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 Entertainment | September 2006 
Singer Lila Downs Mixes Folkloric Mexican and Electronic Music in New Release
 Associated Press
| | Her new album "La cantina entre copa y copa" fuses hip hop and electronic music with the accordions, harps and violins of Mexican ranchero. |
Singer Lila Downs says an old Indian tradition has kept her close to Mexico.
Observing an ancient ritual, her Mexican mother buried her umbilical cord under a maguey, the spiky plant used to make the potent mezcal liquor.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Friday, Downs says the connection has strengthened her love for Mexican music, a style she fuses with the popular U.S. music taught to her by her American father.
Her unique sound has won her a Grammy for the best contemporary folk album and an Oscar nomination for a song in the movie "Frida."
Her new album "La cantina entre copa y copa" fuses hip hop and electronic music with the accordions, harps and violins of Mexican ranchero. And over the spicy sound, she sings melancholy lyrics fused with anger, pain and strength.
"I needed to express the woes from my soul, in part sadness, in part melancholy and also anger and a different type of femininity than I have felt before," Downs said. "I believe that ranchero unleashes an animal from within."
Downs has plans for some even more potent musical fusions in the future, saying she would like to learn from the rhythms of shamans from different countries. Her goal, she says, is to leave her mark on the musical landscape.
"I like to think that I'm leaving a grain of sand for what will come in the future. That is what I feel in my heart and what gives me strength," she said. "That is my ambition, that my work gains recognition." |
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