Sak Tzevul could be also be called rebel rock. As I type this, the term sounds cliche to me. But maybe it’s only cliche from a particularly regulated US perspective that tends to want to discredit any creativity that truly subverts the clutches of the culture industry–that which tells us what to consume, how to consume it, and that creativity falling outside of these stringent guidelines should be ignored or ridiculed.
What makes the band so intersting–ya know, aside from its fascinating fusion of indigenous and electronic instruments and dynamic song-writing–is its directness in challenging cultural norms that attempt to regulate indigenous culture.
In an interview with a New Jersey Blogger, Hola Desde NJ, “Damian Guadalupe Martinez, lead singer for SAK TZEVUL, said young musicians would rather imitate the new sounds than enunciate the Mixtec language before an audience or a public microphone for fear of being ridiculed. “’Most music played in my town, and others like it in Mexico, is imposed. Our indigenous music has been relegated to behind the scenes to be forgotten and not promoted,”’ he said.”
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This four-piece rock group from Mexico proper reminds me of things I’ve never heard. It’s familiar, yet not. They’ve got a catchy shoegaze charisma with upbeat songs and swooning vocals that swim in just the amount of reverb, but they’ve got enough of their own style to avoid sounding trite. That said, their first release sounds like it could be from the 90s, and that’s not a dis. Check out this video, and 
I’m going to Mexico in July to talk with some producers and music collectives about a project I’m working on (among other reasons), and I’ve stumbled upon a wealth of amazing acoustic-based groups in the process of preparing myself to go. 
Richmond, VA–I realized recently that for the past several weeks I’ve been in cahoots with the emcee from the Richmond-based band, 
Richmond, VA–Last night several faculty members from Virginia Commonwealth University held a forum called “Why Occupy?” It was meant to introduce newcomers to our methods of communication and also to explore some of the motives that drove the Occupy movement (or “moment,” as have suggested is a better term) into existence, such as economic inequality, the military industrial complex, and the exploitation of labor. We had a pretty nice turnout, packing a large lecture hall with about/over 250 hundred people. This video pretty much somes it up:
