Recording Industry Hispanics

We are left here with two extremes: La Ley and Cafe Tacuba. The former is the nice boy group; the latter, the bad boys. La Ley is conventional and clean in its sound, compositions and arrangements; Cafe Tacuba is the revolutionaries, eclectic, very sui generis, the enemies of the musical stereotype. In music, barriers must continue to be broken. And the band that has shown the most creativity and bravery in rock (at least in the language of Cervantes) is Cafe Tacuba. That's why it's my choice.

General Categories Record of the Year: "Corazon Espinado," Santana featuring Mana (Fher Olvera and KC Porter, producers; Benny Faccone, engineer/mixer). Album of the Year "Amarte Es Un Placer," Luis Miguel (Luis Miguel, producer; Rafa Sardina and Al Schmitt, engineers/mixers). Song of the Year: "Dimelo" ("I Need to Know"), Marc Anthony, Robert Blades, Angie Chirino and Cory Rooney (Marc Anthony, artist). Best New Artist: Ibrahim Ferrer. Pop Female Vocal: "Ojos Asi," Shakira.

Names such as Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and Enrique Iglesias have become familiar in the mainstream U.S. market; but, in the coming months, they may have to make room for Shakira, who is recording her first English-language album and who is being called the next revelation from the Spanish-speaking world. The 23-year-old Colombian singer is a Latina version of Alanis Morissette.

We are left here with two extremes: La Ley and Cafe Tacuba. The former is the nice boy group; the latter, the bad boys. La Ley is conventional and clean in its sound, compositions and arrangements; Cafe Tacuba is the revolutionaries, eclectic, very sui generis, the enemies of the musical stereotype. In music, barriers must continue to be broken. And the band that has shown the most creativity and bravery in rock (at least in the language of Cervantes) is Cafe Tacuba. That's why it's my choice.

Reves/Yosoy: CAFE TACUBA The Mexican quartet's fourth album might just be the most formidable chapter in the book of rock en espanol. Presenting one disc of obscure, dissonant instrumentals ("Reves") and another of richly layered songs ("Yosoy"), Tacuba throws caution to the wind, giving free rein to the experimental vein it had already showcased in previous efforts. This time, though, everything works out with enviable perfection.

Living in Los Angeles, it might be easy to think that most Latinos are brown-skinned and of Mexican descent; after all, about 80% of the city's Latino population identifies as Mexican. Listening to Spanish radio in Los Angeles, it might seem that Latin music means only ranchera, banda and mariachi, or, most recently, the pop stylings of Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias.

Cafe Quijano Listening to the old-fashioned bolero "Falsas Promesas" on the debut album of this Spanish group--the manly vocal delivery, sweeping orchestral arrangement and measured percussion--will make you think you're listening to a vintage recording from the '50s. And yet "La Extraordinaria Paradoja del Sonido Quijano" (The Extraordinary Paradox of the Quijano Sound) was recorded in Madrid in early 1999.

If a huge meteor were to plummet onto Miami Beach today, the Americas would instantly become a much quieter, sadder place. That's because thousands of the most influential people in the music business from North America, Central America and South America have descended upon this trendy town for a week of networking, performing, partying and general hustling known as MIDEM Americas.

Names such as Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and Enrique Iglesias have become familiar in the mainstream U.S. market; but, in the coming months, they may have to make room for Shakira, who is recording her first English-language album and who is being called the next revelation from the Spanish-speaking world. The 23-year-old Colombian singer is a Latina version of Alanis Morissette.

Reves/Yosoy: CAFE TACUBA The Mexican quartet's fourth album might just be the most formidable chapter in the book of rock en espanol. Presenting one disc of obscure, dissonant instrumentals ("Reves") and another of richly layered songs ("Yosoy"), Tacuba throws caution to the wind, giving free rein to the experimental vein it had already showcased in previous efforts. This time, though, everything works out with enviable perfection.

Cafe Quijano Listening to the old-fashioned bolero "Falsas Promesas" on the debut album of this Spanish group--the manly vocal delivery, sweeping orchestral arrangement and measured percussion--will make you think you're listening to a vintage recording from the '50s. And yet "La Extraordinaria Paradoja del Sonido Quijano" (The Extraordinary Paradox of the Quijano Sound) was recorded in Madrid in early 1999.

Dimelo (I Need to Know): MARC ANTHONY Anthony's crossover success is the story of a young salsero who funkified his clave and thus became a mainstream sensation. On hit salsa albums the Nuyorican singer had already demonstrated how he could incorporate R&B elements into his urban-friendly tropical style. When it came time to record an English-language pop album (which includes the nominated Spanish version of this song), the timbales and congas were brought along.