De Musica Ligera: The return

It has been months since the last time we wrote our post exclusively on music. Let’s take a quick a look at some recent music news that has caught our attention:

* Dominican singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra was the big winner in last week’s Latin Grammy Awards after winning an award for each of his five nominations. Other award winners included Calle 13 and Pepe Aguilar, along with personal favorites Aterciopelados and Manu Chao.

Fellow contributor Maegan la Mala was at the event last Thursday in Las Vegas and she gave her two cents from the press room in this blog post.

YouTube: Juan Luis Guerra – “La Llave de Mi Corazon”

* Mexican rockeros Café Tacuba are set to begin a U.S. tour starting this Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this brief interview, vocalist Emmanuel Del Real admits that their latest album is “more rock-oriented” than previous efforts and expressed pride at the group’s fans.

YouSendIt: Café Tacuba – Arboles Frutales

* An article from Billboard notes the change in music tastes in Spain as a result of the boom in immigration from Latin America to that country. For instance, music sales for Latin music have soared since Spain's foreign-born population uses cellular phones and roughly four out of five digital sales are done via cell phones.

YouTube: Alejandro Fernandez and Beyonce - “Amor Gitano”

* Another piece from Billboard notes that crossover Spanish-language hits in the U.S. have been far and few between. Moreover, the only songs that do crossover and become hits in the mainstream music scene are those that are “tied to an uptempo, easy-to-dance-to track” according to Leila Cobo.

YouTube: N.O.R.E. featuring Daddy Yankee - “Oye Mi Canto”

* Famed Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil is going to quit from his post as culture minister next year. Local media reports said that his resignation will be due to a polyp on his vocal cords which may sadly put a halt to his illustrious music career.

YouSendIt: Gilberto Gil – "Bat Macumba"

* Lastly, just for the hell of it, an ode to Mexican-American singer Hope Sandoval - Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You”:

Sources- YouSendIt, YouTube, Wikipedia, Associated Press, Wikipedia, Reuters, Scientific American, VivirLatino, Boston Herald