NPR Music - Alt.Latino's best new music round-up: Rosalía, Twanguero and Wyatt Flores

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre are back with a new music show, featuring Rosalía, Helado Negro, Wyatt Flores and more.Songs featured in this episode:• Twanguero, "Rumba #2"• Twanguero, "La Leyenda de Cañaveral"• Rosalía, "Omega (feat. Ralphie Choo)"• Wyatt Flores, "Oh Susanna"• Helado Negro, pablopablo, "Lejos De Más"• Troker, "El Novio (Versión Mariachi)"• Los Sufridos, Bad Gyal, "Duro de Verdad pt. 2"Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Simon Rentner. Editorial support from Hazel Cills. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music's executive producer is Suraya Mohamed. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.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 know, what's interesting this week is that we have some repeat names. Oh, sorry. Seriously, Felix? Interesting already? Producer Soraya Mohamed. She's making faces at me. We need to find other things to say other than interesting. Engroasing, absorbing, fascinating, riveting. Wow, these are good words. She's making a face at us right now to continue with the show. From NPR Music, this is all Latino. I'm Felix Contreras.

And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Let the Chismate. begin. The Cheezma this week is new music, right? Isn't it always? I get to go first this week. I'm going to play something from an artist named Twangero, and it's a play on the word twang, which from the 1950s, it was a popular rock guitar sound by using a lot of reverb and tremolo, shaking the strings, bending the strings, etc. There's a guy named Diego Garcia. He's from Spain, and he's adopted his name. He's easily one of the most fascinating guitarist I've ever heard. tell you why, but let's listen to a track from this new album called Pan America. It's called Rumba number two.

This is Twangero. Check it out. The album's called Pan America. That track was called Rumba No. 2. This is so Felix Coded and I love it. You brought in an artist named Twangero. I love it.

I hear that exactly what you're talking about is kind of like that 60s quality. but like a little bit of a country groove to it. Yeah, there was a guy named Duane Eddy in the 1950s who was a country guitar player. He's sort of popularized. I'm sure the original Twang was a mistake, somewhere in some music, small little music club somewhere in the country world.

And they dug the sound and they just stayed with it. And Duane Eddie, like I said, was like the king of twang. This guy, Tuangero, he has this thing where he has gone to different Latin American countries and in Spain and sort of, of research the history of the guitar or six-stringed instruments in these different countries. He's got this album from 2022 called Carretera Secondarias, which are like backroads. It was recorded in the jungles of Costa Rica. And you can hear the sounds of nature.

Oh, that I can hear. Oh, my God. Yeah, fascinating guitar player. I think he deserves a lot more recognition. So I hope people would explore his catalog and spend a couple of enchanting hours digging the sound of Twangero. What do you have next? I'm really excited about this one. La Rosalia and Ralfi Chu. I'm forever and always a huge fan of Rosalia. She's an innovator. She's exciting.

I'm just always kind of on the edge of my seat waiting to see what she's going to do next. And Ralphie is a personal favorite of mine. He was on my favorite albums of the year last year. He, to me, kind of represents the cutting edge of what, like, the cool innovation in the Spanish producer space is. Felix, you know, I talk about him and these guys all the time. So to see that Jim and Rosalia release something together and it's not at all

what I would have expected from the two of them together I'm just going to have you listen first this is the track Omega And how much You're away from To all your me record to you

And how much you're away You know I'm required I'm in my gang I'm cubb If no I'm what I want to God be

Libre I'm Libre I am so here for that track, okay? Oh my God. For those who have been tracking, Rosalia, I mean, she went from doing this really cool thing that put her on the map, which is this like flamenco, hip-hop, urban pop fusion.

And then she released that latest record that was a lot more regettone, and she even had a bachata track. She was kind of galling all pan-Latin. And this feels so soft. Really pleasant, dainty in love energy from her. And there are distinct Ralphie production choices on the back half, that reverb, the electric guitar, the kind of little sprinkled interspersed vocal accents.

Every single moment and every single note was so intentionally placed. You know what that is, Anna? That's maturity. That's the sound of an artist. discovering who she is in the process of self-discovery. And now she seems to be, at least on this track, seems to be settling in. You don't have to be making the biggest banger

of the most exciting, crashing production choice. It's just can you do what you're doing and do it the best and with the most heart? Which is a nice segue to my artist. Talk about speaking from the heart. Earlier this year, I brought in an artist named Wyatt Flores, and he's a guy that I discovered when we did our Latinos who sing country episode,

with Kerry Rodriguez, and I put together this playlist. It was something about his story, his background, his Mexican-American from Oklahoma, the sound of his voice sounds like these country singers that I remember hearing when I was living in Fresno. He even looks like my sons, okay? He could be like one of my nephews, right? He had a big year this year.

His first grand old opera performance, which is sort of the acceptance and baptism by the traditional country community. His first big tour includes a performance at the Sacred Space of Country, the Ryman Auditorium. He released an EP in the spring, which has been on constant replay in my car.

And he has a new album coming out October 18th. You never asked me to. I didn't think I could. But I put that weight on me. Couldn't carry a cross of wood. Couldn't carry a cross of wood. I tried to pull you up. Turns that I wasn't enough.

I always let you down Who the hell did I think out? Don't you go crying for me? It's all getting there's a savior If you darling Without killing me Okay so the background behind this song As explained in

When you watch this music video That's out right now on YouTube There was so much going on with him earlier in the year All of this success, his very, very early success That he had to take a break for his own mental health back in February. And that's where a lot of this songwriting came from.

And this song in particular, it's really sort of an apology when you listen to the lyrics. It sounds like he's apologizing to Susanna, but Susanna is us. And he's apologizing for not being able to keep up with the demands and the pressures of being a young artist that's just been catapulted into the limelight so quickly. In the video of the song,

there's a tearful apology from some performance somewhere where he confesses that he was struggling with all the success, all the things that life had given them, and that he's just sorry and he just couldn't keep going on. It's heartbreaking, and then the rest of the song comes in. It's just part of his backstory. It just speaks to his power as this young songwriter and in the country lane doing what I think is some of the most powerful music

I've heard in a very long time. Felix, I, for one, just love how much you love life. People need to understand. I get into your car and you are playing Wyatt Flores. It's just that voice for me. You can feel every single emotion. The name of the track is O'Susana and the album's called Welcome to the Plains. That's due out on October 18th.

We're going to take a short break and we'll be right back with more new music because I think, Anna, you're up next. And we're back with more new music. And yes, Felix, I am up next. This next song is from. Elado Negro, obviously this man, literally my soul, and also Pablo Pablo, who I've been following for a minute now. He's a Spanish producer who also has his own project. I brought him up actually on an all-songs episode recently. We were talking about the new Nati record because he produced on the big track on that record,

A Prender Amad, and has been building a name for himself for a while now as a producer, but now is really having this moment with his own project. So here's their track together called Lejos de Mass. There's a lot about this that feels very elado negro to me, like that opening piano, let's call it the little tiki-ticky sound at the beginning, the way that he does this very poetic refrain. That's kind of where the alado stops for me because I think Pablo Pablo really brings an interesting element,

like these vocal textures and the way that he kind of pops in the synth sounds, or almost gives it like a Boniverr quality. Boniver. You made him Latino. Iver. Bonito Iver. The fact that it does have a little bit of that texture to it is what is distinct to me about Pablo. I've mentioned before, he's actually Jorge Drexler's son.

Jorge Drexler, obviously being the incredibly acclaimed singer-songwriter from Yurteguai. His dad is obviously an incredible lyricist. That's kind of his bread and butter, let's just say he's a storyteller. And Pablo Pablo really shines more in the quality of the sound. The way that he builds a soundscape as a producer, even his own project, is very kind of producer forward. It's colorful instrumentally with the scents, with the vocals. I'm just really excited by who he is as an artist and to see where he goes.

That was Lejos de Mass by Elado Negro and Pablo Pan. That tiki-talkie thing sounds. at the beginning, that's the sound of a clock ticking. Well, that's what I figured. I know it's a generational thing. You don't have grandfather clocks anymore, but that is actually the sound of a clock ticking away the seconds. I, for the first time ever in my entire life, heard a clock.

You know, as we talk about Elado Negro, we do have to mention that Latino was on board very, very early on. His real name is Roberto Carlos Lang. He's from the southern Florida. He's from Ecuadorian family. But he has always had a completely unique stamp and sonic identity on his music. Been such a fan.

This song just fits right in like in another adventure of Elado Negro. Okay, Felix. Your turn. Okay. This is my geek out track for the week, okay? This is a band called Troker. And they are from Guadalajara and Mexico.

They are a jazz fusion band. They're really one of a... one of the most unique sounding bands in their approach to jazz that I've ever heard. They have a turntablist, they have horns, they have a great keyboard player. They released an album that I missed back in May. The album is called Tierra and Libertad, which was the Mexican Revolutionary of Meliano Zapata's phrase, a catchphrase, brand during the Mexican Revolution. So the band named their album Tierra and What it is, it's their approach to jazz with Mariachi.

Using strings and horns and vicuela and guitarons and all the other stuff that go with mariachi. I brought in a track called El Nouveo. I want you to hear how it starts. And then the horns. Mickey Felix! This is what they do. These guys are so talented. I love these guys.

I want to play another part of this song. It's the end of the song. So they go through this whole exploration. And then look what they do at the end. Check it out. You won today. There's some very serious, it's. seems production happening across in the other booth for me.

And they keep looking over and laughing at me because I'm dancing to every single track. And that one really got me jumping. Before we move to your song, I just have to say that there is precedent for this. In 2010, the iconic Mexican jazz drummer Tino Contreras, who was legend in Mexico. He was 97 when he died. He produced an album in 2021 called, jazz mariachi. Here's a little bit of this. There have been other bands, other artists that have mixed jazz

and mariachi, but I don't know, man, Troker, they are doing something very, very special right now. The album's called Tierra and The band is called Troca, they're from Guadalajara and they're badasses. Okay, so next song is called Duro de Verdad Part 2 by Los Sufridos and Badgiel. Okay, so I want to say, I went on the record that I saw a bad gal, what, 2018, 2017, something like that, South by Southwest. I can't remember.

What I saw back then was this artist just, like, about to launch. She was already good. This one here, it's crystallized, it seems like. She is, I mean, she has skyrocketed, truly, has become a massive artist, so very cool, flex of you, Felix, to be able to say that. But what I actually want to focus on here is Los Sufriados. They are a Dominican band. They are basically doing what I would consider the perfect marriage of a very contemporary, pushing it forward, Baceta scene and the urban space in the DR right now.

I would say it's like the most authentic representation of what it sounds like on the ground floor right now. The timing on this Batchata is insane to me, Felix. I actually tried to dance it just to see. I was like, what would this feel like to do? It's a Bacchata like this. It's doable, surprisingly. But the fact that it's like the Bacchata thing and then you have this huge Spanish rapper rapping over a double,

maybe triple time Bacchata rhythm like this, I mean, that to me alone was just striking enough that I was like, we need to be talking about this and paying attention to what these guys are doing. Okay, Anna, we're going to let you take a dance break right now. We'll be right back right after this. And now it's time for our segment songs that we love. And this week gets a song.

by an iconic artist whose emotional impact never stops. My name is Claudia Cruz, and the song that moves me is Ohalah Keueva Cafe by Juan Luis Guerr. I do not know if I started

wondering about why people migrated and left their homelands until the song. came out. That's Claudia Cruz. She is a journalism professor living in Reno, Nevada. She says her heart is always in her native

Dominican Republic, and more specifically in Queens, New York, where she grew up. Okay, but Felix, to set the scene for this song that she chose, which I love, by the way, we have to step back and take a look at the Dominican community, not just in New York, but across the country. Okay, so in the 1980s and

90s, there was a lot of migration from the island to New York. A lot of that migration was due to a struggling economy, drought, in the agricultural decline of the country. Big picture things, right? Juan Luis Guerra wrote a song that spoke to that moment so effectively that the song has become iconic. And it's this lyricism, right? Felix, like the way he paints a picture of the island of his country, of the loss, in such a poetic. Oh, it gives me chills. I hope it rains coffee in the field, so a high hill of wheat and mappway go down the hill of grained rice and continue the plowing with your will. It seems to me like the song was directed to this Dominican diaspora that we're talking about, right? Floating all around the world to reflect the anguish of having to leave your country and still love it so much. All of a sudden, I began to understand why my parents left and why it was difficult for them to decide to return,

because what jobs would there be on the island unless it rained coffee, right? Unless it rained Trigo, unless it rained rice and wheat. and some of the other beautiful metaphors that Juan Luis Guerra just brilliantly weaves throughout the song. You know, after the song was released, it seemed to be everywhere. It was on the radio. It was on TV. It was in bodegas. It was in cafes. Even in the school assembly and Claudia's largely Dominican middle school, where she was experiencing her own preteen sense of self-discovery. The popularity of the song also offered a nuanced cultural reflection of Afro-Caribbean,

be in New York in the 1980s. I was about 12 years old when the song came out and I was entering a moment in my life where I was leaving my household and venturing around the city. In New York City, the established community was the Puerto Rican community. And the community before that was the Cuban community. And Dominicans were slowly growing. So all of a sudden, we were, at least on the radio now, at par with the salsa that was playing and some of the other rock and roll and hip hop that was emerging at the time. So all of a sudden you have this merengue appear and just made you feel like you belonged in the U.S. Songs like this matter because, yes, you hear them everywhere, but you hear those words everywhere, right? And so the power of that language with just the right melody, I mean, it touches all of our deepest emotions.

The lyrics while Luis Guerra wrote for this song, Ohalah Ke Jueva Cafe, are very, very important. Now think about the word ohala. It's a Spanish word that means, I hope. Its roots are from the Middle Ages when the Moors or Muslims from North Africa ruled southern Spain. Ohalah comes from the Arabic expression, inshallah, or God willing. So for me, the song always felt like a prayer, which can be more personal than just some song to sing along with. And when you combine it with Juan Luis Geras' almost angelic voice,

it becomes a prayer for hope. The idea of hope is important because it reminds us that purpose is important. You can't live a useful life without having purpose. Purpose gets you up in the morning. And so does hope. And I think the two things are intertwined. Then once you have purpose, you begin to take steps to become purpose. productive, and in that productivity, when you accomplish something, there is a strength,

a pride that comes from that. And if we cycle through that, again, sembrar, we have to sembrar. We have to cocechar. So that means that we have to plant and harvest. That's purpose and that's productivity and that's accomplishment. When I hear the song, even to this day, it just reminds me of that, of the opportunities we have, especially as immigrants in this country, to have purpose, to be productive, and to accomplish many goals. You know, the song's message of resilience was felt throughout all of Latin America, anywhere where communities struggled economically or culturally. Okay, the song was so influential that in 1996, the Mexican band Cafetta Cuba covered it,

but they did it in the style of Son Harocha, which is a very rural style of Pueblo. Oh yeah. And get this, not only did the song raise the profile of the Dominican community, but it also allowed the rest of the Spanish-speaking world to become acquainted with not only Juan Luis Lujera's artistry, but really what was a musical vision? It did in a really big way. So the song, check this out.

So the song was released in 1989, before the Latin Grammys even started. But since then, he's won over 20 Latin. Grammys. He sold over 30 million albums worldwide. All of this reflects the admiration, not just of the public, but of the Spanish language music industry, but the personal impact he had on Dominicans like Claudio Cruz is what made him practically a staple of Dominican households everywhere. He became a role model. I love Gloria Estefan and Miami Salmachim, and I would sing their songs, but then comes, Juan Luis Gera, giving me an option as well. That is not from the

Cuban experience or the Puerto Rican experience or maybe even the Mexican experience. All of a sudden, it was okay to be the Dominican. It was okay to be Dominican and aspire to be great, just like Juan Luis Guerra. I mean, it still moves me to think about just what he's done for our community and the permission he's given us to contribute to this country. You know, Anna, when I asked Claudia what she would say to Juan Luis Garra about the song, the tearful emotions of a 12-year-old recently arrived immigrant, came pouring out of a slightly older college professor.

Wow, you're going to make me cry, Felix. If I could talk to Juan Rizegra about the song, it was just to thank him. I mean, really, like this song, as a 12-year-old, made me proud to be Dominican and made me proud to be a Dominican in this country because I feel like I could accomplish things, and then there's hope.

That hope. That sense of community really comes through this section at the end of the song where the chorus is repeated. Well, Juan Luis Guerr is improvising on the verse, the repetition makes it feel like a prayer. Then a children's choir comes in to sing the chorus at the end, and Anna, this part has always choked me up. Even more so now, because I hear it. differently, Anna. It's as if 12-year-old Claudia is part of that chorus. In fact, it feels like

every Dominican who's ever had to leave their island and struggle in their new country is a child again, singing that chorus. We'll have another song and another story next week. And a reminder, if you have a song and a story that moved

you, please send an email to alt.comlatino at npr.org. You have been listening to All Latino from NPR Music. Our audio producers for this episode are Simon Retner and Taylor Haney with editorial support from Hazel Sils. The woman who keeps it all together is Grace Chung. Suraya Mohamed is executive producer of NPR music. And our half-in-chief is Keith Jenkins, VP of Music and visuals. I'm Felix Contreras.

And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Thanks for listening.