Some Latin American Music to Check Out

DHS Band Members, if you enjoyed your Latin American music unit in Concert Band, I've found some new favorites for you, all from Colombia and Argentina. I heard about most of them from various podcasts or stories on NPR, and now you can dig them along with me:

Monsieur Periné
As Billboard magazine describes them, "a Colombian group whose music is a quirky blend of swing, alt, pop and Colombian rhythms; something like a Colombian Postmodern Jukebox." This is totally fun and infectious music, sung in Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and their videos are just as engaging. Their latest album is Caja de Música.

La Yegros
AllMusic.com calls her "The First Lady of Electro Cumbia" with music that "crisscrosses Latin American and North African folk traditions, tropical pop, reggae, hip-hop, dancehall, and chamamé to create its own frenetic dance genre." She's from Argentina, and her latest album is Magnetismo.

La Yegros on PRI's The World.

Bloque
This isn't a current group like the previous two, but it is a great example of rock en español. AllMusic.com describes them: "This eight-piece Colombian collective combines classic-rock guitar crunch and Afro-pop rhythms with hip-hop flavor and traditional Latin beats." My favorite song by them is "Daño en el Baño" from their self-titled 1999 release.

And one last one goes way back to the beginning of the Cumbia craze. If you like playing "Bailame" in marching band or pep band, here are the roots of that song:

Here's a Spotify playlist with more to explore (including a few class favorites):

Free Music Samplers from Amazon

Amazon.com, still a relatively new player in the online music market, is carving out quite a niche for itself with the release of several free samplers from various record companies. A lot of it is indie rock, so if you are into that, you can check out a wide variety of new tracks. There is also a variety of other genres available as well. They are giving these collections away, no doubt, in an attempt to entice you to buy more music by the featured artists. It's a great way to explore records that you might not otherwise hear. Three of my favorites:

The Koch Records jazz sampler is a mixed bag, with some instrumentals, some vocals, and a bit of smooth jazz. I do, however, really like the tracks by Vinicius Cantuaria (some nice samba), Jason Miles (a cover of "Stolen Moments"), and Jenny Scheinman (jazz violin).

I'm always looking for interesting music from cultures beyond my own, so any world music sampler is highly appreciated. The Rough Guide series is an excellent introduction to exotic sounds. This small sampler of their many, many discs goes from Guinea, South Africa, and Madagascar to Latin America and Arabia with a nice variety of Afropop and salsa.

Finally, Daptone Records offers some great funk and soul that sounds like it's straight out of the 1970s. If you want to hear some greasy horn vamps and hip vocals, check this one out!

Click on any of the album covers to go to the webpage and start downloading!