For further info, call 619-231-9210
or calacapress@home.com
The Taco Shop Poets from
San Diego can best be described as urban habaneros. Their hot!
Their spoken word, in this CD -- Chorizo Tonguefire -- is reminiscent
of beatnik poetry (1950s and early 1960s), though with a 1999
barrio bilingual flavor to it.
Every generation has its
rebels and its poets, always one step ahead of the crowd. With
Chorizo Tonguefire, the poets splash their urban graffiti with
words the way street preachers deliver their words -- non-stop,
rapid fire and melodic. Though their words are not to be confused
with that of preachers, someone might indeed go as far as calling
them border town prophets.
With this CD, they deliver
the news -- the kind of news that rarely make it into the mainstream...
about poverty... the nonexistent border... urban mestizo reality...
indigenous resistance... and about Taco Shop Aztlan Culture.
And with this CD, they give
us a little bit of everything for everyone. More than anything,
the Taco Shop Poets speak to the urban politics of El Paso, Los
Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana, San Antonio, Mexico City... and
Teotihuacan... and the jungles of Chiapas.... and Chicano Liberation
which knows no borders.
Like graffiti, not everyone
can understand it. Not everyone can make it out. And like urban
graffiti, they are the writing on the wall...today's news...
there's a message... and they are the messengers.
The Taco Sop Poets are:
Adrian Arancibia, poet, Michael Figgins, bass, Kevin Green, drums,
Adolfo Guzman Lopez, poet, Tomas Riley, poet, Miguel-Angel Soria,
poet and special guest, Lennon Honor, flute.
What's hip about their words
is that they have an edge, something lacking in many other mediums
of communication. They are to be commended not simply for bringing
their 20s-30s messages, but also for paying tribute (Grey Grease)
to Raul Salinas, one of the urban Chicano underground poet giants
of the 1960s.
Also to be commended is
CALACA PRESS for setting an example of what a small Raza business
can do... keep the words coming and keeping them real.
* Amoxtli Reviews is a monthly
independent online review service. Readers of Column of the Americas
receive the service, including several national listserves. They
can also be found on the web at LatinoLink.com Those wishing
books or other materials reviewed, please send them to Amoxtli
Reviews, PO BOX 7905, Albq NM 87194-7905, 505-242-7282.
