NorteñoBlog

The best recent song to hit the Mexican radio top 10 is probably the #4 hit “Al Rescate,” the latest in the ongoing cry for help disguised as a brass band, Banda Los Recoditos. Having set aside a nice piece of land for themselves in the “ayyyy chiquitita I’m drunk and it’s your fault” territory, Luis Angel Franco and company seem content to mine that turf for whatever they can find, for the rest of their lives — which probably won’t be long, given the volatile state of their collective liver. Typically, their horn chart is accomplished and stuffed with counterpoint, and El Flaco is the most charismatic guy at the bar, savoring some strategically placed high notes that sound like they were written for his voice. VALE LA PENA, even if you’ve heard 20 other Recoditos songs just like it.

Also solid is the song sitting at #5, La Adictiva’s brassed up take on another “ayyyy chiquitita I’m drunk and it’s your fault” song: “Que Caro Estoy Pagando.” Formerly a hit in El Norte for Sierreño heartbreakers Los Plebes del Rancho de Ariel Camacho, the song transitions to its new instrumental setting with stately melodic leaps intact, though I do miss the scratch in José Manuel Lopez Castro’s voice. VALE LA PENA.

But that’s the chart that measures “Audiencia.” The real action is over on the “Tocadas” chart, where — I’m guessing — we see adventurous radio programmers in smaller markets testing the waters for more VALE LA PENA songs like:

Los Horóscopos’ “Qué Chulada de Papucho”: When we last checked in with Chicago’s hometown heroines Vicky and Marisol Terrazas, they were bragging about their infidelity in real time and prudently blowing their video budget on zucchinis and eggplants, all for the sake of some good dick jokes. Their new one is an ode to pure unbridled lust, literally: “Dicen que pa’ buena yegua debe ser fino el caballo.” The well-hung stud in question makes their legs shake and they won’t rest until he’s in their arms. The sisters sound alternately breathless and ready to bowl the guy over. The clarinet section provides the wolf whistles.

Pancho Uresti’s “El Cochi Cuino”: From caballos to cochis, we find everyone’s favorite duet partner Uresti doing a big dumb cumbia version of an old Los Tigres song, 1967’s “La Cochicuina”. This tremendously likable song is a nursery rhyme about butchering a fat pig and selling the parts. Hooves, head, guts — it’s all useful and it’s all up for grabs. Plus, like El Norte’s own animal-themed nursery rhyme “I Bought Me a Cat,” wives are sold just like property. A great way fire up your children’s chorus to destroy the patriarchy!

NorteñoBlog is also feeling Marcello Gámiz’s stop-start, not necessarily in-tune “Sonriendo Me Dijo Adiós”, yet another “ayyyy chiquitita I’m drunk and it’s your fault” song. Gámiz, not yet 30, tells radioNOTAS he’s been in the game for about 20 years, a scathing indictment of L.A.’s musicians’ union. At various points he’s fallen under the tutelage of true-crime chroniclers Los Tucanes and their leader Mario Quintero — like them, Gámiz occasionally sings from the vantage point of real-life narcos — and Los Twiins, the game-changing Valenzuela brothers Adolfo and Omar. (In 2003, he cut a couple not necessarily in-tune duets with another Twiins associate, Rogelio Martinez, who you might remember from his cover version of Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One.”) His new song “Sonriendo” is sleek, with inventive brass writing that moves from virtuoso runs to passages that pound away on a single chord. Pick to Click!

These are the Top 20 “Popular” songs in Mexico, as measured by monitorLATINO. Don’t confuse “Popular” with the “General” list, which contains many of the same songs but also Lukas Graham’s “Mama Said,” a whole mess of electro dance with “ft.” credits, and the 8-9 reggaeton punch of “Sin Contrato” into “Shaky Shaky,” which — oh wait, they’re both on this chart too.

1. “Amor Del Bueno” – Calibre 50
2. “Tengo Que Colgar” – Banda MS
3. “Dos Monedas” – Edwin Luna y La Trakalosa
4. “Al Rescate” – Banda Los Recoditos
5. “Que Caro Estoy Pagando” – La Adictiva
6. “Mujer Mujer” – Banda El Recodo
7. “Yo Sí Te Amé” – La Arrolladora
8. “Te Dirán” – La Adictiva (29 semanas!)
9. “Como No Queriendo” – Fidel Rueda
10. “Me Esta Gustando” – Banda Los Recoditos (25 semanas!)

11. “Sin Contrato” – Maluma
12. “Quiéreme (Ámame)” – Intocable
13. “Rompimos Las Reglas” – Impacto Sinaloense
14. “Prohibida” – El Komander
15. “El Cuento Perfecto” – Banda Los Sebastianes
16. “Me Caíste Del Cielo” – Beto Zapata
17. “Desde Que Tu Apareciste” – Banda Rancho Viejo
18. “Shaky Shaky” – Daddy Yankee
19. “De Tanto Amarte” – Germán Montero
20. “De Que Se Puede Se Puede” – Los Inquietos del Norte

¡Adios!
“Amor Compartido” – Banda Pequeños Musical
“Te Amaba Desde Antes” – Siggno ft. Grupo Latente
“Consejo de Amigos” – Cristian Jacobo
“¿Desde Cuándo No Me Quieres?” – Banda Carnaval
“Cuando Fuimos Nada” – Joss Favela
“Ataúd” – Los Tigres del Norte
“Para Que No Te Lo Imagines” – Saul El Jaguar
“Me Va a Pesar” – Arrolladora