>From Amoxtli Reviews #4
Reviewed by Roberto Rodriguez

Chorizo Tounguefire
Taco Shop  Poets
Calaca Press
PO BOX 620786
San Diego CA 92162
For further info, call 619-231-9210 or calacapress@home.com

The Taco Shop Poets from San Diego can best be described as urban
habaneros.  [They're] hot! Their spoken word, in this CD -- Chorizo
Tonguefire --  is  reminiscent of beatnik poetry (1950s and early
1960s), though with a 1999 barrio bilingual flavor to it.

Every generation has its rebels and its poets, always one step ahead of
the crowd. With Chorizo Tonguefire, the poets splash their urban
graffiti with words the way street preachers deliver their words --
non-stop, rapid fire and melodic. Though their words are not to be
confused with that of preachers, someone might indeed go as far as
calling them border town prophets.

With this CD, they deliver the news -- the kind of news that rarely make
it into the mainstream... about poverty... the nonexistent border...
urban mestizo reality... indigenous resistance... and about Taco Shop
Aztlan Culture.

And with this CD, they give us a little bit of everything for everyone.
More than anything, the Taco Shop Poets speak to the urban politics of
El Paso, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana, San Antonio, Mexico City...
and Teotihuacan... and the jungles of Chiapas.... and Chicano Liberation
which knows no borders.

Like graffiti, not everyone can understand it. Not everyone can make it
out. And like urban graffiti, they are the writing on the wall...today's
news...  there's a message... and they are the messengers.

The Taco Sop Poets are: Adrian Arancibia, poet, Michael Figgins, bass,
Kevin Green, drums, Adolfo Guzman Lopez, poet, Tomas Riley, poet,
Miguel-Angel Soria, poet and special guest, Lennon Honor, flute.

What's hip about their words is that they have an edge, something
lacking in many other mediums of communication. They are to be commended
not simply for bringing their 20s-30s messages, but also for paying
tribute (Grey Grease) to Raul Salinas,  one of the urban Chicano
underground poet giants of the 1960s.

Also to be commended is CALACA PRESS for setting an example of what a
small  Raza business can do... keep the words coming and keeping them
real.

(c) 1999 Amoxtli Reviews, Roberto Rodriguez RR2001RR@aol.com

* Amoxtli Reviews is a monthly independent online review service.
Readers of Column of the Americas receive the service, including several
national listserves. They can also be found on the web at LatinoLink.com
Those wishing books or other materials reviewed, please send them to
Amoxtli Reviews, PO BOX 7905, Albq NM 87194-7905, 505-242-7282.

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To order CHORIZO TONGUEFIRE by the Taco Shop Poets send a check or Money
Order for  $10.00 + $2.00 s/h (CA residents add 7.75% sales tax, 1CD =
$12.77) made out to:

Calaca Press
P.O. Box 620786
San Diego, Califas 92162

For more info on Calaca Press check out our website at:
http://members.home.net/calacapress