Scene and Unheard: Santa Fe, New Mexico Issue #40

By Kimberly Jeffries
Published: June 1st, 2009 | 12:00pm

Where to go, what to do
Santa Fe ain’t called “The City Different” for nothin’. With a thriving arts community and a rich cultural heritage, there’s plenty of quirky goodness to be found in New Mexico’s capital.

Population: About 75,000
Up-and-coming neighborhood: Outside of downtown Santa Fe most of the neighborhoods are residential. In fact, many districts are planned communities that attract the non-natives looking to retire in town. That said, check out the artsy Canyon Road area for gallery hopping, window-shopping, and people watching.
Venues: Though often tourist traps, a few hotel bars in Santa Fe are surprising hotspots for great local talent, including The Inn at Loretto. But the best place for underground culture in Santa Fe is Meow Wolf, a multimedia collective space on the southwest side of town that’s home to art shows, live music, and a hodgepodge of other creative events.
Shopping: Stores such as Wind River Trading Co. and Packards house museum-quality Native American arts and crafts and surround the Plaza, which is lined on the north side by the portal under the Palace of the Governors. Every morning, rain or shine, Native American artists line up under the portal to sell their wares, and it’s a quintessential Santa Fe experience to stroll along, talk with the artists, and buy handmade goods directly from their creators.
Restaurant: New Mexicans take their chili peppers very seriously, and the best place to sample the many incarnations is Maria’s. Be it smothered on your enchiladas, slathered on your burger, or stuffed with cheese, the mighty chili pepper is the center of all culinary enterprises. Maria’s wisely offers a list of more than 100 (yep, 100) margaritas to help you wash it all down.
Recommended must-do: If you’re not claustrophobic and don’t mind big crowds, book your flight and room now for the annual Indian Market (Aug. 22-23). Art vendors spill out onto the streets as tens of thousands of art connoisseurs jostle each other to find gems to add to their Native American art collections. Pick up carnitas from one of the many street vendors and aimlessly meander through the crowds and check out the world-class goodies.

THE APPLE MINER COLONY
Sounds like: Slow-burning, sweetly atmospheric acoustic folk that unexpectedly blossoms into a cacophonous melding of every instrument under the sun — plus a saw. Influences: Self-described influences include Neutral Milk Hotel and Sufjan Stevens, but their 2008 album The Heat Haunted Fever also hints of Iron & Wine, and it’s hard not to make surface-level comparisons to other gargantuan orchestral groups like Polyphonic Spree.
FLAMINGO PINK!
Sounds like: Also in the indie-acoustic vein is Flamingo Pink!, a quirky duo that creates simple tunes with bluntly honest and heartfelt lyrics (take, for example, this snippet from “Chest”: “Maybe it’s just your soul patch / That makes me think you’re such a good catch”). Influences: Besides being influenced by “things that go bump in the night,” Flamingo Pink! is at times reminiscent of Kimya Dawson and at others of Nick Drake.

OWL EYES
Sounds like: Gentle, lilting gems of the shoegaze variety, Owl Eyes’ songs have a faintly haunting quality to them that lend themselves well to daydreaming. Influences: The slightly raw quality is evocative of Damien Rice, but there’s an underlying sweetness similar to that of Denison Witmer’s whimsical songbook.