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Okay, since fortunate you said old ladies because I was considering signing up for an Aqua Spin class here at the Aquatic Center. You could be my first student! I'm not old lady. Wait, this is such an amazing plan. Okay, from NPR Music, this is all Latino. I'm Felix Contrenas. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Let the Chesme begin. And this week's Chesme is the lady that Felix met in Aqua Spin. Right. Let's just keep going and talking about the music. Because maybe something we play this week, we'll make it onto the Aqua Spin class. How's that for transition? Okay. That was one of your better ones. And I usually don't like them. You're first. Okay, so this is not fit for Aqua Spin class. It's more fit for like walking through a meadow of lovely flowers and plants. But this is Dominican artist Alex Ferreira. He has been releasing music since 2010. I've mentioned a bit about this Dominican indie scene before. It's small but mighty and I have to say he is one of the pioneers of it. So before I get into it, I want to play you a little bit of this song, bailando con mi sombra. So like I mentioned, Alex Ferreira has really been fundamental to me in this fostering of this Dominican indie scene. Like I said, it's very small but very mighty. This particular version of it, which I again, like I said, I've mentioned before, started like early 2000s. Like I said, Alex started in 2010. You have bands like solo Fernandes. A couple of these artists who really pioneered and insisted on bringing this particular varietal of indie music to the Dominican Republic. There's now a larger number of artists on the island or off the island making this music who are of Dominican origin. And what's crucial to me about what Alex does is it's this very soft, subtle right, like kind of just like alternative indie sound that is firmly rooted in the percussion still of the island. He never really comes away from that. And ever since he started making music, he has been consistent on this front. I mean, you don't hear a ton of big change album to album for Alex Ferreira. What you hear is consistency and like a subtle leveling up. And I just loved the production on this record. The songwriting is absolute poetry. I want to play you a cut of another song called Monte Adentro. I'm not gonna lie. When you first sent me a track to listen to, I wasn't super impressed. But I'd listened to the whole record while I was in California, driving along Highway 1 north of Santa Cruz, where I could see the ocean on my left and then eventually I turned around and see the sunset on my right. And the music was perfect accompaniment to the visuals, or the visuals were perfect for the music. I heard it in a completely different way than when I just played it on, you know, my earbuds from Spotify. It really does capture something. And the other thing I want to say is that I really love the fact that there are such strong, vibrant indie scenes in both Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico that defy expectations. There's a little hint of percussion, you know, because I'm listening always for the drum stuff. But Alex Ferreira, it's like it's there, but it's not derivative, but it's a creative use of rhythm. And that's why I heard on the record. And that's what I really like that he represents that indie scene. It's really good record, eventually, after all. You can see how big I'm smiling, Felix, because I knew you'd come around. Because this to me, this is the power, the art of the subtlety of Alex Ferreira. It's not, he's not an artist who hits you over the head. And that's actually why for me, and I've actually played you some of his music before, Felix, when we had one of our music that you go back to that brings you peace episodes. Oh, yeah, I remember that. There are albums for him, like his 2021 album for me. It's not one I go to when I want to feel energized or like I'm hearing something crazy. It's something I want to go to when I want to ground myself, when I want to feel peaceful. And I think there's something really skillful about being able to create a record that talks about beautiful things and thoughtful things and presents, you know, a way to think about life in like a healthy, lovely way that is subtle and slow, but also never loses where it's from. I think to incorporate that percussion and still be so soft, it takes a lot of effort and a lot of skill. And this album to me is so thematically beautiful too. It's called Literally El Arte de Esperar, the Art of Waiting. Fun fact about Alex, he is married to his wife, the love of his life. They have a beautiful three-year-old little baby. He and his wife lived on the same block in Madrid for years and never met. And I want to say maybe 10 years later, they randomly sat next to each other at a restaurant in Mexico City, and that's how they fell in love. And so to me, I'm like, there's nothing more emblematic of Alex's life than El Arte Esperar, the same thing with he's been releasing music for so many years, keeping at it consistently. And this record, specifically, what it mostly discusses is, like I mentioned, he's a dad now, and it's a lot about his reflections on the way that his daughter has changed his perception of time and timing of things and how life moves and how quickly it moves. And I think you can probably relate, Felix, that life time-wise, space-wise, experience-wise feels so different, and so much of it is like this sweet reflection on how he sees the pacing of life differently now that he's a parent. Yeah, everything changes once you become a parent, and nobody prepares you for that. It's a shock, but it's a pleasant shock, a wonderful shock. Anyways, I love this record. I didn't completely love it at first, and then after a few listens, maybe like my fourth listen, I cried the whole way through. It was crazy. It's like the first three listens, I was like, whatever. And then the fourth listen, I was like, oh my god, this is beautiful. That was a couple of tracks from the new Alex Ferreira album, El Arte de Esperar. Okay, I'm going to go into Cumbia Land for a second. All right? Ooh, okay. This is a group called La Lombe. They're a Southern California instrumental retro trio. It's actually an acronym, and I'll explain later, very much a Twengie guitar sound. And they collaborated on a new single with a group called Los Mierulos, and they are a long time Peruvian psychedelic Cumbia band. Their new single is just a single. It's a pure moment of joy. It's called Luchando. Check it out. Yes. I can never get enough of the psychedelic cumbia. There's so many bands doing such amazing work in this space. Like I think about even like a combo chimbita, I think about, you know, there's so many artists coming and continually emerging out of the La Via Bologna, you know, Barranquilla even who are doing this varietal. It's such a cool space in genre. And this is the Peruvian version. Los Mirtlis were formed in 1972. They're pioneers of what they call cumbia amazonica, that psychedelic guitar driven cumbia. They came out of Peru in the 70s. It's also referred to as chicha, which is in its name after an alcoholic drink from Peru. It's a reflection of how many countries have developed their own version of the Colombian and the different cultures and sounds and contexts that they add to the music. Chicha here in this country, it became popular around 2010 or so because there's a group in Austin called Money Chicha. We played their music. There's Chicha Libre in New York. We played their music. It came out around 2010, 2015. And La Lone, by the way, is an acronym. It stands for Los Angeles League of Musicians and one of the many bands exploring that reverb heavy twanging guitar thing. You know, Hermanos Gutierrez comes to mind. A lot of different things like that. But this in particular is La Lone. The track is just a single. It's called Luchando and it features Los Mirtlis. I'm here for it. Okay. Oh, Felix. Okay. So this record is why I'm bouncing off the walls today. Please tell me you haven't listened yet. I haven't listened. Thank God. Okay. So this is an Argentine artist, super baby, super fresh, names Bro Carey. Just released this album called Hijo del País. This track is called Renacimiento. Argentina. Oh my God. Yeah. I'm going to play you another track before I get into it. This one's called Miguelito. Oh, man. So this album, like I said, called Hijo del País, I think is literally. Perfectly named. He's a son of the country. I mean, this is an album. Like I really want you to spend some time and listen to it, Felix. Track after track after track. It's something distinct and not anything I've heard before. And I've said 10 million times. Argentina. It's where so much experimentation happens. There's always something interesting going on. I said it with Catrilli Paco Amoroso. I'm saying it now with this guy. Really, I was so impressed when I heard this album. Like it's so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, of tradition that exists around Argentine music. I mean, it's just so amazing. So you know what makes it that way, Anna, is that triplet feel that, check it, check it, check it, check it, check it, which is like the heartbeat of the Andes and so much of South America. And that first track, that triplet feel is there, but then sonically in production, all this other stuff, it stops and starts, all these different layers. I was like, boom, you had me right there, man. Like there's so much to listen to. It's one of these sounds that I just love. Defy tradition, lean on tradition, expand tradition, putting this on a playlist. I'm gonna play you one more to take us out. We'll see how much we can get in for language, but it just perfectly explains to me, it's also that perfect Argentine humor. This track is called Monumento. If there's something strange about us, it's you who could have died. Losing the air, drowning me, looking at your ass over mine. Of the Top 50, the best song is to listen to you, look. Vos que provas sabe así la mejor carne del país. Quisiera que supieran la forma en que me siento cada vez que te pienso antes de ir a dormir. Vos que de tu culo haría un monumento para decir lo siento que devuelvas a mí. I think it's okay to let our listeners know that some things we can play on a podcast and some things we can't play for the radio version of All Latino that goes out on the broadcast air. This is the song you're gonna hear. You're all listening on the podcast. Lucky day. This is the song you're gonna hear on the podcast. But really truly, I mean, the chorus, literally, I'm gonna construct a monument to your butt is just phenomenal. It's just top class writing. That was a few songs from the artist Broke Carrey off his new album, Ijo el Bice. Is it time for a break? I think you might be right, Felix. All right, let's take a break. Okay, so we're back from break, Felix. And there's a couple of really key things. Housekeeping, maybe you could say, or requests that we have. We love talking to all of you, but more so, we wanna hear you speak back to us. You can do that a couple ways. One is by commenting. The other is by sending us an email at alllatinoatnpr.org. The other thing we would love for you to do is if you like an episode and you don't wanna comment that you like an episode, go share with a friend. We would actually prefer that. We want other people to hear the things that you love about that we love that we made. So go for it. Absolutely, the more the merrier. Because then they'll get to hear songs like what I'm gonna play right now. Oh my God, oh my God. Okay, this is a collaboration between a well-known Colombian vocalist and a French trio that is almost impossible to describe. This is vocalist. It sounds like a three-somethings walk into a bar joke, but let's hear it. This is vocalist Nidia Gongora and the Toulouse-based trio called Recorrecco. The album is called Nuevo Rios. I'm gonna play something called Sumba. Ale, check this out. Ale, ale, ale, ale, ale, Ale, militoral, Ale, ale, ale, militoral. Am I right? Yeah, no, you're right. Wow, really great selection today. Nidia Gongora is the leader of a group called Canalón de Timbiquí. Very traditional, lots of marimba, all the allegory drums, which I know you love. She's also, you do know I love allegory drums. She's also known for work with collaborations with groups like Quantic, Ontatropica, The Bongo Hop, which have all been featured here in Latino, I'm proud to say, over the years. A Recorrecco, like I said, is from France. It's a trio. They lean into the cool sounds like Cumbia, Meringue, Mexican Trival, Brazilian Fujo, Hip Hop. They do all kinds of stuff. It's my favorite kind of mash-up, just like when we heard the song before, because borders and genres don't exist. The only limitation is the imagination. And this project in particular has unlimited imagination because there's so many rhythms to listen and move to. The vocals are so expressive, you know, the percussion, of course, it's like, I'm there, like so many ways to listen. Each track on this record is an adventure. And a real quick little note, Recorrecco is a Brazilian percussion instrument. And it's like a widow. The widow is an instrument, the scratcher instrument, that's used all over Latin America. And it's usually a gourd of some kind, an elongated gourd, hollowed out, dried out. In the Brazilian folk tradition, Recorrecco is metal. And the scratching sound comes from these metal strings that are right on the front. It's a very, very distinct sound, just like this band. These three guys, Bastien, Andréou, Juan, Kawalczewski, and Timote, Alcorne. I have to say their names because I'm a new fan. I hadn't heard of these guys before, but I'm a new fan. I love that you say that about Borders Felix because literally today someone asked me, we were talking about Latin music, and they were like, well, dude, what about like music outside of Latin music? And I was like, well, one Latin music is everything. It's just a, it's a geography, it's not a genre. But more importantly, that's the beauty of music. Borders don't exist in music. And I know we talk a lot on this show about countries and locations because I think they're really relevant in the sense that you can hear a lot of these things in some of these records. But I think there's something really beautiful to artists or a band that couldn't create something that feels so seamlessly borderless. Like that's the thing up front. And then, but not losing where they're from either. And I've talked about that a little bit today. But doing both at the same time is beautiful. This is the perfect example of that. And I got to play one more so you can hear it. This track is called Me Bombo, and Bombo's a type of drum. Check it out. Yes. piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston piston And we heard Sumba Ale and Mi Bombo. We've already made it to my final pick, which I think actually flows a little bit with what you just played. I'm going to play you a track off of the new Soto Mayor record. This album is called Wabi Sabi. It's technically a collaboration with Paua and Tonga Konga, but that's just the individual DJ names of the sibling duo that make up this band. This song is called Site Vas. Site Vas, Sino Vas, Site Vas, yo me con contigo. Site Vas, Sino Vas, ya no a camilo. Si no es contigo, si no es contigo. It does flow from the last track. It does flow, right? Yeah. So just thinking today, Felix, actually I was like, damn, the thing that really brings me and Felix together is our united percussion love. And our love of female vocalists. But really, there's something about just a really nice, I think percussion is so instructive. It's one of the most clear nods to different places and experiences, and it's one of the most unifying things. A lot of things shift, but I feel like percussion always kind of comes back to similar places. This duo is super cute. Their sibling duo in Mexico City, they each have their own independent DJ projects. Their first album they ever released was in 2015, and they just have these kind of really nice, easy listening, kind of fun electronic records that have this beautiful, you know, percussion basis. They've worked a lot with people like Eduardo Cabra. They've worked, you know, a lot in Mexico City, a lot in Puerto Rico. They're just beloved, I think, in a lot of places for the way they're able to just kind of easily mix these things together. I want to play you one more track. It's called Me Dejo Y Bar. Still lots to listen to percussive-wise. I like that. 100%. They blend a lot of nice sounds together. That was a couple tracks off of the new Sotomayor album. The album is called Wabi Sari. Okay, I'm going to change it up just a little bit because so far we've been playing younger artists. I'm going to play something from an artist who's been in Latin music for a while. For me, he's one of the most interesting artists in Latin music. Draco Rosa from Puerto Rico. He has a very distinct voice, very, very distinct artistic vision. Every new album from him is always slightly different, but the through line is that vision. This track is called Colores de Ayer. It's from an upcoming album called Olas de Luz. This is Draco Rosa. For me, man, it's la letra, the lyrics, the voice. That's for me, that's the magic of Draco Rosa. For those that don't know, he has, like I said, a long history in Latin music. He started as one of the young members of Minnudo in the 1980s along with Ricky Martin. He left at age 16. From there, he launched his successful career as a songwriter for a whole bunch of other artists. He started doing his own projects in, like I said, various genres and various contexts. He's a musical explorer. He had a rock album. He's doing all this other stuff. And you get an idea of where that variety comes from when he talks about his influences. Caetano Veloso, Luis Alberto Spinetta from Argentina, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis. One of the things I think that we have to talk about in his career, for those that don't know, in 2011, he was diagnosed with cancer. He went with treatments. He was cancer-free for a minute. Then it was a relapse. And from what I understand, he's been cancer-free for a while. But that experience has shaped his sense of place in the world philosophically and musically. And I think you can hear that in these lyrics. The new album addresses the chaos in the world today, but it offers a space of calm and introspection. And that perspective doesn't make it go away. It just offers a way to deal with it. And I think this whole record is like that. He really never misses Felix. He's one of those that record after record, there's something really profound in a thematic sense, but I think more just in the depth of what he creates, his art and how he presents it. And he's really kind of one of those hidden gems, I think. Yeah. And I think I've mentioned this on the show before, but I think it was during the pandemic. We had an interview, one of these live interviews we did. And he's just such a deep thinker, man. You can talk philosophy, art. You can talk about all these things and then eventually get around the music. You can hear that. You can hear that in the music. Yeah. It's reflected in his work. The album was called Olas de Luz. That track was Colores de Ayer. And that was Draco Rosa. You have been listening to all Latino from NPR Music. Our audio editor is Noah Caldwell. The executive producer of NPR Music is Saree Mohamed. Executive director is Sonali Mehta. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Ana Maria Sayer. You said this week. Thank you for listening.
