Top 10 Latin Music Albums of 2008

Americans who still think of Latin music as mariachi bands and gyrating Ricky Martins and Shakiras might want to lend a closer ear to the genre. This country's Hispanic population isn't just growing, it's growing more diverse. More and more unique musical styles are being gobbled up, and that should come as good news to alternative gringos hoping to spruce up their castellano. This year's Latin-music highlights come from all over the Spanish-speaking map. We'll start in the farthest geographic corner: an island in the Mediterranean.

BUIKA
Niña de Fuego
(WEA International)
Afro-Spanish artist Buika epitomizes cultural and ethnic diversity. Over three decades ago, her parents fled political turmoil in the former Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea and made a new life for themselves in a gypsy neighborhood on the island of Mallorca. After stints as a Tina Turner impersonator in Vegas and as the vocalist on some chic house and funk albums made for the European clubs, Buika has found her niche in flamenco and Latin jazz. This year's Niña de Fuego contains many of the same gitano elements found on her successful LP Mi Niña Lola, and pushes the boundaries further by adding Mexican ranchera. Only someone as strangely bohemian as Buika could pull together these emotive styles with just the right amount of melodrama.

THE PINKER TONES
Wild Animals
(Nacional)
Barcelona's Pinker Tones have traded most of their native Catalán for English -- both in language and in beat. On Animals, harmonic backing vocals combine with synthesizers and wah-wah pedals to produce 1980s-style pop and rock steady. The song titles couldn't be more fitting. "Hold On" starts with a choir and then hits the gas with an accelerated Beck-like groove. That's followed by the even more retro number "S.E.X.Y.R.O.B.O.T." and the happy-go-lucky reggae track "The Whistling Song." But Pinkertones do take pride in some forms of hip-swiveling: Be prepared to shake your mod booty to "Electrotumbao."

FITO PÁEZ

Grandes Canciones

(Sony International)

Going even more retro is Argentina's legendary Fito Páez. A pioneer of

pop rock en español, Páez waxes nostalgic on this greatest-hits album.

Millions of South American rockers are sure to hold up their lighters,

arena-style, to the memories conjured up by Páez's whimsical

combination of piano and poetic lyrics on songs like "La Rueda Mágica"

and "Mariposa Tecknicolor."

BAJOFONDO

Mar Dulce

(Decca)

Since dropping the "Tango Club" title from its name, this

electronic-music collective has broadened its musical horizons. They

now include the African rhythms of Uruguay's candombe, Andalusian

hip-hop as presented by Spain's La Mala Rodríguez, and a healthy

sampling of North and South American pop and blues, represented here by

contributing artists such as Britain's Elvis Costello, America's Nelly

Furtado, Mexico's Julieta Venegas, Argentina's Gustavo Cerati and

Uruguay's Jorge Drexler. The movie-like symphonics are enough to liven

the winter doldrums of any holiday party.

BABASÓNICOS

Mucho

(Universal Latino)

Yet another Argentine outfit manages to walk the line between

commercial pop and alternative rock. Babasónicos' Mucho has much to

offer a wide range of listeners, with a sound reminiscent of the late

1980s and early '90s, when the group first experienced success. The

opening tune, "Yo Anuncio," sounds like a bit like Jellyfish, while

"Pijamas" is a reminder of the new-wave movement, and "Estoy Rabioso"

packs enough punch to generate a relatively safe mosh pit. Gotta

carpool or share the stereo with officemates? This album is likely to

keep the masses pleasant in tight quarters.

ATERCIOPELADOS

Río

(Nacional)

Travel to Colombia and pop life gets even funkier. On Río, it's evident

that Aterciopelados haven't forgotten their indigenous, rebellious

urban roots. As always, frontwoman Andrea Echeverri's slightly nasal

voice harmonizes divinely over a cool collection of alt-rock laced with

reggae, cumbia and other Andean styles. The band undulates from spacey

and mysterious to hard-driving and happy as it tackles everything from

motherhood ("28") to immigration ("Bandera").

CALLE 13

Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo

(Sony International)

Puerto Rico's five-time Grammy and Latin Grammy award-winning veterans

segue from straightforward hip-hop to an alternative reggaetón that

incorporates everything from rock steady to cumbia. It's ballsy to the

point of requiring a parental advisory, but nonetheless thoughtful in

the way it busts out ironic chants and ragamuffin rhymes. Given the

band's dark humor, it's not surprising that this album received musical

contributions from cheeky Panamanian salsa god Ruben Blades on "La

Perla Feat" or legendary Mexican rockers Café Tacuba on "No Hay Nadie

Como Tú."

ORISHAS

Cosita Buena

(Phantom Sound and Vision)

This Cuban hip-hop outfit's high-energy music shows that the band is

culturally bound to the island no matter how far its members have

dispersed across Europe (last we heard, one was in Paris, another in

Milan, and another in Madrid). The raps here are hard-driving and the

beats are punchy, but the underlying rhythms are as Cuban as the Buena

Vista Social Club. No need to scratch your head when you come across

the term a guarachar in Orishas' lyrics. You'll find your body doing

exactly that to this CD's groovy beats.

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Latin Reggae

(Putumayo)

Reggae's popularity in Spanish-language countries is celebrated with a

diverse cast of Latino artists including Puerto Rico's Cultura

Profética, Argentina's Los Cafres, Chile's Gondwana, and Spain's Macaco

and Amparanoia. Sure, these alternative tastemakers are well aware of

the cool ways they could have melded music from the Andes to Andalusia

into their own brand of skanking. Instead, they've paid 'nuf respect to

reggae's roots by staying true to the genre's original sound and

socially conscious lyrics.

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Umalali: Garifuna Women's Project

(Cumbancha)

Edging farther west, you'll find a blend of Babylonian music all its

own. The Garifuna people were born of shipwrecked slaves and Carib

natives in St. Vincent, then exiled by British colonists to the

Atlantic Coast of what is now Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. Remixed

by forward-thinking Belizean producer Ivan Duran, the music on this

compilation album is as complex as the women who sing it. Elements of

rock, blues, funk and even Cuban son intermingle with the Garifunas'

beat-based punta music to drive home messages of suffering and

survival. You don't have to speak a lick of the Garifunas' unique

native tongue to understand the emotion behind their singing and

chanting.