photo by Rick Rangel
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Salsa Music Recommendations
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Dear Readers, I am not so arrogant as to tell you what salsa music is good, and what isn't (although you might overhear me grumbling occasionally about crap DJs). What I will give you, is advise on how you can grow your own salsa collection. The main problem in Hong Kong is, unfortunately, the lack of choice in music stores. This makes most potential salsa music listeners give up fairly quickly. I recommend a three-step system: research - try - buy. In fairly typical way (for me, anyway) I will start by the end: Why Buy? Well, to put it simply, to show respect and support for the Artists. It's kind of the same reason that we ask people to buy a drink at free venues: because if nobody does, the venue (or, in the case of this discussion, the salsa music artist) will close down. And if you like an artist, why would you choose to contribute to putting them out of business? Where to buy, then? Online. Amazon has quite some choice, although little of the good old 'gritty' salsa that I prefer. However, they have an amazing exchange/return policy. Once, quite a few years ago, they sent me the wrong item. I sent them an email, and they immediately sent me another item by DHL Express. Two days later I recieve the package and it is again the wrong item. I call them. They check, and indeed, a mistake in their computer system means that both items have the same ID code. They send me the correct item, again with DHL, and ask me if I would be so kind as to donate the two items they sent me erroneously to a hospital or charity. No point in sending them back. Another choice is Descarga.com, which has a much better selection of salsa music (after all they do specialise in latin music). However, their site is in Spanish, and there are no music samples to listen to there. How to Try? Well, I happen to condone the use of peer-to-peer technology, if used in the right spirit. Think of it as a try-before-you-buy system. I already answered the why-should-you-buy question. Additionally, p2p is a great opportunity to network, find other salseros with similar tastes and discover even more interesting music. By far the best software for finding salsa is Soulseek, downloadable from here. It has an inbuilt chat system and a rather cool chatroom on Salsa Cds... It's a great tool once you've built up your contacts, but be patient in learning it. There are a lot of unspoken rules within the community, and you'll have to learn them the hard way. What about Research? I'll give you three different ways to research. - DJs. When DJs play a song that you like, go up to them, and ask what it is. Get them to write it down for you. In general (and I speak as a DJ in this) DJs appreciate such feedback, and will make a point of not only helping out, but also of trying to play other similar music that they think you may appreciate as much. - Radio Stations. Yes, I know there are no salsa radio stations in Hong Kong. But there is the internet. Check out live365 for their latin music stations. My all-time favourite is DJ Alvaro - Classic Salsa. Yes, I know there are too many commercials, but otherwise it's great free music to listen to. - Web Sites and Forums. I'll give you two addresses. TO Salsa is a Toronto-based web site with an amazing selection of Top 10 favorite salsa songs submitted by people from all over the world. Also check the top 100 best songs for the dance floor, maintained by the site's patron. Another good address is SalsaForums especially if you have a bit of a song from a video or something and you're trying to identify it. Now go forth and multiply your salsa collections! When you want to try for DJ, let me know! |