Alt.Latino's favorite albums of 2024
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Okay, do the intro again. Okay, Felix. Well, we're off to a great start. It's that time of the year. It's that time of the year where Felix and I are losing our frickin' marbles. From NPR Music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Ana Maria Sayer.

Felix and I are losing our marbles because it's almost the end of the year, which means we had to literally almost cry every single day and try to pick our favorite music of the year. It was so difficult. We had to bring in an expert to help us out. To discuss our most favorite best albums of the year, we have brought on the, what is a really grandiose word, Felix, that I could use? Venerable. The venerable. There you go.

Isabella Gomez-Arrieto. Isa, welcome to the show. I'm happy to be here. Happy to mediate any conflict that arises during this taping. Well, we already know. We already know what's going to arise. Especially picking our favorites.

Felix? We don't really conflict over that. It's because we, I always- Stay in our lane. Right? Stay in our lane. Right. It's when we get into our personal lives that we need a mediator. But anyway, let's get- We're not talking about that today. No, we're not. Okay, Anna, all three of us, we always have trouble selecting this stuff.

And I always put all of my selections in a playlist, a single playlist. You always put all your selections in a playlist? Yeah, so that I can help. I listen to them and decide, okay, which ones do I want to feature on the show, right? This year I had five different playlists. I had Tumbao, which was like the Afro-Cuban salsa thing. I had Gentle. I had Sway. Gentle. I had Beats. I can't get over Beats. Yeah.

What is in Beats? I need to know. That's what the playlists are for. You listen. You got to go to the playlist on my Spotify. Look for me on Spotify. You have to go. And I had to leave some out. I had to leave some of these artists out. But I listened to each one of their records. Okay. Wait. I'm looking at this right now. Sorry. Fabiola Mendez is in Beats? What is Beats? Yes.

I was imagining like... Oh, no, no, no. Okay, so you were able to organize yourself with these playlists. And so were our colleagues because we have a whole list of our best albums of the year on npr.org slash music. Everyone should check it out. So now, without further ado, Felix, it's Alt Latino's best albums of the year. And you get to go first. And I get to go first!

Oh, I love when I get to go first. Okay. What I have brought for you is someone I have mentioned at least once previous this year. I think Issa maybe mentioned her at one point as well. So we've been on to this one for a while. This is the amazing Angelica Garcia. She's Mexican-American from L.A. And this is her album, Desperado.

I'm gonna play you "El Que" The amazing Angelica Garcia. I think this whole record she's described it over and over again as kind of this rebirth of sorts for her. I mean she goes through this whole journey of exploring what being a twin is. It's like

a beautiful idea of what is like a concept album that is really carried through from start to finish. Obviously, it's literally called Camelo Twin. And she explores pain and joy and beauty and also her twin identities, obviously being Mexican-American. And you hear her reaching, reaching, reaching back into almost like these ancestral, not only feelings, but stories.

but sounds and sensations. She has moments, you can kind of hear it on this track, where she actually gets almost like guttural in how she screams, she shouts, she yells. She kind of really lays it all out there. There's beautiful softer moments. There's electro cumbia, there's quieter vocals. But really to me, the strength here is when she

lets it all go in this very like, I don't know, controlled chaos a bit where you feel that it's crazy and it's building and there's percussion and there's noise. But at the same time, it's cathartic. It's therapeutic. She describes it as literally her being dipped into ice water. And that is exactly what this feels like.

Yeah, I think this is an album I've come back to several times this year. And it's like every time I find something new in it, because it is, you can tell it's such a personal journey for Angelica. And I think as a listener, it takes you in a number of directions. Like every single listening experience is different. Every time you find comfort in a different part of what she's describing in terms of her faith, her womanhood. It's her tracing an ancestral lineage that I think is

takes you on a new spin every single time.

This is her first entirely Spanish-language album. I think there's a ton that she's able to excavate for the first time as a product of that, especially because she really is warring with identity. And I mean, to me, it does feel very much like one of those deaths-to-self type of moments. Like, you can feel that level of energy transformation as she moves through this. And I think doing this in Spanish has really allowed her...

to explore that. Good call. Okay, Isa, your turn. Okay, I'm going to take us to one of the cities that has had some of the most fascinating musical input for me this year, which is Madrid.

This is the fourth studio album by the indie rock band Heinz. It is called Viva Heinz, very appropriately. This is a band I've been following for a really long time. I went to one of their very first shows in the U.S. when I was in college in like 2016. They went through a really big rebirth, I think.

Over the pandemic, the original bassist and drummer left the band. I think they had some issues with their label. They basically didn't know if they were going to be able to keep making music. So the spirit of this album is very much rooted in the rebirth of the band and the perseverance of the band. This song is called Coffee. I love me some cigarettes and flowers from boys that I'm not sleeping with. I love me if they're so white.

So something I really, really love about Heinz is that the two guitarists and singers, Ana and Carlota, do all of this sort of like back and forth calling to each other and harmonizing on the songs.

Their music is really just kind of rooted in like friendship and girlhood and having fun together and they poke fun a lot at how a lot of men in the indie rock scene don't take them seriously but they also don't take themselves too seriously and this is an album that I just really loved and I was really happy to see them keep going after all of the ups and downs that they've had over the last couple of years.

I love so much stylistically what they're doing because it does feel in a way like this kind of nod back to some of what earlier put Spain on the map. Like I'm thinking first coming out of like Franco era, like really like a lot of innovative, punky, rocky, exciting, like, I don't know.

A little bit alternative, a little bit angsty, but also just fun music. And this feels like a really strong homage to that in a way that is also nice to listen to. They're not force-feeding you your vegetables, but also saying, like, hey, we come from this lineage, especially Madrid. Because Madrid is getting very electronic, very flamenco, which is all great things, and there's a ton of stuff, and I can go on for 20 years about how much I love the Madrid scene right now. But this feels like...

a little bit offside for me in a way that is really refreshing. Good call, man. Love this. Yay! Yay, Issa! Claps for Issa! Felix, what did you bring today? Okay, again, my two picks for the year, it was very difficult to do, but I decided to stay within one specific genre.

It's strictly within the salsa Afro-Caribbean dance thing. I chose Spanish Harlem Orchestra's Swing Forever was the name of the album. The name of the track, Llegó el Caballero, and it features Gilberto Santa Rosa from Puerto Rico, who is known as El Caballero de Salsa. Check this one out. Get your dancing shoes on. Always on, Felix. Always ready. All right.

Como si supieran de lo que hablan Y comentan cual si fueran genios en la materia Después de un tiempo he descubierto Por mi cuenta un gran factor Y es que todo el mundo es bravo Detrás de un computador Con autoconfianza y cara dura Y comentan sin primero hacer su asignación

This band is just

Great salsa bands are musicians' dreams because the musicianship is just so high quality. And then you drop in an incredible vocalist like Gilberto Santa Rosa, and the combination just explodes as you hear this. Again, the album was called Swing Forever. Spanish Harlem Orchestra, man, they're mainstays. Oscar Hernandez is the piano player, the musical arranger, the leader of this band, probably

Props to him, man. Felix, this is unfair music to play for me at 10 in the morning when I'm stuck in the studio. I hear two notes and I'm like, okay, let's go. Yeah, I just love Gilberto Santa Rosa's voice. That is so nostalgic for like big Christmas party. Like, I love it so much. ♪

We're going to take a quick break. But before that, let me remind you to go to npr.org slash music where we have an amazing, amazing package collection where all our colleagues did the same thing. They had to narrow it down, select the best music, npr.org slash music. Check it out. We'll be right back.

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All tailored to your short and long-term goals. Backed by the strength and stability of a top 10 commercial bank, their dedicated experts work with you to build lasting success. Explore the possibilities at CapitalOne.com slash commercial. A member FDIC. Okay, Anna, you're up. Oh, I just looked at what I have next. Okay, now I'm really excited.

Okay, these guys, I am like such a champion of them. Their name is Latin Mafia. They're a band coming out of Mexico City. They're from Monterey originally. They're three brothers. We always love the family projects. Very cute.

This is a very highly anticipated album for me and I think many. They've released a ton of singles, but this is actually their first record. So really excited about this. This is the track called Tengo Mucho Ruido and it's off of their new album Todos Los Dias, Todo El Día. Puede parecer que esto no soy antinada, soy cega. Siento que me estimó.

Ay muchachitos tramposos, trampositos. Dios me los bendiga mucho. Dios me los bendiga, que lleguen con bien y regresen con bien.

Ana, I'm going to cry. We do always love a feature from an abuelita. You have to remember they're three brothers. They've been working on this project together. It's amazing to me what they've been able to do. They've kept everything literally within the three of them. So they produce and write exclusively together. They don't bring anyone else into the project. That was obviously...

from their abuelita. The concept of the song is that they're talking about, you know, how do we carry on? How do we do this? How do we keep going? And she's kind of offering her...

Very silly blessing to them. But production-wise, I love what they do. I think they're really beautiful. They're playing in the electronic space, but they bring in a ton of live instrumentation. They have these gorgeous piano moments throughout. They have a lot of more intense moments. Like if you listen to a song, Nunca He Sido Honesto, they play like a really intensive kind of like jarring sound. They push home the percussion. But above all else, it's the lyrics for me, Felix. It's like...

The way that they constantly use love and pain as one emotion is incredible to me. It's the most Mexican thing on the planet, right? To like have to take that love and pain stance. It's really intense and it's beautiful. And I got to talk to them at the Latin Grammys and they talk so much about wanting to be honest and wanting to be that music for people who need it. And it's just really incredible to see them

having so much success. I know they were nominated for Best New Artist as well at the Latin Grammys. So I think we're really going to see a big year for them ahead after that as well.

And I just want to add, before we go to the next song, I used to have a good friend of mine, a musician friend of mine, I'm not going to mention his name, back in Fresno, where I would go pick him up and he lived with his mom. And his mom gave us a blessing every time we left. She would say, no andan como vagos. Just behave yourselves. No.

This is also, I have to say, Felix, you would love these guys because they're so the vibe that you love. They're like talking over each other the whole time. I don't know if you remember in my tape, they call each other borderline. They're like, we're so crazy. We're super ADHD. And they're like talking over. They're very like, I understand why their grandma talks to them like that. Trampositos. Trampositos. Okay, let's see. Issa, you're next, man.

All right, from Monterrey, I'm taking us to, drumroll please, La Isla del Encanto, Puerto Rico. I was so excited when I saw you put this on. Yes, so this is Rai Nao. She is part of this cohort of really exciting women and non-binary artists working in reggaeton coming out of Puerto Rico right now, like Young Mico, Villano Antillano, Pau Pau. What I love about Rai Nao, though, is that she is truly the most, like,

alt experimentalist of this group. This is her debut full-length album. It came out in February. It's called Capicú. And I'm going to play you a little something before we talk about her. This song is called Redicita. Ay, ay, ay. Si tú no te quieres. Ay, ay, ay. Estoy querido. Y nos van a botarle aquí. Somos dos locos juntos después de par de copas. Nos vemos bien vestidos.

♪

I love this album so much because I feel like right now reinvents herself on every single track. Like in this one, we have this like bachata thing going into EDM. She's doing salsa. She's doing R&B. She's doing hip hop. She's doing jazz. I mean, it's such a full scope of genres that she's playing in and that she's playing in in such an organic way.

She is a trained saxophonist. She studied theater at a university in Puerto Rico. Her dad was a salsa singer. I mean, you can just see how all of these influences really come across in this like color palette that she's dabbling in. I love the fact that she's a theater kid because I feel like this album is theatrical. Like if there was one word for it, it's that. She's just basically showing off that she can do all of these things and she can pull them off too. So that's Capicu by Right Now.

She is such a force. I have been so lucky enough to have watched her perform multiple times in the past few weeks between Latin Grammys in Puerto Rico. Oh my god, and to see her in all of her power and all of her essence on stage at a Lanfe in Puerto Rico, people...

love her because she represents so much of what they're trying to do musically right now on the island she is like absolutely the future of where the genre is going in a very herself way and that I think is exactly what's happening. Reggaeton is not straight ahead dembo in the way that it was it is now electronic it's you know adding in cumbia breaks it's adding in salsa breaks it's

adding in every single possible influence, like what you just stated, of where she comes from and calling that authentic Puerto Rican music. And people really recognize that in her and support her for it. And I just think truly, like, she is going places. The final track I'm going to bring in for the show is a band that is looking backwards. It's a band, I would call it a salsa band. They're from New York, New Jersey. The band is called Orquesta Acocan.

And it is the acucana is a Yoruba word meaning from the heart. It's led by this pianist arranger, Michael Eckroth, and producer Jacob Plassi, who also went to Cuba and learned how to play tres. They created this band and this record is called Caracoles.

I saw this band recently here in D.C. And what it is, it's like it really is a phenomenal throwback to, check this out, 1940s, mid-40s Afro-Cuban music from New York City with the Machito Orchestra. This is called Caracoles, title track from their album. Un consejo para ti No juegues con el fube Mambo es para ti Montero Negro, hongo y atamil Como en Pelecasti

No y entonces con los negros con vos

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

These guys can groove. Seriously. Every time I hear any of their tracks, I'm like, wow. They carry something special. No, I was going to say, you keep us grounded. Like, I can't imagine a better song to close out the show.

Wow, from where we started and where we ended, I want to play those tracks side by side. Again, we want to remind you, please go to npr.org slash music. That's my other favorite part of the year is just going in and listening to what all of our office mates, all of our pals, what they're listening to. They went through the same trouble we did, the same anguish of trying to narrow it down to a couple. It is painful. Yeah.

We want to remind you that these have been our favorite albums of the year. Next week, we're going to go over our favorite songs of the year. Ooh. So there. Yeah. A whole different set of music. You have been listening to Alt Latino from NPR Music. Our audio editor is Simon Rentner. We get editorial support from Hazel Sills.

A person who keeps us on track is Grace Chung. Sorayo Mohammed is executive producer of NPR Music and gives us a nice stare down whenever we go too far afield from what we're supposed to be doing. And Hefei Enchith is Keith Jenkins' VP of Music and Visuals.

Let me just say before I sign off, it's like this is so much fun. I mean, what we do is a privilege to be able to listen to all the stuff that's out there and try to present it to all you folks out there listening. It can be a lot of effort at the end of the year to kind of sum all this down. But we want to thank you guys for listening and supporting us all year. And a huge thank you to Miss Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento.

Dios los bendiga. Dios los bendiga. Thank you for having me. Thank you for mitigating. What did you call yourself? Mitigating? No, what did you call yourself? Ana thinks I'm a mediator. She's a mediator. That's right. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Ana Maria Sayer. Thanks for listening.

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