# ¡Recomiéndeme música latina, por favor! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961 "2004-11-21T17:05:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/1 "2004-11-21T17:05:43Z")
I’m taking a Spanish class this year, as I’ve mentioned a coupla times. I’m wanting recommendations for latino music to listen to – I don’t know much, but I like being able to listen to it and slowly piece together what’s being said. Anyway, the world of latino music is foreign to me, because it’s, you know… foreign. The only latino artists I know are those who have released pop music in the US in the past ten years or so-- Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Selena, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, etc. I like Shakira, Enrique, Selena, and Gloria; I hate Ricky. I was thinking that I could tell y’all some of the English-language music I like and you might be able to tell me some música latina that I might like. Stuff I like recently includes: [ul][li]Destiny’s Child’s _Survivor_ and _Destiny Fulfilled_[/li][li]All of Aimee Mann’s work ever[/li][li]Madonna through about _Ray of Light_[/li][li]Dido’s _Life for Rent_ and _No Angel_[/li][li]Sarah McLachlan’s _Surfacing_[/li][li]Shakira’s _¿Dónde Están los Ladrones?_, _Pies Descalzos_, and _Laundry Service_[/li][li]And stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting, but we can refine it as we go.[/ul][/li] Spanish-language music I know that I don’t like includes that polka-like Mexican music with all the accordions and trumpets and most salsa and merengue. TIA for any help. Oh, and I know the prohibition on non-English here, but I would think the Spanish in the thread title (all English cognates) would be OK. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/2 "2004-11-21T21:10:57Z")
If you like pop type songs, you should check out Paulina Rubio. Her self titled album “Paulina” from 2000 is very accesible and catchy. Once you know the language better, you can’t go wrong with Jose Luis Guerra, merngue singer from Dominican Republic. Mernegue left me cold, but when I started to learn the language, it all came together: The happy, happy, happy, bouncy music and the very dark lyrics. Pure magic. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/3 "2004-11-22T03:44:35Z")
Hey, cool! I’m learning Spanish on my own (better at reading it than writing it—I now collect and read Harlequin Romances in Spanish—they’re so _cheap!_). Anyway, I bought some Spanish-language songs from iTunes. Not sure if they’ll be your cup of tea, but I like 'em. Have you heard some of Sting’s Spanish-language songs? _Mariposa Libre_ is pretty. Several others too. Latin-American singer Mercedes Sosa did her own version of Sting’s “Fragile” (_Fragilidad_) and it’s quite beautiful. Another guy I like is Silvio Rodriguez. (I liked _Sueno Con Serpientes_.) Nice folk-singing style. And then there’s Linda Ronstadt. _Palomita de Ojos Negros_ and _El Gustito_ are nice, and some others too. These might not be your style, but check 'em out, just in case! ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/4 "2004-11-22T04:07:30Z")
Try songs from Juanes [Fíjate bien was his first CD.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004ZDW6/qid=1101096536/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-5374835-1072065?v=glance&s=music) There is also La Oreja de Van Gogh with [Dile al Sol, their first CD](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000JC6I/qid=1101096651/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-5374835-1072065?v=glance&s=music). You mentioned Estefan, [check out some of her Spanish CDs, starting with Mi tierra](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002952/qid=1101096740/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/002-5374835-1072065). Don’t diss Ricky, I really dislike his English pop songs, but his Spanish albums (full of balads and catchy pop songs) are waaaaay better. Check out _A medio vivir_, it’s almost 10 years old, but it’s what I consider one of his best albums. Anything else that you remember liking? Hey yosemite, I’m glad someone found the good songs of Silvio Rodríguez, he’s my favorite singer/songwriter. My favorite song from him is _Unicornio azul_, followed by _Ojalá_, and _Fábula de los tres hermanos_. The albums I have from him are Unicornio Azul and Rabo de Nube. If you liked that kind of music, check out Pablo Milanés (his most known song is _Yolanda_), and also Mercedes Sosa (_Todo Cambia_ ), León Gieco, and Violeta Parra (she wrote many songs that all the other folk singers play, including _Gracias a la vida_). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/5 "2004-11-22T04:30:12Z")
[Another thread with more info](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=234776&highlight=music+Spanish) [and another](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=146080&highlight=music+Spanish) ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/6 "2004-11-22T05:55:32Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Don’t diss Ricky, I really dislike his English pop songs, but his Spanish albums (full of balads and catchy pop songs) are waaaaay better. Check out _A medio vivir_, it’s almost 10 years old, but it’s what I consider one of his best albums. I may try that one. I’m the same way with Shakira – her English-language stuff is OK, but I don’t _love_ it; however, I’ve been singing three of her Spanish songs (“Ciega, Sordomuda”, “Si Te Vas”, and “No Creo”) to myself nonstop since I heard them. I like her CDs a lot because they all come with lyric sheets and she doesn’t speak crazy fast like my contemptible Argentinian (with his “vos hablás” nonsense) professor. Thanks to **Gaspode** for the recommendation. I just listened to and bought that CD from iTunes. Also, Madam **Grenze** , I liked (and bought) the La Oreja de van Gogh and Juanes albums. Good calls, both of you. And **yosemite** , I’m not sure if Spanish is your first second language (?!), but you’ll notice that of any language you learn – the order of difficulty is listening, speaking, writing, and reading, because each requires more thought than the next. I’ve got a good handle on the various verb tenses and I can read / write pretty much anything I need to with time and a dictionary, but I cannot yet think in Spanish, because I’ve only had 12 weeks or so of class. That will take a lot of time. (Eso tomará mucho tiempo, I think.) ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/7 "2004-11-23T17:08:44Z")
Bumping this to (hopefully) catch the weekday crowd. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/8 "2004-11-23T21:55:48Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > And **yosemite** , I’m not sure if Spanish is your first second language (?!), but you’ll notice that of any language you learn – the order of difficulty is listening, speaking, writing, and reading, because each requires more thought than the next. Yes, I think you are right. You are fortunate to be taking a class. I’ve taken classes in the past (I’ve toyed with learning Spanish, off and on, for years now), but I simply can’t do it at this time. I have lots of instructional books and CDs, but right now I’m just doing a lot of reading, and some writing. (But my Spanish grammar _suuuuuccckkks_ really bad.) I figure that I’ll take a class later on. It does feel good to read in Spanish, at the very least. I still have to look up a lot of words in the dictionary (actually, I got one of those Franklin Electronic Dictionaries, which is awesome). I’ve even got a subscription to the Spanish-language Reader’s Digest and also to Harlequin Romance’s Spanish language line of books (4 books a month—I’m _way_ behind!). > [@Karl Grenze](#): > > Hey yosemite, I’m glad someone found the good songs of Silvio Rodríguez, he’s my favorite singer/songwriter. My favorite song from him is Unicornio azul, followed by Ojalá, and Fábula de los tres hermanos. The albums I have from him are Unicornio Azul and Rabo de Nube. If you liked that kind of music, check out Pablo Milanés (his most known song is Yolanda), and also Mercedes Sosa (Todo Cambia ), León Gieco, and Violeta Parra (she wrote many songs that all the other folk singers play, including Gracias a la vida). I will check these out, thanks! I got the recommendation for Silvio Rodríguez and Mercedes Sosa from a previous thread on this subject (I think you might have been the one posting the recommendation). Their work has really grown on me. Thank goodness for iTunes! ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/9 "2004-11-23T22:20:40Z")
[Tish Hinojosa](http://www.mundotish.com/) does a lot of songs with English and Spanish lyrics - often repeating the same line in both. She seems to have an interest in bilingualism. She’s not really poppy, but pleasant and listenable. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/10 "2004-11-23T23:17:07Z")
Wow, thanks for that recommendation, **vd!** I looked up Tish Hinojosa in iTunes, and it looks like I’ll be getting a few more tunes . . . ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/11 "2004-11-23T23:26:59Z")
> [@yosemite](#): > > Wow, thanks for that recommendation, **vd!** I looked up Tish Hinojosa in iTunes, and it looks like I’ll be getting a few more tunes . . . de nada ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/12 "2004-11-24T00:49:06Z")
**Walter Salas-Humara** is a Cuban-American singer songwriter who fronts a band called The Silos. He’s recorded a few songs in Spanish and some more that switch back and forth between Spanish and English. The website has some audio samples, but the only one in Spanish is Sangre y Lagrimas [aqui](http://www.thesilos.net/html/music/laseraudio.html). Oh yeah - they’re a fantastic, criminally under-rated band. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/13 "2004-11-24T04:17:07Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Don’t diss Ricky, I really dislike his English pop songs, but his Spanish albums (full of balads and catchy pop songs) are waaaaay better. Check out _A medio vivir_, it’s almost 10 years old, but it’s what I consider one of his best albums. This is EXACTLY what I was going to say. That album has become a particular favorite of mine. I got it when I went to a Mexican flea market and asked a woman there to recommend an easy-to-listen-to singer in Spanish, to bolster my language skills in a pleasant way. One of the things I really like is that the lyrics were enclosed - I was able to get a better grip on some of the unfamiliar words and the whadayacallem’s… not contractions… elisions? Spanish-language singing is much nearer regular speech than the formal Spanish we learn in school. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/14 "2004-11-25T02:45:54Z")
**Bambi** , next time you’re in your car, try AM 680, 760 and 820. 820 is Nueva Mega, a local pop Latin station. 680 seems more towards classic Latino stuff, and IIRC, 760 is between the two. Many of the songs I can pick up what’s being said and I don’t speak Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/15 "2004-11-25T23:58:17Z")
I second the suggestions for Juan Luis Guerra and Gloria Stefan´s “Mi Tierra”, that album is excellent indeed; unfortunately I´ve lost my copy. I´d like to recommend some Uruguayan authors, but I think most have a style very focused on regional ideosicracies and may not be of much appeal for other people. However, Jaime Ross is quite good, and the band Hereford has very good last album. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/16 "2004-11-26T01:46:50Z")
The Spanish singer Ana Torroja and the band she was in previously, Mecano, are excellent. She has a beautiful voice and the music tends toward ballads with witty, literate lyrics. I also have and enjoy some music from La Oreja de Van Gogh. I found listening to music in Spanish extremely helpful when I was learning the language. Listening before going to sleep the night before exams seemed to help, for those who may be taking a class with exams. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/17 "2004-11-27T18:50:34Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > One of the things I really like is that the lyrics were enclosed - I was able to get a better grip on some of the unfamiliar words and the whadayacallem’s… not contractions… elisions? Spanish-language singing is much nearer regular speech than the formal Spanish we learn in school. Quite correct. I’ve learned much more grammar and vocab from translating las líricas than I have in my class – probably because this is my first Spanish class, so we’re going at a very slow pace. But, I learned about the present subjunctive, the imperfect and preterite past, the perfect tenses, and the conditional all from translating Shakira lyrics, and hearing them spoken while at the same time being able to read them is fantastic. It’s like you say, **Wry** – seeing the elisions helps when you later go to speak to someone. It’s like learning English. In class, they hear “Did you eat yet?”, but on the street it’s “Jeet yet?”. En español, I hear that “Si hablo demasiado” comes out as “siáblo demasyado” sometimes, and it helps me put other things I hear back together into the proper form. Anyway, back to the music. Thanks be to **Shibb** for the AM radio recommendation. I like Nueva Mega, but in a different way; for the CDs, having the lyric sheets is invaluable. I also got Gloria’s _Mi Tierra_, which I like quite a bit – again, more than I like her English-language stuff. I might look at Enrique Iglesias’ Spanish-language releases, because so far there are three other artists whose Spanish music I like much better than their English stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/18 "2004-11-27T23:53:15Z")
That question is so broad. What kind of music do you like? If you like rock you can try Joaquin Sabina, Charly Garcia, Sui Generis, Los abuelos de la nada, Soda Estereo, Andres Calamaro, etc, Turf, an hundreds more. Pop? Diego Torres, Luis Miguel, Alejandro Saenz, Paulina Rubio, Ricky Martin, Juanes, Shakira, and hundreds more. Salsa? Merengue? Cumbia Colombiana? Folklore music (each country has it’s own): Tango? Flamengo? Zarzuela? Classical? etc, etc etc. I love almost every kin of music, and if I don’t like it I probablu know someone that does. be a little more specific and I’ll make you a top 25. Mientras tanto seguí con tus clases de castellano, hay toda un nuevo mundo esperandote. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/19 "2004-12-02T17:01:26Z")
> [@Estilicon](#): > > That question is so broad. What kind of music do you like? > > If you like rock you can try Joaquin Sabina, Charly Garcia, Sui Generis, Los abuelos de la nada, Soda Estereo, Andres Calamaro, etc, Turf, an hundreds more. Poked around on the Web and iTunes and I can state pretty well that I don’t like these groups. As a rule, I’m a pop kinda guy, so see below. > [@](#): > > Pop? Diego Torres, Luis Miguel, Alejandro Saenz, Paulina Rubio, Ricky Martin, Juanes, Shakira, and hundreds more. Here we are. I have 4 Shakira albums which I like _a lot_ and one each from Juanes and Paulina, que también me gustan. I said upstream I was gonna look into Ricky’s albums in Spanish, and I did – I like most of his stuff too. Alejandro Sanz isn’t too bad, but a little slow for my tastes. I like (as I said up top) Enrique Iglesias and Gloria Estefan also. > [@](#): > > Salsa? Merengue? Cumbia Colombiana? Folklore music (each country has it’s own): Tango? Flamengo? Zarzuela? Classical? etc, etc etc. Not big on the salsa and merengue, and I don’t know much of the others. > [@](#): > > I love almost every kin of music, and if I don’t like it I probablu know someone that does. be a little more specific and I’ll make you a top 25. > > Mientras tanto seguí con tus clases de castellano, hay toda un nuevo mundo esperandote. I would appreciate any recommendation – let’s stick to pop, because so far that’s where I’ve found the most I like. Shakira, Juanes, Ricky, Enrique, Gloria, Paulina are the ones I know I like a lot, so see if you can get somewhere from there. If not, thanks anyway. Puedo ver que mi país está convertiéndose un país que habla dos lenguas y quiero hablar las dos con fluidez. Puedo leer y escribir español rápidamente, pero hablarlo y comprenderlo son más difíciles. He estudiado español por solamente trece semanas, y pienso que me convertiré mejor con más tiempo. También pienso que música latina me ayudaría con entenderlo. Is that right, BTW? My professor is always unavailable, so I can’t ask him anything about what I’m learning beyond the class’ syllabus. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961/20 "2004-12-02T17:36:00Z")
::slight hijack:: BH, if you ever want to go to a language school in Latin America, I cannot recommend [Cetlalic](http://www.cetlalic.org.mx/) in Cuernavaca, Mexico enough. I went down with basic skills learned in college and by the time I left two months later I was being asked to translate presentations into English for the other students. Great, great people and a rigourous learning experience. ::fin de la hijack:: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomiendeme-musica-latina-por-favor/275961.md?page=2)