FELIX CONTRERAS, HOST:
From NPR Music, this is ALT.LATINO. I'm Felix Contreras.
ANAMARIA SAYRE, HOST:
And I'm Anamaria Sayre.
CONTRERAS: It's that time of the year. Got to look back at the year - some of our favorite picks.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
CONTRERAS: And we're starting this year's show off with one of my picks.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE LATIN DEAD'S "A TOUCH OF GREY")
SAYRE: Felix, not to talk down about your music choice, but why do I feel like I'm on a game show now (laughter)?
CONTRERAS: Oh, my God, that is so wrong.
SAYRE: Come on - a little bit, a little bit (laughter).
CONTRERAS: OK. All right. All right.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE LATIN DEAD'S "A TOUCH OF GREY")
CONTRERAS: You know, I got to bring in our third voice this week because maybe she's got something to say about it. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento - Isabella, welcome.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Hello. Hello. Thank you for having me. You know, I'm always siding with you on your Dead preferences, so I'm sorry, Ana, I can't.
SAYRE: (Laughter).
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: I can't hate.
CONTRERAS: (Laughter).
SAYRE: This feels like a sneak attack, Felix - like you brought in a third party to bolster your side a little bit here.
CONTRERAS: Only on this track.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A TOUCH OF GREY")
THE LATIN DEAD: (Singing) I will get by. I will survive.
CONTRERAS: This track is from an album called "Eyes Of The World." It's by a group called The Latin Dead. And how could I not love this record? I think we talked about it in June on the best of the year so far. This - these are salsa or Afro Caribbean interpretations of the music of the Grateful Dead. And the arrangements are by this amazing pianist and arranger named Oscar Hernández who's been with a lot of different bands over the years. And again, the one of the reasons why I really like this record is obviously because they pick some of my favorite songs, and it's an acknowledgement of one of my favorite bands, but also because they're such tight arrangements on music that has been legendary for improvisation and discovery.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A TOUCH OF GREY")
THE LATIN DEAD: (Singing) ...Will get by. I will survive.
SAYRE: Can I ask you a question, Felix?
CONTRERAS: Yeah.
SAYRE: What about - like, I - because, you know, I've been trying to hop on the Dead train with you, and I'm always a little bit skeptical of, like, a reimagined version of something so classic or like, a - like you say, a Latinified version. So what about this one works for you?
CONTRERAS: There are different ways to approach the songs, you know, because they come from bluegrass. They come from blues. They come from jazz. And one of the things, especially for those of us of a certain age, who have been listening to it for a long time, it's a new way into it. And it falls in line with what Bob Weir is doing with the Dead catalog. He disbanded the Dead and Company band that was basically the rock-and-roll band version of the Grateful Dead, and he is going to start interpreting the music through a symphony orchestra. And Isabella and I were able to attend and cover that here in D.C.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: We both cried.
SAYRE: Where was I?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: (Laughter).
CONTRERAS: And it's just another way to approach this music, because it's so rich. And that's what I appreciate about this particular record, because it's so unique. I've heard it done - I've heard their music done in a lot of different ways - folk music, bluegrass, blues, even jazz. There's a - there used to be called - a band called Jazz is Dead that approached it in a jazz-fusion way. This is very, very unique and one of a kind. And I really appreciated the way they approached it.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: It's very Felix-coded. Like, this is like if you put into an AI thing, like, make me a Felix album, it would be this. But obviously this is better.
CONTRERAS: (Laughter).
SAYRE: Oh, that - 1,000%. I was so confused. I think I said this when you brought it on - what was it? - the best so far, Felix?
CONTRERAS: Yeah.
SAYRE: And I was like, Felix, you have to be somehow involved in the sponsorship, the creation - like, I don't know, but I've never heard of a more Felix concept (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A TOUCH OF GREY")
THE LATIN DEAD: (Singing) We will get by.
CONTRERAS: "Eyes Of The World" is the name of the record, and the band is called the Latin Dead. And the song we heard was "A Touch Of Grey." OK, let's move on to the next pick. I think this is your pick, Ana.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARÍA JOSÉ LLERGO'S "SUPERPODER")
SAYRE: I love this track. This is "Superpoder" off of María José Llergo's album "Otra Vez." Now, I know it's not often that Felix and I have a shared perfect love that we both completely agree on, but María José Llergo, Felix, I feel like has consistently been one of those artists that speaks to us.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUPERPODER")
MARÍA JOSÉ LLERGO: (Singing) Años y milenios tardé en entender, que puedo ser torero, espada y toro a la vez. Ya lo puedo ver, ya lo puedo ver. Pura como el agua, corazón de pez. Besada por el sol, morena de piel. Mamá llora por la noche, no sabe qué hacer…
SAYRE: I think that's what's really special about her, is, like, vocally, she is so strong, but she's also so diverse, I guess, in her appeal and how she sounds. She communicates so much emotion just right off the bat in what she says and how she says it. She's obviously doing this really cool flamenco pop, even borderline R&B, hip-hoppy type of thing, which - it's not the first time we have heard someone do that. But I will say, her lyricism, the openness with which she sings, I mean, it is something really unique, next level, that she's doing. And I just - hearing this project come from her, it was everything I expected from her and more. So it's really exciting to see her growing like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUPERPODER")
JOSÉ LLERGO: (Singing) Juntas estamos cambiando lo feo de este mundo malo. Aprendí a llorar cantando…
CONTRERAS: This is one of those instances where we do cross over. We both have a very strong shared like for María José Llergo, and watching her develop and watching her release this record and be able to express even more of her artistic vision was a lot of fun, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUPERPODER")
JOSÉ LLERGO: (Singing) Superpoder. Superpoder, superpoder, superpoder. Superpoder, superpoder
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: She's also - I mean, I think it's really interesting because I think, like you were saying, Ana, she's not the first person that we've seen experiment with these sounds. I think she also charges her music with a really, really powerful political and social messaging about her place as a young woman in Spain, about how society works in Spain. And I think that brings a really refreshing perspective to the traditions that she's working from, that, you know, as much as she's maybe not the first person to be working in this space, I think she's the first person to be so candid about the themes that she's sort of bringing across her music. It's a really powerful end-of-year statement from her, totally.
SAYRE: Absolutely. And I think, I mean, to me, the strongest artists are always those that are the most gifted in studying contrast, both in terms of themes and actually musically. And for her, she does hold so many things together so beautifully. Like you said, lyrically, she's talking about issues in inventive ways. She's, you know, bringing up things that are that are both personally difficult and personally emotional. There's this line in this song, (speaking Spanish), which just, like - oh, I don't know. It really hits me so, so effectively. And I think also just the way that she toys with the quieter moments and the louder moments. You know, she's so upfront vocally. She's so in-your-face intense in terms of how she carries herself. But she also does, like, let those valleys come and lets the quiet spots breathe. And I really, really love every part of the loud moments and the softer moments.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARÍA JOSÉ LLERGO'S "SUPERPODER")
CONTRERAS: OK, Isabella. You're up. What do you got?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HORA LOCA")
RAWAYANA AND MONSIEUR PERINÉ: (Singing) Amigo, regálame un traguito que me sorprenda una merienda, un dulce de su tienda que me ponga a bailar suavecito, bien pega'ito con un guarrito que me hable bonito y que me lleve pa' la playa sobre las olas. Ay, que me mojen esas olas de La Guaira pa'l Tayrona. Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh. Que me mojen esas olas. Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: So I know that I have been in your ears about Rawayana for years. They have been my favorite band since, like, 2011. But this album - right? - "¿Quién Trae Las Cornetas?" that they released this year and this particular song, "Hora Loca," is just beyond anything they've ever done before to me as a dedicated listener. And I think other people might agree. But so, you know, like, "Hora Loca" - right? - is, like, the most fun part of a wedding or of a party. It's like, the DJ has been saving all the best stuff. People go crazy on the dance floor. People are wearing funny hats. And I love that this song totally captures that energy for me on this record. They brought in Monsieur Periné with those beautiful, beautiful vocals. And I just feel like it stretches across such a wide range of influences and of references, I think.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HORA LOCA")
RAWAYANA AND MONSIEUR PERINÉ: (Singing) Fabuloso matador. Desde que te vi, ya me siento mejor. Vamo' pa' la playa, contigo, me voy. No traigo guarito, pero traigo ron.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: This is the album where Rawayana has really broken outside of Venezuela in a lot of ways. And it's - you know, they've brought in collaborators - obviously, a lot of Venezuelan collaborators - Simon Grossmann, Elena Rose, Servando, Danny Ocean - but then they're bringing in, you know, influences from Puerto Rico, influences from Mexico. And it's really creating this, like, cross-Caribbean pop that has like Afrobeats and salsa and merengue and rock and funk, and it's just, like, so much fun to listen to.
And I think - you know, I think for a lot of their - the past couple of years of their music has been grappling with the difficult political situation in Venezuela and how torn Venezuelan identity is and how it's created outside of Venezuela at this point for so many people who've had to leave the country. This album is just returning to, like, having fun and going to the beach and dancing with the people around you and, like, they just do it so, so, so, so well. So I really wanted to bring that today because I think it's such a beautiful statement from them and such an evolution to what they've been doing since they started.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HORA LOCA")
RAWAYANA AND MONSIEUR PERINÉ: (Singing) Esta noche, no va a llorar. Hoy mi gente vino vacilá' na' má'. Hora loca y unos chilaquiles pa'l bajón.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Rawayana singing "Hora Loca."
CONTRERAS: This is a band called Os Tincoãs. And you'll have to forgive me because my Portuguese is nonexistent. This is a band from Brazil. This is an album called "Canto Coral Afrobrasileiro."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OGUNDÊ")
OS TINCOÃS: (Singing in non-English language).
CONTRERAS: It's a rediscovered gem of an album from a Brazilian group that released three albums in the 1960s and '70s. And they were really into digging deep into the country's African heritage, which was not very common back then.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OGUNDÊ")
OS TINCOÃS: (Singing in non-English language).
CONTRERAS: This album was released just about 40 years ago, and it combines the Brazilian folk rhythms that you hear with an Afro Brazilian choir that echoes, to me, the African American spirituals. And it really was an intentional musical statement connecting these two strands of the African diaspora. The whole record is amazing. It sounds beautiful. And it's - again, it's a powerful statement of bringing these two circles of Africa together in a way that deserved to be rediscovered on this record.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OGUNDÊ")
OS TINCOÃS: (Singing in non-English language).
SAYRE: I just really love the way that this moves, honestly. Like, there's something really pleasing about it and something really nostalgic and something really pleasant about listening to it. It feels like something you'd share in community a little bit, which I really like.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Yeah. It's a really beautiful reminder that, like, Latin music doesn't happen in a vacuum, right? And we have all of these influences, like you're saying, from Africa, from other parts of the world and from the way people have been moved across the planet for - you know, to relocate or to create culture in a different place. It's a really powerful reminder of that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OGUNDÊ")
OS TINCOÃS: (Singing in non-English language).
CONTRERAS: The band is Os Tincoãs, and the album's called "Canto Coral Afrobrasileiro," and the track is called "Ogundê." OK. Ana, you're up.
SAYRE: This is "Sin" from Silvia Pérez Cruz's album "Toda La Vida, Un Día."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SIN (MOV.2: LA INMENSIDAD)")
SILVIA PÉREZ CRUZ: (Singing) Sin arriba, sin abajo. Sin principio y sin fin. Sin este, sin oeste. Sin lados ni costados. Y sin centro. Y sin centro. Sin arriba…
SAYRE: I really do have chills every time I hear her sing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SIN (MOV.2: LA INMENSIDAD)")
PÉREZ CRUZ: (Singing) …Sin fin. Sin este, sin oeste. Sin lados ni costados. Y sin centro. Y sin centro.
SAYRE: What really strikes me about this is we've been talking so much about brass this year - you know, tubas and trombones - with Regional and everything that was done there and how that was a European import. And so then to think of Silvia Pérez Cruz kind of on that same latitude but in a completely different space with completely different music - it's just really amazing to see all of the music that's being created alongside each other in Latin music right now with these influences.
(SOUNDBITE OF SILVIA PÉREZ CRUZ SONG, "SIN (MOV.2: LA INMENSIDAD)")
SAYRE: She's just so artful in how she writes - it's almost poetic - and in how she sings it and breathes life into the words that she creates.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SIN (MOV.2: LA INMENSIDAD)")
PÉREZ CRUZ: (Singing) Sin arriba, sin abajo. Sin principio y sin fin. Sin este, sin oeste. Sin lados ni costados.
SAYRE: You can hear the flamenco stylings and the jazz stylings in her vocals, which I find really interesting because I don't think many of her contemporaries are doing both. It's jazz with a modern flair or flamenco with a modern flair. And she - I don't know. She has her own Silvia twist on it that works really well, I think, even today. And so I just - yeah, she's a special one. I'm excited to see what she does next.
(SOUNDBITE OF SILVIA PÉREZ CRUZ SONG, "SIN (MOV.2: LA INMENSIDAD)")
SAYRE: "Sin" from Silvia Pérez Cruz's album "Toda La Vida, Un Día."
CONTRERAS: She is definitely a favorite of mine and something that we share. I mean, going back to this record that I heard with her initially, God, it just sort of popped up out of nowhere, and I just was completely blown away. She did a record with this bass player named Javier Colina, and it just featured her voice, and it was just so stark. And I've been digging into her back catalogue and listening to her new stuff, and this new record completely - it did not disappoint, man. It's a highlight of mine, too. I'm glad you picked it. OK, moving on - Isabella.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: OK, so now we're moving to the dance floor. And, like, when I say I like house music, I mean, this kind of house music. This is exactly what I am talking about. This is "Madres" by the Peruvian-born, Berlin-based DJ Sofia Kourtesis.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MADRES")
SOFIA KOURTESIS: Ay pai pai pai. Ay pai pai pai
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: OK, so this record, like, literally put me in a trance. I feel like it feels like stepping outside of your house on the most perfect spring morning and, like, reintroducing yourself to the world and to your neighbors and to the little birds and to the grass and, like, all of the beautiful things around you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MADRES")
KOURTESIS: (Singing) Vuelve a casa.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: This is her first full-length album, called "Madres" because it is dedicated to her mom and to her mom's neurosurgeon. She created this when her mom was going through a really scary time healthwise. And it's a really positive, beautiful, sunny album with, like, synths and those really delicate vocals and, like, Latin American textures. You know, there's, like, some samples from a protest, and there's really beautiful percussion. And I think it's such a powerful reminder to, like, return to your inner child through dancing. And obviously she's talking about caretaking and motherhood in a very literal sense. But beyond that, she's spoken about how it's really an ode to queer communities and to the caretaking - you know, alternative forms of caretaking that you find when you're part of a marginalized group, which is just so, so beautiful. And it's just, like, healing and makes me want to, like, do, like, the white woman Scarlett Johansson dance.
(LAUGHTER)
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: It's just - it's so gorgeous. I love it.
SAYRE: Not to spoil what you have coming up, but I think this sits in really good company with a later album that you're going to mention where you've kind of brought on these works that, to me, are very, like, artist's art. And I think everything that you just said is, like, you know, someone who is so thoughtful about every single sound, every single texture to a song that they add in. I think, you know, it's in those details where some of the soul of the music really emerges. And I think Sofia is such a master of that.
Every rhythm feels hand-picked for a moment, for a feeling to create what you just described, to build a scene, I think, as opposed to just a glimpse into something. It's like, no, she wants you to feel surrounded by the feeling that she felt when she was making the music and the sentiments that she's expressing. And so she's really been someone interesting that I've been watching for a bit now, and I love to see people in the electronic space, too, creating things that feel so resonant for so many of us and feel like they communicate lyrics even when they don't really - there's a clear message in what she's doing. And so - jealous of the pic, but glad you brought it on.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Thank you. That's "Madres" off the album "Madres" by Sofia Kourtesis.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MADRES")
KOURTESIS: (Singing) Si tú me amas, si tú me amas.
SAYRE: You're listening to ALT.LATINO's best albums of 2023. We're going to take a quick break, but we'll be right back to battle it out.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MADRES")
KOURTESIS: (Singing) Si tú me amas.
CONTRERAS: OK, and we're back. And let's see, whose turn is it to pick a song this time? Oh, it's mine.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ORIKI OSHUN")
OKAN: (Rapping, singing in non-English language).
CONTRERAS: Up next is a duo that goes by the name of Okan, these two Afro-Cuban women based in Toronto. They had an amazing new record out called "Okantomi." This track is called "Oriki Oshun." It's a masterful celebration of Afro-Cuban culture and music mixed in with other stuff. Check this out.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ORIKI OSHUN")
OKAN: (Singing in non-English language).
CONTRERAS: One of the things about Cuban music that makes it so magical for me is the reliance on musicians - everyone from Chucho Valdés to this amazing duo, Okan - to dig deep into the spiritual tradition that we know as Santería for the songs, the chants, the rhythms. It's a very musical, spiritual practice and just an endless source of improvisation and an endless source of inspiration for musicians on and off the island. And this record is a very well-thought-out and well-performed celebration of that tradition
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ORIKI OSHUN")
OKAN: (Singing in non-English language).
CONTRERAS: As you can hear, there's lots of drums. There's lots of chanting. There's all this stuff that comes from that tradition.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ORIKI OSHUN")
OKAN: (Singing in non-English language).
CONTRERAS: It's a very old tradition, and there's lots of aspects to it and some stuff that is available for people outside of the spiritual practice to participate in and to listen to and other stuff that's still very sacred and, you know, performed in ceremonies and stuff. But this kind of stuff that we're hearing is stuff that anyone can participate, anyone can enjoy and anyone can tap into because it's endless. It's a deep, deep well.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ORIKI OSHUN")
OKAN: (Singing in non-English language).
SAYRE: I do think, too, like, this year we are moving a bit more towards, like, communal music and, like, communally appreciative music. And I think that, like, there's so much for so many people to be found in music like this. And that's, like - a lot of artists are attempting to move towards harnessing that energy, and this just - it's so natural here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ORIKI OSHUN")
OKAN: (Singing in non-English language).
CONTRERAS: The group is Okan. The track is "Oriki Oshun," and the name of the record is "Okantomi." All right, who's next? I think, Ana, you're up.
SAYRE: Yay. OK.
CONTRERAS: (Laughter).
SAYRE: This one I really have been waiting for because if I had one of my, like, weird things that I've been pushing this year, this is Spanish producer Ralphie Choo, and this is his record "SUPERNOVA." And the track is "WCID?"
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WCID?")
RALPHIE CHOO: Me da igual si me ven mirar, ya no veo. Me da igual si me ven mirar. Me da igual si me ven mirar, ya no veo. Me da igual si me ven mirar. What can you do? What can you do?
SAYRE: Now, picking a track to play for this episode was very difficult because there's no single track that could possibly encapsulate the breadth of what this record is. I mean, he is a producer first, so he loves to play with effects, with synths, with really interesting kind of sounds that kind of surround and carry his melodies. But he does have one foot in that kind of, like, ethereal electronic space. But he's also really grounded in some really beautiful acoustic things that - the melodies themselves, the music itself, it's really strong on its own. And I just - there's been this whole scene of Spanish producers that have been creating and building in this kind of, like, electronic, R&B, hip-hop, flamenco-y rapping kind of space, and he did the thing with this record. He kind of took them to that next level, and I just was really amazed by how this came out. I don't know. He was one of those artists that I kind of was just accidentally listening to for a long time without realizing it. And this record really solidified him as one of those artists to really watch. I think this might be the beginning of a whole new scene, of a whole new kind of series of artists who are going to come after him.
(SOUNDBITE OF RALPHIE CHOO SONG, "WCID?")
SAYRE: That was "WCID?" by Ralphie Choo.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: OK, coming out of that, this is, like, not quite the same, but also looking at a producer who's doing really, really interesting cross-cultural influences. This is "Switched-On" by Pachyman, who is from Puerto Rico but lives in LA. He's, you know, been in noise bands and made all sorts of music. But his Pachyman project is really focused on dub music with very, like, Latin American flavors. This is "Trago Coqueto" off of the album "Switched-On."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TRAGO COQUETO")
PACHYMAN: Trago coqueto. Limón y jengibre me traen recuerdos del Caribe. Trago coqueto. Amor y jengibre me llevan al arrecife de tus dedos. Una brisa inconfundible. Échale mezcal, limón y manzana, vuelve a casa. Una brisa incon…
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: OK, so the big surprise for me on this album was that we hear Pachyman singing for the first time, and not only is he singing, but he's giving us a killer cocktail recipe about how to, like, put yourself mentally in the Caribbean, put yourself mentally back in his home of Puerto Rico. And, I mean, I just love how he - 'cause, you know, his influences really go back to, like, the Jamaican producers and engineers who led this dub movement, you know, like Scientist and King Tubby. But I think he makes it so distinctly Puerto Rican. Like, he brings in the guiro while he's using synthesizers, and his vocals and his songwriting, which I found very, very funny on a couple of these tracks, I think just takes his music to a totally new level, and this has been one that I keep returning to throughout the year because it's just, like, good vibes all around you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TRAGO COQUETO")
PACHYMAN: Enséñame a querer, pero no a amar. No quiero que la vida me trate de humillar.
CONTRERAS: And in a way, I hear a little echo - and maybe you don't, but I hear a little echo of the guy that's behind the Meridian brothers, Eblis Alvarez.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Oh, totally. That's...
CONTRERAS: Right?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: ...Good. Yes, that's a really good comparison, 'cause I think it's, like, throwing back to a scene that isn't - I don't know, a scene that doesn't quite exist in the same way anymore, but, like, not just doing straight-up nostalgia. It's, like, doing this sort of reimagining of what those heydays were with, like, a new - I don't know, a new approach in a way. It's really - I'm really interested by what he's doing, and I'm dying to see him live, hopefully next year.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TRAGO COQUETO")
PACHYMAN: Enséñame a querer, pero no a amar. No quiero que la vida me trate de humillar.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: That's "Trago Coqueto" off of "Switched-On" by Pachyman.
CONTRERAS: My last track I'm going to go classic.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
CONTRERAS: Fito Páez from Argentina released a record, and he called it "EADDA9223," or "EADDA9223." And what it stands for is "El Amor Después Del Amor 1992 To 2023." It's a reimagining. We're talking reimagining, right? It's a reimagining of an album that is Argentina's bestselling rock album of all time, but also a hugely influential record and the whole rock en español thing as it was coming through in the 1990s. Fito Páez rerecorded this with a bunch of, like, A-list who's-who of contemporary Latin music - Nicki Nicole, Nathy Peluso, Mon Laferte, even Elvis Costello, believe it or not, on one track. But this is an amazing record - a reexamination of the classic record. But - and not in a very nostalgic way. He looked for new ways to interpret it. That's how we started this show - right? - me talking about the Latin Dead and finding new ways to explore music that has existed for a very, very long time. And that's what this album does. And I got to go with the title track, "El Amor Después Del Amor," because the way he just reapproaches this with 30 years of retrospection, 30 years of wisdom, 30 years of hindsight, it's just a really powerful, powerful track on this thing. This is the title track, "El Amor Después Del Amor."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EL AMOR DESPUÉS DEL AMOUR")
FITO PÁEZ: (Singing) Vivir sin tu amor. Me hice fuerte ahí, donde nunca vi. Nadie puede decirme quién soy.
CONTRERAS: And I got to say, I just love the fact that he's getting his props. He's getting the recognition, and he's been nominated for a Grammy for this record. He was nominated for Latin Grammys. He's just getting this recognition that he deserves. He's just being an icon of Latin rock, of rock en español, of music from Argentina, music from Latin America. And it's done with such a powerful, powerful record. Big fan of this record.
SAYRE: I think that guitar just speaks volumes. And, I mean, rock en español, Argentina specifically, as a base for that is still so important and foundational for so many artists that we're seeing today. And, I don't know, I love when a legacy artist like this brings on, you know, people from the moment right now - young artists because to me, that is such - it's an acknowledgement. It's, like, an excitement. It's almost like a stamp of endorsement of, like, oh, music is moving in the way that we want it to. And, like, you've taken my legacy and what I built and you're making something amazing as well. And so it's just, like, a really beautiful thing to see that he was prepared and ready to create something new with these young artists.
(SOUNDBITE OF FITO PÁEZ SONG, "EL AMOR DESPUÉS DEL AMOR")
CONTRERAS: The track is "El Amor Después Del Amor." The artist is Fito Páez. The album is EADDA9223.
SAYRE: My final pick of this episode, wrapping up 2023 with yet another artist who I think, Felix, you might be just as excited, if not more excited than me - I was just, I guess, interested in bringing on Felix artists today.
CONTRERAS: (Laughter) We coincided a lot this year.
SAYRE: This is off of the wonderful, amazingly talented Mon Laferte's new album "Autopoiética," and the song is "Préndele Fuego."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PRÉNDELE FUEGO")
MON LAFERTE: (Singing) Qué goce es cortarte el pelo. Me encanta que me chupes como caramelo.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Yeah, I have to say now I'm jealous of your pick, Ana, because this is - like, Mon Laferte stuns in new album. Like, from the moment this record starts, it is so sweeping and, like, goes to places you are not expecting. I was, like, exclaiming out loud on the metro every time a new thing would pop up because it was - it's just so, so gorgeous. And she really - like you're saying, like, she knows she has the voice, but she's proving that she has everything else that comes along with being, like, a multifaceted artist. It's really gorgeous.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PRÉNDELE FUEGO")
LAFERTE: (Singing) Oh, un desayuno político.
SAYRE: Like I mentioned earlier, you know, I always talk about vocalists who hold so much power in how they sing and what they say that they don't really need a whole lot more. And I do think Mon is one of those vocalists. She could have pulled out a piano, her voice, called it a day, and it would have been amazing. But she did not stop there at all. She is absolutely the queen of reinvention, and this record was no exception. She did everything from electronic to rap to trap to reggaeton to electro cumbia. Like, she pushed herself so far on this record. And every single track had something different and innovative and exciting. And the production, it was contrasted. It was gritty. It was soft. It was exciting. I just - I did not expect this record from her. I didn't think there was more to be completely changed about her, and yet she did it again. I really, really loved this one this year - Mon Laferte's "Préndele Fuego."
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: OK, so earlier, Ana, you were talking about seeing an older artist hand down their legacy and sort of bridge the gap with the younger generation. And so my last pick for 2023 is an artist who is very young in age but not so young in experience. You know, I had to bring this one in - the one and only Tainy with his somehow debut LP "DATA." I picked the song "Mañana" with Young Miko, of course, and The Marías, which is just, like, a beautiful, dreamy femscape (ph) of - I don't even know how to describe it. Let's just listen to it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAÑANA")
TAINY, YOUNG MIKO AND THE MARÍAS: (Singing) Muero por besarte y por tenerte otra vez, Bebe. Mm. Paso por tu casa y no te veo ¿por qué, Bebe? Dime que mañana yo te llevaré.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: So I really feel like this album is such a victory lap for someone who was producing what are now, like, seminal reggaeton albums for Luny Tunes when he was, like, 15, 16, 17 years old. And the fact that Tainy waited until right now to release this project and he was able to pull, you know, from all of these people he's worked with over the years - like, he got Daddy Yankee out of retirement, he has Wisin & Yandel, then he has, you know, Kany García and Julieta Venegas and these people who are not typically associated with reggaeton. I think it just - I don't know, it's like an inside look into who he's listening to, what he's envisioning for reggaeton and really just acknowledging how the genre has come up and how he's seeing it moving forward.
And I think, like, in the past couple of years with Bad Bunny's, like, catapult into stardom, to me, Tainy has sort of been overshadowed as sort of just being Bad Bunny's producer. And even though Bad Bunny is obviously on this album multiple times, I love this statement from him, and I love him sort of asserting his place in the genre and asserting his vision that, like, you know, we're still along for the ride. I was a really big fan of this project.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAÑANA")
YOUNG MIKO: (Rapping) No te hagas la difícil.
SAYRE: You know, Isa, I remember right before this record came out, in one of our many conversations about this, you were like, this is finally Tainy getting his flowers. And I was like, no, Tainy gets his flowers. Like, I'm always like, let's accurately rate Tainy because to me, like, he is one of the most well-known producers in...
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: He is.
SAYRE: ...The reggaeton scene, in the Latin music scene in general. But this - I mean, well-deserved, truly, because this record, I could not have expected. It's - I love to see what a producer like this can do when it's, like...
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Yep.
SAYRE: You clip off all of the extra excess, you know, stuff that's required of them. And it's like, no, just run. Like, don't tell - have anyone tell you what to do. Don't be trying to execute someone else's vision or sound or even, like, experiences. Just do you as best as you can and, like, let's see what playing around with that looks like. And he - I mean, clearly he's been holding on to a lot because he did such an amazing job with this - like, such a diverse work. He goes hard, I would say, in every way. Like, he has the really hard-hitting reggaeton tracks, but there's some really emotional, softer, reflective sounds on there that I wouldn't have expected to come from an artist like him and I don't think he's had the opportunity to really express because of who he works with, right? So, yeah, I mean, this was like a really exciting thing, I think, to come out of this year. And I hope he keeps working on more solo stuff because, I mean, if this is what Tainy as the artist sounds like, I'm interested in more.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAÑANA")
THE MARÍAS: (Singing) Hold me.
YOUNG MIKO: (Singing) Tus besos me saben a azúcar. Tus besos me saben a azúcar. Tus besos me saben a azúcar. Tus besos me saben a azúcar. Tus besos me saben a azúcar. Tus besos me saben a azúcar. Tus besos me saben a azúcar.
(SOUNDBITE OF DUSTY HENDRIX, ET AL.'S "DOS MANOS")
CONTRERAS: I say it every year, and I think it's growing more in intensity, that the variety of the types of music that's listed under what can be considered Latin music is becoming endless. And it's so much fun, and there's so many different ways to listen and so many different ways to express that. Again, every year, man - this year, my own personal list, I had, like, 35 albums. Seriously, there was so much stuff. And it just keeps getting better and better. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's just me.
SAYRE: Like you told me, Felix, these are the good old days.
(LAUGHTER)
CONTRERAS: You got a point there, Oblio. OK, that's going to wrap us up. You have been listening to our favorite picks from 2023. I don't want to say best. I'm always hesitant to say best, but these are some of our favorites. Thank you to Isabella Gomez Sarmiento for joining us this year again.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Thank you guys. This was fun.
CONTRERAS: I'm Felix Contreras.
SAYRE: I'm Anamaria Sayre.
CONTRERAS: And you have been listening to ALT.LATINO from NPR Music. Our audio producer for this episode is Joaquin Cotler.
SAYRE: Our editor is Hazel Cills, and the woman who keeps us on track is Grace Chung.
CONTRERAS: Our jefe en chief is Keith Jenkins, VP of music and visuals.
SAYRE: I'm Anamaria Sayre.
CONTRERAS: And I'm Felix Contreras. Again, thank you so much for listening.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
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