NPR Music - Alt.Latino's 'Music We Missed In 2024'

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

'Alt.Latino' hosts Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre do their best to keep up with new releases, but sometimes great music evades their radar. On this episode, the duo highlight some of the best songs they never got a chance to share during the year.Music We Missed in 2024• Sanje, "Buen Fantasma" (from 'De Repente Otra Vez')• David Lindes, "Te Vengo A Perdonar" (from 'Peace With A Lion')• Yung Dupe X Kimmø X PUGSPUGSPUGS, "Nube Negra" (from 'Políticamente Correcto')• Benjamin Walker, "Libre" (from 'LIBRE')• Lhasa de Sela et Yves Desrosiers, "El Cosechero" (from 'First Recordings')• Dom La Nena, "Pierre et les fleurs" (from 'LA VIE DE MA MÈRE')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

Okay, so I used to play in this band. The singer left, and then somebody was singing in the meantime, but he couldn't really sing. So then we get to a gig, and it's like, you tell him, no, you tell him, you tell him, you tell him, no, you tell him. So then we said, bro, you can't sing today. He says, why, why, what happened? Somebody forget the microphones? And it was my job to tell him, I said, no, bro, you can't sing.

You can't sing. You're a bad singer. He said, I know that, man, but nobody else was stepping up. So then that's the story of how you became the next Celine Dion Felix. From NPR music, this is all Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Let the Chisemet begin. We go through a lot of music over the year, right?

True. Every year. We do. Some things we do mess. More than some things, I would say. Yeah. We try. Because there's just too much.

Honestly, as I say every year, there's just so much amazingly creative stuff that sometimes we have to take a little bit. a time at the end of the year to go back on a couple of things that really stood out to us over the year, but we didn't get to. A lot of our colleagues have to parse through X amount of music within this country. I feel as though the task we have to parse through the amount of music that we do from literally two continents, it's a little bit more work. I don't know.

I'll just say that. Whatever. It's a double blessing. It's a double blessing. More beautiful things to hear, but also more beautiful things that fall through the craft. The Iberian Peninsula. Plus the Iberian Peninsula. How could I possibly forget?

All that to say, I went super Mexican this episode. I'm sorry. I'm like all the things I missed from all over Latin America and here I am with three Mexican artists. Sorry, but there's a lot of good stuff in Mexico I missed. Okay. So first and foremost, I have Sanji. I brought this artist, Felix, never on our show, but I did bring Sanji on our segment

on here and now the new show last week. beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, producer who is now released his debut album this year. The album is called De Repente Otra Ves. This track is called Buen Fantasma. This music reminds me of some of the bands coming from Mexico in the 90s in the early 2000s that were,

you know, there's so much rich musical culture to draw from in Mexico. But then when you strike your own path and draw from those cultures, but then create your own sound. Because there's this one here, it's a little bit of rock, there's a little bit of all kinds of stuff, that influences contemporary culture in Mexico, which people forget. Very rocky.

Just sounds that you don't hear a lot in the contemporary pop space, especially what's coming out of Mexico. I think what I hear a lot in Mexico right now in the pop space is more like synthetic sounds. We're playing a lot with like the pop sounds of the U.S. and bringing them to Mexico, as is often the case. But Sanji really is saying, no, I'm good on that. My project is going to be heavy live instrumentation,

and it's going to be something that you're not quite hearing otherwise in this space. You think he's going for the pop space, or is he just making creative music and then letting everybody else catch up to him? You're right. You're right. And I think I always get a little nervous when producers try to do their own project because I'm always worried. I'm like, you're a great producer, you clearly have amazing creative insight, and also maybe this is going to be a little too inside baseball for the average listener.

And so I think I was pleasantly surprised that this is a little bit popier, a little bit more accessible, a little bit more consumable than I would have expected for a producer's project. It's an attitude. It's a consumability. It's a popularity, quite literally. For me, pop refers to intentionality. I want this to be popular. I want a lot of people to listen to it as opposed to. to. I'm going to make music and whoever comes to it is cool.

I was reflecting on that yesterday with the release of our Billy Ilish Tiny Desk because I was thinking about how I think she's as widely popular in a way because she's kind of got something for everyone in the sense that people who like pop love her because she is a pop artist and she's popular but people who are really like music, musicians, alternative people, they find something in her music because it's a little bit off center in a way that you wouldn't expect a traditional pop artist to sound. I'll take your word for it. Okay, just leave Billy Highland's out of it for now.

I'm not going there. We're non-judgmental here, Felix. This track you brought in, Sanji, it was called... Buen Phantasma. And the album's called... De Rependo O'Tra Ves. Okay, what I'm going to bring next is something that came out later in the year. The artist is named David Lindes.

He is probably Alt-Latinos very first listener ever. he's been listening to the podcast and communicating with us first Jasmine and I and then me over the years from the very beginning I think from the first episode Wow

Right? Because he was living in Salt Lake City and he heard what we were doing with Latin music and he found a place for himself in that And then later on I found out that he's actually a very, very talented recording artist A songwriter, singer-songwriter He's put out a couple of records but his new record came out

within the last month or so And it's something he's been working on for a long time because we've been communicating through Facebook and stuff like that, right? He has gone through this very, very traumatic experience of leaving Guatemala as a child, being abandoned by his father as a baby, and then experiencing physical, emotional abuse as an adult. So this record is sort of a healing project. And he's using Guatemala as much the same way that people are using Danny Ocean's references. to his love affairs or his objects of love as a substitute for Venezuela. So this is what's happening with David Lindis' music.

Guatemala is the object of his affection, and he's writing about that. This particular song is called Tevengo a pardoner, and it's about a confrontation with his father. So I'm going to play the first single that came out called Tevengo a Perdonar. And this is David Lindis, and the album's going to be called Peace with a Lion.

I need to pardoner, turnour for violence, me vending to give to end to my sentence to hate and to year to I feel to

pardoner, pardoner. I need to add that this record was produced by Alex Cuba. Right? That's relevant. Right.

Yeah. Alex Cuba is an amazing artist in and of themselves. So to see something special in David Linders is even more special, I think. There's a deep emotionality for sure to not even what he's saying, but just like the texture of the music here. Like the way it's kind of this very, it feels almost reflective, it feels pensive in this way that I think is distinct from a lot of the albums I've been drawn to this year that have been.

about transformation and processing and rebirth and all of these things. They've been a lot more intense, a lot more like, you know, I think immediately of Angelica Garcia's album, right? I was describing that this morning. I was like her experience of rebirth in that album, it's intense. There's moments where she's screaming, guttural, it's very, very, like, almost abrasive. And this is the opposite of that to me, while he's processing, while he's moving through these things, while he's considering these really difficult themes, he's doing it in this very

slow and thoughtful and pensive and evocative way that I think is also really beautiful to hear. It's consistent with the rest of his music. He is a pensive, sensitive songwriter like that. And this stuff really leans in on that. Like he establishes who he is, and then in order to be able to concentrate on this particular subject. What I really like about it, though, is that he's offering his own healing up for out to the world. and all the healing that we need to be doing right now. The album is called Peace with the Lion.

It'll be out early next year. The track is called Te Bengo A Perdonar. And the artist is David Lindis. Okay. All right. This one's really funny, Felix. Okay. So before you start, though, we have, again,

one of those things where we didn't talk ahead of time, We were so connected on all of our picks this week. They melded together except for this one. No, truly, because every other track I brought is so right in line with everything. Because I think deep down at our core, Felix, we really do gravitate towards the exact same sounds. Different, wearing different clothes, perhaps, but the same sounds. This one is a whole other different thing.

So these guys, this guy specifically, his name is Young Dupe. He's a rapper from Mexico City. Oops, sorry. Whatever. It just happened. And he's produced by this German producer named Kimo on this record. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what Pugs Pugs is. Okay?

That's listed as the third artist on the track. I don't know who that is. I don't know if it's a real person. This artist has no songs on Spotify. I don't know. Anyways, they released this record Politically Correcto, and this is the title track from that record, Politically Correcto.

Correct. I always I don't even salud. If another Hembr' me to talk, I do a little bit of a jude, if some bato's you're coming, you know, I'm gonna and I always respond very

very, vera. Look, I see, I, but the question traiga tru, ah? And, even you never you, know,

even it's time, no matter that I'm that I'm sure, de sure, that if so you aburro, you can't get the juke you're perfect they're perfects,

they're super no, Okay, listening to this one close and personal like this. You know, it's not really that different actually. Okay, because listen. I love to hear what this is about. No, because there's just a bass, there's a drummer, and somebody doing handclaps. and there are no keyboards, there's nothing. It's so sparse.

It's their letting the language be the propulsion of this thing. Yes. So it's very much like, as you'll hear in the rest of the show, the instrumentation is very sparse, very light. This actually fits in now that I think about it. See, I somehow subliminally knew. The way they play with their own cadence is very much the star of this song.

It's not of the whole track, but generally speaking, these guys have a groove to them, they have a swing to them almost that I really am just drawn to. It doesn't feel like they're going for anything. They're not trying to prove anything. They're just kind of playing around in a way that feels really refreshing. It's kind of got like this funky rhythm to it. And a lot of the songs, the other songs, you know,

some of them hit harder on the rap side. Some of them almost have a little bit of that like very classic Mexican string sprinkling to it that I love to hear always on any songs coming out of Mexico. But you listen to the lyrics of the song and you're like, is this a commentary on machisto? Is it them being machisto? Like, I can't even totally tell. But it's fun and it works and it moves. And I just loved this whole album. It was really fresh to me. It's retro. That's a James Brown bass line right there. Totally. Yeah, that thing, it stood out. Now that I listened to it on headphones and with a little bit more

attention, it really stood out. It fits it. I really, I'm excited for you to hear the rest of this one. actually like to forcibly make you listen to this one. I probably won't. What I'm going to do is I'm going to make you give me a ride somewhere and then I'm going to put it on in the car and you're going to have to hear it. All right. So because it was, I thought it was stylistically too different in order to segue back into the stylistic segue we had, I have you going the next song.

Oh, wow. Okay. And we'll be right back. And we're back. And I listened to the whole record. What did you think, Felix? It was good. It was good.

with everything you said it was. Give me one specific thing that you really liked about one specific song that I didn't bring in. You know, I'll have to get back to you on that. You're up next. Okay, this one I think you'll like Felix. Hopefully, maybe. This artist, also Mexican, his name is Benjamin Walker,

and this track is called Libre off the album Libre, lots of title tracks today. You see what I want to be in silence Yeah no I'm a Mierre I'm a Corkasone more Cere c'

Yeah no me in silence I no I don't have a Miod of mirroar I'm a Corka to be

Tarn Cereca de Starr You see how that's similar to the attractive for that? I actually do really see how that's similar. There's actually like a real alignment there, just a sparse instrumentation. I saw that

Benjamin Walker had a large listening base in Chile and I was really surprised that what I found was that what I read was that he was a Mexico city artist because I was like, it's quite unusual. Usually I can tell where an artist is from because the majority of their listening base

is usually from that place. Surprisingly, Benjamin Walker is actually from Mexico City and he's randomly found this Chilean audience, which is weird because the trend for this year has been domestic listening. His listener base is still very much Chilean because the heart of his folky singer-songwritery sound is still very much based in a Chilean experience. I think that's really quite beautiful. Well, then when you also consider that he's probably pulling on the tradition of,

like one of the most popular folk musicians in all of Latin. America, Victor Hara. Totally. From Chile. Absolutely. Beautiful. There's a strong tradition there, so he's pulling on that. I'm assuming.

Well, I mean, the record is Libre. So absolutely, very Victor Hara. And then, I mean, there is something really unique about, about, you know, I talked about the uniqueness of how he strings together a melody and how we said it's very vocally driven. He plays with the melody really nicely. It's not a straight-ahead, you know, fun, just. Oh, singer-songwriter melody. He really does something a little bit unique here.

Again, the name of the track is Libre, and it's from the album, Libre. That came out in January of this year. Wow. How did I miss it? I don't know. I'm a fan. I really like what he's doing, and I really like the sparse instrumentation. And the voice sort of sounds me almost like elado negr.

In a way, right? There's a, like, a calming quality to his voice. is what I immediately thought. No, it stands out, man. Good call. Okay, Benjamin Walker. You got a new fan over here. Okay.

I brought in a track. The next one is, do you know that artist Lassa de Sella? Yes. Okay. So for the folks who don't know Lhasa de Sella, just very, very quickly, she was born in the U.S.

She has a Mexican-American mom. They had a bohemian lifestyle. She was born in 1972. They traveled all across the U.S. in Mexico and a bus. and a school bus. She and her sisters were homeschooled by their mom. They lived in Mexico for eight years, so she's fluent in Spanish. They moved to Canada, and that's where she started her career. She moved to France as an adult. And then, unfortunately, we lost her to breast cancer in 2010.

It was very, very sad, very traumatic. And in the meantime, she assembled this almost like a cult status. People who like Lhasa de Sella really like her and really into her stuff. she grew up in pivotal years growing up in Mexico with rancheras, U.S. folk, Nuevo Canto. So that's her thing. She has this distinct voice. An album was released in her name earlier this year. It's called First Recordings,

and it's stuff that was done before her very, very first record of La Yorona. And it was recorded with a guitar player with a French name, and I hope I don't butcher it. Eve Des Rozier. Okay, sorry if I butchered. name pal. Okay. It's a very insightful look into everything that she built on after this. This is called El Cossachero from the album first recordings from Lacerra. I've always

of luna and sudor a ranchita barracho of of rachio de sueyes and her singing Oh, 100%. Right? Yes. There is so much richness to those vocals, I mean, it's like, there's few,

there's few these days who have that level of, like, ugh, depth. She had a particular talent. And now that you've been introduced to her, go look for her catalog out there because every record that she put out was just, it got better and better and better. And she left behind this great legacy and so many fans. Lassa de Sela is her name.

The record is called First Recordings, and that was called El Cosecero. Okay, because you got two in a row. You also now get to have two in a row. So Don La Nena, do you know that artist? Yes. Yes, we played her on the show. She is Brazilian.

She is a cellist. She is a singer-songwriter. There was a French movie put out this year called La Vie de Me Mar. It's a pretty much all instrumental record, and it's something that I heard earlier in the year. and I ended up putting it on my personal favorites that we're going to publish on NPR. But this record, we never got a chance to play it,

but I've been listening to it a lot this year. It's a nice clear out, mellow out, get centered, right? This is Dom La Nena. This is a track called Pierre L'Eflour. This is a nice track to wind out the year that was in music, right? Wrong. No, yes. I agree.

This is radio. You're supposed to talk. That's just not your head, man. It's because you got me to Zen, Felix. This morning, Felix proclaimed me Buddhist, actually. It's quite literally what happened. I'm feeling quite Zen. And that fit really nicely with my current emotional state.

So we're going to have to wait until 2025 to explain what happened for that. Because this will be our last show of the year. We're going to be gone for a while. while we go out and do our respective holiday stuff. This track is a really good way to bring all of this amazing music on the show, on the tiny desk, everything. It's always a thrill. It's always really a gift, a blessing, to be able to present all that, too,

people listening out there. So, end of the year, thank you all very much for listening. Thank you for supporting the show. Thank you for watching the Tiny Desk concerts. Thank you for laughing at Anna making fun of me. year long. Putting me down. Laughing at Anna, making fun of you, laughing at Anna, period.

Never when my crutches got run over? I didn't even tell anyone about how I broke my ass yesterday. We didn't even get to that story. You did in yoga. You have been listening to Alt Latino, not just this week, but all year long. Of course, you listen to every single episode. We are the editor, the audio. We are the editor.

Our editor, our sound editor. is Simon Retner with editorial help from Hazel Sills. The woman who keeps us on track is Grace Chod. She tries so hard. So hard. She does her best. She fails, not because of her, because of us. So Rayo Muhammad is sitting right here, man.

Where would we be without her? She is executive producer of NPR music and our pal and our wrangler. Also, we need many. Yeah. And Keith Jenkins is the VP of, of music and visuals here at NPR. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer.

Thank you so much listening. Thank you for listening.