By the Zonagirante.com team @spinning zone Image by Paula Rego
Dedicated to Palo Pandolfo, who left us far too soon
Thanks to Archive.org for providing the wonderful images used to promote our lists.
And after putting together fifty lists with the week's news, after selecting and including a thousand songs made throughout Latin America (and wherever the artists of this continent reside), and with the uncertainty outside our homes of whether the pandemic is still hitting hard or is already history, Today we've reached the final playlist of Zonagirante.com, the 21st of 2021.
A personal note on the matter: Since the publication of the first list of the year, which always comes after Three Kings Day, we are already thinking about what we will do at the end of December. We're getting hints about what the music will be like in the coming weeks, and it definitely all depends on the prevailing mood in the region. Twelve months ago, in these same articles, we said that 2020 was a strange year and that it was noticeable in the tunes we had been hearing so often., a compilation of sensations of all kinds, a product of the confinement and the doubts that surrounded us, of the compositional experimentation that took place inside the home studios set up in the artists' rooms, and of the remote collaborations that were closed via Zoom. Now we feel that 2021 had more air, more dancing, more desire to showcase live music, and more optimistic recordings. (mind you, without letting the smiles get out of hand, the wounds haven't fully healed yet), greater experience in communication, knowing that the music market continues to have its indecisiveness. It was a year for the brave, for creators who took risks, who understood that the rules imposed by the mainstream have many flaws and that repeating someone else's formula guarantees nothing. On the contrary, it's boring. There's already a Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa is already touring the world, It's time to fearlessly promote other things that are more our own, more personal.
Of the 21 recordings included in this playlist, 16 were made by projects led by women. The trend is confirmed. The independent, self-managed, underground scene (choose the appropriate label) She has all the feminine strength on her side. They've shed the label of being mere figures to be displayed, the ones exhibited as decoration on promotional posters, and have stepped forward, asserting their boldness, their artistry, their own style. We're thrilled to have participated as a media outlet in shaping this journey, to have been able to document it in our articles. and to have believed in the encouraging future that women bring us at this historical moment. We are extremely excited to have on our roster artists who are steadily growing, such as Peruvian Lorena Blume, Argentinian Mariana Michi, Colombian Animaleja, and Brazilian Dom la nena, among others.
This selection includes cumbia, electronic, folk, rock, pop, hip hop, folklore, and a mix of everything you can think of., irrefutable evidence that in this mixed-race, mulatto and zamba land we are very good at experimenting and combining, creating, as a natural laboratory, an infinity of sound textures that are renewed every day. It is not necessary to believe that «"Latin"» It's just what they decide in an office in New York, Miami, or Los Angeles. What we have is not the result of a marketing strategy that defines an entire region with few elements and intellectual poverty. There is so much more, and it's always a good time to enjoy that complex reality. There is so much to listen to, so much to dance to, so much to celebrate. Music is what gives meaning to our endurance, don't forget that..
So here we present, without further ado, the 21 of 2021. We hope you enjoy them.
