Noel Torres has only been on the scene a scant few years, but he's shaking it up with a one-two-three punch that spans narco brawlers, traditional conjuntos and, with album three, pop-friendly corridos and pleading love songs. The aptly named La Estructura shows off an artist capable of mastering and shifting structures, whether he's whipping his rich, lucid tenor through the inebriated "100 Botellas," killing an old-school rocker like "Lunas y Soles" or crooning your pants off with single "Adivina." Then there's "Me Enamore Por Internet," the best song about e-lovin' since "E-mail My Heart."
What a perfect title for this best-of from the hard-talking, high-diva, totally earthy queen of narcos, banda and pretty much everything. Eschewing her poppier fare, La Gran Señora sticks to her bad-ass, big-drama regional fare, her commanding voice soaring and scratching over swollen horns and skipping accordions on classic barroom telenovelas like "Besos y Copas" and "Ovarios," plus the occasional mariachi sob-fest. Not many singers can pull off a spoken, staged breakdown wherein the diva sobs that "this is the diva's time." When Jenni does it, it's awesome. The bright title track is new.
Aleks Syntek may look like the second coming of Justin Timberlake on this album cover. But don't be fooled: This is still our chubby-cheeked, oh-so-slightly-alternative pop divo at heart. He soars on duets (like robo-ballad "No Me Dejes Olvidarte" with Pambo), rocks the sweeping pop drama like nobody's business and, most of all, makes dance-pop that sounds welcomingly familiar and just a little ... weird. Highlights include the twisted '80s synth-pop of "La Radio de Tokio" and the eerie yet affable "Del Interior al Exterior" (which also might be a perfect metaphor for his sound and career).
Propelled by the sparkly multi-Latin Grammy-winning ballad "¡Corre!" and two lesser hits, this Mexico City brother-and-sister duo's third album went double platinum in their home country and did real well on U.S. Latin pop radio to boot. Joy Huerta sings with a lightness that fleshes out as songs progress, and the duo's busker-pop stays consistently sunny and sweet while occasionally (in "Aquí Voy," "Quiero Que Me Quieras," the mariachi-horned "Gotitas de Amor") turning tropically buoyant. The Deluxe Edition adds six tracks, including acoustic versions and a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine."
Gremal Maldonado won season 2 of Idol Puerto Rico, and like any good Idol, she's packed her debut full of big covers she can just sing the heck out of: She does her best Celia on the opener (down to the Azucar!s). She peps and pops up Thalia's "Estoy Enamorado." She even does a salsa-fied version of Celine Dion's "The Power of Love." (Yes, it's awesome.) Like any good Idol debut, Yo (ironically) doesn't offer a strong sense of who Maldonado is (in the bachatafied cover of "Every Breath You Take," her voice is unrecognizable). But what's clear is that she's got talent and potential.
Alex Ferrari's album is so far on the pop end of the sertanejo universitário spectrum that it's difficult to recognize as sertanejo. With its heavy bass, throbbing beats, incorrigible hooks, glistening synths and even one taffy-pulled EDM breakdown (in "Bota Pra Mexer"), this ain't your papai's sertanejo, that's for sure. Yet while Ferrari's sound may be city-slick and club-ready, his soul is clearly still in the countryside. Under the heavy Auto-Tuned vocals of "Mexe No Ap" or even the occasional bits of light, funk carioca-laced rapping, the tripping, skipping sertanejo rhythm beats strong.
This LA-based regional banda are such consummate storytellers that everything here feels like a lovingly crafted yarn -- and by everything, we mean each individual song and the overarching album, which flows like one big novel-length corrido. Chapters include “La Hummer y El Camaro,” an amusingly titled tune that’s riddled with explosions and followed by “El Mayor” (in which our protagonist is sent to prison) and “Bien Firmes” (which contains a work gang call and response). Sound tough and terrifying? Not in the warm, dulcet voices of the Gaxiola brothers or Jorge’s friendly acordeon.
With its slickly Auto-Tuned sing-song flow and a kind of smoothed-out vibe that ranges from melancholic to lightly playful, War Kingz doesn't feel exactly war-like. But it does kind of make you want to join up with Cosculluela and his squad of guest stars as they hustle and flow, swagger and shuffle across a club pumped up with reggaeton riddims, sleek beats and pop hooks on cuts like the lilting, taunting "No Te Metas." Things get more ferocious when Los Mafia Boyz show up on "En El Case" and stay that way through the ominous, dembow-driven "Mi Hermana" and "Súbelo" (check its clever beats).
One of the most established bandas doing a banda-fied collection of bolero-ized love songs is pretty much a no-brainer. An even bigger no-brainer? Including both "Bésame Mucho" and "My Way" (aka "A Mi Manera") in both Spanish and English. If anyone's earned the right to croon the heck out of those classics, it's these guys. And they sell it, like everything else here, with liquid-gold crooning, swooning horns, easy bolero rhythms that feel like a hand at the small of your back and the confidence that comes from being the big dog for decades. Don't miss the flirty horn winks on "Si Nos Dejan."
