As it turns out the young Arturo Vega, Mexican emigré actor and artist in New York, lived below a girl who was seeing a young man named Douglas Glenn Colvin (who would come to be known as “Dee Dee Ramone”). The two visionaries got to talking…

Deep in the heart of Old San Juan you can hear live salsa music playing most any night at the Nuyorican Cafe. We stepped into the alley for a breather and had a little chat with two lovely salseras to get an insider view of what brings them back to the dance floor night after night.

Are you ever confused about what to say to other pedestrians? Our Mexico City friends Miguel, Anvar and David have agreed to pass on a few tips regarding what to say, and when, as we navigate the streets and sidewalks of the habla hispana (the Spanish speaking world).

To hear La Gusana Ciega play live we trekked to a club called Babel located in a giant mall / theme park called Mundo E, located just north of Mexico City. Come backstage with us for an exclusive interview you’ll find only here!

"Me Puedes" is the first sencillo (single) to be released by the phenomenal La Gusana Ciega in over five years. (And it’s great!) It’s from an album called La Rueda del Diablo (The Devil’s Wheel), which was recorded in Los Angeles under the direction of eight-time grammy winner Benny Faccone, who has worked his magic with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Ricky Martin and Santana.

The effort to de-mine Central America is truly an international one, with assistance coming from the U.S., Germany, Spain, France, England, Japan, Canada and Sweden (who’s ambassador is featured here, speaking eloquent Spanish). Also we hear from soldiers on the pleasure of serving a mission of peace, as opposed to one of war.

It’s quite possible that El Día de Los Locos, as celebrated in La Vela de Coro, has its roots as far back as the Roman Empire, which celebrated Saturnalia at the same time of year. Both festivals, historically, involve turning the social order on its head, with slaves dressing like their masters.

Vamos al grano, Babasónicos might just be one of the most popular bands on the planet, as popular in Distrito Federal (Mexico City) as they are in Capital Federal (Buenos Aires). "Risa" is un tema pegajoso, which is to say “a catchy tune,” that for sure te gustará mucho (you’ll like a lot)!

Puerto Rican by birth, Luis Fonsi moved at an early age to Orlando, Florida. Despite having participated in a number of minor “boy bands,” it wasn’t until he was discovered by the president of the music school at the University of Florida, where he was a student, that he was offered a sizable recording contract. Success came quickly as his reputation spread throughout Latin America.

We are all familiar with ¿Cómo se dice…?, “How do you say…”—it’s a very useful phrase when inquiring about the right words to use. Denisse Guererro repeatedly uses a similar phrase, asking the audience ¿Cóme dice?, which also sounds like it might be something like “How does one say?” but in fact this is Spanish for “How does it go?”—she wants the crowd to sing along!

Of course tuve is the preterite yo form tener, so one might be misled to think that the refrain of this tune is “I had, I had.” However, in casual speech on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, tú ve’ is short for tú ves (“you see”), but the uninitiated could easily mistake it for the verb tuve (“I had”). ¿Tú ve’?

Mauro thought he’d seen the last of Juan when he fired him from the record store, only to find the boy raiding his kitchen fridge! Mauro attempts to throw him out but his mom intervenes. It turns out that Mauro’s sister Teresa has convinced her mother to pay Juan to teach her to play the piano. Mauro is not amused.

Edgar Huerta, keyboardist of Belanova, refers to Joselo of Cafe Tacuba as un cuate. The word comes from the indigenous Nahuatl word coatl, which means “twin.” But Joselo is not Edgar’s gemelo, cuate is known by all Mexicans to refer to a “good buddy,” a “dear friend.”

Juan paints outlines on his tiles using a paintbrush and manganese oxide, but at one time practitioners did this by laying down fine strings dipped in wax, and this explains why Juan still calls the technique he uses cuerda seca, or “dry cord.” Note that he describes the technique as one of alto relieve, or “high relief,” which is the opposite of bas-relief (low relief).

Pulsorock has this to say about Los Nativos (the name given to the members of Vivanativa): La energía positiva que irradia este conjunto de talentos no tiene fin y es imparable. The positive energy that this set of talents radiates is endless and unstoppable! Hyperbole? We think not… check it out!