Forget the Olympics or the election — it’s the humble accordion that’s grabbing headlines in major newspapers from coast to coast this week. Last weekend’s American Accordionists’ Association festival gave both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times an excuse to hop on the “accordion revival” bandwagon. Best of all, both papers focused on the festival’s young attendees — the next generation of accordionists.

In “A Celebration of the Squeezebox”, the New York Times talks to 15-year-old John Moceo and 18-year-old Anthony Falco, who notes “it’s up to our generation to bring in rock songs.” Meanwhile, New York accordionist Benjamin Ickies nicely sums up the accordion’s ability to bridge the gap between old and young:

“The accordion’s in our cultural past, so it sounds somewhat familiar… But for 30 years it’s also been a complete outsider, so it also sounds new and fresh. No other instrument has that dichotomy.”

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times article, “Accordions are Not Just a Punch Line Anymore”, covers the well-worn story of the accordion’s rise and fall in American popular culture, but looks with optimism at its future — talking to 22-year-old Cory Pesaturo and John Moceo. Don’t miss the excellent video of several teenage accordionists playing and talking about their favorite instrument.

In honor of the American Accordionists Association’s annual festival — going on this weekend in Arlington, Virginia — the Washington Times published a list of its top five accordion rock songs. (We’ll try to ignore the fact that they misspelled “accordion.”) Their list:

• “Squeeze Box” by The Who
• “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” by Bruce Springsteen
• “Jenny’s Got a Pony” by Los Lobos
• “Back Street Girl” by The Rolling Stones
• “If I Should Fall from Grace With God” by The Pogues

For some reason, they ruled out crossover acts like BeauSoleil and Buckwheat Zydeco, but even then, I still think they’re missing some winners. What would make your list of top accordion rock songs? Leave a comment and let us know.

I received a number of emails this weekend from accordion fans in the Pacific Northwest, pointing me towards this Seattle Post-Intelligencer front-page story on local squeezebox makers Petosa Accordions. The article chronicles the rise, fall, and current rebirth of the accordion, as seen through the eyes of the Petosa family, who have been building and selling accordions since 1922. Today, Petosa sells some of the finest high-end accordions in the world — a top model can set you back nearly $30,000 — to artists that include Dick Contino, Frank Marocco, and more. (They also have more affordable models for us average Joes.)

Be sure to check out the excellent slideshow that accompanies the article; it includes an audio interview with owner Joe Petosa Jr.

For more than a century, corridos have been a staple of popular Mexican music. With a waltz-like rhythm and lyrics focused on legends, romances, heroes, and villains of the rural frontier, corridos are a traditional storytelling genre. But in recent years, a subgenre called the “narcocorrido” has exploded in popularity, and its stories focus on the real-life exploits of drug traffickers and crime bosses. It’s the Mexican version of gangsta rap — graphic lyrics put to an accordion-driven beat.

This week, the Los Angeles Times had an interesting article on the backlash against narcocorridos in Tijuana. Whereas previous efforts to ban the music by local and national officials have failed, this movement seems to be bubbling up from music fans who have grown tired of a genre that celebrates the people terrorizing their community. According to the accordion player of Los Linces Boys, a band that grew famous for playing narcocorridos:

“Things are changing… It’s not like in the past, when people would hear corridos and shoot their guns in the air… Now, people would rather grab their girlfriends, squeeze close on the dance floor and kiss.”

Narcocorridos have become big sellers on both sides of the border, so it’s probably too soon to tell if this backlash will have lasting significance. I definitely recommend the LA Times article, though, as a good introduction to one of the darker, and certainly more dangerous, genres associated with the accordion.

Not sure how I missed this, but the April issue of Paste Magazine has a couple features on the accordion. The first, “Squeezebox Redux: The World’s Dorkiest Instrument Earns Hipster Cred”, notes the accordion’s recent rise to prominence in the indie rock world. One label head suggests that “the more bands that use accordions, the more [new] bands will be inspired to try it themselves.” DeVotchKa’s Tom Hagerman also has a good quote:

“The accordion can quickly color a piece of music into a much darker or even grotesque sort of tune… I think in pop music it tends to make things sound a little anachronistic, in a good way.”

Paste also published their “Ultimate Accordion Playlist”. The list is, again, indie rock-centric, and features a number of the bands we’ve covered here (They Might Be Giants, the Decemberists, Gogol Bordello, Arcade Fire, etc.). Any notable omissions?

As someone who comes from a long line of farmers, I’m no stranger to tractors and farm equipment. But I never thought of using their sounds in music, which is why I’m not a famous avant-garde musician like Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen. He toured four UK farms and recorded the sounds of tractors, milking machines, threshers, and more, so he could tweak, loop, and sample them with his MIDI accordion for his project, “Earth Machine Music.”

“When you amplify and equalise those sounds, and you have a great PA, you can suddenly hear music and rhythms. I’m sure people who come to the concerts will be surprised at what great sounds they have. These are kind of forgotten sounds. Everybody knows them, and everybody knows accordion sounds, too – but not like this.”

Next month, Pohjonen will revisit those farms for a series of concerts in which he’ll perform new music he has composed specifically for each venue. Local farmers will even “play along” with Pohjonen, firing up their tractors and machinery during the performance. There’s even a documentary film in the works. I wonder if it will spawn a whole new genre of agricultural accordionists…

Update: I found a YouTube clip of Pohjonen discussing the project, as well as a piece in the Telegraph.

Sunday’s edition of the Los Angeles Times had an interesting piece on the accordion’s role in classical music and film. It covers the instrument’s history and mechanics before focusing on classical accordionist Nick Ariondo, composer Samuel Zyman, and prolific soundtrack accordionist Frank Marocco. Ariondo explains what makes the accordion so expressive — and difficult to play:

“When you see the piano side of it, complete with white and black notes, you expect to see hammers, not valves. But this is a push-and-pull reed instrument. When you pull out on the accordion, you’re sucking air into it. It sounds like a harmonica. The bellows is like the bow on the violin. It’s very difficult to master.”

I detect a somewhat snooty tone in the article, particularly the emphasis that the “accordion is not just an instrument of the people.” Then again, maybe I’m just hurt because Frank Marocco’s comment — “most of the accordion players never took it much further… they learned to play a little polka, a little waltz, a march, and they’re satisfied” — hits a little too close to home.

Okay, I promise this will be the last Grammy post (at least until next year). No big surprises, but here’s a quick rundown of the accordion-related winners from tonight’s ceremony:

• Best Polka Album: Come Share the Wine by Jimmy Sturr
  Surprise, surprise. This gives Sturr 17 wins in the 23 years that the polka category has existed. Maybe the Grammys need a system like some county fairs I know, where if you win for several years in a row, you’re taken off the ballot and given permanent “hall of fame” status.
• Best Zydeco or Cajun Album: Live! Worldwide by Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience
  It’s fitting that the person who campaigned for this category’s creation would win its first-ever award. There were a lot of deserving albums nominated, though, and I’m sorry I didn’t finish my Cajun/Zydeco Grammy preview in time. (I’ll explain why very soon!)
• Best Norteño Album: Detalles Y Emociones by Los Tigres del Norte
  Already recipients of a lifetime achievement award at the Latin Grammys, the Norteño legends collect this particular award for the second year in a row.

Check the full list of winners and let me know if there’s anyone (carrying an accordion) I missed.

With so many Grammy categories, it’s no surprise that what you see on TV is only a tiny fraction of the awards presented (usually about 12 out of 110 total). Most awards are given out during a ceremony before the televised show.

This year, for the first time, you can watch those pre-televised awards — including Best Polka Album and Best Cajun/Zydeco Album — live online at Grammy.com. It starts at 1pm Pacific/4pm Eastern today and, while there are a lot of awards to get through, things move pretty fast.