Playlist Q&A: Ariel Tudela
Playlist is a regular column in which we ask Beijing personalities about their musical tastes and recommendations. This month, the Beijinger sat down with Ariel Tudela, co-owner and bartender at tiki cocktail temple Más.
Describe your life so far using a song title.
“Is That All There Is?” by Peggy Lee. Dry, funny, and somehow extremely Buddhist in my eyes. I love this song.What is your favorite cover version of a song? “Always Something There To Remind Me” by La Lupe. She’s like an even more exaggerated, Cuban Dolly Parton. It’s a fantastic Vegas-sounding, brassy cover, and her thick accent reminds me of the people I grew up with in Miami.
What’s your favorite Chinese song, and why?
“The Wandering Songstress” by Zhou Xuan. I can’t imagine a more romantic Chinese song than this one. Some of my closest friends and I got very emotional and sang this with a taxi driver returning from a Spring Festival escape to Xi’an several years ago. It’s one of the happiest and most vivid memories of my time China.
What is your work out music?
I enjoy very long, repetitive, mostly lyric-less stuff. Lots of traditional Southeast Asian music like Balinese Gamelan, or maybe some light psychedelic and Krautrock like Neu.
What would you choose as your perfect break-up song?
“Have a Good Life Baby” by Dusty Springfield. It’s sometimes so hard to let go of something, even if you know you’re better off without it. This song simply and elegantly describes a long overdue and inevitable breakup with minimum sappiness. It’s the best way to say the last goodbye.
Which singer would you bring back from the dead?
Madonna. She’s been dead to me for years. She was so incredible, but she really should have stopped a while ago and left her legacy intact. “Borderline” is an absolutely perfect pop song.
Never been to Más? Check out our feature in April's edition of the Beijinger.
Photo: Ken
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