NPR Music - Alt.Latino: Brazil and Colombia on our minds

Episode Date: September 9, 2026

This week Ana features two very different Brazilian artists that both draw heavily on the '60s and '70s Tropicália genre. Felix presents two very different approaches to Colombian folkloric music and a new Spanish-language singer-songwriter who turns sadness into light.Artists and albums featured in this episode:(01:52) Maglore, 'Fluxo Natural'(07:13) Indus, 'El Mangle'(12:42) Candelabro, 'Deseo, Carne y Voluntad'(17:11) Araña, 'Araña'(21:07) Lucas Bezerra, 'EU MANDEI MEU AMOR PRO ESPAÇO'(25:21) Luca de Dios, 'De Amor y DesamorThis podcast episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. Suraya Mohamed is the executive producer of NPR Music.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Are we going to say anything cute at the beginning or do we go right into it? From NPR music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Aramaria Sayer. Let the Chisement begin. I didn't see my hat. I am looking at it as we speak, Felix. Look at this cool part right here. El Tiny. El Tiny. What? Felix. Is it that time of year again? It is that time of year.

Can you remind me? What is El Tiny? We take over all the programming on the Tiny Dusk concert series from September 15 to October 15 in honor of National Latino Heritage Month. We have redubbed it Latin Music Month. And our friends started calling it El Tini, so we call it El Tini. And now we have cool little hats and a bunch of other merchandise to celebrate with. It's a pretty good scheme we've cooked up. It's like a scheme on top of a scheme on top of a scheme.

Because it starts with us just being able to book all the tiny desks we want from all over Latin America. And then it continues with us wanting merch for the tiny dust that we book. And so we're like, ah, the people want merch. We want merch. We want merch. We're the people. So this year we have, God, which countries? We haven't announced yet. So, but we have Mexico.

Lots of Mexican representation this year. Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico. Brazil. Brazil. Chile. Chile. Cuba.

Dominican Republic. It's going to be a good month. And starting next week, come back to the feed because we're going to have a bunch of these artists that we invited spinning on our show with a few guest DJ episodes. Stay tuned to social media. We're going to announce pretty soon. We're going to launch all the names. Stay tuned to social media. I wish I was less tuned, but I'm very much tuned. Well, you know, staying tuned to social media also helps us discover some of the music, especially stuff we're going to feature this week. Okay, Felix, I just want a disclaimer. I try to disclaimer this maybe every week now. really do try to look for music that's not from Brazil, but I just don't know what to tell you.

I really, at this point, I have no excuse, except that Brazilians are making the best music. I'm so sorry. Anyways. Wow. This artist's name is Maglore, and the song is called Palestine Nos Saus Olius. You know, Anna, it's impossible to overstate how much influenced in the 1960s Brazil has on a lot of the songs you bring in. 100%.

Oh, my gosh. I mean, yes, 100%. And also, Felix, the reverse of that, too, and I was going to bring this up later with spoiler alert, another record. have from Brazil today. But also looking at Tropicalia, the 60s and 70s in Brazil, so deeply influenced by American sounds. And by extension, if we're talking about this song in particular, the Beatles.

And this is really interesting to me because not to make this whole episode of tease for what we have coming, but we did do an interview with a very amazing Brazilian, very prolific Brazilian artist that will be coming out later this month. And he commented a lot. we discussed a lot the influence the importance of the Beatles, not only for him as an artist, but in Brazil in general. And I was really fascinated when I heard this record and I heard this track in particular.

And I was like, what is happening? So Beatles-esque, and yet the song itself, the material, the lyrics is so dense. I don't know if you got it from the title, Felix, Palestine, no South Oligos, Palestine in your eyes. And the lyrics, I mean, the chorus says, if other empires arise, our love will remain, another sun will rise to see Palestine in your eyes. And this is something that I find beyond the rhythms being magnetic and the lyrics being gorgeous and all of the beautiful things that come from Brazil,

this ability to carry the dance with a mix of lightness in the musicality or vice versa is always really stunning to me. Again, obviously unsurprising from Brazil, Saudaji in every way in that country. but I want to play you one other track from this particular album. It's called Curva de Trivela. That's an impressive piece of bed. That's an impressive leap. transition from the Beatles-esque very 60s pop that they played first to this very cool, funky, 70s funk thing, these cool guitar parts, man, that's impressive. The whole record is like that. It's very diverse, but all very deeply rooted in, well, arguably two things, right? Arguably, 60s, 70s, U.S. sounds a lot of it, but also Tropicalia, really, because if you go back, I mean, I was listening to Os Mutantes this morning.

one of the very important Tropicalia bands of the 60s and 70s in Brazil. And I mean, so much of that, right, is reminiscent of American sound at the time of duop even is what you hear a lot of there. So it's like a really interesting no borders around time or geography in the U.S. manipulation of that sound, but then also very distinctly Brazilian. It's really cool. That was a couple of songs off of the Maglore album Fluxo Natural. By the way, they've been doing it for 15 years, Felix.

This is a band out of Sao Paulo. Wow. Okay. I'm going to ease us into some Colombian electronic folk. Okay. All right. This is a group called Indus. This track is called El Mangle.

I'll tell you all about it, but this is what it sounds like. Oh, hello. This is so you can picture Felix at the club. Capital D, capital C, Doug Club. You know, this is a group called Indus two guys, guy named Oscar Alford and Andres

Mercado. They're from Columbia. They have a long history with groups like side-stepper. Both of them have performed with Ghetto Cumbé, who I've played here on the show. And the first part of the song that we heard, you know, it layers. It's got all this different stuff. Then eventually there's all this other

really cool percussion. But I put, I wanted to play this one at the beginning because it's part of that magic. that these electronic producers do. They use the repetition as a form of expression. And, you know, I've talked to some people's like, well, that's the same thing over and over again. When something's going to happen?

That's the cool part. Like, you're having fun while you're waiting for something to happen, right? And that is what a lot of their music sounds like. I went back and dug into their back catalog. What does repetition as a form of expression mean to you here, Felix? It's like any other form of music that I listen to, say, up where we're listening to some Afro-Cubian music, you know, the conga patterns are going to be the same,

and it repeats and repeats, and repeats. So there's a repetition there. If you're playing jazz, the thing of the swing, ding, ding, dint, d'ing, but it's what you do with that and how often you do it in the way it's stacked and what you put on top of it. Like that, you know, I guess in that case, it's just about all forms of music

is going to be some form of repetition. But especially with the electronics, like dig it diga, diga, diga, dig, dig, whatever it is that they program the keyboard to do or that they activate themselves, that is their form of expression. And there's no key changes, there's no, you know,

there's not a chorus, a verse, and all that other stuff. It's just, it's just there. It's like it's a pulse, and it doesn't change. And then when you add in all, like, the, you know, folkloric percussion

and folkloric references and vocals, I think that changes it and gives it its own identity. I think of it as like, there's two buckets, and maybe there's more, but I think of it as two buckets where there's the type of music

that's supposed to, how you would say in Spanish, that carte de oanda, it's supposed to make you a little bit uncomfortable, and it's supposed to kind of like pull you out or you're like, oh, this is kind of like weird and sticky and weird and I don't like it, but I like it, and it's making me kind of feel something and think. And then there's the type that, like,

stays on that consistency, like what you're describing where it grounds you down. Like, you feel there and present and grounded and consistent because the beat never changes. It's like reliably there. reliably there, it's reliably there. Even if you then bring in all these other sounds harmonically and so what are like, ooh, and they make you kind of like pay attention to them for a second. But the beat that grounds you keeps you there and there's something really valuable and really

effective about a song that does that really well and not in a boring way. And when you consider that it's dance music, right? And at its heart, if you're dancing, you don't notice the repetition because... What's the harmonium on it? You are? Your body is. You know what I mean? Yeah, you're interpreting the repetition. through the movement and all that. So, yeah, and a little bit more about this band. You know, they have two albums out since 2020,

and like I said, I dug into their back catalog a little bit because I'd never heard of them before until I found this record, this single. And they're very much into that electronic folklorical that I really, really like that mashup. This song, El Mangle, I want to read you something from their SoundCloud page because it's pretty significant. They said the Manglades are coastal ecosystems,

made up of trees that grow where the sea meets the land. And it's adapted to live among the tides. The trees develop complex networks of roots that help them sustain the coastline and provide shelter and nourishment for numerous other species. So the music that they've been making lately, they're trying to interface their music with culture, with the electronic where the folk and the electronic coexist, but also interface with what's going on in the world, especially as it goes to ecosystems, and the ecology in Colombia.

They're very, very smart in how they put this together and very smart about their intention. I wish I hadn't known about them before because I'm a big fan now. The group was called Indus. They're from Colombia. That track is called El Mangle.

Okay. So before I go back to Brazil, I'm going to hop over quickly to a track or an album, rather, that I think fits kind of nicely with what you just brought in in a not very obvious way from Chile.

This track is called Domingo de Ramos from the band Candelabro. Okay, tell us more. Cool, right? Yeah, very cool. So this is a relatively new band, actually, out of Santiago, Chile. Really exciting to me. Obviously, like a fun indie rock band is generally the tone of it, but really have like some really interesting horn arrangements in there.

They do some not totally straight-ahead indie rock band typical things. This song in particular is called Domingo de Ramos, or for those who don't know, that's Palm Sunday. The album is called Deso Carne and Voluntal. And this band, I mean, it's been like kind of one of these bands that has been really buzzing in Chile, right? Like, Chile has an incredible history of rock, rock in Spanish, specifically as it relates to the dictatorship, the past fascism in Chile, all of these kinds of things. And this band very new has been immediately very vocal. a lot of people are making comparisons actually to Los Precianeros, which is one of the most important Latin American rock bands of all-time pioneers,

the rock and Spanish movement band from Chile. And this band has actually been getting a lot of comparison to that just for their level of outspokenness, first and foremost, against the current government, but also for their style. And I think they're really good. I listen to this whole album, and it's rock, but it's very diverse. I want to play you another track. of the opening track from the album and it's called Las Gopas.

Oh, I like that so much. Right? I love that there's like a softness, almost like a jazziness to some of their songs that really pairs nicely in contrast well with the intensity of the messaging they're trying to send and the things that they're trying to confront really in Chile right now. I had a conversation with Anatoichi-Chu back in January. right after the elections, the most recent elections

in Chile presidential. And we were having a pretty extensive conversation about how she felt about it. She was about to move back to Chile. And I was like, how are you feeling? What an interesting time to be moving. And she was like, oh, I'm really excited.

And I was like, why? And she's like, the art is going to be really good. And I thought of that when I heard this record. Yeah. That was a couple of tracks off the Candelabro album Deso Carne and Voluntat. Okay, I got something very special coming up, but we got to take a break first.

We'll be right back. And we're back. Felix, what do you got for us? Okay. So I actually have two takes on Colombian folk music. Okay. We heard from the first band of the top of the show. This is a group called Aranya.

It's their debut album, and they're sort of a collective. I'll tell you more about them. But this track, I think, is a delicate mix of folk acoustic music and jazz. This track is called Wiency. You know, on their bandcap site, they point out that the name of the band is Aranya, which means spider. And they also say that the spider has eight limbs or feet, and the band has eight members. Okay, so it's part of their theme. But there's also a reference to a spider web, right, which describes their music.

There's the intricate influence of Indian rhythms, Afro-Caribbean, jazz, folk music. They also claim that their music is what they call imaginary folklore. which allows them to invent their own geography, and it's based on their members' knowledge of different South American and musical traditions. And like I said, it's sort of a collective, and they all bring it together and mash it up. I mean, you think about the instrumentation that they use on the recording. Clarinet, the flute, the European flute, indigenous flutes, churangos, three percussionists, saxophones, like that, all of this stuff is all.

all matched together. I want to play one more track. This is called Aranya, but you can hear some of this instrumentation mix up. Beautiful. Right? Beautiful. Really beautiful, Felix. Yeah, I love it. I mean, you know, I'm weak for any horns. Any beautiful horns, it's like it's over for me, but really an interesting, ugh, I don't know. I mean, it's so funny that you played it back to back with your other so distinct and yet not distinct, dare I say, Colombian track? Can I say that? I I mean, replace the electronic sound with your horns and all your little jazz elements, and it's really not that distinct. You know, it's one of those things.

This is what happens when, you know, musicians are, you know, they're face-to-face with culture, which can be hundreds and hundreds of years old, but how do you recreate it in a way that's your own personal take, either as an individual or as a group, right? Again, the name of the band is Aranya, the name of their album is Aranaia, and we heard Winsie and then the title track, Aranao. Okay, so we barely left and now we're back in Brazil. Hope you enjoyed my one track from somewhere else. So this artist, his name is Lucas Vesra, and the album is called El Mandei Myo Amor Pro Esposo.

And the song is Glasses. of the of the of the rascar of memory the colors

of your vestido the the dark that it and I was

I I I'd I from the fresta of that the

front on my front on You know, Felix, I just love a debut album, because it's like a debut album, because it's like, the goal is to make beautiful things. There's no one you're trying to satisfy. There's no, now my vibe is this, and now my sound. is this? It's just how can I make the most beautiful everything that's been in me all these

years' work of art? This album, the name of it, translates to I sent my love into space, which is a dedication to the work of a songwriter, another songwriter from Brazil named Totoano. And there's not really much to say about it, except that it's really beautiful. It's really beautiful. The whole record's really beautiful and really diverse. I'm going to play you another track off of this album. It's called Nem Nem. You know, Felix, I was looking and looking for what to bring today, and I heard the first few chords of that first song. And it's simple, but it just touched me. There's something really beautiful. We talk a lot about the lyrics in Brazil, but the way they write melody, too, is so unique and innovative.

And then on top of that, all the production, like these arrangements, these live music arrangements, these horns and all these different percussive elements. And this song in particular, he has all these different collaborators, all these different singers on it, that are all these tiny little baby projects from Brazil. They have a really beautiful way of collaborating, too. Like a lot of really fluid natural collaboration that I think also has a huge, part to do with why it all sounds so natural.

I think natural is the word. Nothing feels forced. And all these artists I bring, I never feel like, this is an A&R and a label and a nozike getting involved and that's why this came about. No, it's just, I don't know,

we got together and made something beautiful and maybe it doesn't all make sense on the same album because how are those two songs on the same record? And yet, I'm obsessed. The whole album, it's beautiful. It's really beautiful. That's when you think about, Anna, how big the country is.

Oh, my God. And how many people are doing stuff like this? That's why there's always something. Yeah. That was a couple of songs off of the new album. I'm not going to say the name again because I barely got through it the first time by Lucas Becerra. Okay. Anna, you know how at the end of the show we always tell people, hey, writers drop us the line.

So a guy named Luca de Dios did, in fact, write to us. He wrote to me, actually. I was about to be like, wow, I guess I haven't been checking those e-mails. but then I felt like I shouldn't say that out loud because we're about to ask people to do it again. We do check, though, folks. We do check. But this one came to me.

This guy's name is Luca de Dios. He's from Spain and Luxembourg. And he wrote to me about his upcoming album. And I thought, oh, well, you know, I see these every now and then. You know, I'll check it out. I really liked it, man. It's his debut album. I don't know anything about him.

I couldn't find much about him on social media anywhere. He's got an album coming in October. There are three singles out right now. I want to play one of the tracks called Aosente. Check this out. There's a lot of stuff in this song and in the other song that spoke to me, but it mainly is that kind of open, airy, like very, very vast sonic landscape. His profile that I have, one of the

profiles that I found somewhere. He says that he converts sadness to light. Felix, this is like literally identical to an artist that I've showed you before. I swear they have the exact same voice and the exact same tone and the exact same energy. Do you remember who it is? Do you remember that artist I played you, Jose Lobo?

I'm going to play you a song. All right, let's hear it. This song is called Lista Pa La Carrera. Right? Very similar. Very similar. Which is fascinating because very unique voice. Yeah.

That's why I'm kind of like blown away by it because, okay, yeah, sure someone sounds like someone else. But for a voice and a tone that's so I thought distinct and like unrepeatable, is super. This is Jose Lobo. I think I've played him for you before. I maybe played him on the show. He's a Venezuelan artist who grew up in Brazil. in Belo Horizonte. And so a lot of, and then spent the rest of his time in Canada.

Now he's like an interpreter for the UN. That's his day job. He does like climate conference and UN interpretation and music is his super side project. But, for now, but he has one of the most unique voices I've ever heard. And he has a really interesting way that he writes to his melodies and everything because he has the Brazilian influence, but he's Venezuelan and has almost like a Simone Diaz quality to him. Really fascinating. Well, I don't know much, if anything, about Luca de Dios.

other than he wrote to us. Doppelgangers. Yeah, Sonic doffelgangers. So interesting. The artist is named Luca de Dios. The track is called Auxente. He has an album called De Amor and Esamor coming in October. You have been listening to Alt Latino. Our audio

editor is Noah Caldwell. The executive producer of NPR Music is Saraya Mohamed. Executive director of Sanale Menta. Okay, folks, drop us a line. Okay? I'm not saying that we're going to play every song that you said if you send us a song. but we do like to hear from you.

We do like to hear if you're making music, like what you're creating. And just to stay in touch, we always like to hear from the folks that are out there and listening. You can email us at all Latino at npr.org. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer.

Thank you for listening.