Frederico Abuele. electronic flamenco or something along those lines. out of Argentina.

The first video (Postales) would be "tango chill-out" or something like that. :) Note that sounds a bandoneón. But yes, that genre exists too:

thanks for clarifying Zaqarbal. i'm in foreign waters here, so to speak :)

I only know Mecano.
This one was a bit hit in France in 1990.

And they released Mujer contra mujer in French: Une Femme Avec une Femme, a song about lesbian love.

But I think the most known band in France is Ska-P. They even make some anti-establishment & anticlerical jokes in French when playing there :):

I posted music by this Chilean band a while back, but want to post again...think Latino-influenced Cocteau Twins with a male singer (in fact, their band name came from the name Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie gave to their daughter).







This all comes from their album Sesion Futura, which, in my opinion, is the way these songs are meant to be heard. Live just works so much better for them.

From Chile too: Los Tres and Kudai (pop).

Coming back to the 80's, I think the following can be representative of the high level achieved in that decade (the so-called "Golden Age" of Spanish-language rock and pop by many music critics):

This is one of my favorite spanish bands & song. YouTube - Maná - Hundido en un rincón

Some my favourite spanish musicians. All of them are celtic music.
I am not sure if they were here but nevermind :)

Celtas Cortos






Carlos Núñez (he played with The Chieftains)










Hevia




Luar Na Lubre

Hey, Petula, I've put English subtitles to La senda del tiempo (see here).

Very good, indeed. But, in my opinion, the best Mexican pop-rock band is Caifanes (1987-1995). I like Molotov too.

Definitely try flamenco. It's subtle and passionate.

Pepe De Lucia, Duquende etc. There are many good singers if you like the style.

I like to hear different types of music and the best is salsa.........

I don't use to listen to flamenco music, but they say the best singer (or, at least, one of the best) was Camarón de la Isla. I've recently heard that his recordings are being remastered. Flamenco experts say he had an exceptional voice, but it can't be fully appreciated in some recordings from the 70's. So now they are improving the sound quality.

Ramon Ayala, Los Tucanes De Tijuana

La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, obviously! :)

It's true, we forgot Valens and Los Lobos! :banghead: The very very first one in Latin Rock:

And what about the 70's? For instance, Los Diablos: Un rayo de sol ("A sunray", 1970), Mi talismán ("My Talisman", 1973):

Manu Chao hands down. He sings in spanish, portugese, french, english, arabic, and a language found in Senegal by the names of "wolof".
He blends a wide variety of world beats to his music, which definitely cannot be defined in one category.







Just recently got into him. His live albums are by far superior to his studio albums, but both are phenomenal.
You should also check out the band he formed with his brother and cousin before he went solo... Mano Negra.



Hope this helps!!:tramp:

I don't know a whole lot, but you can try Yuri Buenaventura (Salsa), and Ivy Queen (Rap).

In the last weeks I've been listening to more recent music. And I have to recognize that I've found very good things. Maybe I was wrong before. The present outlook of the Spanish-language music is not as bad as I thought. Probably the boom of musical creativity of the 80's and early 90's will never happen again, but at least now there is some fresh air, some talented and interesting young bands. These are my favourites (I think you will like them too):

* Sidonie, an indie pop and rock band from Barcelona. In 2005 they published the psychedelic album Fascinado ("Fascinated"), and two years later Costa Azul ("French Riviera"):


And last year, El incendio ("The Blaze"). Here, the homonymous song and En mi garganta ("In my Throat"). Regarding the second one, at least you should know how to say "I love you" in Spanish: "Te quiero". So c'mon, sing:



* Vetusta Morla, from Madrid. A great, great band, in my opinion. For the moment they have released only one album, but it contains 12 wonderful songs. They could become the "Spanish Radiohead" in the future. Deep and complex lyrics, often metaphorical and difficult to understand at the first time. But their music conveys intense feelings too. I can't explain it, but it's something that I only have experienced in a very few occasions before (for instance, listening to Infinite Universes by Love of Lesbian). I think I should translate all their lyrics (someone has to do it, and in the absence of something better...), but for now you can read When Breathing (here) and Copenhagen (here):



* For the fans of electropop, Dorian, from Barcelona. Good music and lyrics (I'd like to translate some of them too). Examples: La tormenta de arena ("The Sandstorm") and Paraísos artificiales ("Artificial Paradises"). They've made two respective videoclips as if they were chapters from a tale (two teenagers cause storms every time they kiss each other):

Other nice (imo) recent songs:

* Babasónicos: Risa ("Laughter").
* Pignoise (yes, that's the name): Estoy enfermo ("I'm Sick"), Te entiendo ("I Understand You").
* Deluxe: Adiós, corazón ("Goodbye, Sweetheart").
* Lori Meyers (yes, like the NOFX's song): Luces de neón ("Neon Lights").

So there's still hope... :)

Una palabra - Carlos Varela
 

Una palabra by Carlos Varela is one of the most beautiful songs that I have ever heard, I was just going through my collection and stumbled across this one.
I remember that it was on the sountrack off of the movie 'Man On Fire'.
starring Denzel Washington, this guy sings acapella through most of the song with a little spanish guitar during the chorus.
I dont speak spanish at all but it is so easy for me to relate to almost every word he is singing.
I did at one time have the words translated into english, anyway...this one really adds 'a touch of class'.

A YouTube user has translated Una palabra into English (here).

There is a tradition of notable folk singer-songwriters in Spanish like Carlos Varela. Unfortunately I don't know much about that genre. I've heard much less songs than I should have. But, just to mention two big names: Víctor Jara (Chile) and Atahualpa Yupanqui (Argentina).

Going back in time again. There are still many "heavyweights" from the 80's and 90's to know.

* Pistones (1980-1986). Pop-rock. Here, Metadona ("Methadone") and Lo que quieras oír ("What You Want to Hear"). The second one is an awesome song dedicated to Gloria Swanson (a famous actress from Hollywood's silent-film era):

Love it! The Gipsy Kings and Buena Vista Social Club are fantastic :D

* El Último de la Fila. Already mentioned here, but now I'd like to show two of their songs as an example. Because this is one of the most important Spanish-language bands of all time, among other things due to their originality. I recommend their entire discography. The following songs are Llanto de pasión ("Crying of Passion", 1988) and Lápiz y tinta ("Pencil and Ink", 1993). The former is about memories of a first love. A catchy, but also very emotional song, heartbreaking and melancholic like few others.

Continuing the review of the golden age. There were some bands that, despite having a limited success in general terms, released one or two very influential albums. For instance, Los Negativos and their Piknik caleidoscópico (1986). Iberian neo-garage and psychedelia at its best:

* Let's go on. Another well-known act: Duncan Dhu (the name is a character from a R.L. Stevenson's novel. A Scotsman, I guess :)). This trio from Spain, afterwards a duo, had a notable success in both sides of the Atlantic from 1985 to 1995, with songs such as A Hundred Seagulls and Somewhere:

^ I guess there are many interesting things out there at this moment, but I'm not into electronic music since a loooooong looooooong time ago... so I add four "historical documents" more: :)

* La Unión (since 1984). Pop and rock with some influences from other genres such as blues. More than 2 million records sold during their career. Lobo-hombre en París ("Werewolf in Paris") and Sildavia are two of their first hits. The former is based on Le loup-garou (1947), a short story by French writer (also musician) Boris Vian. Notice that in Vian's tale (very ingenious) it is a wolf (Denis) who is bitten by a man (actually a werewolf with human appearance at that moment). That's why song says lobo-hombre (literally "wolf-man") instead of hombre-lobo ("man-wolf", which is the Spanish name for a werewolf).

^ More 80's disco: Baila ("Dance", by Iván too), and Baila para mí ("Dance for Me") by Objetivo Birmania.



Apart from that style, about seven years later (1991) it arose one of the best synthpop bands in Spanish: OBK. As admirers of O.M.D. and Depeche Mode, they received their musical influence. In fact, OBK is perhaps the Spanish-language group that has best incorporated the styles of those two bands into its music.


These songs are from 2000 and 2003, but they already showed their talent in the first two albums. Just listen: Historias de amor ("Love Stories") and Oculta realidad ("Hidden Reality").

A digression to recommend some recent music:

* Vacazul (Spain). These songs are: Vuelo ("I Fly") and Chico listo ("Smart Boy").




* Los Hi-Hats (Argentina) and Los Daniels (Mexico):

* I think Natalia Lafourcade deserves two more songs. En el 2000 ("In Year 2000") and Solamente te lo doy a ti ("I Just Give It to You"):



* Another Mexican singer-songwriter: Julieta Venegas. Algo está cambiando ("Something is Changing") and Me voy ("I Leave")



Now I continue with the golden age, because we only have explored a small part of it.

* Objetivo Birmania (1982-1991) also deserves two songs more. Their early years (1982-1986) were the best ones. Afterwards most members left the band and it became just a female trio. I've found some videos of groups from the early 80's with a good image quality, because a YT user recorded the TV programs himself with a Beta home video recorder (we all heard sometime that Betamax was much better than VHS, and many didn't want to believe it, but it turns out to be the fu**ing truth). This has enabled me to see again how cute and adorable the "birmettes" were. These songs are No te aguanto más ("I Can't Stand You Anymore") and Incognito:

I haven't had time to read through the entire text so I don't know if anyone has posted El Guincho. I think they're pretty great.

(I'd post a link but I can't yet.)

They've made an album named Alegranza in 2007.

No, we hadn't mentioned El Guincho. There's so much music to listen to! I can put two examples. The guy is from the Canary Islands (Spain) and he describes his music as "space-age exotica" :) Sampling + tropicalia + afrobeat + psychedelia + etc... a particular mixture:

* Tino Casal (1980-1991). Embrujada ("Bewitched", 1983) and Eloise (1987, cover of Barry Ryan's song from 1968):


And also (click): Pánico en el Edén ("Panic in Eden") and Billy Boy.


* Danza Invisible (since 1981) and Revólver (since 1988). Songs Sabor de amor ("Flavour of Love", 1988) and El roce de tu piel ("The Touch of Your Skin"), respectively:



* Polanski y el Ardor (funny name: Polanski and the Ardour :)) (1981-1984):

- Cruzando el Rubicón ("Crossing the Rubicon")
- Chantaje emocional ("Emotional Blackmail")
- Las venas de mi amigo están ardiendo ("My Friend's Veins Are Burning")
- Ataque preventivo de la URSS ("Preemptive Attack by the USSR")


* And now the alcoholic section. Learn some essential expressions in Spanish through songs (besides, they could be useful for you, especially if you spend this summer holidays in Mexico, Chile, Spain, Argentina or wherever). Click:

- Ramoncín: Hormigón, mujeres y alcohol ("Concrete, Women and Alcohol"):
- Obús: Vamos muy bien.
- Siniestro Total: Hermano bebe.
- Los Inhumanos: Alcohol, alcohol, alcohol.

* 21 Japonesas (1986-1994). Click: En sus sueños ("In Their Dreams") and Vuelve a llamar ("Call Me Again").


* Vicky Larraz (1985-1990). Siete noches sin ti ("Seven Nights Without You") and Bravo samurai:

*Los Rodríguez (1990-1996). Tequila broke up in 1983, but seven years later three of its members reunited, and together with Andrés Calamaro (another "big name" of pop and rock in Spanish) formed the Argentine-Spanish band Los Rodríguez.


Sin documentos ("Without Papers") is a love song about a strong wish to continue a relationship despite all the problems.

Mucho mejor ("Much Better") proves that it is "much better" (if you'll forgive the repetition) to sing about certain things through a good rhyme (because otherwise...):
* And now some hard rock: Beethoven R. (since 1997). Turn the volume up and click: Un poco más ("A Little More"), El guardián de tu piel ("The Guardian of Your Skin") and Más sexy ("More Sexy").

* Los Rebeldes (since 1981), from Barcelona (Spain). A nice revival style. In the 80's, they adapted the classical American rock & roll from the 50's to the Spanish language, and thanks to their talent they managed to make their music sound natural and coherent to the Hispanophone public. Which is not an easy work at all, because, due to the words length, it is more difficult to compose songs in Spanish, French or German (and many other languages) than in English. But they did it in a fantastic way. Glory be to Elvis. Examples: Bajo la luz de la luna ("Under the Moonlight", 1988) and El rock del hombre lobo ("Werewolf's rock", 1981). It is surprising how natural they sound: