Este Mundo

Rupa & the April Fishes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 27, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cumbancha
• ASIN: B002MT3D2O
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,301 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Los Angeles Times, October 17, 2008

French, Latin and any number of gypsy-adjacent influences course through their mix with a pleasantly "San Franciscan" kind of flourish. Watching them perform is a little like riding with the top down in a double-decker bus, careening through seven or eight crowded ethnic neighborhoods, each one in the middle of a massive street party.

Product Description

With their second album, este mundo (this world), Rupa & the April Fishes hold up a carnival mirror to life and present a warped, humorous and occasionally disquieting reflection. Sequestered beneath Rupa's infectious and captivating melodies are thought-provoking themes that address life, love, art, death and the real and artificial divisions that keep us apart. The San Francisco-based musical agitators are specialists in crossing borders and building bridges, and on este mundo they effortlessly blur the boundaries of genre and geography to create a sound Time Out has called global agit-pop.

Este mundo was recorded at Prairie Sun Studios by engineer and sound wizard Oz Fritz, who is best known for his work with Tom Waits (Mule Variations). Guests include rapper Boots Riley of The Coup, along with some of the Bay Area's best musical talents including Tin Hat's trumpeter Ara Anderson and Serbian slap bassist Djordje Stijepovic.

Rupa & the April Fishes blend an alternative pop attitude with international spices, mixing in elements of Gypsy swing, Colombian cumbia, French chanson and Indian ragas. According to lead singer Rupa, "este mundo is a collection of sounds and songs highlighting life's accidental beauty and surging joy as well as their inexorable partner: human suffering."

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rupa is a delightful find!, March 11, 2010

By 

C. L. Baron "English teacher" (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Este Mundo (Audio CD)

I read about this artist and her band in Relix magazine and listened to a few cuts on line before deciding to order 2 of her albums. Rupa sings in English, Spanish, and French....and very lucidly at that....which makes her sort of the female equivalent of Manu Chau. The songs are wonderful...both aesthetically and in terms of their social awareness. It's hard to believe that this talented artist's "day job" is teaching at UDSF, one of the most prestigious med schools in the U.S. I am looking forward to seeing Rupa and the April Fishes live at some point....can't wait!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Este Mundo" is Powerful Medicine, October 27, 2009

By 

Doug Elliott (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Este Mundo (Audio CD)

Rupa & the April Fishes won critical acclaim and a global network of devoted fans with their exquisite debut CD, "eXtraOrdinary rendition." Their eagerly-awaited second release, "Este Mundo," seems destined to multiply both the accolades and the fan base exponentially. Multilingual singer/songwriter/physician/human rights activist Rupa Marya and her talented, inventive band have created a fabulously exuberant and eclectic collection exploring themes of love, longing and loneliness. Several of the songs confront the borders--geopolitical and metaphorical--that separate people from their loved ones and their dreams, and Rupa gives passionate voice to the migrants who risk life and limb to find a new life in a strange and inhospitable land.

Other songs worthy of mention include "L'elephant" and "Trouble." In the former (inspired, I believe, by the writings of Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti) Rupa sings of an elephant walking through the jungle, innocently trampling the trees in its path, which enables the human following in that path to enjoy the moonlight that "only falls where the trees have already fallen." One hears the elephant's footsteps in the band's thunderous crescendo, as Ara Anderson's gorgeous trumpet solo soars above the din. "Trouble," a delightfully jazzy/bluesy number, showcases the artistry of Marcus Cohen on trumpet, Ed Baskerville on cello and Safa Shokrai on bass, as Rupa laments an apparent tug-of-war between head and heart: "trouble beautiful trouble/why don't you stay/i think that you should go."

Backed by some of the finest musicians in the Bay Area, Rupa wonderfully answers the call of the Beatles to "take a sad song and make it better." "Este Mundo" is powerful medicine from the good doctor.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Bombay to the Bay Area, December 11, 2009

By 

Amaranth "music fan" (Northern California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Este Mundo (Audio CD)

"Este Mundo" is Rupa and the April Fishes' stunning sophomore album. It follows quickly on the heels of their debut album: Extraordinary Rendition Rupa Marya manages to juggle being a doctor at UCSF with touring,and performing at San Francisco's Outside Lands. One has to keep in mind their debut album came out--last year. Rupa and her merry band travel fast.

"Este Mundo" is a fascinating polyglot mix of klezmer, jazz, chanson, with some hints of Indian ragas. "La Frontera" opens with city sounds. "La Linea" is reggae,while "La Rose" is more of a traditional French chanson. "L'elephant" and "Soy payaso" blend Indian sounds with jazz. "Soledad" and "Neruda" are more meditative pieces. "Trouble" is a traditional jazz tune. Many of the songs have a Latin flavor to them. "La Estrella Caida" and "Por La Frontera" are evocative of Mexican rancheras/boleros.

"Este Mundo" is one of the strong closing albums of 2009. 2009 has been an eventful year, and this album perfectly captures it.