NPR Music - Alt.Latino: New songs from Spain, the D.R. and more

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

The way new music comes to Alt.Latino World Headquarters says a lot about our slight age difference. I still get CDs in the mail, with an occasional music file sent via email. Ana is constantly playing me audio files she gets vial email or texts from her new music sources, very rarely on CD. So while we were busy putting the finishing touches on our fist annual El Tiny takeover of the Tiny Desk Concert series, our mail piled up. Which means we had lots to choose from for this week's new music episode. There's bound to be something that catches your ear and makes you think: 'How did I live without that in my life?"Featured artists and songs:- Making Movies, “La Marea” ft. Mireya Ramos- Teo Planell, “El Mundo Delante de Ti”, “Como Pensarte Mal”- Ramona and the Holy Smokes, “Esta Herida”, “I Want You To Be My Man”- Lorea, “Se me ve la cabeza”, “Mi alma sobre la mesa”- Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Yainer Horta and Joey Calveiro, “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás”- Martox, “Enganchao de Ti”This podcast episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. The executive producer of NPR Music 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

You want to go first? Do you want me to go first? Because you think my music's better and you want to hear it first. How does that work? Who goes first and the other one ends up going last? Right. And then you always want to go last because I don't know why. All right, I'll go first.

Mine kind of works for first, though. Oh, Jesus. You go first. Go ahead. Be my guess. From NPR music, this is all Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer.

Let the Chisme begin. Okay. Tons of new music. There's been a pile up at this point. We have to get to it. I've got a track from two of my favorite bands and two artists that All Latino has been following for a very, very long time. This is the band making movies, and it's a track called La Marea featuring Merea Ramos on vocals. Tell you more about it, but let's hear a little bit of song first.

This is a track from a film soundtrack, from a short movie. the song was composed by Enrique Chi from making movies and produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos. The film was called A Little Family Drama. And I mentioned all that because Steve Berlin produced Ilamba's first records. And what we were just talking about off mic right now was that I hear a little bit of Luselena Mendoza's approach to singing

because Merea's full voice, Mariachi, R&B, like she's a full voice. But here she's sort of holding me. back a little bit and kind of like easing into the notes. And maybe that's not a direct reference to Lucelena, but it's got that feel. And maybe it's just part of the Steve Berlin approach. Maybe it's Enrique Chi. I think absolutely the Steve Berlin approach.

Because when you said that, I was like, totally, it's not quite there for me. I was trying to say that Luce has a much richer, almost like a little bit grittier, earthyer, borderline crunchy kind of sound. that's gorgeous. I mean, loose to me has one of those beautiful voices on the planet. But the vocal production,

absolutely I hear it. I think the softness and those harmonies, the way he layers her vocals, that has loose all over it, for sure. That's what, you know, I had a chance to hang out

with Steve Verlaine a little bit more a couple weeks ago at this Hispanic heritage thing. And every time Los Lobos come to town, you know, he has these really, what we say big ears.

He just listens to everything. He's got a lot of production credit under his belt. And he just makes all these different sounds, different influences, and it's always distinct. I don't know that he has a certain sound, but it's always distinct and it's always very, very creative. And in this case, he won an image award for this film soundtrack.

The film, again, is called A Little Family Drama. The track is called La Marea. It features Mirea Ramos and from the band making movies. That's my opening shot. What are you got? All right. I'm going to drop it way, way, way down. I'm going to drop the houselight slow.

This is a Spanish artist named Theo Planel that I've been following for a little bit. This song is called El Mundo Delante de Tie, and it's off of his debut album, Damien. Therein'empeo the world. There's form of back to go back. In a second, Yes, the skylo Like a Andre yams

You're So you're So you're So you're To end up To end up To start To start

And I'm Rezada Yes, go on And that's all I'm so intrigued So, like I said Spanish producer Who's having one of these moments

Of working on his own project He's worked a lot on As you might guess because all roads lead back to my man, Alvaro Quita Rica de la Fuente. He's worked on his project. Oh, my God. And this is his first actual album that he's putting out.

He's one of these artists where it's like I go through my phone. I'm like, oh, I actually have like 10 saved songs from him that feel very disparate. They don't necessarily feel super connected. And so I don't think I kind of put the dots together until I heard this debut album that's about to come out. The song itself that I brought really interesting, to me. It's like very thematically rich. It's el Muno delante de Tis, which means the world before you. Apparently it's a biblical

reference, or can be. It's built around this idea, this biblical reference that like God has given you possession of the world and you must take it without fear. And he kind of moves through in the flow of the song, almost like unraveling this idea a little bit, but obviously through a bit more of like a romantic lens. Just gorgeous. I heard like the first two seconds of it. And the second his voice comes in, it's so, like, it's one of those that's just, like, completely in the clear full of the guts, the soul, the heart. It's all right there. Everything else is gorgeous. The production to me is amazing.

But it's that sound of so much of him in that voice. I do want to play you one other song that I love from him. And it's called, Como Pensartime. I'm already thinking about which other albums I can put this on a playlist. Can you know, when Felix is thinking about a, let me think, who would you pair him with? You know, the Dracorosa album I played a few weeks ago during my healing session, or even actually, you know, Bruce Springsteen Nebraska album came out in the 80s. There's another album that you're going to watch.

want to pair it with. That's not out yet that I'm going to play you in a couple weeks. So I should wait. Yes. Okay. Yes. You should wait. You should wait.

That was El Mundo Delante de Tee and Como Pensartre Mel by Teo Plane. Okay, Felix. Okay. Another chapter in my obsession with Latinos who sing country music. Okay. Latinos and Latinas who sing country music. This is a band called Ramon. and the Holy Smokes.

This track is called Estai Rida. The album's coming out September 26th. The single is out today on the 24th. This is Ramona and the Holy Smoke. This is Spanish language honky tongue. Check it out. My amor. Te atoro.

It's me English. What? My Amor? It's like the translation of the, it's like, oh, it makes perfect sense to me in Spanish. And then all of a sudden it's like, my life is nothing without you. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's a reflection of how poetic Spanish can be on the music, right? Okay, so here's the deal.

I got to give first of all full disclosure. Ramona Martinez, the namesake of Ramona and the Holy Smoke. She's a former NPR employee. And she worked her for a while. She worked in the news department. We played in bands together while she was here in D.C. We had an in-host band that she played a little bit with. It was mostly R&B.

She's a great, great bass player. I also did a couple jazz gigs with her playing her stand-up bass when she lived here in the D.C. area. So I have to give that full disclosure because I'm familiar with her as a musician. She has this really broad palette of stuff. She likes to listen to a lot of different things. And I've been keeping track of her.

She left NPR a while back, and she's been making music down to the Richmond, Virginia area. And she sends me her stuff now and then. And when she started sending me these early Ramona in the Holy Smoke tracks, I'm like, oh, my God, this is so cool. I've seen her a couple of times here in D.C. And she does, like she does on this song, she does Volver, Volver, and Honky Talk style, right?

The great mariachi classic. And I just noticed right now when I'm listening on headphones that she has a very, her voice is different than when she sings in English. Right? It's slightly deeper. So I texted her a while back. It's something that I just sort of accepted that this is what she's doing. And I never really asked her why.

And I texted her and I want to redo her text. Okay. She says, the honky talk life chose me. I didn't grow up listening to it, but discovered it as an adult. And once I started writing my own material, it just came out in that three chords in the truth kind of way. So that's where the inspiration come from. Her dad is from Corpus Christi, the same time where Selena was born. and grew up, but it's not near the border.

So there's a lot of Tejano influence in Texas. She didn't grow up in Texas. She didn't grow up speaking Spanish. She grew up in, I think it was here in Virginia. And this is one of those instances that fascinates me and how Latino culture is sort of dispersed into the broader culture and how it all comes together in the end and really, really great, great music. She has, I think, one Spanish language track on her album.

And the rest of it's all English. And it's tales of heartbreak, it's honky talk. It's got a great steel guitar player, great band, great rhythm section. This particular track that makes a conjunto. You can hear accordion, you can hear a basso-type part, and then steel guitar. I'm all for that, man. I'm there for it. It's always interesting to me, too, when you have, like, such an explicit

mashup of two genres in this kind of way, right? Like there's all different types of music where we see people, you know, including instrumentation from a certain genre. You see people including certain themes. But this is like a full, no, this is like country with some conunto, that type of thing. And it's like, where do you borrow the messaging from, right? Because country has its own brand of how they sing heartbreak and how they sing loss and how they sing love. And so it's like, is she pulling that from the countryside? Is she pulling that from the Mexican side?

and it's like its own study, you know what I mean, and how we feel these things and where we pull from. And specifically, the English and the Spanish thing, all the time I love to hear how artists change. I mean, it's basically, like, anyone who speaks two languages, I'm told all the time I've different personalities, depending on which language I'm talking in. And when you hear it in the music, it's like more distilled, right?

Like how they'll open up more vocally in Spanish, let's say, or they'll sing louder or harder or softer or whatever. So it's really like an interesting experiment, always to see it side by side in one song. Okay. I wasn't going to do this, but I think I need to. Let's hear a little bit of her singing in English in this honky talk thing.

And this is called I Want You to Be My Man. Hello, Stranger, it's nice to meet you. My name's Ramona. This here's my band. I hear a difference. In Spanish, it's a little deeper. It's a little bit more resonant. And it might be because that's maybe the mariachi style

as opposed to a honky-tong country. The honky-talk is sort of like a rebellious country thing, right? So it's got a different flavor. I think it works both cases. I'm not just because I know her and, you know, I played with her. I just, again, it's part of the whole Latino and Latinos who sing country thing. It just fascinates me. I'm all there for it, man.

We just heard two tracks from Ramona and the Holy Smokes. Their album is coming out on September 26th. Check it out. Okay. Where are we? We should take a break. We should take a break. And we're taking a break.

One break. This is us, taking a break. Okay, we're back with more new music. I think it's your turn. Okay. So this album came out in 2024, but I found it last week, so it's new to me. The artist is named Lorea, also a Spanish artist. I did decide to just put all my Spaniards back to back.

She's from the north of Spain, kind of near Santander, Rioja region, and this is a song called Se Meva da la Cabeza de Tras de Tres de Tis. On a little bit of a campaign, maybe the past year or two years. You've probably heard me complain about this, Felix. I keep saying there's been a couple, like, pretty well-acclaimed album, specifically in the Latin space that I have been less than impressed with that kind of pull from a lot of similar sounds to this one. I keep saying everyone's just trying to survive on vibes these days.

Like, a vibe is not a genre and is not a style of music. But when I heard this artist, Lorea from Spain, I was really impressed by the intentionality of the sounds that she's using. It's like she places this concept here. It's pretty simple.

Se me va la Cabeza de Tras de Tres de Tis, which is like my mind is going crazy after you. And then every single sound, it's like this repetitive concept and every single sound she layers beep by beat by beat throughout the song just works for me as a way to explore a different facet

of that experience, right? And so I think the way that she lays it up, just feels like it makes sense and it feels like something that it's every sound is supposed to be there and has its own purpose and has its own feeling of high and low and emotion and and kind of like wips you in different directions but in a very subtle way so I'm really impressed by this artist I want to play you one more song off of this album I'm looking forward it's called mi alma sovre la mesa poetry you did it again you turned me on it team of the artist. She's perfect.

That was Se Me Was La Cabeza Detrae de Trey and My Alma Sobre La Mesa by Lorea. Okay. Not exactly Whiplash, but very, very

different genre. Okay. What, okay, sure. What's the difference between whiplash and very different genre, Felix? It's not jarring. Okay. All right.

I'm going to play a track from an album that's called Tribute to Benny Moree and Nassie. King Cole. It's by the pianist Gonzala Rubalcaba with the saxophonist Janir Jota and Joy Calveiro. Interesting concept. The album's beautiful. There's a little bit of history to it. I'll tell you about it later. This is the track, Kisas. So it's a Latin standard, right? It's very, very popular.

So the idea behind the album is an imaginary meeting between Beny Maudet and Nat King Cole. Bény Mouret was and remains one of the most popular Cuban big band vocalists of all time. He recorded in 1940s and 50s. Nat King Cole was a crooner here in the United States, very well known. Deep, rich voice on mellow tunes, usually with lust strings, incredibly popular. An early American crossover to the mainstream. Curiously, in 1958, he recorded an album of Spanish-Latin standards, which the record company thought would appeal to a whole new audience.

Okay, there's 58, right? So what they did was they recorded all the tracks, in Havana at Graham Studios and the legendary studios. Bebo Valdez was actually the arranger and the piano player. And so they brought him back to the United States. And then Nat King Cole sang over them. And, you know, he recorded his vocals here in Los Angeles. He didn't even try the accent.

You know, it was like he didn't speak Spanish. He sort of learned it phonetically. I'm going to play a little bit of that same song. I somehow remember you talking about this. Yeah. I want to play a little bit of that same song, his version of. Well, Kishas.

Check this out. Always Kethepre Keptu When how, how and where

you always me respond Kis Kis Kis, Kisas Kisas

And so pass the days and I desperated And you to contestando

Kisas, Kisas, Kisaz Okay, so you get the idea, right? Even, I mean, I don't know if it makes people cringe now because it's just so not spoken properly. But, Anna, these records were so popular throughout Latin America. So funny.

It opened up a whole new audience. It's like the 1958 equivalent of going viral. So popular, they did. three more. Mas, Cole and Espaniol, I forget the other name. Like, they did a total of three albums. They were so popular. Despite the fact they didn't speak Spanish. So it says

something a little bit about the record industry at that time, but also maybe the appetite in Latin America, in Spanish-speaking countries for American artists. Because Nat King Cole was good-looking guy, very smooth, very cool. He was very,

very mainstream. So it's an interesting, I don't know that everybody, anyone's ever written about that, but it's an interesting cross-fertilization of African-American culture, mainstream pop culture, and just Latin American standards. That's just the Nat King Cole site. On the other side of this album is an exploration of Beny Mora's popularity. The album is fantastic. Every track is just incredibly executed, and it's got this rich story behind it. And I love the concept of Navy, what if Benny Morae and Nat King Cole had ever met up? And this might be what it sounds like. The album is called tribute to Benny Mora and Nat King Cole. It's Gonzalo Rubalcaba with

Janir Horta and Joey Calverero. The track we heard was, Kis, Kis, Kisas, Kisas, chach, cha, okay, your turn. So my third and final, actually I guess technically fifth and final, song. Right? Would be from the Dominican duo, Martoks. I did, actually, Issa brought on a song from them a couple weeks ago, but you weren't here, which I think gives me the right to bring it on.

Bring it again. Now you're here. Because their album is releasing at the end of this week. They're a duo that I'm absolutely in love with, very Caribbean, beautiful sound, blends all the things that I love. So this is a song off of their new album. We get a special preview. And it's called Enganchiao De Ti.

I'm gonna do What I'm gonna do to have to have this desire to be with you It's evident, it's easy to see to see that you I've resisted I, baby, if you know me cre, look at you, it's been

I'm just to know to know, to have to, to appreciate you for all the part is that is art Oh No

It's like this idea of going out on a jauntier tune Yeah, I know I was like after all my depressive Slugby Everything was slow Everything was pretty much slow Well as I was listening to this right now I was like wow, there's actually a super thematic

Throughline with depresso Lorea song It's just like a totally different energy Completely. So yes, I snuck in another track from Martok's. Again, an amazing duo from the DR. I have been on the production side. They're really doing well with their own music.

They've been nominated for a couple of things, and I think this next album is really going to do some great things for them. The singles are already... I'm already hearing them on the dance floors in Puerto Rico. So, you know, that's when you know. That was Enganchao de Tii by Martok. You have been listening to Alt Latino from NPR Music. Our audio producers this week are Danica Panette.

and Noah Caldwell. Executive producer of NPR Music is Soraya Mohamed. I'm Felix Contrera. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Thank you for listening.