Vinyl Vault Entry #9: The Glamour and Heartbreak of Amalia Mendoza's Aqui Estoy Otra Vez

"Bolero music is very bittersweet," says T&E reader Danie Enriquez, "it touches on the best parts of living and the worst." While reflecting on the glamour and raw emotionality of Amalia Mendoza's music, Danie shares a story of how bolero music sparked a beautiful love story between her grandparents, and how that legacy is reflected in Mendoza's 1971 Aqui Estoy Otra Vez.

Album: Aqui Estoy Otra Vez (1971)
Artist Amalia Mendoza 
Label: RCA Records
Genre(s): Spanish vocalist, sad bastard music, Boleros 
Favorite song: The title track is a good example of her vocal style.

Give us some background on this record. What does the album sound like?
 
Amalia Mendoza has a beautiful, raw, weeping quality in her voice, and knows how to use silence to create a lovely, uneasy tension that I admire so much. I think I read a quote about Nina Simone that said something like that and it made me realize what I love so much about her music and other artists like her.

''I cry when I sing because I have known sadness in my life,'' Mendoza said in 1985. ''I live what I sing. I tell a story, and I become that person in it.” 

Why did you choose this record? Do you have any specific memories of listening to this record?
 
Not of this specific record but the music reminds me of my grandparents. My tata (gramps for my english speakin’ readers)  would play guitar in a mariachi back in Mexico and they met at one of his shows. Apparently, my nana Lola was so sprung for him she followed him town to town to see him play. I wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t won him over I guess. (I make it sound creepy but I swear it was romantic hahah).   
 
When my nana was on her deathbed- just a few days before she passed, I was sitting next to her in the dark. We lit a candle and opened the window for the mariachi band summoned to play for her. Her eyes still lit up and glassed over when they played songs that my tata would play for her. I have vivid memories of her sitting alone after he died, staring off in the distance listening to a mariachi play "Sabor A Mi" for her. I hope we all experience a love like that. 
 
Bolero music is very bittersweet, it touches on the best parts of living and the worst. It’s very goth.  ​
 
What does this album pair well with?

Driving to your lover’s grave.
Dancing with your ex husband for the last time. 
Heartbreak after learning that your crush litters or some heinous shit like that. 
*Crying in Spanish*
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Tell us about the album art featured on this record.

Ok so, she is wearing this green bedazzled floor length dress and kind of looks like an enchantress or some kind of sassy mystic. She is so glamorous in all her photos, my favorite look is her wearing this floor length black cape with sequins and flowers and 
this dazzling red dress underneath. She could totally be a goth. And oh my god the eyeliner. Ohhh.....the glamour. THE SPANISH GLAMOUR *wipes tear from eye*
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When would you normally listen to this record?

This record is in a glass case on the wall, it is too potent. Only for emo emergencies. My neighbors know when I’m a hurtin’ when she starts singing. The pity casserole dishes start rolling in by the third song.
 
RIYL (Recommend If You Like):

Nina Simone, Chavela Vargas, Janis Joplin. Crying on the floor. 

Where did you get it from?

Wooden Tooth Records [in Tucson, AZ]! I feel bad when I go to a different shop. What a bunch of loveable rascals. ;)  I’m loyal haha
 
Tell us more about your record collection in general.

I love garage rock, jazz, old country records and vocalists in all kinds of languages. I do the Marie Condo so my collection is relatively small and I always have new stuff to listen to after I thin out my shelf. The survivors are all beloved pieces that I cherish. 
 
What does record collecting mean to you? 

I love that records carry their history, records are very sentimental objects. I have records with love notes scrawled on their covers and autographs “to dear fans”. When I saw Tav Falco, I bought a record from the man himself and I was absolutely cheesin. He signed it for me and left a scratch from his ring in the sleeve. That's just not something that can happen with a mp3. It's small things like that. Little things mean a lot.
 
Also, I find music all the time that I wouldn’t be exposed to if I had not been digging around the bins. I found some of my favorite albums, including this one actually, that way.