NPR Music - Alt.Latino: Isabella Lovestory, Vicente García, more

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

Our selections this week feature a crate diggers' delight from Colombia and the sound of modern rap in Mexico.Featured artists and songs:• Óscar Agudelo y El Combo Moderna, "Está Como Mango"• Isabella Lovestory, "Fresa Metal," "Eurotrash," "Tu Te Vas"• Grecia Albán, "YO POR TI"• Vicente García, "Mambo Violento," "El Huracán," "Abusadora"• BALTHVS, "Flesh and Soul" • Gera MX, "Ciclo Vital," "1 Millón"CreditsAudio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Noah Caldwell. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music's executive producer is Suraya Mohamed.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

I had something to say, but I can't remember. I guess that means the show's over. I'll come up with something. Don't worry. I think you'll find something to talk about. You always have something to say. But only important things, right, Felix? That is correct. From NPR Music, this is all Latino.

I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Let the Chisemay begin. Felix, do you have any good cheese me? Because I feel like I've been really over-indexing on the quality stories. Okay, so I do have a bit, I guess a chis-me. I do have something I have to do right off the top. I have to offer a correction on the air here.

Yours or mine? It's a correction about something that I said. Of course it is. Okay, so last week in the show, we talked about the Carol G album, the great Carol G album, and the one song that was sampled the Pettis Prado tune, you said it was Mumble number five. And I corrected you. I said, no. Oh, my God.

This is the best correction ever. And I said, no, that's Carrico and Mumble. I know what I'm talking about. It's Mambo number five. Wow. But I do have an excuse, maybe, sort of, kind of. When I was in high school, many, many years ago, I played in this band in high school,

and we used to play those Pettist Prado tunes, Cherry Pink, Apple, Blossom White, Mambo number five, Mambo number eight, and Carrico en Mambos. And that Mambu number five and Carrico El Mambo, they would say, okay, now we're playing Mumble number five. And then one, two, three, and then I played Carrico El Mambo,

which is that a different tune. I always got them confused. I always mixed them up. And here, what, 30, 40 years later, I mixed them up again in front of the whole world. If you don't recall, Felix, I almost feel like we have to roll the tape to remind everyone. I immediately backed off. I was like, oh, yes, of course, Felix, the expert. He must know what he's talking about.

He must know what he's talking about. So my apologies, yeah. On air correction, that was actually Mambo Numero Cinco, as we used to announce it. Okay, Felix. Well, would you like to shamefully present? the music that you brought today. Curiously, I brought some more old music. This is from one of my favorite labels.

It's the Munster Vampi Soil label from Spain. They are the king of reissuing vintage albums. This is an album from 1966. It's considered a collector's item in Columbia Cumbia Circles. The name of the band is Oscar Agudelo and El Como Moderna. The song is called It's Like Mango Check it out

Dig the whole vintage Cumbia vibe, right? Look at Myra Looka Mungcita Mira That chikita

Yeah That's like mango Look That moñeca But looka Oh my Mola

Oh, That's like Mango Look What's Myonleca But look Look,

Oh, What mamacita caramba That's like Mango With those Oh, if we

will To get to me With that That's To be To make To be

Put in those Oh, to see Celo To be To be With

With that That's Linder That's Linder To be To be

To be Okay, that's about as close She's about to be Her chinturita, caramba Yeah, that's about as close to risque As we can get Okay, on the show For those of you who need to brush up

On their Spanish, he's like, Oh, look at that mamacita, Look at her eyes, look at her mouth And the female chorus is saying, It's like a mango. The mango is the juicy, sweet, thing that just when you eat it, it kind of drips down your hands and all, you know, there's a physiological reference there, okay?

It's between the lines. I was going to say, there's a sexual reference there, okay? It is. And it's from 1966. He looks like, how can I say this? Radio-friendly. There's a physiological, anatomical. An anatomical reference, right?

It's science. The record. is just full of this classic mumble. And you know, and I haven't talked about this label in a while because this is a label dedicated to the crate divers, right? Finding the most fascinating archival albums imaginable. And I've been playing them throughout the entire history of Alt Latino. Because I remember things like this really cool Spanish duop from the 1950s

that was like reflective of the U.S. Also incredible post-Franco punk that was so raw and so powerful. And then they do, you know, like Mexico, Colombia, do all the stuff. Mr. Vampi Soles, like one of my favorite labels of all time, and they delivered with this great, great record, is called Pa Mi Muneca. Felix, it's interesting that you say that and you bring up those references because to me, like, the sound of it, the energy of it, it goes so much beyond what I'm expecting from a cumbia like that. Like, it sounds to me, like, the horns are so bright and expressive and dancing and playful. It almost, like, felt vaguely like, what's the term? is it like not, it's not cabaret, but do you know what I'm talking about, like the very drunk and kind of like, do you know what I'm saying?

Well, you know, I, in my head and in my notes that I'm reading from. And in your heart. And in my hearts. I described it as mid-1960s hypness in Columbia. It's important to note this is pre-salsa. Like salsa became a really big deal in the mid, early to mid-70s in Colombia, almost more than in Puerto Rico or in the United States. Salsa became huge. This is before salsa when it was. homegrown, it was folkloric, it was what was modern and hip then. And some of this stuff,

this music here reflects different types of cumia, different types of like dance forms in Columbia at the time. That's what this record represents. And they have exhaustive liner notes, which is another specialty from Munster Vampi's soul. It has all kinds of stuff, different styles from Colombia during that time. I'm going to be blasting this for the rest of the weekend. This is Felix's Song of the Summer. This is, your song at the summer while you're hitting the gym, Felix. Okay. The name of the album is Pami Munieca.

The artist is Oscar Agudelo and the song is It's Como Mongo. Okay, so I have another suggestion for your summer gym playlist, Felix. Okay. Slightly different. This is a song from Isabella Love Story's new album. The album is called Vanity. I've been very patiently with. waiting for this album, Felix. I have been following her for quite some time now. She's a

Honduran singer-songwriter. She grew up in Honduras. She moved to the U.S., then to Canada. This is like, she's pushing the envelope for me of what alternative Latin music can be, where it can pull from. This is one of those tracks called Fresa metal. I don't think it's going to make my gym playlist, but I do like the way they change up the regga-ton thing to that. You can't imagine yourself. Ch-ch-ch-ch-pa-ba-ba-ba-ba-wa. Waits. Ooh, I don't know what you do. Do you do? weights do jazzercise? I do.

I do jazzercise. It's like the 80s, man. Jane Ponda and all that. Come on. Exactly. That is so cold. No, but I did. Like that syncopated stuff

when they broke up the reggaeton and they made that whole little syncopated beat. I mean, they call her a reggaeton artist Felix and that's just one of the many, many multi hyphenates of who she is. It's interesting because now she splits her time

between New York London and Toronto. And you can definitely hear the Londonness of it to me. I think first and foremost, you know, like people talk about London having this very kind of experimental, interesting, vaguely electronic scene. And there's something about her sound. I mean, conceptually, Fresa metal specifically, I just love that. I love the embodiment of that sound, right?

She's kind of bordering on hyperpop in moments with some of like the energy, the maximalist way she plays with sound, like all of the electronic sound. brings in. But it's also, obviously there's a Dembo there and she's playing with it. She's incorporating it very naturally into all the other things that she does. I want you to hear this other song. It's called Euro Trash. The last track to me, some of what she did with the beat, it felt like something you've heard from maybe like a Rosalia and her chicken terriaki moment on Motomami. But this is just, I don't hear Latin artists playing with sound in this particular way, almost like vaguely hip hop drill bordering moment.

She's kind of satirical to me and how she plays with beats and effects, but it's very controlled in her own kind of specific way. I want to close us out on one other song from her. It's called Tu Tevas. Okay, in the interest of, I don't know, camaraderie, of closing the gap, this is not normally a song or an album or a series of songs that I would listen to when I work out. Believe it or not, I listen to slow orchestral music. It's a whole different thing.

I do believe it. All right? I do. I do believe, Felix. But I'm going to try this. Are you going to drop your workout playlist for people publicly, Felix? That's a good idea. You should do a workout playlist episode.

Oh, my God. Okay, let's put it on the list. That was a couple of songs from Issevela Love Story's new album, Vanity. Okay. The next song I brought in, hmm, I think we do have a bit of a whiplash here. I'm shocked. Felix, what? I brought in a track from an Ecuadorian folk singer.

I just found this, I don't know, in an email or something. I didn't know her at all. Her name is Gracia Alvan. She's relatively young, so for me it's great to hear her claim folk traditions. There really is nothing electronic, modern, contemporary about it other than that she's really leaning into the folk music from a part of the world that we really don't hear a lot about. Okay, but Felix, did you know that I've actually been listening to this album all the time?

Oh, my God. And I listen a lot while I leptical. This is a song called Yo Por Tii, and the album's called Nubis Selva, and apparently Anna already discovered it, but now you all can discover it. Great, great record. Again, the artist's name is Gracia Alvan. I really like this record. And she tells this great story

that came with some of the information on the record. She said her mother in Ecuador had a lot of baskets. And she was when she was a little kid, her mother saw another basket. And she was going to buy another one. And she asked her mom, like, why are you going to buy a basket? Because our house is full of baskets.

And she said, so that they keep making them. Right? So that the tradition continues. So that you can keep doing this stuff. that's how I feel about not only the beauty of this record, but explore this musician, explore this artist, explore these cultures so that they continue to live in us as listeners,

continue to live in the musicians that presented, to continue to live in the musicians and all the audiences that appreciate it. That's what I really like about this record. I mean, it's a beautiful record. It's gorgeous. It's got all these things, folkloric, traditional instruments.

I heard some clarinets on that tune. You know, there's all this stuff. but it's her perspective of, I'm going to continue to do this. I'm going to lean into this. And I think it's something that we ought to support. And I do want to say, and it's something I've been wanting to say for a while,

I want to ask our listeners, when you hear something that you like, go to their website, find them online on their social media, and buy something from them. Because that's how they support themselves, right? Unless you're like a super, super big A-list artist, every purchase helps.

When you go see them, buy a t-shirt, buy a hat, buy or something. Support them economically again so they can keep doing it, like Gracia's mom said about the basket makers. The album's called Nube Selva. That track we heard is Yo Porti. The artist is Gracia Alba. In fact, right now we can take a break so you can go and find some of these artists on the internet. Put the podcast on pause and then you can go out and find it.

We're going to take a break. We'll be right back. Okay, we're back. Hopefully you ordered some records while you were offline. Okay. All right. Anna, your turn. What do you got?

Okay, so actually, weirdly enough, it is one of those moments where it does feel like we actually coordinated Felix, because a lot of what you were saying about the baskets and, you know, preserving tradition and really, like, I think having a careful approach to what you incorporate into your music and why is very much a perfect explainer or descriptor, one of the many descriptors of Dominican singer-songer and Vicente Garcia. He has not released an album in six years. So it's been a minute. He's been away. He's been probably crafting this because it's quite a beautiful record.

It's called Punito de Yokaku. And it's called that because it's actually inspired by a lot of Taino deities, tradition, ancestrally significant sounds. And so I'm going to play you one of the songs that first caught my attention on the record. It's called Mambo Violento. So I wanted to play that first, because one of my because one, it really got me dancing. But two, it's just a really beautiful classic version of what I think he's more known for, right?

He's been nominated a number of times of the Latin Grammys for various tropical award categories. That's kind of what he's known for is incorporating a lot of that classic Batchata merengi from the Caribbean. And it's beautiful. This is like a perfect, wonderful example of the best of his work in that area.

I mean, he's done everything, Felix from toured with Juan Luis Guerr, like he has his stamp of approval in the tropical category. But what he does that I think is actually more interesting and more like what you said, this act of preservation is these nods to Caribbean and So one song I want to play for you are these nods to Caribbean ancestry. He did that on his last record and he's doing it again now.

The focus really for him above all else is cultural resilience. And so I want you to hear this song, it's called El Huraca. There's some more than that I'm in my There's some serious one we get revived to it, Major. But more than that, Felix, when you listen to it lyrically, what he's really doing here, right, is he's playing with this concept of the hurricane.

Obviously, this is a very present and difficult image for a lot of people in the Caribbean. You know, it's a constant fear. It's something that has affected. We've talked about how it's affected a lot of the music that comes out of these islands. And he's taking that concept, and he's turning it on its head a little bit.

He's talking about it from this perspective of, yes, it being a tumultuous love, but the way that he surrounds it with that beautiful percussion, It kind of gives me like an Alex Ferreira type of energy. There's a calmness to the way that he confronts this concept. And I think that to me feels like perseverance. That feels to me like what he's trying to do on this record, right? Is like bring in some of these ideas.

But then how can we surround them with our tradition musically and address them and overcome them? He teamed up with Cabra on this record, which he's done before. And I didn't quite hear the Cabra on it. I mean, obviously anything that's just beautifully produced is going to have a Cabra signature to it. But on this one track, which I want to go out on from him, which is called Abusadora, that's when I was like, oh, there's the Cabra influence completely. I would argue that Cabra or Eduardo Cabra is all over this record. Because what he does is like he helps these artists dig within themselves and find just who they are.

And then if it comes out in a variety of different styles, instrumentations, approaches, that's reflective of who they are. I love them when they're working together. They produce some amazing music together. That was a number of songs from Vee. Vicente Garcia's new album, Punito, of Yak-a-Hu. Okay, I'm going to close out my selections this week with, you know, I'm of the age where we grew up with, like, electric guitar was the main instrument of expression and the rock and all that other stuff, right?

And so I've always been interested in hearing how it's applied in different ways. We've had, Armados Gutierrez on the show, doing their thing with the double guitar thing. any number of ways to do it. There's a band from Columbia. It's a trio. They're called Balthus. And they have a new album out called Flesh and Soul. This is the title track.

I'm here for it, man. Check it out. It almost has like a jam band quality to it. Well, to me, feels it really sounds like Krungben. Do you know Krung Ben? I do not. Okay, wait.

Let's play a little Krungman because I want you to hear this. Okay. The sound is very familiar. This is something that I grew up with. I grew up listening to this sound to go back any number of years, jazz, you know, surf or whatever. There's like there's a way to approach the guitar.

And I grew up in an era where there were so many ways to do it and so many ways to express that and have fun with it. So like whether it's the band that you brought in or Balthas or Hermannos Gutierrez or anybody that's playing a guitar like that, it speaks to me because it's something that I remember listening to. So yeah, I'm here for it. The name of the album is Flesh and Soul. That was the title track.

The band is called Balthas. Okay, bring us home. Okay, so Felix, I have to play you something importantly because I want to see if you remember this. Do you remember that? Yes, that was a moment. I do remember that song. That was a pretty actually in pre-Pesopuluma, and she's

like the origin of all of this explosion that we've been tracking now for years. Yes, the Mexican regional explosion. Like that was the precipice. It was also one of Edgar Barrera's earliest, big songwriting hits. Like this was kind of one of the things that hit him on the map as well. Really? I didn't know that.

So that song is a Christian Nadal song and that's kind of how we talked about it at the time and that's how a lot of people mention it to this day. But it's also a Jera M.X song who has just released an EP. It's called Laske Escribe and Nuka Sakee and it's quite literally that. He said it's songs that he wrote years ago

but he held off releasing them because they were so deeply personal. Now, it was really, really interesting for me to listen to this record because rap specifically is like a very interesting kind of complicated territory in Mexico. I was actually talking to Bobby today, Bobby Carter, series producer of the tiny desk, about how Catria Limpaco, I don't know if you know this, Felix, they're opening for Kendrick Lamar in Latin America, specifically in Mexico. Wow.

Yeah, wild. And I was trying to explain to him. I was like, Mexico has kind of this tricky relationship with rap. You have Santa Fe clan, for example, who is obviously super explosive. The city does love it and almost need it, but they don't always want it, maybe, or they think they do.

It's like, Corridos is closer to where they get it and they speak it and they feel it, but the expression that you hear in Corridos and in a lot of the rap that they do champion is kind of like this hyper-masculine, often violence kind of sound.

which within the cultural context is a way that they're able to express themselves. They're able to sing along to a lot of NACO Corridos or generally Corridos songs, and they like that style. But the political in the way that we express things politically in American rap is often left out. Additionally, the vulnerable is not often,

there's not a space for it really in Mexican rap, and they don't tend to lean towards those sounds or the sounds of like a U.S. more R&B leaning rap, earlier hip-hop. But Hera is different to me, Felix. So I want you to hear this track. It's called Un Million. How many You're

D'Olla Bailame this bars My Vida And I'm I'm the same I'm sure I'm sorry I'm in the

I'm in the mien I'm thinking I think you're I'm thinking that I'm sorry No, she's Mitae'N'clock She's

She's on testigas But wait The moment Parked on the Doble Fila If you're In line you Let's go

It's in It's justice With the man What Morderyia We're We're A-Moneryas Weissed

We're Wow, Wow, Wow. How many No. Wow. Super interesting, and really, actually,

unlike anything I've heard coming out of Mexico, Felix. Yeah, I was not expecting that at all. And the way that he plays with sound, the way that he plays with a lot of these less listened to actually in Mexico. I mean, he's really kind of bringing a lot of what you might hear still in a contemporary American hip hop to Mexico City to the rest of the country.

He himself is from the barrio in San Luis Potosi, and he says, he actually explicitly says, everything he learned on the streets was for getting out of them. He's super clean. He has an art school he founded for kids. And a lot of his rap, yes, is the typical kind of sensation. very like I'm the best da-da type of energy but there's a nuance and a complexity and a vulnerability in his music he's honest about his thoughts and confusions I want you to hear this song Felix

it's called cyclo vital the day that me via jevene me finis in a boat to la plagi and deal to my clique that of me so my maria and she lachieveen paca on my magic i let's chise While I've lived, I always did what I I've been in the sky Before to die with the grises Connoxed my father at the 15 In the mind of my liu,

A Cicatrice, I'll can't my form final Like that's a cavaun of Frizer No analysen, that's can't Paird, I'll tell you I've got to mordered Like Judiots of Yeabee, I'm Dett, I'm behind the power Consciente of that I'm gonna

But my is immortal To me, that nobody me retent in a bote of crystal I want to be caught Toes in Almas So, one of the Could be chasuron So one of the lines that really stood out to me, Felix,

And a lot of them across the record did. He says, I don't want anyone to keep me in a glass jar, I want to be food for the sea bream that throw me into the sea, made my brothers on the beach one day fish for fish. me so I can return to my family and close a life cycle. He's just like very thoughtful and interesting and poetic in his approach to things. And it's not, I think he's still figuring it out, but he talks a lot about just always working on bettering himself.

And that's kind of the intention, the purpose of what he's trying to do with this music. And it's really unlike any project I've heard in the rap scene coming out of Mexico, Mexico City in general. So I don't know. I really loved it. We just talked about that last week, didn't we? about how there's so many different things coming out of Mexico City these days. Definitely.

I think you're thinking of Bellefonte, sensational. Super different. Yeah. Super different. Yeah. But both to me staples in a way of the scene there. And both like readily and happily and excitedly received in the city. I think that's something people underestimate is the diversity of taste in Mexico City and what people get excited about.

I mean, like I've said it a million times. It's the epicenter of creation in Latin America. right now, really. I would agree with you on that. And it also reminds me of, like something we talked about last week when I had Pantion Rococo on, the rapping,

the flow and everything reminds me of Molotov. Well, and if you'll remember, on that Pantion track, Sabino was featured. And Sabino is like one of the biggest names in Mexico City's rap scene right now. Kind of cool how we brought it all together in one song.

It's like we coordinated it, Felix. Yeah, right. Yeah, right. Literally, yeah, right. That was a couple tracks off of RMX's new EP. It's called Las Ke Scrii and NNuca Sake. You have been listening to Alt Latino from NPR Music. Our editor is Noah Caldwell.

Thank you so much for joining us. He's our audio editor. Grace Chung is our project coordinator. Saraya Mohamed is executive producer of NPR Music. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Thank you for listening. So much for listening.