchor, the quintet melds smooth R&B and Hip-Hop with jazz and Latin influences and hard driving dance beats. While the Black Eyed Peas are an inevitable point of comparison, as much for LBA’s diversity as their sound, the group’s eclectic vibe feels like a distinctly Austin hybrid, and their backgrounds from classically trained Bossa Nova and jazz, to streetwise rhymes, to Latin pop all come to bear on their recently released, eponymous debut album. Los Bad Apples have already started garnering international acclaim, and have some exciting upcoming collaborations in the works that will likely be bringing them much more attention in the next few months. Catch them while you can this Friday, July 3, at Lambert’s, for a show that will also bring DJ Chicken George back into the LBA fold.

The second annual Pachanga! Fest probably couldn’t have been a much better event. Packed into one day, the Fest cut a broad swath across the Latin Music scene, from radio stars to indie standouts to the most traditional sounds, and was the perfect sampling of the musical landscape whether as long-time followers or uninitiated newcomers. Contributing to the Fest’s success was the beautiful late May Saturday weather and the event’s move from last year’s location at Waterloo Park to the Eastside’s more intimate and accommodating Fiesta Gardens. With two smaller stages alternating on the Park’s east end and the large Pavilion Stage a short, shady foot bridge walk away to the west, the music was constant and more than could be fully absorbed. The Pavilion handled a combination of most of the bigger acts and more traditional sounds (Michael Salgado, the Chris Perez Band, and the sprawling female Mariachi troupe), but the smaller two stages offered up the more intriguing performances of the day (Mexican Institute of Sound, Brownout!, David Garza, Charanga Cakewalk). Altogether, Pachanga! offered 20 bands and one of the best single days of music that Austin has seen in a while.