Indies Love Intocable. Best of Regional Mexican Music 00-09

You may not know it, but I used to listen to a bunch of Mexican (Grupero) music when I was on High School. Most kids follow this genre because of their parent’s like towards these traditional (popular) songs, in my case, I just knew the pop music on local radio and broadcast TV was to crappy to swallow. Strangely, I found Norteño music very edgy, but I never liked the songs my parents played. For example, I still don’t get why my parents discuss about narco violence and the dangers of going back to Mexico while playing a narco-corrido on our living room stereo.

Andrew Casillas, a member of this blog, once called me a pussy when I told him I wasn’t into Los Tigres del Norte but I loved Intocable. He was being funny of course, but he’s right, I’m a softie with this genre. Lyrically, my favorite Norteño songs are formulated on pop standards; that’s why it is so damn easy to like Intocable. They could be the most mainstream group out there; my theory is that they could be Regional Mexican’s Reik, only awesome. It’s not surprising to hear their songs on Latin Pop Airplay. I don’t have a problem with Los Tigres del Norte as story-tellers, but their recycled composition has been stuck for way too long. Intocable is starting to get too repetitive too, but hey, at least they’re attempting to step out of comfort every now and then; like recruited Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chicks producer) to craft Crossroads: Cruce de Caminos, a great country exploration (and their most overlooked album yet).

And there’s stuff that’s just so effortlessly awesome like Joan Sebastian, Vicente Fernandez, Ramon Ayala, Los Alegres de la Sierra, Michael Salgado and basically anything related to Luis “Loui” Padilla (La Firma’s frontman, and Intocable’s head songwriter). Hope you don’t mind me saying it, but Ana Barbara is like Shakira and El Pasito Duranguense equals Reggaeton. Everything progresses and I actually find groups like Colmillo Norteño and Los Pikadientes de Caborca to be very creative, reminds me of when A.B. Quintanilla was actually interesting to listen to. It’s highly unlikely the genre will reach the fans of Nortec or Los Macuanos anytime soon.

Through the years I’ve found most non-Mexicans hate Norteño, Banda and Grupero (Tejano is dead); no one can really resist Ranchero, especially now that Mr. Fernandez’s Para Siempre has raised the bar as a career-best major achievement. Some of my friends like Jean-Stephane Beriot and the We Like It Indie staff were discussing about our admiration towards Intocable, so I found this post to be a good idea. Here is a list of songs I recommend, honestly, I only have two of them on my iPod, so I’m probably not your best source if you’re looking for a passionate list or a reference. Hope you're able to take the challenge, and by that I mean to watch these videos, horrible stuff, but good tunes! We’ll get into our Favorite 100 Songs of the Decade special really soon.

01 Intocable. “Estas que te pelas”
02 La Firma. “Con la intención de lastimarte”
03 Intocable. “A Veces”
04 Vicente Fernández. “Estos Celos”
05 Graciela Beltrán. “Eso es cosa de el”
06 Siggno. “Pero Hablame”
07 Solido. “Dile la verdad”
08 Los Palominos. “Me vuelvo loco”
09 Ana Gabriel. “Con las alas atadas”
10 Michael Salgado. “Sangre de Rey”

11 Joan Sebastian. “Sentimental”
12 Intocable. “Eso Duele”
13 Arnulfo Jr. “Adultera”
14 La Firma. “A mí que me importa”
15 La Firma. “Le Dire”
16 Los Pikadientes de Caborca. “La tenia mas grande”
17 Tigrillos. “Mira Oye!”
18 Colmilludo Norteño. “Hotel El Cid”
19 Intocable. “Es mejor decir adiós”
20 Limite. “Ay! Papacito”

The Beatles-Queen-The Rolling Stones, Mariachillout Trilogy

THE BEATLES, QUEEN & THE ROLLING STONES
MARIACHILLOUT
Independiente, Mexico **1/2
Rating: 59
By Carlos Reyes

Consider this a collapsed review for the discography of Mariachillout, a one of a kind trilogy proposal to recreate the classics by the all-time favorite Queen, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Yes, these are instrumented with Mariachi, thankfully not vocalized as the translations would’ve been tragic. Hardcore fans see these albums as collectibles; they were initially only available at selected libraries but quickly became fire on the internet. Because of the circumstances, these are obviously objective albums and trying to pick a favorite might give some a headache. To me, the answer is simple, Queen will always be one of my true favorites, and this homage is irregular but unexpectedly charming. Listening to “Another One Bites the Dust” with Ranchero instrumentation was a bizarre experience, but nonetheless an interesting one. Production values are very cheap, no wonder this trilogy is on the Wal-Mart’s Karaoke shelves. The volumes on The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are quite mediocre, there is very little elegancy as it refuses to break from the formal ranchero genre, so I couldn’t stand up completely, just a few chunks here and there. They did however fabricated a delighting homage to Queen, perhaps because there was an easier transition at the time of adapting all the arrangements. Overall a well intentioned series of albums that works better as an idea than an actual product.

♫♫♫ "Another One Bites The Dust"
buy it @ walmart

Para Siempre, Vicente Fernandez

PARA SIEMPRE, VICENTE FERNANDEZ
Sony International, México ****1/2
Rating: 90
by Carlos Reyes

Mr. Fernandez is a legend; his singular falsetto and emotional touch have made him the best performer of Regional Mexican music to ever exist. An individual given to his people and the iconic image we all have when the word Ranchero or Mariachi comes up. Throughout the decades he has made a long and firm collection of hits, but it had been a while since he released an album with this much caliber. Joan Sebastian is the other giant in Mexico’s popular music, he wrote and produced all the songs in the album; together they have manufactured a bold, elegant and hardcore ranchero album for the ages. Let’s start with “Celos”, the first single that immediately told us Mr. Fernandez was willing to step out of his comfort zone. The few readers that enjoy ranchero music will know how big of a deal this song is; a piece accompaniment by both, mariachi and classical orchestration. Our music is infected with lousy romanticism that does nothing but dramatize human condition. When a song like “Para Siempre” echoes the idea of forgetting the past and focus in the future and manages to keep it simple but emotionally wrecking, we call that sublime. But hold on, the very best track in the album is a diamond itself, “Millon de Primaveras” is the song in which both masters really connect. Sebastian’s lyrics are heartbroken; the lady that inspires these great musical poems wants him to cut her name out of them. He asks her for time to forget her: “only a million more spring seasons before I forget you, I’ll only adore you for a few more centuries… after that I won’t ever bother you.” The song goes even deeper when a dog is the subject of a metaphor, a dog that keeps barfing to the wrong lady. “Please hold a bit more, be patient and don’t throw him another rock… he won’t barf at you no more.” Get it? The dog is the man! Know that this is the highest grade I have given a regional Mexican album since “X” by Intocable; the best populachero albums this decade has given us, and the only ones to get nominated at the Latin Grammys for Album of the Year.

Buy it @ amazon.com
>>> "Millon de Primaveras"