Medio signifies “half,” and so of course mediodía comes around at 12 o’clock noon (“half day”). Café Tacuba’s Rubén Albarrán ponders another perfect sunshine midday and wonders why he is has no one with whom to share it. Live concert video! (See Rubén’s guest appearance in Inspector’s video for the tune "Amnesia".)

Fernando Hortal, aka Bahiano, broke away from his band of 17 years, Los Pericos, in 2004 to go it alone. This video shows the rufían delivering milk and a little more. Oyelo, ¡te gustará escucharlo!

Who is this woman that Marciano Cantero met in Denver one winter evening? (Madonna?) It may have been a temporary affair, but the song it inspired has endured, proving to be one of the Enanitos Verdes’ biggest crowd pleasers, as you can see from this concert footage.

So what is it with this Latin American love of ska, a Jamaican genre from the early 60’s that’s had a second coming amongst British and American bands since the early 80’s? Lucky for us, ska is almost always sung very clearly, in short, catchy, easy to understand phrases. Liquits hails from Mexico City, but this award winning group has been hopping continents to record and play for a growing audience since 1993. The animation is ¡padrisimo!

What if you took a bunch of musical aces from Bogotá and asked them to cook up a picante take on the Led Zeppelin classic “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You”? Wonder no longer…

Los Tetas got together in their native Chile in 1994, where they honed a unique blend of funk, hip hop, and soul, and since then have bopped around the Americas, living in New York and Mexico. This track features a good natured appearance by fellow Chilean Germaín de la Fuente, whose romantic crooning has been swooning latin lovers since the early 70’s.

Molotov brings us another inspired video that doubles as a lesson in modern Mexico: PAN, PRI, PRD, and el bono sexenal! By the way, do you know why Rudy Giuliani’s image appears so often in Molotov videos?

La Gusana Ciega is one of our favorite bands! Excellent writing plus deep hooks equals beautiful pop. This live recording of "Tornasol", a big hit for the band, may just leave you hungry for more.

Los Pericos formed in 1986, a bunch of buddies who shared a love for Jamaican icons like Toots & The Maytals, Peter Tosh, and, of course, Bob Marley. No tribute band, they formed their own unique sound and have been jammin’ ever since.

The worm might be blind but these guys can certainly see their way around a good hook. "Giroscopio" is a classic style video reminiscent of early MTV that fits well with this “power pop” tune. Yabla loves this band, you will too!

Colombian pop sensation Juanes sings this duet with Canadian superstar Nelly Furtado. The song gave each of them an award for best duet and Juanes one for best songwriter at the Latin Music Awards. This song is very clear, very easy, and repetitive using key vocabulary. Great for beginners!

Hailing from Monterrey, Inspector has got to be one of the most inspired ska bands south of the Rio Grande! This tune features guest artists Rubén Albarrán (a.k.a. “Rita Cantalagua”) of Café Tacuba and Roco of Maldita Vecindad.

With Amargo Adios, Inspector mixes up border sounds and border iconography in this paean to unrequited love.

The trio Fase is hailed as a pioneer in “tropical electronica”. The wonderfully sweet voice of Alma Velasco helped make this plaintive song a favorite among pop fans on both hemispheres. Excellent electro-pop with simple and very clear lyrics that repeat many key words, super for beginners.

In this fun video that reminds us a bit of Elvis Costello, Enanitos Verdes front man Marciano Cantero contemplates new looks, and a bevy of fine looking ladies give their critique. The band formed in their native Mendoza back in the late 70s, but still cranks out hits to this day.