Category Archives: DC Promo

Tacho’s Sabado Playlist

Posted on April 29, 2023 | Comments Off

New music has dropped these last couple of weeks. Good music. So, add it on to your playlists for the weekend. Enjoy!

Jay Perez – El Patron – The Voice is back with a new production backed by Freddie Records. Produced by Roland Revilla, the album’s sound and attitude takes you back to Jay’s career start after his departure from David Lee Garza y Los Musicales. Having already dropped two singles, Necesito Odiarte and La Rajita de Canela, fans were left ready to be in awe of the rest of the album, and one tune that will excite folks is Vino Maldito in which he is backed up by his old boss, DLG. No doubt, Jay’s work on two DLG albums left fans wanting more, but, alas, it was Jay’s turn to go solo and become part of the DLG alumni. Thankfully, they still collaborate, live and on tape. Other notable tunes include Anda y Ve, and a re-make of Me He Dado Cuenta. He also throws in a mariachi tune (Sirvame Otra, Cantinero) and If You Don’t Know Me By Now. It’s a consistently good work.

Los Texmaniacs f/ La Marisoul – Corazones and Canciones. I know I’ve been waiting for this collaboration for a while. The best Tex-Mex conjunto backing the best female vocalist (La Marisoul of La Santa Cecilia) has happened live a few times, but Smithsonian Folkways produced what is definitely Grammy-winning material with this album. Putting a string of classic hits on an album and done with The Texmaniacs’ unique stylings, which include strong bass lines, sweet accordian playing, and Max Baca’s pasaditas on the bajo sexto is just want we needed. Singles already released include Las Nubes, which adds Little Joe to the mix and Mucho Corazon which adds Texmaniacs drummer Lorenzo Martinez for a great duet. One tune that captures the best abilities on this production is Vamonos. But fans will also enjoy Gritenme, Piedras del Campo, Mal Hombre, and a Mujer verson of Before the Next Teardrop Falls. Check it out.

La Santa Cecilia – Cuatro Copas – Bohemia En La Finca Altozano – LSC dropped this production recorded live around a bonfire with only a few friends and special guests in attendance. Full of old songs that one enjoys with a good smooth tequila, La Santa Cecilia puts their signature sound on them. Songs like Cuatro Copas, Mi Tesoro/You’re Mine, and La Diferencia certainly show La Marisoul’s vocal chops. Other tunes, such as Almohada and Cuatro Copas (duet with Aida Cuevas), will just set ones memories off. La Santa Cecilia has a range in performance and in emotions and it really comes out.

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Posted in 2023, Accion, Cultura, DC Promo, Media, Reviews

Tagged jay perez, josh baca, la marisoul, la santa cecilia, little joe, los texmaniacs, max baca

May 11, 2023: Texas Poet Laureate Celebration

Posted on April 24, 2023 | Comments Off

Local poet and artist Lupe Mendez has been serving us as the Texas Poet Laureate over the last biennial and is about to end his service next month. Throughout his term, he has presented his own poetry, along with that of other poets from around the state of Texas. While others don’t do much with the ceremonial title, Lupe added some value to it, offering up the talents of various artists. He will have a final reading featuring various talents on May 11.

Congrats to Lupe. He will continue to serve us well, no doubt, but he has done well in what he set out to do as Texas Poet Laureate. Gracias, Lupe!

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Posted in 2023, Accion, City of Houston, Cultura, DC Promo, Education - K12, Harris County, Higher Education, Historia, History, Las Mujeres, Media

Tagged houston, lupe mendez, texas poet laureate

Tacho’s Sabado Playlist

Posted on February 25, 2023 | Comments Off

A few new tunes have dropped this week and recently. Check ’em out.

El Tiempo f/ Juan P. Moreno – Quiereme. The first time I heard of Juan P., he was doing vocals and bajo sexto for Los Chamacos de Jaime de Anda on the Johnny Canales Show’s Sea World concert series. So, when he went solo, I kept following him because few had this ability to rock-out on a bajo while playing traditional conjunto music. No surprise when I heard that prolific Tex-Mex drummer Aaron Holler and producer Jullz Johnson got together with next-gen players, such as bajo player Stevie Ray Vavages, acordeonista Lalo Morales, and bassist Pete Gutierrez to record a new single with Moreno on vocals. This hard-core version re-lives some memories with some amazing musical abilities from all participating. I’m loving it.

Vargas – De La Garza – Don’t Let No One Get You Down. When David de la Garza isn’t busy touring with La Mafia, he is doing the local circuit as a soloist. And when Andy Vargas isn’t on the road with Santana, he comes down to Houston to work with de la Garza. Together, they have given us this new take on a WAR classic. The combination of smooth vocals and amazing musical abilities put this one on my radar. Give it a listen.

Mike Gonzalez & Iconiczz – Me Esta Doliendo Su Ausencia. Mike Gonzalez, the son of the late Tejano icon, Jimmy Gonzalez, dropped an album recently, and this tune caught my ear. I recall first hearing it by Arturo Montes y Ternura back in the 80s, but I’m really diggin’ this take. The entire album has the legacy sound of the Jimmy-led Mazz, while Alex Basulto provides the vocals. Our friends at Tejano Nation have more on the album.

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Posted in 2023, Cultura, DC Promo, Media

Tagged aaron holler, de la garza, el tiempo, iconiczz, juan p moreno, mike gonzalez, vargas

Tacho’s Playlist

Posted on February 18, 2023 | Comments Off

There have been some good tunes dropping recently and you must listen and add them to your own playlists.

La Marisoul and Los Texmaniacs – Mucho Corazon. The Grammy-winning sensations have collaborated on an album of standards backed by Smithsonian Folkways. With the album dropping on April 7, this is the first single, with La Santa Cecilia’s La Marisoul and Lorenzo Martinez (previously a member (drums and vocals) of Los Texmaniacs) handling vocals and segundas, respectively. The rest of the album will include Little Joe y La Familia’s Las Nubes and other big hits. I haven’t heard a rendition this good since Jimmy Edward’s back in the day.

La Santa Cecilia f/ Aida Cuevas – Cuatro Copas. La Santa Cecilia’s newest project includes plenty of standards done in their own style. This Jose Alfredo Classic is given all the respect it deserves by these unique vocalists. Cuevas, with her strong vocals which have made her career as a ranchera singer, gives it all she’s got, and La Marisoul does what she does best. I’m blown away and really enjoyed this rendition. Again, I haven’t heard this good a take since Laura Canales and Snowball did theirs in the 70s.

Intocable – Yo Seguire. This one dropped on Valentine’s Day. This single will be part of their new production, which includes the production skills of Don Was (Rolling Stones and others). Great vocals and background voices power this tune, along with Intocable’s ensemble cast.

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Posted in 2023, Accion, Cultura, DC Promo, Las Mujeres, Media, Reviews

Tagged intocable, la marisoul, la santa cecilia, tacho's playlist, texmaniacs

Thoughts on Viernes – 02172023

Posted on February 17, 2023 | Comments Off

Richard Cantu is Official on Social Media

Though we’d heard through the social media grapevine that HCDE Trustee Richard Cantu had filed at city hall to run for Houston City Council At-Large Position 3, we finally have added proof that he is in the running as he transformed his candidate Facebook page for this race. States Cantu:

Our neighborhoods should be clean and safe, and it takes leadership to make it happen! The neighborhoods that have problems with dumping also have some of the worst crime problems. I will tap into my three decades of positive relationships with community leaders, law enforcement, educators, faith leaders, and businesses, to continue to bring results to neighborhoods across the city!

Cantu adds that having lost his daughter to gun violence, he will continue to honor her memory by continuing to advocate to end gun violence while on City Council.

Richard has experience running and serving countywide, working with various entities to bring services to the area’s youth, so, he’s not running just because it’s a good gig. He will put in the work.

Abbott Promises More BS and Less Action

Greg Abbott spoke to his right-wing and bigoted friends yesterday. He sure as hell didn’t speak to the people of Texas, promising to blame immigrants, border communities, and Joe Biden for Texans’ fentanyl addictions; blaming judges for the overuse of an oversupply of guns in crimes; pushing school vouchers as a means of avoiding getting shot at public schools while also avoiding being indoctrinated with facts and science and stuff (I think that what I heard).

Anyway, Greg Abbott continues to set high standards for do-nothing republicans who just want a good gig. Meanwhile, Fascist Mack continues to fund Republican lawsuits promoting denial of election outcomes in which they lost.

COVID-19 Remains Steady

As we near of the Biden-ending of the pandemic emergencies, the most recent COVID-19 surge remains steady and in double-digits, though leaders celebrate the slow drop in cases. We are at 12% positivity while the newest variants continue to surge. The Feds continue to push vaccination, especially the bivalent boosters, but have done little to promote masking in busy places (stores, mass events). So, the more I see people I know getting bit a second time by COVID-19, the more I know no one is doing enough–including people, in general. And as health experts tell us, the more the virus circulates (spreads), the more it will change and become more transmissible as new variants.

Thankfully, Moderna has stated that their boosters and vaccines will continue to be free to the public, including the uninsured. But that’s because the taxpayers paid for its development. The other drug companies will charge $110 for the vaccines.

When is the next booster for those of use fully boosted, yet probably waning? Well, the Feds seem to be waiting on whether we will switch to an annual booster in the Fall. Some of us are worried about waiting too long if the current booster is waning, especially the immunocompromised who need the protection. Dr. Peter Hotez suggests the Feds recommend a second booster sooner so that people can decide whether or not to get it. The Feds don’t seem to be listening to the experts.

So, keep masking, stay away from big crowds, etc.

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Posted in 2023, Accion, City of Houston, DC Promo, Elections, Local Politica, Media, Republinuttiness, Texas Lege

Funders of Feel Good Jesus Ads Fund Hate

Posted on February 13, 2023 | 1 comment

I got an interesting e-mail from Americans United for Separation of Church and State regarding those feel-good ads we’ve seen during football games, including the Super Bowl. The message on immigration and asylum seekers being compared to Joseph and Mary during the holiday season was especially powerful. But I must say I don’t trust anything until I find out who’s funding what and for what purpose. I’m especially distrusting of religious messaging. So, this e-mail answered some questions I’ve had since I first saw the ads.

Dear ____:

An expected 120 million people will watch the Super Bowl on Sunday – many just for the commercials. One viral ad – the $20 million “He Gets Us” campaign about Jesus – is funded by an influential donor to some of the most active and litigious Shadow Network groups working to undermine church-state separation.

The Servant Foundation, also known as The Signatry, is behind the ad blitz. Over the next three years, the Servant Foundation plans to spend “about a billion dollars” toward this public relations campaign. They’ve hired a PR firm to address, in the firm’s words, the problem of “How did the world’s greatest love story in Jesus become known as a hate group?”

Of course, they’re the cause of their own problem – not only has the Servant Foundation funded hate groups, but the PR firm, Haven, has represented them. Key Shadow Network members Focus on the Family and Alliance Defending Freedom are in their portfolio. Our last installment in this email series exposed ADF, a noted anti-LGBTQ hate group that has argued repeatedly in courts that religion, and specifically Christianity, is a license to discriminate; they have one such case pending before the Supreme Court right now.

But the Servant Foundation has more direct ties to ADF: It’s one of ADF’s biggest financial backers. A recent exposé reports that, “between 2018-20, the Servant Foundation donated more than $50 million to the Alliance Defending Freedom” and that those contributions “were among the five largest donations given out by the foundation in each of those three years.”

Other recipients of the Servant Foundation’s billion dollars in assets include:

Nearly $8 million went to Answers in Genesis, creationist Ken Ham’s fundamentalist ministry behind the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter.

Over $1 million was designated for the anti-LGBTQ Campus Crusade for Christ (rebranded as “Cru” since 2011).

$374,800 went to Al Hayat Ministries, an organization that seeks to “respectfully yet fearlessly unveil the deception of Islam,” and runs an Arabic-language Christian satellite TV station with the goal of converting Muslims to Christianity.

In 2020 alone, we found donations to prominent Shadow Network members American Center for Law and Justice, First Liberty Institute, and Liberty Counsel.

Also helping to fund the Super Bowl ads are the Greens, the billionaire family behind the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., and the Hobby Lobby craft store chain that got the Supreme Court to grant corporations a religious exemption to deny workers access to birth control.

This is how the Shadow Network operates – an expensive, gimmicky ad campaign that pastes a feel-good, faith-friendly face on their behind-the-scenes efforts to redefine religious freedom and gut church-state separation. But you and I know better.

So, when you hear folks chatting about this “Jesus ad” after the Super Bowl, help us expose the Shadow Network behind the ads.

In Solidarity,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO

During tough times, we all look for feel-good messages, but we must ask ourselves if we are being duped by the messengers. Hell, everyone feels good when the local furniture salesman does something, but then are shocked when he ends up being a gambling-addicted, MAGA-supporting, tax-dodging, election denying a-hole. Or, when the local feel-good preacher locks the doors on hurricane victims. A billion-dollar ad campaign is equally suspect when it comes from people funding hate. It’s something to think about.

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Posted in 2023, Accion, Cultura, DC Promo, Elections, Local Politica, Media, Religious Liberty

Tagged Americans United for Separation of Church and State, jesus ads, religious freedom, religious messaging, right-wing hate, super bowl

Thoughts on Viernes – 02102023

Posted on February 10, 2023 | Comments Off

First, The Good News: Robert Gallegos for Houston Mayor

Woke up this morning to ABC-13 telling me (on TV) that District I CM Robert Gallegos has tossed his hat in the ring for Mayor of Houston. The Chron has it. Gallegos is the term-limited lone Chicano on the Council. He has represented his district well, taking on issues such as environmental racism by rail companies, along with pushing for quality of life projects, such as the development of the Houston Botanic Garden in his district, and more budget money for trash and recycling in his district. His office’s constituent services rank up there as responsive and effective. Nine years of experience on Council, as well as decades of experience in the community, surely qualifies his run. Gallegos has been my favorite member, and I’ll even go as far as stating that he has rep’d me better than most at City Hall, and I live in the Mid-West of Houston.

Side note: I’ll never forget his kind words and memorial service attendance when my Mom passed away in 2016. He’s genuinely a good person who would serve all of Houston well.

The Chron already has the local experts talking about the race. I’ll analyze the analyzers next week.

Abbott Doubles Down On Being A Bigot–Again!

Greg Abbott hates diversity as a means of social change as he has banned using diversity as a hiring tool. The only kind of diversity he approves of is the usual hiring of ass-kissing vendidos who are willing to sell-out their own people. He’ll parade around a babos@ who will walk lock-and-goose-step with his Trump-like policies. Otherwise, it’s not his kind of diversity. We’ve been through it before here on DC when Latinos support any given republinut Latino appointee as a win for diversity, but in reality, it’s a win for right-wing pendejos. Why are we so surprised?

Abbott Isn’t Accountable To Uvalde

Abbott’s DPS has decided that a couple of DPS troopers is enough to punish DPS for the Uvalde shooting response. If they fire too many, they won’t be able to keep the border boondoggle staffed, I gather. That’s OK, Uvalde County voted for Abbott, so they must be OK with what happened in Uvalde. I guess that means that doofus DPS director gets to stay, too. He said as much.

Biden’s New Super-Duper-Deportation Rule

A new Biden initiative to immediately deport non-Mexicans has the administration back-tracking on the plan. So, as always, there is confusion in the news. One reason they’re contemplating Mexico as a drop-off point is that they have bad relations with Cuba and Venezuela because of the blockades the US has imposed on them which makes for difficult trips to drop-off deportees. And Mexico is willing to work with the US, but probably at a price. There is sure to be an uproar from US-based (and connected) folks from the targeted deportation countries. Biden’s mistake is that he refuses to work with these countries because he might earn a few political points, but hardly any votes, by making noise about them. Democrats lost an opportunity to do something worthwhile in migration during the Democratic majority.

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Posted in 2023, Accion, City of Houston, Cultura, DC Promo, Democratic Stuff, Elections, Environmental, Local Politica, Media

In Honor of No Tejano…

Posted on February 4, 2023 | Comments Off

As always, the local horse and cow show has avoided Tejano music at all costs. It seems like the Grammys are avoiding it too–in a category that supposedly includes Tejano. Well, we won’t avoid it. Here are a few new tunes that have dropped recently.

The Latin Breed – Sientes Igual – As a loyal fan of Tejano music, the legendary Latin Breed is always on my playlist. With their vocalist Ben Miranda, TLB drops this horn-driven ranchera that makes you more than toe-tap. Quiero bailar! Enjoy.

Jay Perez – Necesito Odiarte – The Voice is back with a new single and an upcoming album. Penned by Eddie Perez and produced by the good folks at Freddie Records, Perez gets a new set of musicians together for this tune. And despite the new guys, the legacy sound is not lost at all–even live. Many know that Jay has been taking a short break after some maintenance surgery on his vocal cords, but after over 25 years in the biz, we all would need a tune-up. I’m lovin’ this song.

La Dezz – Anhelos – Chocked full of experience, La Dezz is hardly a new band, and they have been dropping good original music for a while. But this hit made famous by Los Aguilares and is a fitting tribute, which features Ram Herrera joining Mark and David Ledesma and Lisa Mar. Ram has included this tune in his live repertoire lately.

Rebecca Valadez – No Te Voy A Perder – Rebecca has been in the business from a young age, touring with Janet Jackson and the two itirations of Mazz. Recently, she’s been performing with Stevie D and has a single with him. But this tune, produced by Jonathan Espinoza, will hopefully put her on the map once again as a solo artist. It’s a tough business and even toughter for las mujeres. Excellent drumming from Aaron Holler, too.

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Posted in 2023, Cultura, DC Promo

Tagged houstonrodeo, jay perez, la dezz, Latin Breed, ram herrera, rebecca valadez

The Latin Grammys Tejano Noms Are Out

Posted on September 21, 2022 | Comments Off

The LG Tejano noms release day is always one in which I expect to see bands whose music I’ve never heard. This was not one of those days.

The nominees include a Mexico-based Tejano band, the niece of a legend (Emilio) who has taken control of her career to achieve success, a vocalist originally produced by Abraham Quintanilla who has grown up in the industry to become a powerful singer, a band of professional working musicians who work in various projects but come together for a new album, and the son of a Tejano music legend who is making his way to that status himself.

Some good music was nominated this year in the Tejano music category. I’m glad to see that two talented young women were nominated, too. Both of have taken the reins of their careers and have explored new directions to achieve their creations.

Here are some samples from the nominated albums.

El Plan – Despreciado.