As many of you know, I compile background music for restaurants/ pubs etc.

We have a Spanish-themed restaurant who we have done some work for but I desperately need suggestions for their music. Here's what the brief is:



Uptempo & vibrant
Spanish language - Vocals must be in Spanish, not English or any other language.
Artists DO NOT have to be Spanish, it can be Latino..Cuban etc..
No swearing/ cursing

Ideally I want something that has a modern edge to it - something "cool" rather than trad and dull.

Any suggestions?

It is a mostly food led business during the day, but at evenings and weekends there is a healthy bar trade too, so whilst it has to be suitable for people to eat, it can also have a lively bar feel too.

If you wanna know more about the brand, click on the link below:
www.latasca.co.uk
[Edited 6/29/05 3:49am]

Gloria Estefan's Mi Tierra album.

Buena Vista Social Club

Have you checked...
Manu Chao
Los Rodriguez
Mecano
Estopa
Bebe
?
Hey! It's hard
I just realized I hardly listen to Spanish music anymore

PANDURITO said:

MINE TOO!

HamsterHuey said:

It could be worse: he might have asked for dutch music

PANDURITO said:

Now it's gone soft again.

No wonder!

Back on topic
Dave, I just thought of 2 "Best of" yearly compilations that should be perfect for what your looking for:

Caracter Latino 2001...2002...2005

Ñ Los Exitos del Año 2001...2005
Horrendous Artwork but listenable pop/rock

@ seeing the above artwork

nd UP again!

You like Alejandro?
Seen him in Shakira's last video?

PANDURITO said:

Nooooo.
But he is GAY!

He's NOT
He's a spanish macho

PANDURITO said:

LOL
You think?
And Ricky Martin?

Not Spanish
and definitely
not macho

Eddie Palmeri
Yerba Buena (maybe has english too)

Appreciate all the suggestions so far...Keep 'em coming!

Okay here is an exhaustive list for you. Hope you enjoy...

1. Alejandro Sanz- 'No Es Lo Mismo' and 'Grandes Exitos 91_04'

2.Juanes - Mi Sangre'

3. Shakira -'Fijacion Oral'

4. Paulina Rubio

5. Ricky Martin - 'Vuelve'

6. Mana

7. Diego Torres

8. Marc Anthony

9. Robi Draco Rosa - 'Mad Love' his other albums tend to be a bit 'heavy'

10. Enrique Iglesias

There are loads more but these are just the ones that I enjoy listening to on a nice summer night with a glass of Sangria or a Corona! Hope this helps!

Or for something cool with a modern edge hold on for the new Ricky Martin hip hip/rap/spanish music fusion beginning with the single 'I Don't Care'...which by the way you can listen to in the post about Ricky Martin on this forum!

Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Afro Cuban All Stars
Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo (Machito)
Tito Puente

Just too many I can't think of off the top of my head, I enjoy Afro Cuban Jazz which would be most of my suggestions.

Los Lonely Boys sing their stuff in spansih and english
Los Lobos has some amazing versions of authentic traditional mexican songs.

I love this music and the culture so much I'm learning Spanish and will have to get to Spain in the near future.

Jonb said:

I think he stated it should not be in English.

Any of the albums from these artists are good

1.Marc Anthony
2.Manu Chao
3.Cafe Tacuba[THEY'RE THE BEST]
4.Shakira

I strongly suggest Cafe Tacuba,their music is young and fresh and they've experimented with MANY genre's of music from ska to dance.

Or maybe you should go with that generic stuff you could find at a cd store,like those collections of the year's best latin music.they keep it clean.

Aterciopelados (Colombia) - 'Caribe Atomico' or 'Gozo Poderoso'. Very modern Latin Alternative with a slight electronic edge. Steer clear from their earlier albums which are angrier and more punk influenced. (I like them, but I don't think they would make good restaurant music.)

Andrea Echeverri (Colombia) - Self Titled. The lead vocalist of Aterciopelados released her first solo album this year. Very similar to Aterciopelados, but focusing more on motherhood themes. The music is also a bit smoother around the edges than Aterciopelados.

Juana Molina (Argentina) - 'Segundo' and 'Tres Cosas'. She has been called the Argentinan Björk because of her eclectic and unique sound--Latin alternative electronica with acoustic guitars.

Café Tacuba (Mexico) - 'Cuatro Caminos' and 'Reves/Yosoy'. The kings of Latin alternative music. 'Reves/Yosoy' is a double album with one disc being all instrumentals. 'Cuatro Caminos' has the band more focused and not as experimental as in the past. The eariler releases are good, but can tend to be a bit noisy sometimes (like 'Re') and not what you are looking for.

Julieta Venegas (Mexico) - 'Aqui', 'Bueninvento' and 'Sí'. Her fisrt two albums are more Latin alternative, very similar to Cafe Tacuba. Her latest release, 'Sí' is more pop oriented (with multiple Latin radio hits), but still very good.

La Ley (Chile) - 'Libertad', 'MTV Unplugged' and 'Uno'. A more mainstream rock en Español band. They can be a bit new wavey at times. Think a Latin U2.
[Edited 6/29/05 17:16pm]

I went through my CD collection and came up with these additional artists:

Federico Aubele (Argentina) - 'Gran Hotel Buenos Aires'. DJ/guitarist released this electronica/lounge album last year with Spanish vocals sung by multiple female singers. This CD could be exactly what your looking for.

Ely Guerra (Mexico) - 'Lotofire' and 'Sweet & Sour, Hot Y Spicy'. Sensual Latin alternative singer. Two of the 12 songs on 'Sweet & Sour, Hot Y Spicy' are in English, the rest are all Spanish.

Ay please...you need bodega music

Merengue Music upbeat and fun:

Tono Rosario
Tony Tun Tun
Oro Solido
Olga Tanon (A MUST)
La banda Chula
La Makina
La Mania
Sergio Vargas
Jossie Esteban Y la patrulla 15
Milly y los vecinos
Gisselle
Milly Quesada
Fulanito

Salsa
Jerry Rivera
Frankie Ruiz
El Gran Combo
Son By Four
Frankie Negron
Tito Rojas
Victor Manuel
Manny Manuel


Selena (gotta have her shooooot)


Best you can do is get a collection of hispanic songs. If you go out and by one cd with all the so called jammed pack spanish music you are going to get a cluster of crappy songs all remixed. And maybe one or two that are good. To be honest if you have upbeat spanish music you will get a looooot of spanish customers. All hispanic restaurants here have music like that. Salsa is really good also if you don't want to have too much merengue.
Also some others posted

juanes and such...they are really good too
just dont over play it cause it gets annoying.
I know a lot more lol so you can orgnote me if anything
Hope I could help a bit

What is the clientele? What is the age group? Do you want music that some will dance/listen to or is it for ambience?

HamsterHuey said:

He's not gay. But even if he were he's so perfect in the Shakira video. I say he's the reason the video works. He ads the charm to it.

What I love most is how he portrays the voyeur as a well adjusted human that actually has a life. So much different than the sleazy way they usually portray us. I mean them.

rocknrolldave said:

Forgot there was a link.

"Our chicken & fish dishes may contain bones"
never saw that on a menu before.

anyway, looks like an ambience thing.

I can't help much.

Check out...



...Vida by Del Castillo
http://www.delcastillomusic.com

Pretty sure all the vocals are in Spanish.
This is a band fronted by 2 killer guitarists who are brothers (Rick & Mark)...



...that play acoustic-electric guitars.

Went to see Soulive and surprisingly these guys were the opening act.
The friend who I went with described Del Castillo as "The Mariachi Allman Brothers".


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm
[Edited 6/30/05 1:46am]

JuniperBeans said:

Good list! I do not know all of them but the ones I know fit the term he asked for perfectly!