NPR Music - Alt.Latino's best new music round-up: Wyatt Flores, Danny Ocean and Grupo Frontera

Episode Date: May 15, 2024

Ana and Felix collect their favorite recent releases from the past few months, including new material from the breakout regional band Grupo Frontera, a country/Latin cross-over in the music of Wyatt Flores, a new song from groundbreaking rapper Mala Rodriguez and more.Songs featured in this episode:•Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, "Mas Que Nada"•Luis Muñoz, "Crescent Moon"•Mala Rodriguez, "Casi Nada [Explicit]"•Alih Jay, "Bang Bang (Mi Baby Me Mató)"•Cher, "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)"•Grupo Frontera, "Me Hizo Un Favor"•Wyatt Flores, "Half Life"•Danny Ocean, "Cero Condiciones [Explicit]"•Fabiola Méndez, "Lamento en Celinés"•Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, "EL ÚNICO"Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Joaquin Cotler, with 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

Just a quick warning, this episode contains explicit language. Ah, Bob. Okay, name that tune. Seriously. I actually don't know. Why is it in my head? That is a song called Mosh Canada. Seriously? Yeah. And it's from Sergio Mendez and his band, Brazil 66. I don't remember who wrote it, though.

It's one of those songs that's iconic from that era that really introduced pop Basanova to the U.S. Okay, but why is it in my head? Why did I walk in here singing it? Where would I, why? Where did it come from? Maybe a dream? Ooh, what do you think that means?

Oh my God, I'm having a deja vu. I am remembering this moment of you singing that song, but it comes from your dream. Wow, we're getting really witchy this week, Felix. I like it. I'm kind of scary myself. Wow. Well, it's because we've been listening to so much music for this week's new music show that it just...

Osmosis. Osmosis of the brain, the heart, the mind, the soul, and the strings. From NPR music, you're listening to Alt-Latino, the esoteric version. Ooh. I want to, like, a chime or something. From MPI on music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Ana Maria Sayer.

Let the Chisemet begin. And The Chisema is new music this week. We got a ton of stuff. I can still get stuff in the mail, believe it or not. I get physical CDs. I do. Why don't I get physical CDs? I don't know, because you're the younger generation.

Is there some kind of mailing list I got to get on? It's the younger generation. You guys are all digital downloads. I love getting mail. I think it's the novelty of it. I'm like, oh my God, I got mail. Okay, publicist. You've heard that.

Send her CDs. Should I publicly announce my address? They know where to find you. Because they know where to find me, and they send me stuff all the time. However, this record that I'm going to start out with this week is something that I found on my own. This is a drummer, composer named Luis Munoz.

He is a jazz musician, but he's also adept at so many different types of music. He's originally from Costa Rica. He lived in Santa Barbara, California for many, many years. after going to school there, UC Santa Barbara. He's put out a number of really great records. And there was one called Luce that he released in 2013 that features Mago Serreira that really cemented everything for me from this musician.

He's got a great new record out right now called Glimbering Path. I'm going to play a track called Crescent Moon. Check it out. It's redonculus. I had no clue who this was, I will say. And I listened to the whole record, and wow, I was really delightfully surprised by this whole record. I mean, the versatility of what he does here, like, yes, there's obviously a through line of jazz happening. But track to track, like Crescent Moon, that track you just played, there's almost like a little bit of a synthetic, contemporary futuristic element to it that I would.

was really surprised to hear him play with. And then you have almost like a 2000s pop rock energy on three seasons with more of jazz horns. It's really interesting to listen to. I hear so much in it. Also from Costa Rica, which is like, you don't hear a ton of artists like this coming out of Costa Rica. Yeah, I'm really glad you heard all that stuff because the first time I put this album on,

literally the vinyl, he sent me a couple copies and I put it on. And it really is a high watermark for him. for all of the reasons that you stated. It's just so, so forward-looking. And it's just, it's him. It really is him. He's just so talented that way. It's also really interesting to me because on Lords of War,

the vocals that this artist does, her name is Lois Mahalia. She's a Guyanese singer. And she does almost, like, a lot of those Afro-Cuban jazz tracks you play me, Felix, that have, like, a tinge of the, like, the Santeria vocals on them. She does that kind of for a second. And then she goes into these really, like, traditional, jazz vocals. It's really, I mean, she is so versatile, too. It was really cool record. Yeah, I like that a lot. The album's called Glimbering Path. The track is called Crescent Moon,

and the musician is Luis Munoz. Okay, what do you got? Let's see. What do I got? Oh, I'm so excited about this one, Felix. So you probably know her. She's a staple icon in the Spanish hip-hop scene. Her name is Mala Rodriguez. song is a single she just released called Cassina. This is one or mad, to me, that's my

death to be a lot of your mind what to come to come in a tienta

with you with trying to be what good of the of the construct

of the constructors associated in almoada like a party to a hada a tiro down

a t this is one of this this is one of the This is one of those tracks that I just want to be, like, bathed in the energy of what's happening here. I was incredibly surprised, impressed, excited to hear this track from her. I mean, traditionally, this is not at all really something that she plays in. She's been around since 1999.

She's a Sevilla-based rapper. I'm sure you know all about her Felix, but really to hear her come back in this way, yes, put your hand on. I'll let you go in just a suck gap. I'm raising my head. No, let me finish talking about this because I love this song so much. It's so cool because it's really this like, I don't know what is happening, but I keep talking about Resiente and 313 and that track off his new album. And then all of a sudden you get Mala doing this same kind of reflective soft.

Like sometimes all you need is a really beautiful piano and just a really great rapper. And the work is done. I saw it in 2008, South West. Okay. Okay. Seriously. She's always been in the back of my mind as we go through all of these newer Spanish artists, I always go back to Malo Rodriguez because she's set all this precedent. She laid the groundwork for all of this stuff, really. And her performances back then were really dynamic. And so it's really nice to see her and hear her come out with this such a strong statement right now to reestablish like, you know, hey, I've been doing this for a minute. This is how it's done. I really, really like this track. And that's the thing. People believe, you know, Rosalia is not the first person who mixed flamenco and hip hop.

And also a lot of what exists in the space of female rap and trap and hip hop artists in Latin America right now. I mean, think of like the scene in Argentina. A lot of this has to be inspired by Amala. She was the first female to win Best Urban Album and Best Urban Song at the Latin Grammys. And to this day is the only one to have ever won that Grammy. Wow. Yeah. So she's not only a pioneer, but she's kind of still, she's still got the record. She's still on top. And this song specifically, I was like, wow, this is, this is something special. Speaking of South by Southwest, I want to play a new track by another artist who I saw for the first time at South by Southwest. God, and I can't remember what year. It was pre-pandemic. You know, they all sort of like kind of milled together and honestly. And I can't remember, I can't make a distinction between one year or another, but I know it was pre-pandemic. A vocalist name, I was a vocalist name, I was a song.

She's Dominican, but she lives in Southern California. She was performing there and knocked me out. She's got a new single out right now. And it's a remake of a Sonny and Cher tune from 1966. The name of the track is Bang Bang, parentheses, My Baby Shot Me Down. The title is not so tragic. It's really a reference to childhood games and people playing games and kind of play shooting each other. But it's about developing an interest between this little boy and this little girl.

It's kind of a cute song when Sunny and Cher recorded it. Nancy Sinatra recorded it. Here is Ali J's version. My baby, me matto. Right? This track is way too cool. I'm going to have to start bringing it. For me?

I'm going to have to start bringing in like deep jazz cuts just to feel unique here. You're coming for my brand. You dissed me in the nicest way. She does a great job of this cover. She really does. And she's very creative. Alicia is very creative, and she's put out a number of singles.

She's constantly putting out a lot of music and a lot of different styles. But in order to really appreciate what she does with this, let me play the original Sunny and Cher tune, okay? Ooh. Somehow, like, obviously, thematically, they both have this kind of, like, I don't know, bond-y, like, whatever you want to call it, energy to it to kind of go with the theme. But she somehow dialed it up.

She made it kind of like more cool, sultry. She hits the... And that somehow I would never associate those two things together, but it works. In a very big way. Yeah. Yeah, she did a very good job of redoing this. It's an iconic song. Listening back, this is 1966, listening to with the sensibilities,

now, it's almost a little too much, you know, the violence and what could be interpreted as misogyny. There's a lot of crazy stuff in this song. It's almost too delicate to listen to, but if you put in a different context, I think it still works. And certainly the way Ali Jé did it, it really brings out the power of the emotion of these, you know, these two allegedly little kids, but they're like teenagers, right? It's not sounding very little kids.

No, it's like it's teenager, whatever, right? Ali J. Bang, bang, my baby, me matto. Big fan of hers. Okay, what do you got? Okay, here we go. This one, oh, God, Felix, there's so much to be said here. So, Grupo Frontera just came out with their now second album. It's called Jugando Can No Pasa Nada.

I did talk a bit about it on New Music Friday last week when it came out, but there's so much. to be said about this record. Obviously, we have a lot to talk about with this Felix. So this is a track off the album called Me Iso Un Favor. You know, I'm going to give my

It's a favor When he went To get to here Because I've more I've got to give To give the thanks Vengo Me is a favor

When When she went To say to God That de the malo And I'll go to Your car I'm saying it Okay

where are the trumpets, trombones, the tubas, the taroles. Is this the sound of regional Mexican sort of expanding its palate? What is this? Okay, here's my take. So one, a lot, I think they're actually staying impressively traditional on this record. A lot of the songs are straight ahead, what they do, Norteno with a capital end. and they do some tracks with Christian Nodal that have already been big singles. So they're doing all that stuff.

But you have to remember, you cannot think about Grupo Frontera without thinking about producer Edgar Barreira. They are thought partners. They have been together since the beginning. I mean, Grupo Frontera broke out on the scene in 2022 with their massive cover of No Seva, the Morat song, let's remember, which is insane. Morat is now on this album, which is, I think, equally insane, if not more insane. Oh, my God.

Whoever thought that they would be on original. Mexican album. But the point is, is Ergard, you know, he's from the valley to in Texas. He's always been interested in doing things with artists that are different from what you would expect from them. So when thinking about Grupo Frontera, I mean, everything they've always been has been, yes, regional Mexican, but then also a little bit more. It's like, oh, let's make it Nortenio, let's make it Tejano, let's make it Cumbia, but let's like do something a little electronic or let's somehow kind of throw a Dembo under it or, you know, let's make it a little bit of, you know, let's make it a little Caribbean or let's make it a little, you know, trap-y or whatever it might be.

And I think that this record is kind of the perfect balancing act of all of those things. Like you get your traditional sound. But Ergard and then the boys in the band, like they're never going to do that without throwing a little something else in there for you. Sometimes it's more overt. Sometimes it's less. Depends on the track. This one I chose specifically because they're doing like the pop. dream pop, bedroom pop thing that's all popular right now,

but still with like the pacing of it to me, feels like the, like... It's the vocals. Yes. It's the way they sing. It's the way the vocal, the lead vocal, is carrying that melody. And it can, it's just, you could,

you could drop that vocal over some tubas and... 100%. Yeah, everything. It still moves like a cumbia or like a Nortenio song. Yeah, yeah. I spot check some of the music that was on the rest of the record. Just a lot of fascinating stuff there, man. Right.

Yeah. I'm telling you, it's kind of next level. Like, some of what they do, I mean, I immediately, when I heard Diskipe, the Nikki Nicole track, I immediately sent it to you. I was like, Felix, what is happening here? And so just so the people so know, like, I heard Andean music. I heard traces of Santaria. I heard, like, like jazz almost. It's like this one track has all these different elements in it.

Go find the record, listen to the track. It's just incredible. What they're doing, like you said, it's next level. These guys are a group of Frontera, man. They're killing it. Speaking of other artists who are killing it, what's your next pick, Felix? Remember a few weeks ago we did the Latinos who sing country? No, I don't remember.

I can't do that all the time. Remember that? No, I don't remember. If you recall, we did a show. Latinos who sing country a couple weeks ago. And in the playlist that we put together, I found a bunch of artists that were out there making music, and I just fell for this guy named Wyatt Flores.

Man, he just knocked me out. 20-something years old, Oklahoma native, just straight-ahead country. He's got a new EP out. I've been listening to it on my drive to work, believe it or not. That's when you know. When you make it in the Theo's private collection and you're not Grateful Dead, that's like... I've been listening to the car, man, and it's really just a fantastic record.

This is a song called Half Life. Odd rubber on the asphalt, fire through the pines. Half a cup of coffee and a pack smokes till the Oklahoma line. Thinking about Grandpa. Thinking about home What the hell I'm gonna say Why your baby ran away without You in a phone call

I was caught in the moment Living a half-life I'm only waiting to come down Have a believer Heart of a doubter I only hope I make you proud Between here and the I got

Living the Half-Light Felix, you know, I've kind of been a secret country fan for a lot of years, and I've just recently been, like, allowing myself to really... To really emerge into my true self, and I think our country episode helped that. And I just love... You know, on a country song, when the guitar comes in, and the whole thing just opens up, and it's like, ah!

And then you just feel it right in your heart. Like, that's what I felt with him. It was so cute. I looked up a photo of him. and he's so adorable. And the song just, like, works so perfectly with that. He's making a big splash out there. I mean, he played the grand old opera earlier this year for his first time.

They don't let just anybody walk in the front door that place. And he is on a big extensive national tour all over the place, playing big rooms. And he's so young. He's writing the music of, like, a 65-year-old man or woman, right? Like, someone with a lot of experience, a lot of, like, like heartache or whatever you want. Life experience. That's where he comes from.

That's the magic of where he is right now. So, yeah, Wyatt Flotus, man. I'm a fan. We'll be right back to this episode of All New Music. You're listening to All Latino, and we're back with a bunch of new music. What's up? What do you got next?

Okay, so speaking of personal favorites and people who make it to the car, Anyone knows... You don't have a car. Well, my hypothetical car. My imaginary car. Anyone who knows me knows that I... Let's forget the car.

Bike. Makes it to my bike. I bike around and dance around and walk around and listen to Danny Ocean all the time. Yes, you do. I really do. And he just released a record, which it's basically Christmas for me is what that means. And the second it dropped. I was like, oh my God, I have to listen to the new Danny album.

And Isabella Gomez, Arimiento, who's an end producer, who's been on the show, is, I think, an equal, maybe more Danny fans. So we were immediately like, oh, my God, what do you think of the new Danny record? This is his third album. Again, like I was saying with Grupo Frontera, I think he found that balance, that perfect balance. He does his regettone romantico, kind of like the really smooth, slow, moving stuff. And then he balances with electronic. And this was like that. And then some more.

So I'm playing one of the more nuanced tracks on the record. It's called zero conditions. Zero conditions. Yeah. See how I'm bilingual that way? That was incredible, feelings. Thank you for the live translation work. Make sure to file the translation bonus on your time sheet.

What do you think, Felix? I think that there is a direct. tie between Danny Ocean and Wyatt Flores and these young men, like, really discovering their identity, like who they are and what they're doing and really polishing being so good at their craft, so good that it just stands out in every way. That's what I think. This is a good record. A Wyatt Flores-Dany Ocean connection?

That's really fascinating. I stand by it. And like I said, it's just in terms of like they're both these very talented young musicians who are nailing. it what it is that they do. Well, and you know what's interesting for me with that, Felix, is like when I think of Danny, he's such fun music. He's danceable music.

Like, I'm always dancing to Danny. He's got that vibe. He's got that energy. But really, he's part of this Venezuelan diaspora. I've talked about a few times, you know, these young artists who came from Venezuela, who left. He was raised in Caracas and left to Miami and really are using their mediums, their music, their records, their careers to kind of.

unpack and navigate and understand that identity and how they want to speak about it. And they all do it in different ways. But his is both, I'm going to dance and be joyful and make fun music that people can dance to. And also sometimes you find him reflecting on, you know, what that experience was like and where he's at with that. And the love that he has for his country for other people. I mean, it's really interesting. So in that sense, obviously Wyatt is Mexican-American guy who grew up in Oklahoma. so I'm sure has his own identity experiences to unpack through that music.

But I think that's a huge part of all of this for them, you know? That's what makes this gig so fun. I know, right? There's always a layer. There's a layer of stuff, but it's also just the joy and the power and the energy of these young artists doing stuff. Like this is their answer to that experience. Yeah, yeah. And who would have thought that Danny Ocean and White Flotis would have some connection?

But in our minds? In our, only here on Alt Latino, Felix. Those two artists make sense next to each other. We're going to move on to another young artist who is doing amazing stuff as well. Her name is Fabiola Mendez. She is from Puerto Rico. She plays the Quattro, which is indigenous to Puerto Rico. She has a great new album out called Flor Campesina.

She's Berkeley School of Music Educated. She's the first one to use the... Puerto Rican Quatro as her major instrument. So she's taking this thing to new levels, but at the same time, taking it back in time and going really deep in the tradition. And she's writing songs that are also part of the tradition, like a new tradition.

This is a track called Lamento and Celinis. You know, the other day I was listening to, actually I was reading on Facebook because old people like me are the only ones on Facebook anymore. But I was reading on Facebook this guy. You didn't even have to clarify that. I'm happy this week. I don't know why. I'm hungry. I think that's what it is.

Feelings don't take it personally. We've got to watch out for you. You're claust around today. As I was saying, I was reading this guy, he was saying, he was bad-mouthing modern music, contemporary music. Nobody plays instruments anymore. It's all electronic and blah, blah, blah, and using the voice stuff and all this. We just played a bunch of music here today. All younger musicians doing amazing things.

This is another example of a young musician who, is so far away from playing anything electronic, you can't even imagine, right? But just completely absorbed and moving this music forward, like I said, while looking back. There's just so many artists right now who are so invested in preserving, you know, indigenous instrumentation and music and tradition. I mean, I just saw La Perla the other night, Felix, you know, the trio, the Colombian percussion. I know. They're like made for you.

And I was sitting there and I was like, This is incredible that their whole process, their whole project, everything that they do, it's preservation. It's really like, no, listen, this is important and we need to carry on performing this live in real time and making it new. There's something totally different about that. It's a joy, honestly. I'm so into it. I just love all this stuff. Okay, so speaking of people who are doing something really traditional, I've brought an artist who, are so far on the other spectrum. Also young artists from Argentina doing the most experimental, weird, goofy stuff out there. Katria Lipako Amoroso, they are a duo out of Argentina.

They both had their own independent projects for years, and they've come together. And they're just the epitome of everything that is weird and interesting and fun and different about the Argentinian music and specifically rap scene right now. So I brought you this up. of their new album Banio Maria. This is their debut album together. And the track is called El Unico. It's so, Felix, you have to play the whole thing until we get to the punchline because there's a punchline to this song. It's hilarious. What do you We've been

Pello Neckon Neckon Neckon We've been fucking that same girl What do you think? statistically, Catria Lipako. Like, they are everything that is weird. They did a debut listening party for this album at Lollapalooza in Argentina, and they were both just sitting in a bathtub together on stage. I'm trying to find, like, an age-appropriate equivalent to the comedy of the lyrics

or the comedy of the storytelling. And I don't think there are... I don't think there's... No, they don't have a parallel. They don't have a comp, I don't think. You know, they are so unique. And just to clarify for anyone listening who doesn't understand, they're talking about how they've both been hooking up with the same girl

and they discover that over the course of this song, which is just... And they discovered it at the end of the song. At the end of the song. They're like, wait, a tattoo on her neck, yeah. I love it. But the beauty of this, too, is like they very much are musicians in their own right. I mean, Catriel, he's part guitarist, part rapper. He's been in two different bands before as a guitarist. He grew up playing metal covers. And then he switched to rapping solo. And now he and Paco have come together. So they're like really true musicians. They understand the craft. They've studied it. And now they're like, this is what we want to do. We want to innovate in this electronic space. They are huge in Argentina. Because they represent what is this youth movement of people who just fought weird, exciting, wacky, Stuff.

I'm a fan. I'll listen to more of their stuff. This is good. What a nice collection today. What a weird collection. Weird collection, yeah. Had to close us out on a high note, a weird note. I'll call it a weird note.

Got to keep things interesting. You have been listening to All Latino from NPR Music. Our editor is Hazel Sills. Our audio producer is Joaquin Kotler. Executive producer of NPR. music is Saraya Mohamed. And the person who keeps things all together is Grace Chon. Our hefe in chief is Keith Jenkins, VP of Music and Visuals at NPR.

I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayre. Thank you so much for listening.