Hola Familia.
I hope you're all doing very well. It's an unusually cool and rainy day here in NJ/NYC. I'm not sure if you all know, but part of my job at Stereophile involves keeping a blog. I'm supposed to write about my interaction with high-end audio, but I often extend the focus into my personal relationship with music and beyond into my everyday relationships with friends and family. I think you all do know that lately, even more than ever, my relationship with my father has been under a lot of pressure. The good news is I've told him exactly how I feel, so there's no more confusion or denial or misrepresentation of feelings (at least from my side), and I'm happy about that.
I feel like I've been running away from my father my entire life, but, at the same time, I've almost always been searching for a stronger connection to my heritage. I want to learn to speak Spanish, I want to learn to dance salsa, I want to learn to drink a 40oz of Bud in less than 5 seconds (just kidding, Tio Edwin!), etc...
Anyway, here's the exciting part: Over the last couple of years, Fania has been re-releasing their entire catalog. The albums are beautiful and totally effing bad-ass. Man, I love them! I remember seeing these same albums when I was a kid — in the apartment on Richards Street, and in the basement on Hawkins Street, and at the apartment in Linden. So far, I've collected Siembra by Willie Colon and Ruben Blades; La Gran Fuga and Guisando by Willie Colon with Hector Lavoe; and La Voz and De Ti Depende by Hector Lavoe.
It's strange and wonderful: I feel proud of these albums — I love just holding them in my hands and reading the liner notes over and over. This must be something similar to how it felt for you to hold the original vinyl copies in your hands back in the '70s.
I'm going to collect them all like Garbage Pail Kids; I want to be devoured by them like Lalo Rodriguez!
Sike. Let me stop being corny!
Alright, so I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to try to start writing about as many Fania records as I can.
Okey dokey. Tek it eseys.
Mucho amor,
Stephen (aka El Malo aka Los Cocky Balls) PS
I believe Willie Colon will be performing in NYC on September 19th. A couple of us have birthdays around that time, if I remember correctly. Including me! Perhaps we should make it a family outing. Anybody interested?
Pass this on.
I hope you're all doing very well. It's an unusually cool and rainy day here in NJ/NYC. I'm not sure if you all know, but part of my job at Stereophile involves keeping a blog. I'm supposed to write about my interaction with high-end audio, but I often extend the focus into my personal relationship with music and beyond into my everyday relationships with friends and family. I think you all do know that lately, even more than ever, my relationship with my father has been under a lot of pressure. The good news is I've told him exactly how I feel, so there's no more confusion or denial or misrepresentation of feelings (at least from my side), and I'm happy about that.
Stephen (aka El Malo aka Los Cocky Balls) PS
I believe Willie Colon will be performing in NYC on September 19th. A couple of us have birthdays around that time, if I remember correctly. Including me! Perhaps we should make it a family outing. Anybody interested?
