Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (3:12)

Like, I almost want to describe it as, like, metaphysical pop. There's so much going on with the strings, the guitar, the drums, and then Mabe's voice just manages to tie it all together in such an elegant way. But my favorite thing about this song is that, like, two minutes in, it totally transforms. It just picks up, okay, Que biban las emos que bibi van las darks. Like, it gets heavy. And the thing is, I was listening to this over and over, and I was like, that guitar riff reminds me of something, and I can't put my finger on it. And then I had to text Felix because I was like, this sounds exactly like the help on the Way, this.

Ana Maria Sayer (4:16)

Is a cameo from Felix.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (4:18)

No, literally, it sounds exactly like the help on the Way to Slipknot transition that the Grateful Dead does famously on their album Blues For Allah. But also just like a very important staple of the Dead's live shows, it just has that really rich and, like, narrative quality to it. But I think Mabe's voice sort of keeps you from tripping out in this song in a way that you maybe would. Some people would. Not me at a Dead show. And it's just really addictive. I can't stop listening to it.

Ana Maria Sayer (4:44)

This honestly makes so much sense because to me, Mabe's voice is very antithetical to who she is. Like, to me, I will say, on record, Mabe is one of the nuttiest people I've ever known in my life. And her cello is always her. Like, the chaos, the discomfort, the intensity, the avant garde nature of her music, that's her. The voice is this, like, beautiful, rare bird that we rarely ever get to hear. And when we do, it, like, takes us back, it quiets us, it ties us together. It makes things okay. And so it makes perfect sense in this context, too. I love that. That's amazing.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (5:21)

Issa, that was Escarbo Dimensiones by the group Titanic. So that's kind of how we're kicking things off. What did you bring today?

Ana Maria Sayer (5:28)

Okay, so Issa, our favorite adopted Mexican, Chilean singer, Mon La Ferte is back.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (5:35)

I'm snapping.

Ana Maria Sayer (5:36)

Mon, to me, honestly, is kind of like the way that Babunny is a chameleon, which every album and every kind of different era is him assuming a new character. Mon La Ferte is exactly that way. And this is her, like, sexy ballad album. I've heard two singles now. This second single is called Esto Es Amor, and I need you to just take it in. Let's hear it. Nuestra Noche. Nothing as miedo e.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (7:23)

I'm swooning.

Ana Maria Sayer (7:24)

I know, I know. I had someone ask me recently if music in Spanish is more graphic than music in English. What did you say? And I was like, I need to think about that. They were like, well, I heard that a translation of a Bad Bunny song. And I was like, yeah, I guess that's kind of true. And then I hear this song, and I'm not going to translate the lyrics, but that chorus. Comerte los lavios es religion Entre tus piernas voer razar. And I heard that, and I was like, okay, yeah, they have a point.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (7:53)

Yeah, there is a lot of imagery, Very strong imagery. There's nothing subtle about what she's saying.

Ana Maria Sayer (7:58)

There's a lot of strong imagery, but she does it in this magical, hypnotic, like, very classic way. And that's what I've noticed about everything I've heard so far off of this album is this is her classic big, almost like Bellas Artes era. I mean, she has always done big emotions so magically, so well. The very light production from her. Her Forever collaborator, Manuel, who does all of the production on all of her songs. And they really stepped into this moment of, okay, we're just gonna go classic. They brought Argentine, Conocino, Rusian, which I don't understand how. But every time this man touches a song, it does get a little more sultry in this very subtle way. And they really just did it perfectly. Like, every song so far to me, has been just done perfectly and simply and beautifully.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (8:53)

It's very cinematic. I mean, I love Monna Ferte because I think, like you said, she is a chameleon. She does adapt to so many different sounds, but that quality of her voice and these sort of big, sweeping moments in the song, like, she just hits it out of the ballpark every single time.

Ana Maria Sayer (9:07)

You can feel it. All of it. Every single emotion she's feeling, you can feel it times 10, 100%. That was esto Es Amor by Mon La Ferte. Okay, Issa, what's it gonna be? Number two.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (9:25)

All right, we're going up. You know, I'm in New York City. We're going up to the Bronx right now. This song came out last month. It's from a relatively new group called Planta Industrial, AKA Industry Plant. And this is Teteo. In the Bronx.

Ana Maria Sayer (9:40)

Yeah, we live up in the Bronx. We talk our shit up in the Bronx. Getting lit up in the Bronx but don't get lit up in the bron. Okay.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (10:38)

I kind of lost my mind when I first heard of these guys. It's a Dominican duo from the Bronx, obviously. Their names are AKA The Dark Knight and Sasso, and they just do this really cool Dominican flow, rapping in English and Spanish. But it's like, post punk. Like, those bass lines are so killer. And they only have a few singles out. They haven't, you know, they haven't even released an album. But some of their songs will sort of play with reggaeton drops and then again bring in this really harsh, like, punk element. It's just, again, Tumblr, me would have died for this song. It's so cool and so innovative, and I think really pushes the boundaries of, like, you know, Latin music is not a genre. Latin music is just people within the Latin diastra making really cool, innovative art.

Ana Maria Sayer (11:23)

Issa, I saw you put this on here, and I was like, issa is literally in my brain. I almost brought this song, like, a couple weeks ago, and then I remembered we. We were both introduced to them at the same show. No, at Summer Stage.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (11:36)

Oh, my God, you're so right.

Ana Maria Sayer (11:37)

Yeah. It's like, wait a second. She was totally there that night.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (11:42)

I was. I haven't been able to stop thinking about them.

Ana Maria Sayer (11:45)

No, they're amazing. And their presence, too, on stage is ridiculous. Like, they were absolutely opening for the wrong band and absolutely the right music for that space.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (11:54)

They did that. Sing along, didn't they? To the Marco Antonio Solis song. Yeah.

Ana Maria Sayer (11:57)

Yeah. I couldn't forget. Their energy was incredible. Like, completely captivating.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (12:02)

Yeah. And I think, you know, like, New York City is grappling with gentrification in a way that so many cities in the US Are. But this is a song that's really sort of rooted in this neighborhood that they grew up in and in retaining the Dominican identity of the Bronx. Like, it's just really powerful, not only sonically, but in its message. Like, the music video is all shot in the Bronx. I'm just. Planta Industrial is very high on my list of artists that I'm watching. I'm so excited to see what else they have up their sleeve.

Ana Maria Sayer (12:27)

Hundred percent agree.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (12:28)

That was Teteo in the Bronx by Planta Industrial.

Ana Maria Sayer (12:31)

Well, Issa, we're gonna take a break, and then I have something really good for you when we get back.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (12:36)

I can't wait.

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Ana Maria Sayer (14:12)

And we're back from break. Okay, Issa, so I'm going to take you on a little bit of a journey. It's not that long of a journey, but buckle up, we're going to Argentina. Okay, let's go. Okay, so Argentine singer Santi Mook, I've been following him for a minute. He's from, like, this really small town in the north. It's called Thermade Rios Ondo. It's pretty much just like a resort town on a river. It has a very kind of, I don't know. I love listening to Argentine music generally because I see them as being this, like, super instrumental, shoving, pushing, mobilizing force in the Latin music scene. Ever since, obviously, the explosion of Rakan Espanol. And ever since, like, that is their mouthpiece. That is their way that they express themselves. That's the way that they do politics. It's all of those things. And so to listen to Argentine music that is a little bit removed from Buenos Aires is from some of these smaller towns, you always get something a little bit different, a little more innovative. And he released an album earlier this year that I never played anything off of. So I'm going to start us with this song called Sam.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (16:21)

Okay. Heartthrob Alert.

Ana Maria Sayer (16:23)

Exactly. No, literally. And so he joined forces with Xenon Perea, which is his artist name. I don't actually know his full name, but that's the name of another small town in that region. It's near Cordoba. And they released an EP together. It's called Jamon y Queso Classic. And he kind of really flipped his sound, but in a nice way. He pulled him. Zenon pulled him a little bit closer to the acoustic side. You have more live arrangements. So this is a song off of that EP called Cuanto Falta Paracono Certi.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (17:07)

Yalavrisa.

Ana Maria Sayer (17:09)

Proceed to Nombre. So the thing that's really interesting about this to me, Issa, is you're thinking about this legacy of the beating heart of Argentina's rock music. And I think of them being obviously poppy, obviously having this whatever alternative sound, but almost closer in line with a lot of the kind of, like, alternative pop rock sounds I hear coming out of, like, the Dominican Republic, for example, with, like, a solo Fernandez or even a closer comparison to, like, early Juliette Venegas to me.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (18:33)

Oh, totally.

Ana Maria Sayer (18:34)

Something about. You know what I mean? Like, the soft of, like, it's a really, really, really, really reduced version of rock that is obviously a lot leaning on the poppier side, but has a little bit of that edge to it. And I think they sound amazing together. They're going to go on tour together. It was kind of the exact right marriage for me of what I wanted to hear from Santi Muk. I have to play you one more because I was crying, laughing when I heard this song. Issa. It's called Anna Bailaba. Of course it is.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (19:04)

Play it for me.

Ana Maria Sayer (19:05)

I need you to hear the lyrics. It's hilarious. Is.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (20:26)

Okay. I know you brought this in with this frame of reference of, like, rock and espanol from Argentina, but another group they really remind me of is the reggae band Los Pericos from Argentina. That was really big in, like, the 80s and 90s. I think it's something about their voices harmonizing together. It has this really sort of sunny reggae rock quality to it that I get anytime I turn on Los Pericos. I feel like it has a very similar, similar vibe, which I've always been dumbfounded by that, like, reggae from Argentina. Where did that come from? But I love it.

Ana Maria Sayer (20:58)

But that is interesting because I feel like they've been pushing further and further north especially. Obviously, these two artists do come from the north of the country, but I think you actually talked about this last time you're on the show. Is this the movement in. In Venezuela, obviously, super strong, with all the Caribbean influence, the reggae influence, and that scene continuing to grow and expand and bleed it a little bit into Colombia and places like that. And I do think there is a kind of meeting point happening in Argentina, too.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (21:28)

Like always, you know, like always.

Ana Maria Sayer (21:30)

Also, like, you have to think about the fact that these guys come from close to Coroba, which is like, literally home of Quarteto, which is a bumpy, bumpy, bumpy, bumpy music. So very different, but energetically similar.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (21:41)

Yeah, no, I love it. I want to go to that tour.

Ana Maria Sayer (21:44)

That was a couple of songs from Santi Mook and Zenon Perreia's new ep, Jamoni Queso. Okay, Issa, it's your last chance to get out all of your feelings, all of your Tumblr emo feelings, all of.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (21:58)

My grown woman teenage angst. Okay.

Ana Maria Sayer (22:00)

Exactly.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (22:01)

To wrap that feeling up, I am bringing you the song Mar by the Ecuadorian singer songwriter Maria Usbek. This is from her album Naturalesa, which came out in April. I'm pushing the boundaries on what I can bring on the show. I refuse to apologize. I'm sorry, not sorry.

Ana Maria Sayer (23:04)

I'm in charge today. I accept.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (23:07)

Thank you. Thank you. I just. When I hit play on this album, I had the same feeling I had when I was like 15 and heard VCR by the XX for the first time. Like something about it just really took my breath away. And she has a really interesting story. She's from Ecuador. She moved to the US and was sort of in the art pop scene in Miami and in Brooklyn. Her first solo album was co produced by Caroline Polachek. And then she went back to Ecuador and started making music in Spanish and started rediscovering, like, all of these indigenous instruments and indigenous languages and really connected with her heritage. Her 2019 album was the meditation on aging and time passing. And now this one, I believe she's back in the us, back in Brooklyn. This album is very much grounded in the natural world. Obviously the song Mad is about the ocean, but yeah, there's just something about her voice and about this really sort of quiet production that I find so, so refreshing and captivating. Like, I. I just can't get enough of this.

Ana Maria Sayer (24:06)

You know, it's funny, Issa, because one, I hear absolutely no Miami in this.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (24:11)

Yeah.

Ana Maria Sayer (24:11)

But every other piece of it, I mean, it is that perfect blend of. I brought a track on maybe two weeks ago. I think it was the week after you run. And it had like a very similar Andean meets this kind of like highly produced, slightly electronic sound. And there's something about the marriage of those two things that feels almost natural, but also is just always like a really nice, refreshing back and forth. It's like a conversation within the song. And I love what she did on this one in particular. It feels grounded, like you said. Exactly. In nature. It's beautiful. I love it. Yeah.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (24:47)

It's giving Sofia Cortesis a little bit, which I think works within those same realms of like, the natural world and electronic music and just.

Ana Maria Sayer (24:53)

And that's exactly who I brought on and exactly what I was referencing. Of course it is.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (24:58)

Of course it is. That was Mar by Maria Usbeck. I'm done being angsty. Tell me about your last song.

Ana Maria Sayer (25:05)

Okay. This is a collab that I have seen quite a few places. You probably heard it by now, Isa, but I just have not brought it on yet. I was waiting for the perfect moment. And you are, as always, the perfect moment. So this is Echo Parati by Latin Mafia and Omar Apollo. You. I don't even know how to describe the way to me that actually both of these artists, Latin Mafia and Omar Apollo, are kind of making the same kind of like dismissively sad boy music. If you think I'm like, what are the words? Those are the words. Because if you think about Latin Mafia and the song, that. That really kind of put them on the. On the map, which was like, that whole song is, hey, I kind of like you, you smell like vanilla is how it opens. And then he's like, actually, can we stay together forever and figure out the waves of life? And that is very much Omar Apollo historically. Like, his last record was like, I'm going to sing in Spanish because I want. I don't want you to know how heartbroken I am. And so the two of them together is definitely a collaboration that I think ultimately does make sense, but not one that I would have first put in my head. And the fact that this perfect blend of the two happens with cumbia is like, so exciting to me because neither of them have really tapped into it. I mean, to me, Latin Mafia is a sound that's coming out of Mexico, one of the most boundary pushing, interesting new artists that's happening right now. And yet none of their sound is particularly, obviously, notably Mexican. And then Omar Apollo is someone who every once in a while his bedroom pop veers into, you know, a song in Spanish. Or he brings maybe like a little bit of a mariachi element, but he too, despite speaking a lot about his Mexican American identity, doesn't necessarily often sonically represent that. And so the fact that both of them are so in your face, cumbia with this heartbreak song. And it works really, really, really well because Goumbia is original heartbreak.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (28:33)

Well. And I think to your point, I think it works because it is something new for both of them. Because when this song came out before I had listened to it, I was like, okay, I love Latin Mafia and I love Omar Apollo, but I don't necessarily need them on a song together because their music is already so similar thematically and sonically. But it is really fun to see them sort of going on this adventure together. And I mean, the cumbia with the sad boy lyrics, like, come on, I.

Ana Maria Sayer (29:01)

Know there's nothing better, really.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (29:03)

It's.

Ana Maria Sayer (29:03)

Yeah, it's like full happy heartbreak. That was Echo Parati by Latin Mafia and Omar Apollo. Issa, thank you so much for joining us again this week. This is the summer of Issa and Anna. I guess at this point, the summer.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (29:22)

Of Isan Ana is forever. Thank you for having me.

Ana Maria Sayer (29:27)

You have been listening to Alt Latino. Our audio producer is Noah Caldwell, and the executive producer of NPR Music is Soraya Muhammad. I'm Ana Maria Sayer.

Isabela Gomez Sarmiento (29:37)

And I'm Isabela Gomez Sarmiento.

Ana Maria Sayer (29:39)

Thank you for listening. Ciao.

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