The 10th annual Latin Alternative Music Conference held in New York was an amalgamation of styles ranging from rock, reggae, cumbia and pop to more forward looking sounds which incorporated trance, ambient, crunk, zouk, and grindcore. Here is a quick overview of some of the standouts from the LAMC.
Juana Molina is amazing. Her hypnotic sound incorporates ambient loops with low-key vocals. “Un Dia” and “Vive Solo” are standouts, but realistically, the quality is so high, that it’s hard to leave any of her songs out.
Los Hollywood hail from Los Angeles and San Diego, California. Think 80’s powerpop, Blondie, The Motels, with a hint of Pat Benatar style rawk. Not necessarily nutritious, but not overly sugary either.
Bomba Estereo from Columbia play danceable reggae, with dub and cumbia. The infectious singing and rapping of Liliana Saumet is a real pleasure. Dancing is the main focus with Bomba Estereo. Don’t just sit their, get off your butt and move!
Natalia Lafourcade from Mexico has a great poppy sound with a desirable influx of the quirky. Hints of Kate Bush and Bjork inform her work.
RH+ from Chile clearly show the widest range of pop influences. With a mixture of electronic sounds and indie rock and just a trace of stadium rock thrown in. Their musicianship is impressive.
The Domino Saints from Puerto Rico are pretty much straight up reggae with a hint of ska. Giselle Ojeda’s spirited vocals along with some nice James Bond style twangy guitar make for good sonic fun.
Monareta from Bogota and Brooklyn play Electro /Tropical / Breakbeat. Or as their MySpace listing states: EXPLOSIVO//EXOTIC//TRONCHO//DANCEABLE//[[with some hiss and glitches]] Monareta comes to the party with a wide ranging sound palette. An emphasis on dance grooves with some b-boy rapping make for a good time.
Obviously, this is a quick run down of Latin Alternative music. Do yourself a favor and check out the links. A treasure trove of excellent music is out there for your listening pleasure.