NorteñoBlog

Welcome to the Mexican radio charts*: Changing quicker than Mexican-American diplomatic relations! More exciting than the Doomsday Clock! Not even half the existential threat of those stupid made-up islands in the South China Sea!

NorteñoBlog is pleased to note that, since we last checked in, we get to enjoy nine new songs. Two are straight-up replacements for the better:

At #13, La Arrolladora Banda swaps its slow jam “Yo Sí Te Amé” for the busy merengue-flavored “Traicionera”;

and at #2, the young hotshot accordion slinger Alfredo Olivas trades the decent bluesy norteño number “Seguramente” for the skippy deathbed meditation “El Paciente,” con banda. He even works in a shoutout to the mythic Catarino, a corrido legend who fought in the Revolution and healed his wounds with his own saliva. Alfredito doesn’t fare as well in the song, but the Blog is looking forward to his next, apparently posthumous album. Pick to Click!

There’s also a change for the stodge: we lose La Adictiva Banda‘s “Que Caro Estoy Pagando,” a cover of Los Plebes del Rancho‘s guitar hit, and gain the song at #14, a drippy cheating ballad called “Durmiendo en el Lugar Equivocado.” It comes complete with an extremely male-gazey video, which does nothing to convince me of La Adictiva Banda’s remorse, either for their infidelities or for this snooze of a song. More like “Durmiendo En Mi Silla de Oficina,” amirite?

Also of interest:

At #10 we find the teen singer-songwriter Christian Nodal with his first hit “Adios Amor,” also getting big in the U.S. He previously wrote “No Comprendo,” which you may know from Los Plebes’ version. “Adios Amor” is better, a blend of accordion, brass, and a relaxed guitar rhythm that could read either “mariachi” or “Velvet Underground,” depending on your proclivities. Nodal has a wide, soaring vocal range that sets him apart from the current wave of teen idols.

At #17, Intocable has released another single from their genre-dabbling Highway album. “Día 730” is an alternately haunting and loping tribute to young girls who have been kidnapped and (presumably) sold into slavery. Unlike other such videos — ahem, La Séptima Banda‘s reprehensible camp classic “Me Empezó A Valer” — this one displays an admirable gravitas and pictures of some actual disappeared kids, sort of like Soul Asylum’s “Runaway Train” video but with more painful lyrics. It was written by prolific Colombian songwriter Wilfran Castillo, who’s written songs for about half the artists on this list. (Fun fact: he also wrote “Quiero Saber de Ti,” which was on the first norteño album I ever owned.)

At #18, Leandro Rios has recorded “Cóctel de Olvido” by Erika Vidrio, a label owner and prolific songwriter on whose work I’ve been shamefully durmiendo. ¡No más! Watch for NorteñoBlog’s potentially recurring feature The Vidrio Beat, wherein we explore the repertoire of one of the genre’s few prominent female songwriters. First up: Los Horóscopos’ “Este Corazón,” a hit from the tail-end of the duranguense era and a better song than “Cóctel de Olvido.”

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 “Rockabye,” “24K Magic,” “Don’t Wanna Know,” and “Reggaeton Lento,” the latest hit for enviably-haired boy band CNCO, whose video dance moves are very NKOTB, although I worry their bad boy attitude is blocking the bowling lanes.

1. “Siempre Te Voy a Querer” – Calibre 50
2. “El Paciente” – Alfredo Olivas
3. “Tengo Que Colgar” – Banda MS (29 semanas!)
4. “Afuera Está Lloviendo” – Julión Álvarez y Su Norteño Banda
5. “Me Falta Un Corazón” – Edwin Luna y La Trakalosa
6. “Nada de Nada” – Pepe Aguilar ft. Ángela Aguilar
7. “Vale la Pena” – Banda El Recodo
8. “Me Esta Tirando El Rollo” – Banda Los Recoditos
9. “Regresa Hermosa” – Gerardo Ortiz
10. “Adios Amor” – Christian Nodal

11. “A Ver a Que Horas” – Banda Carnaval
12. “Por Enamorarme” – Los Plebes del Rancho
13. “Traicionera” – La Arrolladora
14. “Durmiendo En El Lugar Equivocado” – La Adictiva
15. “Nunca Voy a Olvidarte” – Bronco ft. Christian Castro
16. “Tu Inconsciencia” – Saul El Jaguar Alarcón
17. “Día 730” – Intocable
18. “Cóctel de Olvido” – Leandro Rios
19. “A Sangre Fria” – Impacto Sinaloense
20. “Incompleto” – Banda Los Sebastianes

¡Adios!
“Dos Monedas” – Edwin Luna y La Trakalosa
“Que Perrón” – La Séptima Banda
“Elegida” – Adán Romero
“No Vuelvas a Llamarme” – Joss Favela
“Seguramente” – Alfredo Olivas
“Fuego” – Juanes
“Paloma Negra” – Jenni Rivera
“Yo Sí Te Amé” – La Arrolladora
“Que Caro Estoy Pagando” – La Adictiva

*Now subject to either a Value-Added Tax or a Destination-Based Cash Flow Tax, I can’t remember which.