All Songs Considered: Alt.Latino – Felix and Ana’s 2025 Favorites

Date: December 10, 2025
Hosts: Felix Contreras and Ana Maria Sayer

Episode Overview

In this special year-end edition of Alt.Latino, Felix Contreras and Ana Maria Sayer reflect on their favorite Spanish-language and Latin music releases of 2025. Rather than declaring definitive “bests,” the duo explores music that personally impacted them and showcases landmark albums that shaped Latin music on both regional and global stages. Major talking points include the cultural weight of Bad Bunny’s and Rosalía’s latest records, as well as a curated selection of boundary-pushing albums across genres like jazz, flamenco, and orchestral pop.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Year in Review & Philosophy on “Best Of” Lists (00:41–01:49)

• The hosts reject the rigidity of “best of” year-end lists, preferring to spotlight “personal favorites.”
  • Felix: “I have a thing about the best of because I don't know about that… I prefer to say some of our personal favorites.” (01:42)
  • Ana: “It's so hard.”

Tone: Playful, noncommittal, and reflective, setting a friendly, conversational atmosphere.

Major Albums that Bookended 2025

Bad Bunny - “De Viti Ramas Photos” (01:57–05:17)

• Significance:
  Felix emphasizes the album’s multi-level impact: personal, cultural (Puerto Rico), pan-Latin American, and global.
  • “It's almost like a reverse telescope… it's global. This whole thing just went so big, and people from all over the world had an appreciation for this in one way or another. That doesn't happen often.” (02:15–03:15)
• Cultural Elevation:
  Ana celebrates Bad Bunny’s commitment to honoring Puerto Rican heritage and music.
  • “His mission of not just elevating himself, but really elevating Puerto Rico was he never lost sight of that goal…” (03:21)
  • They connect the album to Rafael Ithier, founder of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, whose work was sampled on the album and who passed away recently.
• Memorable Quote:
  Ana: “That's the impact, right? In many ways, is taking and sifting through and bringing to the surface some of the most important, valuable, beautiful parts of Puerto Rico and taking that to the world.” (04:41)

Rosalía - “Lukes” (05:17–05:53)

• Musical Universality:
  Felix describes the album’s reach beyond pop into classical and opera; Ana predicts its influence will fully unfold in 2026.
  • “From the individual to opera singers, classical musicians, Spanish musicians, like so many different people have a way of looking at this record and pulling something out of it.” (05:17–05:40)
• Anticipation:
  “I think that that's gonna take on the fullness of its life in the new year.” (05:40–05:53)

Personal Favorites & Musical Discoveries

Geralt Lajos – “9:30 PM” (06:42–09:52)

• Innovation in Flamenco:
  Ana is enamored with Lajos’s modern flamenco, blending the genre with bachata, percussion, and strings.
  • “She brings that flamenco energy, but then she surrounds it in all these really intense but beautiful beats. I mean, she's just so innovative.” (07:54)
  • Compares the experimentation to early Rosalía but finds Lajos distinct in her genre expansion.
• Historical Context:
  Felix relates Lajos’s work to the evolution since the Gypsy Kings and the nuevas flamenco movement of the 1980s.
  • “But these musicians now are taking flamenco to a whole another level, man.” (09:00–09:52)

Roxana Ahmed – “Todos los Fuegos” (Jazz, Argentina) (10:00–14:49)

• Jazz Crossover:
  Felix highlights the jazz reworkings of Argentine rock and how Ahmed channels historic pain and political commentary through classic songs.
  • “It was like a high watermark… there were all these releases on my top 10 albums.” (10:08)
  • Draws parallels to the Argentine Dirty War and the need for artists to express under dictatorship.
  • “Aliénation, superficiality… cinema verite is a symbol of a search for genuine reality... trying to express themselves underneath this really brutal dictatorship.” (13:13)
  • Ahmed’s creative drive: “…she just had to get it out of her system and she had to do it before she left this realm.” (13:13)

Arat Erse – “Musas en Mi” (14:51–19:28)

• Poetic Songwriting:
  Ana lauds the lyricism and emotional depth of Veracruz artist Arat Erse, with special nods to lines like:
  • “My mind is an orchestra, always out of tune. The ropes are broken, the wood cracked, there's ash on the ground…” (16:14)
  • Notes the uniqueness within regional Mexican music and the influence of collaborator Leif Bulbeck.
• Chemistry and Production:
  “It's like you could play them back to back and it's, they're like these twin souls… there's just something about, about the way they make music that just feels, feels really right for each other.” (18:32)

Mon Laferte – “Femme Fatale” (22:00–25:56)

• Artistic Versatility:
  Felix, inspired by Ana’s early recommendation, links Mon Laferte’s evolution and vocal prowess to classic chanteuse Julie London.
  • “She has had several iterations… she's like a chameleon, but at the center of all that is her amazing voice.” (24:10)
  • Definition and Appropriation:
    Discusses the “femme fatale” concept and how Mon embodies multifaceted womanhood, resonating as both a Chilean and now the most-listened-to female artist in Mexico. (25:39)

Rasowski – “Daisy” (26:02–29:47)

• Genre-bending Innovation:
  Ana brings Rasowski’s album, noting his ability to blend classical and experimental pop, collaborating across genres (e.g., track with Gene Dawson).
  • “He is a producer first… so that's kind of at the forefront, I think, of how he creates his art, but he's able to take it in all these really fascinating, unexpected directions.” (28:35)
  • The track “Sophia” gets special mention as a fan and critic favorite.

Lido Pimienta – “La Belleza” (31:31–33:26)

• Orchestral Brilliance:
  Felix underscores Pimienta’s use of strings and orchestrations, paralleling Rosalia’s experiments but lamenting that her album was overshadowed.
  • “Her record kind of got lost in the Rosalia hoopla and it's curious that they were sort of on the same musical track without even knowing…” (31:31)
  • “It just really encapsulates just what this year was like in Latin music.” (33:26)

Reflections on Curation, Memory & Cultural Unification

• Ana’s Process:
  Choosing favorites is “so intuitive”… “do I remember what was happening, where I was, what was going on?” (30:03)
  • “To have an album that feels like it really deeply resonates, I feel something about it, it feels distinct. That's actually, I mean, not that often.” (30:47)
• Felix’s Musings:
  “It's an impossible task…it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. And I'm glad it’s us.” (31:00)
• Cultural Unity:
  Ana concludes the show by expressing awe at how Latin music is uniting people globally:
  • “There is a unification to me, there is like a larger cultural unification of Latin America, of the diaspora of Latin American people across the world. And it's happening through music…” (33:55)
  • “Feels like the type of thing that people will write about in the history books.” (34:30)
• Felix’s Hope:
  “People will see the two high-profile records, the Bad Bunny record and Rosalia record, and realize that it's just the tip of the iceberg… there's so much creativity in Latin music, Spanish language music, whatever you want to call it…” (34:54)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Felix (on Bad Bunny’s global impact):
  “This whole thing just went so big, and people from all over the world had an appreciation for this in one way or another. That doesn't happen often.” (02:57–03:15)

• Ana (on memory and resonance):
  “To have an album that feels like it really deeply resonates, I feel something about it, it feels distinct. That's actually, I mean, not that often.” (30:47)

• Felix (on the breadth of Latin music):
  "There's so much creativity in Latin music, Spanish language music, whatever you want to call it, so much creativity. There's so many different ways to interpret stuff, so many different countries..." (34:54)

Timestamps for Essential Segments

• Rejecting “Best Of” Lists: 00:41–01:49
• Bad Bunny’s Cultural Impact: 02:15–05:17
• Tribute to Rafael Ithier: 03:57–04:41
• Rosalía’s Universal Album: 05:17–05:53
• Geralt Lajos/Flamenco Innovation: 06:42–09:52
• Roxana Ahmed/Argentine Jazz: 10:00–14:49
• Arat Erse/Poetic Mexican Pop: 14:51–19:28
• Mon Laferte’s Femme Fatale Persona: 22:00–25:56
• Rasowski’s Genre Shapeshifting: 26:02–29:47
• Lido Pimienta’s Orchestral Spanish Pop: 31:31–33:26
• Reflections on Selection Process: 30:03–31:00
• Cultural Unification via Music: 33:55–34:54

Episode Tone

The episode is deeply conversational, warm, and passionate. Felix and Ana blend personal opinions with critical insights, infusing the show with humor (“I’m quitting the band!” at 00:25), lively debate, and a deep appreciation for the evolving landscape of Latin (and Spanish-language) music.

For More:
Explore NPR’s complete “Best Songs and Albums of 2025” coverage at: npr.org/bestmusic2025