Difficulty: Intermediate
Colombia
From the mouth of lead vocalist Liliana "Li" Saumet, salt water sounds like "agua salá" or "agua sala'a". The Caribbean accent is just part of the smooth rounded sound from Colombia known as Bomba Estéreo, a band that blends traditional cumbia with other musical influences.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Spain
Jarabe de Palo's bearded frontman, Pau Donés, invites fellow Spanish rock star, Alejandro Sanz, to join him in this super sweet love song.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Puerto Rico
Enjoy the video for the song "Si no estás" (If you're not here) from the Puerto Rican singer Chayanne. This song is the third single from the album No hay imposibles (There are no impossible things).
Difficulty: Intermediate
Mexico
Who is this Merlina, muse of the hypnotic song by La Gusana Ciega of Mexico? Even if we don't know, it's easy to enjoy her tribute.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Colombia
Rock'n'roll has Cleveland; Country music has Nashville and Salsa has Cali, Colombia. Grammy nominee, Alberto Barros, brings us a mano a mano between three Salsa Divas representing the Salsa Capital of the World.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Mexico
The moon just won't be the same without you, sing the quirky, romantic band, La Gusana Ciega (literally, the Blind Worm). Yup, those flowers on the moon are going to be thirsty. (Did we mention this band is quirky?)
Difficulty: Intermediate
Argentina
Enjoy this original video by the legendary band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. Not bad at all for a 26-year-old band!
Difficulty: Intermediate
Venezuela
Jair and Puzzy are two young and talented musicians from Falcón, Venezuela. They had decided to blend their styles and to create a musical duo that already had brought their music to the best radio stations of the country.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Puerto Rico
Enjoy Mark Anthony’s cover of legendary Spanish singer and songwriter Jose Luis Perales’s song “¿Y cómo es él?” (“And What’s He Like?”). In this song, Marc Anthony leaves behind his signature Salsa sound and becomes a more inquisitive broken heart.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Spain
The beautiful Leire Martínez had the difficult challenge to fill Amaia Motero's shoes as lead singer of the Spanish pop band “La Oreja de Van Gogh”. In “Inmortal”, she sings about all the little things from the past that we keep and carry with us; but it’s also about all the possibilities that the future brings. Her final words seem to be fitting to her role in “La Oreja”: “I’ll be your destiny.”
Difficulty: Intermediate
Colombia
The pouring rain doesn’t stop Aterciopelados from rocking the park in Bogotá. “Rock al parque” is probably the biggest open-air (free!) rock festival in Latin America, held annually in Colombia’s capital. Listen in as Aterciopelados sings out a tribute to this fun festival and to fellow bands performing there. (How many of them have you heard?)
Difficulty: Intermediate
Spain
“La Quinta Estacion” is Spanish for “The Fifth Season.” Although this band originated from Spain, after a Mexican telenovela (soap opera) adopted one of their songs as its theme, they toured the country and decided to make it their home. “Que te quería” (“That I Loved You”) is the first fiery single from their 2009 album.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Uruguay
Uruguayan musician Gonzalo Yáñez has been making music from a very young age. After working with different groups, he began his solo career in 2004. In this song, the title track of his latest album, he blends acoustic guitar with synthesized sounds, and the catchiness of the chorus contrasts with the darkness of the narrative lyrics.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Spain
Manu Chao is French, but he has Spanish roots. He sings in six or seven different languages, from Spanish to English to Arabic, and his music has even more diverse influences. “Clandestino,” the title track from Manu’s first album, deals with the issue of immigration: “I wrote it about the border between Europe and those coming from poorer nations. Look around – maybe thirty percent of the people in this street are clandestino (illegal).”
Difficulty: Intermediate
Mexico
Camilo Lara is the man behind the Mexican Institute of Sound (when he’s not busy being the president of EMI Music in Mexico). With this project, he intended to create a fusion of traditional elements with electronic music. MIS tunes have been invading TV and advertising lately; see if you recognize the song “Alocatel.”
Are you sure you want to delete this comment? You will not be able to recover it.