NorteñoBlog

Desfile de Éxitos 3/14/15

The Hot Latin chart has its fourth #1 in as many weeks. It’s a fatalistic tuba and guitar corrido by a man who just died. This is unusual; but then, the concept of “normalcy” never really applies in the wake of death.

“El Karma” was Ariel Camacho’s first charting single, peaking at #16 on Hot Latin, which is why many news sources linked to it in the wake of his fatal car accident last week. Now it’s destined to remain his signature song. It’s also the first regional Mexican song to top the overall Hot Latin chart since 3BallMTY’s “Inténtalo,” if we’re counting electro-cumbias, or Arrolladora’s “Niña de Mi Corazon” if we’re not. This is mostly due to an increase in streaming and sales — but also, it was a slow week. Hot Latin compiles its tally from a top secret mix of digital sales, streams, and radio airplay. Below I’ve listed (as well as I could find) the tallies from the last four Hot Latin #1s, in the weeks that they reached the top. (Can you use the principles of detection to triangulate Billboard‘s top secret formula?)

“El Karma” – Ariel Camacho
3,000 downloads (#7 Latin Digital Songs)
1.9 million streams
4.8 million audience impressions (#9 Regional Mexican Songs)
(Note that Ricky Martin’s “Disparo Al Corazon” is #1 Latin Airplay with 10.2 million impressions.)

“Ay Vamos” – J Balvin
5,000 downloads (#4 Latin Digital Songs)
?? streams
7.7 million audience impressions (#2 Latin Rhythm Airplay)

“Mi Verdad” – Maná ft. Shakira
14,000 downloads (#1 Latin Digital Songs)
?? streams (10 million-ish worldwide; not sure how many of these count)
10 million audience impressions (#1 Latin Airplay)

“Bailando” – Enrique Iglesias ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente de Zona, & the word “contigo” (May 7, 2014, its first week at #1)
13,000 downloads (#1 Latin Digital Songs)
?? streams (27 million views over four weeks; #1 Latin Streaming Songs)
9.5 million audience impressions (#5 Latin Airplay)

As you can see, “El Karma” lags behind the other three in sales and radio play, and fewer people seemed to stream it than they did “Mi Verdad” or “Bailando.” I’m surprised “El Karma” streamed so little, actually, but look — it was just a really slow week. “El Karma” was the only new song in the top 25, and except for it and “El Perdon,” the top 10 looks basically the same as it did two weeks ago. Some of these songs are oooooold. (“Bailando” has always been at war with “Propuesta Indecente.”) The Regional Mexican airplay chart, where “El Karma” climbed back to #9, isn’t much better: new songs by Recodo and Enigma Norteña round out the bottom of the list. Pesado’s new-ish “Que Aun Te Amo” is good ol’ bouncy country, but if you haven’t listened to “El Karma” yet, you owe it to yourself.

These are the top 25 Hot Latin Songs and top 20 Regional Mexican Songs, courtesy Billboard, as published March 14.

1. “El Karma” – Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes del Rancho (#9 RegMex)
2. “Bailando” – Enrique ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente de Zona, & the word “contigo” (I’M 50! 50 WEEKS OLD!)
3. “Ay Vamos” – J Balvin
4. “Propuesta Indecente” – Romeo Santos (84 WEEKS OLD)
5. “Mi Verdad” – Maná ft. Shakira
6. “El Perdon” – Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias
7. “Yo También” – Romeo Santos ft. Marc Anthony
8. “Hablame de Ti” – Banda MS (#12 RegMex) (snoooooozzzzzz)
9. “Travesuras” – Nicky Jam
10. “Eres Mia” – Romeo Santos (51 WEEKS OLD)

11. “Juntos (Together)” – Juanes
12. “Disparo Al Corazon” – Ricky Martin
13. “Lejos De Aqui” – Farruko
14. “Contigo” – Calibre 50 (#10 RegMex)
15. “Hilito” – Romeo Santos
16. “Eres Una Niña” – Gerardo Ortíz (#8 RegMex)
17. “Piensas (Dile La Verdad)” – Pitbull ft. Gente de Zona
18. “Dime” – Julión Álvarez y Su Norteño Banda (#5 RegMex)
19. “Soltero Disponible” – Regulo Caro (#2 RegMex)
20. “Levantando Polvadera” – Voz De Mando (#1 RegMex)

21. “Qué Tiene De Malo” – Calibre 50 ft. El Komander (#18 RegMex)
22. “Fanatica Sensual” – Plan B
23. “Mi Vuelvo Un Cobarde” – Christian Daniel
24. “Lo Hiciste Otra Vez” – La Arrolladora Banda El Limón (#3 RegMex) (Oh dear, this is not good. Not just sap — meandering sap.)
25. “Mi Princesa” – Remmy Valenzuela (#13 RegMex)

¡Adios!
“Adios” – Ricky Martin (BACK ~~FROM~~ TO THE ~~DEAD~~ ~~THIRTIES~~ DEAD)

—————–

4. “Eres Tú” – Proyecto X
6. “No Te Vayas” – Fidel Rueda
7. “El Que Se Enamora Pierde” – Banda Carnaval

11. “Mi Primera Vez” – Jonatan Sánchez
14. “Se Me Sigue Notando” – Chuy Lizarraga y Su Banda Tierra Sinaloense
15. “Entonces Que Somos” – Banda El Recodo (A nada Luciano Luna ballad off Recodo’s 2013 album, now turned into a dramatic short film.)
16. “Que Aun Te Amo” – Pesado
17. “Y Vete Olvidando” – Javier Rosas
19. “Todo Tuyo” – Banda El Recodo
20. “Calla y Me Besas” – Enigma Norteña

¡Adios!
“El Amor de Nosotros” – Duelo
“Javier El de Los Llanos” – Calibre 50

March 6, 2015 3

¡Nuevo! (starring Javier Rosas y más)

[Updated to correct some discographical confusion.]

Sometimes it’s nice to hear pretty songs, or a variety of songs. But sometimes you just want an album to knock you flat for a half hour, and this seems to be Fonovisa’s goal with their new and unrelenting ~~compilation~~ reissue of Javier Rosas y Su Artillería Pesada‘s early-career highlight, Otro Golpe, featuring a flashier cover photo and a couple additional songs. Rosas and his rocking bass + tuba quintet released three (I think) albums on independent labels before their breakthrough hit “La China” led to a 2014 major label debut. ~~(Because it wouldn’t be norteño music without confusing discographies, one of those indie albums was also titled Otro Golpe.)~~ The singer-songwriter looks a little like Jonathan Rhys Meyers with his penetrating gaze, and he sings with blunt exuberance, as though spewing truths nobody else allows themselves. He enjoys spoken asides, too, which furthers the impression that he’s singing the collective unfiltered id. (Today’s gringo country comparison: Toby Keith.) Otro Golpe ~~cherrypicks~~ features some excellent math-oriented corridos like Pick to Click “Por Clave Llevo El 13,” “Soy El 4,” and “El 3-1.” I need to listen on better speakers, but I’ll go out on a limb and give this ~~comp~~ NEWLY REISSUED 2013 ALBUM a big VALE LA PENA.

Rosas also appears on Fonovisa’s new compilation Invasión del Corrido 2015: Sold Out, the third comp (at least) to feature Calibre 50’s “Javier El De Los Llanos.” Fonovisa repackages their songs as brazenly as Cook’s Illustrated recycles their recipes — not that I’m ready to abandon either friendly corporation.

The Hyphy label is also friendly — I know because I’ve talked with the owner (thinkpiece forthcoming!) — and it has two recent albums out: Chuy Vega’s Mas Underground y Mas Maldito: Puros Corridos and Los Originales’ Corridos de Poca M… (Ellipsis theirs.) Without running them through the translator, I’m gonna say both albums feature corridos, those traditional Mexican story-songs that often fixate on heroic tales of the drug trade. Listening while cleaning, Chuy Vega sounded slow and Los Originales sounded fast; do with that what you will. I will caution that neither album has anything to do with hyphy rap or hyphy norteño. (See thinkpiece, forthcoming.)

As we’ve discussed, the Goma label loves spreading the joy of puro Zacatecas saxophone to the world. Real “Up With People” types. To that end, they’ve released the latest dance album from Los Chacales de Pepe Tovar, Llego el Chacal, from Zacatecas by way of Wichita, Kansas. Lead song “Entre Fuegos Cruzados” is a spritely frolic.

Los Grandes Del Desierto are shrouded in sandy mystery, but they also have a sax and a new album, Reflexión (JB). Based on their album cover, the desierto in question belongs to Titan, the sandworm-infested (and poorly Photoshopped) Saturnine moon from Beetlejuice.

Remember back in 2006-07, when tierra caliente music briefly became a thing? Like duranguense, tierra caliente had synths playing banda parts, only with less frenetic tambora NRG. The band Tierra Cali, hailed by Billboard‘s Leila Cobo as standing “at the helm of this new wave,” recently released the very twee Enamorado de Ti (Los Creadores del Sacadito)(Ciudad). As you see from the album’s subtitle, at some point in their career Tierra Cali created a dance step, the Sacadito. I haven’t figured out the dance yet, but this live video, featuring the band looking and sounding markedly less twee, might help.

In singles, Nancy Hernandez, “La Dama Brava,” has a likable/annoying little song called “Mi Nuevo Cellular” (Starss). Basically it’s a single melodic phrase repeated over — and over — two chords and a ringing phone, but tuba and accordion are busy and Hernandez has the beginnings of a musical personality.

More accomplished but also more generic are Banda Pequeños Vendaval’s “Quiero Que Te Largues!” (Mayra) and Luis Vega’s “La Chica Nice” (Pegasus), two cheerful banda tunes. Vega’s better and faster, so if your clicks are limited click on his.

March 3, 2015 2

Ariel Camacho Really WAS Unusual

In a good, brief interview with Public Radio International — listen to it here — narcocorrido scholar Elijah Wald supports the notion that nobody else really sounded like the late singer-guitarist Ariel Camacho, who died in a car accident last Thursday. “[Camacho’s music is] not norteño — norteño is the accordion sound,” Wald corrects the interviewer. Rather, Wald says, Camacho was bringing together two distinct Sinaloan sounds: the “classic, old-fashioned sound everywhere of just guitars and singers,” and “the classic Sinaloan sound” of brass bands. He locates Camacho’s sound in the 15-year-old El Canelo de Sinaloa y Los Dos del Sitio, also two guitars and a tuba. (This Canelo song is faster than Camacho’s stuff and the vocal harmonies aren’t as pronounced, but you can hear the lineage.) Wald also says that Camacho likely didn’t do corridos on commission, since his were about the real big shots — “like Hollywood movies” — and he confirms that Camacho’s death had nothing to do with cartel violence: “As with most touring musicians, the most dangerous thing is the touring itself.”

This interview is a refreshing contrast to the misinformation in most of the other bewildered obits, some of which think Camacho played with a bass and an accordion, revealing that their authors didn’t take five minutes to watch the Camacho videos they posted. To be fair, I hadn’t watched the video for Camacho’s love song “Hablemos” until now. It’s pretty and 100% accordion-free.

March 2, 2015 1

Who’s On the Mexican Radio? 2/27/15

Stasis sets in on the Mexican radio chart, with the top eight songs simply shuffling among themselves. Even the lower reaches contain only three new entries this week, but all three fill important niches. In the “boring banda ballad” spot, La Adictiva Banda replaces La Original Banda. Banda la Trakalosa replaces Gerardo Ortiz in the “actually good banda ballad” spot with their high-camp “Adicto a La Tristeza,” a previous Pick to Click. And the new “fast norteño quartet song” is from songwriter to the stars America Sierra, whose “Ponte Las Pilas” replaces Diego Herrera. Herrera’s song may have been a tad better, but only because he got Banda Los Gfez to play on it.

In other news, the Los Tigres song at #1 this week sounds better every time I hear it.

There’s even less action over at Billboard, although J Balvin finally gets a #1 hit with the 25-week-old “Ay Vamos,” and Enigma Norteño enters the Regional Mexican chart with the spry “Calla Y Me Besas.” That’s three hot Latin #1s in as many weeks! I’m scratching away at my dry skin with excitement.

These are the Top 20 “Popular” songs in Mexico, as measured by radioNOTAS. Don’t confuse “Popular” with the “General” list, which contains many of the same songs but also “Uptown Funk!”, “Blank Space,” and the ABBA-schlager of Natalia Jiménez.

1. “Que Tal Si Eres Tu” – Los Tigres Del Norte
2. “Contigo” – Calibre 50
3. “Culpable Fui (Culpable Soy)” – Intocable
4. “Todo Tuyo” – Banda El Recodo
5. “A Lo Mejor” – Banda MS
6. “Me Sobrabas Tu” – Banda Los Recoditos
7. “Que Aun Te Amo” – Pesado
8. “Malditas Ganas” – Alfredo Rios El Komander
9. “No Fue Necesario” – El Bebeto
10. “Después de Ti ¿Quién?” – La Adictiva Banda San Jose

11. “Si Tuviera Que Decirlo” – Pedro Fernandez
12. “Lo Hiciste Otra Vez” – Arrolladora
13. “Sencillamente” – Raúl y Mexia + SuenaTron
14. “Escuchame” – Fidel Rueda
15. “El Que Se Enamora Pierde” – Banda Carnaval
16. “Perdi La Pose” – Espinoza Paz
17. “Me Importas” – Los Primos MX
18. “Ponte Las Pilas” – America Sierra
19. “Adicto a la Tristeza” – Banda La Trakalosa ft. Pancho Uresti
20. “Tiene Espinas El Rosal” – Grupo Cañaveral De Humberto Pabón ft. Jenny and the Mexicats

¡Adios!
“Es Todo Un Placer” – Diego Herrera ft. Los Gfez
“Mayor De Edad” – La Original Banda el Limón
“Eres Una Niña” – Gerardo Ortiz

February 27, 2015 1

Ariel Camacho D.E.P.

Malas noticias:

Una tragedia envolvió la madrugada de hoy cuando cuatro jóvenes que circulaban por la carretera Angostura-La Reforma a exceso de velocidad, sufrieron un fuerte accidente. Dos de los cuatro jóvenes lamentablemente perdieron la vida…

(Tragedy early [Wednesday] when four young men traveling on the Angostura-La Reforma road [in Sinaloa] were speeding, suffering a serious accident. Two of the young men lost their lives.)

Uno de las víctimas del aparatoso accidente, es el cantante José Ariel Camacho Barraza de 22 años de edad con residencia en la comunidad Juan de la Barrera, municipio de Angostura. Se dice que Ariel Camacho y los Plebes del Rancho, horas antes de la tragedia, se habían presentando en el cierre de las fiestas del Carnaval Mocorito 2015.

(One of the victims is the singer José Ariel Camacho Barraza, 22 years old, of the community Juan de la Barrera in Angostura. Hours before the tragedy, Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes del Rancho had played the festival Carnaval Mocorito 2015.)

And lest we forget, two 22-year-olds died in the crash:

En el accidente automovilístico, también murió la joven Melina Sarahí Durán Martínez de 22 años de edad con domicilio en la colonia Magisterio, en la ciudad de Guamúchil, Sinaloa.

Camacho was just getting started, and already he sounded like nobody else on the radio. He sounded old — or at least his music did, even when it was brand new. Listen to his version of “El Karma” next to Noel Torres’s, and it’s hard to believe Camacho was the younger man: he slurs some words and takes the song slower, his sparse trio refusing those qualities — vigor, speed, change — we associate with youth. Mostly he sounds weary, and it’s that weariness that makes Camacho’s “El Karma” the most sinister version. (Revolver Cannabis also took a shot at the song.) A hotshot like Torres can brag about karma visiting his daughters’ kidnappers in the form of an R-15 rifle. Camacho doesn’t need to brag. He’s seen this story play out before, and so he tells his tale with the grim determination of a man trapped by fate. After his real-life accident the song’s final line is chilling: “Nadie de la parca se puede escapar.” Nobody can escape the reaper.

Weary fatalism got him onto U.S. radio: #7 regional Mexican, #16 Hot Latin. For a format that’s mostly sappy love songs and exuberant crime songs, this was remarkable. His hit debut album was a whole lot of the same. Last month I wrote:

This hypnotic trio album wants to trick you into thinking it’s traditional corrido music, when in fact it’s very modern. The 14 drumless songs follow a formula: Camacho and his guitarist, César Iván Sánchez, sing simple tunes in close harmony while tuba player Israel Meza plays basslines that double as leads. With the tuba hurling interjections around his vocal throughlines, Camacho calmly sets his requinto rippling. The results sound like dusty folklore, not at all like the shiny banda pop or driving corridos that currently occupy the regional Mexican zeitgeist.

Camacho sang newly composed songs, not classic corridos. Other acts like Justicieros del Rancho and Lenin Ramirez have recently combined requinto, guitar, and tuba, but as far as I can tell Camacho was the only one to hit big with the sound. Tributes have been pouring in from almost every norteño singer you can name, and with good reason. Camacho was a fine musician, with a knack for making his music sound vital even as he rejected modern trends. I’ll miss hearing all the refusals he could’ve made.

February 26, 2015 2

Rehacer/Remodelar

In his “Regional Ramblings” column at the McAllen, TX, Monitor, Eduardo Martinez names his five favorite regional Mexican covers of gringo songs. I could take or leave Conjunto Bernal’s cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “One Day at a Time,” but his other picks are gold:

“Desde Ayer,” Oscar Hernandez’s stuttering-accordion take on “Yesterday”;

“Ya Te Olvide,” where Servando Ramos takes the melody from Radiohead’s “Creep” but adds new lyrics and bounce. Come to think of it, most of The Bends would work well as heartbroken duranguense;

obvious Pick to Click “Rueda de Fuego,” where Mingo Saldivar rocks Johnny Cash with a spellbinding opening accordion solo. As Anthony pointed out, “Ring of Fire” was faux-mariachi so this is a terrific act of post-colonial reclamation. As Martinez pointed out, it’s better than Johnny Cash’s version;

and last (and possibly least), Los Hermanos Ayala’s “Guerra de la Galaxias,” an accordioned take on the Star Wars theme that you can’t unhear.

I’d add to the list Rogelio Martínez’s Shania Twain cover “Y Sigues Siendo Tu,” which we’ve discussed, and also Los 6 de Durango doing ’60s rockers Los Apson doing the Drifters in “Fue en un Cafe,” a word-changey take on “Under the Boardwalk.” My music teacher wife heard the beginning of Los Apson and admired the crazy güiro.

Eduardo Martinez’s column is well worth checking out — I didn’t know, for instance, that Roland was making digital accordions and that lots of new accordionists neglect their left hand. (Shame shame, says piano player me.) Regional Ramblings at The Monitor!

February 26, 2015 0

¡Nuevo! (starring Colmillo Norteño, Cuarteto Imperial, y más)

NorteñoBlog has been in the tank for Remex Records since hearing La Trakalosa’s “Mi Padrino El Diablo” on the radio. The song co-opted the Faust myth with more diabolical vigor than any of the surrounding songs could manage — any, that is, except those by other Remex bands, like Banda Tierra Sagrada and Marco Flores’s #1 Banda Jerez. Sometimes these bands falter: Tierra Sagrada’s “Soy Un Desmadre” is a great single, but most of their forgettable 2014 album was a disappointment. Overall, though, the Remex crew are a lively bunch who appear on one another’s tunes and seem perpetually on the verge of cracking up.

This week on Remex, the tuba quintet Colmillo Norteño releases their 10-song A Quien Corresponda, which features their own take on “Mi Padrino El Diablo,” along with the rapid-fire circus parade (and Pick to Click) “La Plebona” and some other good or promising stuff. Colmillo have been around for several years, their album covers growing shinier and less rural over time, and I dig their sousaphone “O.” They also appeared on Tierra Sagrada’s smash “El Bueno y El Malo,” which at last count had garnered ONE TRILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS.

Also on Remex, Trakalosa’s new single “La Revancha” may be good for practicing your cusswords, or at least your three-against-two subdivisions. Wouldn’t hurt you to click on that one, either.

Another single, by the duranguense goddess Diana Reyes, is not as good. She sings her self-released banda ballad “La Mesa Puesta” well, but the song itself lies flat.

Speaking of duranguense, El Trono de México has a new best-of, Los Más Grandes (Skalona), which kicks off with a song entitled “Se Fue” that is NOT the Diana Reyes song “Se Fue.”

La Original Banda El Limón drops Medio Siglo (Luz/Disa), from whence comes their Mexican top 10 ballad “Mayor de Edad.” Like their clademates in Arrolladora, Original reliably churns out two or three radio hits a year, and “Mayor” has begun its slow climb to mayority in El Norte.

In the world of cumbia albums that may or may not be compilations, but that are definitely pro-fishing, Cuarteto Imperial celebrates El Pescador (Utopia). I should caution that Cuarteto Imperial is South American, not Mexican: this busy album cover boasts “De Colombia a la Argentina ye de Argentina para el mundo!” World conquest may take them a while; when I went to watch the video for “El Alegre Pescador,” it had zero views. Now it has one. This is a great injustice you should help remedy, because “Alegre” is a lot of fun, heavy on synth and piano, and not the official Click to Pick only because I can’t tell if it’s new. Cuarteto Imperial also posted the rest of this album on Youtube. Go make some fishermen happy.

The late man-myth-legend Antonio Aguilar has a new compilation, Antonio Aguilar Eterno (Seamusic). Aguilar recorded 150 albums of ranchera music and acted in a bunch of movies. Billboard sez, “Much of his repertoire consisted of “Corridos,” the sung stories so beloved in Mexican music. He turned several “corridos,” into classics, including “Gabino Barrera,” “Caballo Prieto Azabache” and “Albur de Amor.””

I like the cover of this Ramon Ayala reissue:

February 24, 2015 1

Desfile de Éxitos 2/28/15

Another chart, another week of being contigo and living contigo and dancing cont– what? What’s that? YOU SAY THAT AFTER 41 WEEKS, “BAILANDO” IS NO LONGER NUMBER 1?

[Cue Star Wars clips of the Death Star blowing up, cheesy computer-animated intergalactic societies dancing and partying in its wake. Despair sets in when we realize they’re dancing to a steel drum version of “Bailando.”]

That’s right, Enrique and the gang have been replaced by Maná and Shakira singing a bit of tissue paper called “Mi Verdad.” Say what you want about “Bailando” — and no, I cannot prove it was part of a North Korean plot to make Americans voluntarily destroy all our broadcast technology — but at least it’s memorable. A good teaching tool! If it weren’t for millions of Youtube viewers confirming “Mi Verdad” actually exists, I’d have my doubts.

Don’t shed too many tears for Enrique, though — he’s climbing at #12 on a Nicky Jam track, and anyway, “Bailando” simply moves down to #2, just ahead of the 82-week-old “Propuesta Indecente.” (“Bailando” has always been at war with “Propuesta Indecente.”) King Romeo’s doing OK, too. With his new song “Hilito” climbing to #13, Romeo Santos is getting perilously close to having four songs in the top 10 again. Speaking of which, the Singles Jukebox just covered his duet with Marc Anthony; Jonathan Bogart suggests, “The alleged woman at the center of the lyric is entirely absent: Marc and Romeo spend the entire song preening for and performing at each other, not her.”

Among this week’s new entries, the Pick to Click is Chuy Lizarraga’s banda ballad “Se Me Sigue Notando.” Calling it dramatic is like calling an Applebee’s cocktail watered down, but Lizarraga achieves his drama through the confident relaxation of his pacing. Like, the song’s really slow? And Lizarraga doesn’t seem to care, and in fact he wants you to wonder when the next phrase is going to hit. Just slow down and accept that Chuy knows what he’s doing, and your mind will open to a new realm of romantic despair. (Today’s gringo country comparison is Jamey Johnson.)

These are the top 25 Hot Latin Songs and top 20 Regional Mexican Songs, courtesy Billboard, as published Feb. 28.

1. “Mi Verdad” – Maná ft. Shakira
2. “Bailando” – Enrique ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente de Zona, & the word “contigo” (48 WEEKS OLD)
3. “Propuesta Indecente” – Romeo Santos (82 WEEKS OLD)
4. “Ay Vamos” – J Balvin
5. “Eres Mia” – Romeo Santos (49 WEEKS OLD)
6. “Travesuras” – Nicky Jam
7. “Yo También” – Romeo Santos ft. Marc Anthony
8. “Hablame de Ti” – Banda MS (#14 RegMex) (snoooooozzzzzz)
9. “Disparo Al Corazon” – Ricky Martin
10. “Eres Una Niña” – Gerardo Ortíz (#3 RegMex)

11. “Dime” – Julión Álvarez y Su Norteño Banda (#6 RegMex)
12. “El Perdon” – Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias
13. “Hilito” – Romeo Santos
14. “Juntos (Together)” – Juanes
15. “Piensas (Dile La Verdad)” – Pitbull ft. Gente de Zona
16. “Levantando Polvadera” – Voz De Mando (#1 RegMex)
17. “Lejos De Aqui” – Farruko
18. “Soltero Disponible” – Regulo Caro (#5 RegMex)
19. “Lo Hiciste Otra Vez” – La Arrolladora Banda El Limón (#2 RegMex) (Oh dear, this is not good. Not just sap — meandering sap.)
20. “Qué Tiene De Malo” – Calibre 50 ft. El Komander (#13 RegMex)

21. “Adios” – Ricky Martin (BACK FROM THE ~~DEAD~~ THIRTIES)
22. “Fanatica Sensual” – Plan B
23. “Mi Princesa” – Remmy Valenzuela (#9 RegMex)
24. “Mi Vuelvo Un Cobarde” – Christian Daniel
25. “Contigo” – Calibre 50 (#19 RegMex)

¡Adios!
“Mi Vecinita” – Plan B
“Quédate Con Ella” – Natalia Jiménez (Sleek! Horns + electrobeats!)
“Soledad” – Don Omar

—————–

4. “Eres Tú” – Proyecto X
7. “No Te Vayas” – Fidel Rueda
8. “El Que Se Enamora Pierde” – Banda Carnaval
10. “Entonces Que Somos” – Banda El Recodo (A nada Luciano Luna ballad off Recodo’s 2013 album, now turned into a dramatic short film.)

11. “Javier El de Los Llanos” – Calibre 50
12. “El Karma” – Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes Del Rancho
15. “Y Vete Olvidando” – Javier Rosas
16. “Se Me Sigue Notando” – Chuy Lizarraga y Su Banda Tierra Sinaloense
17. “Mi Primera Vez” – Jonatan Sánchez
18. “Que Aun Te Amo” – Pesado
20. “El Amor de Nosotros” – Duelo

¡Adios!
“Perdoname Mi Amor” – Los Tucanes de Tijuana
“La Indicada” – Kevin Ortíz
“La Bala” – Los Tigres Del Norte
“Hasta Que Salga El Sol” – Banda Los Recoditos
“Y Asi Fue” – Julión Álvarez
“No Me Pidas Perdon” – Banda MS

February 20, 2015 0

¡Nuevo! (starring Proyecto X, Los Yes Yes, y más)

Proyecto X is a jaunty if not very memorable quintet, this week releasing their second album Con Más Pawer (Fonovisa). It’s the sequel to their 2013 debut, entitled — no points for guessing — Con Pawer. Of their ballads, “My Baby” is bilingual and “Eres Tú” is the hit. Their fiendishly short “Gallo de 5 Segundos” is worth hearing, but really, these guys don’t come anywhere close to wildin’.

Neither does Va Por Ti finalist Fernando Corona, this week releasing his self-titled debut album on Warner Latina, but at least he’s got a distinctive voice. Elegant and barely country, he looks and sounds like a cowboy Glenn Medeiros who’d sweep you off your feet in the nightclub — or possibly in one of the Southern Wal-Marts where he’s currently making personal appearances. Even with tuba basslines, Corona’s about as exciting as his namesake beer. Lead single is the watery “Llueve En Mi Cama,” which Corona says “tiene un poco de doble sentido.” You laugh, but at least he’s subtler than Chris Brown doing “Wet the Bed.” (You know who else was subtler than Chris Brown doing “Wet the Bed”? HITLER.)

As we saw last week, the Goma label is inundated with chipper saxophone bands. Flooded with ’em. Much like the Petri dish of Fernando Corona’s cama, which can pretty much spawn new life on its own at this point, Goma is so awash in sax bands they can call it a movement — el “Movimiento SAX” — and Los Chacales de Pepe Tovar are making it rain with “Todo Paso.” Since it’s a slow week, “Todo Paso” could be the Pick to Click, but only if you have a high tolerance for chipper sax bands.

BXS (Bryndis X Siempre) is a Dallas Tejano band, apparently unrelated to California’s long-running Grupo Bryndis, though both are family acts. BXS releases Todo Cambia on the indie label Azteca, and its lead single “Amar, Sabiendo Perdonar” isn’t unlistenable.

And finally, we come to Tus Favoritos de Los Yes Yes (Loud68music), a retrospective of easy listening cumbias from the co-ed combo Los Yes Yes. “El Verde De Tus Ojos” is the first of tus favoritos, but it’s not even my favorite song about ojos verdes — that’d be Julión Álvarez’s. Los Yes Yes has several Facebook pages, one of which is very special, pero no seguro para trabajar. Let’s just say, Los Yes Yes appears to know a thing or two about llueve en tu cama.