Photo courtesy of LAMC.

The LAMC came and went, giving us a sampling of what’s happening in Latin alternative music, highlighted experimental acts that don’t play NYC nearly enough (sup, crowd favorites Juana Molina, the Wookies, Los Macuanos), and some safer, nostalgic bets (hi, Ilya Kuryaki and the Valderramas and Babasónicos). We’re still recuperating after the concerts/parties/afterparties throughout the week– but for now, our team recaps some of the highlights and lowlights of LAMC’s quinceañera edition.

Day 2

Manager of Partnerships & Publicity

Winners:

1. The collective booty shake that happened when Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas sang “Coolo”. Yes, it’s a classic.

2. The fine folks at SuperCrush Studio for setting up shop at Radio Bushwick. Amazing venue in this part of town, y’all.

3. Panel on “Every Centavo Counts” during the conference. Glad to see music streaming and digital distribution addressed – let’s keep the conversation going!

4. ChocQuibTown–second show in New York ever–whaaaaa?! Also, special mention to “Tostao” for sporting the Colombian jersey and reminding us how much we wish Colombia was in the World Cup finals.

Losers:

1. Getting terribly sick during LAMC week. Take your vitamins, beautiful people. And if you see someone coughing profusely at a show, that’s me.

2. Only seeing one female panelist during the “Every Centavo Counts” talk. Where my music ladies at?

Juan Data
Freelance Writer

Winners:

1. Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas funking it up at Prospect Park. Hells yes. Almost twenty years had passed since the previous time I saw these guys live on stage and they didn’t lose any of their energy. That ten year hiatus did them very well.

2. The two old ladies that started got up and started dancing during the RVSB set and got the party started, when everybody else were still sitting down.

3. The way Danay Suarez looked at me when I asked her for a picture.

Losers:

1. The Colombian fans who left Prospect Park after ChocQuibTown and missed Illya Kuryaki’s show.

2. Illya Kuryaki keeps avoiding me. I’ve been trying to interview them for years and I was pretty confident I’d finally get them yesterday, it was all set and confirmed but like in previous occasions, they stood me up again.

3. The drunken moron standing next to me who almost ruined the Illya Kuryaki experience. He kept screaming “Dante! Dante!” every time Emmanuel got close to us. And then he elbowed my friend on the head.