Episode Transcript
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details. So
0:21
Felix, I had my birthday
0:23
party this weekend. I heard. Thank you for
0:26
inviting me. Everyone's been talking about it. You
0:28
were invited. I was. You decided not to show it.
0:30
You went to this spot instead. I'm not offended. It's
0:32
fine. Priorities. And
0:35
this is like the first big party I feel like these
0:37
are in at my house, but across the street I don't
0:39
know what's going on, but they're always having kinses. I don't
0:41
know if they have like a bunch of kids. I don't
0:43
know. So me and my roommate, we like to sit there
0:46
and kind of like judge all the
0:48
kids as they come up the stairs. Like really sit
0:51
there in our window. They're like checking out their outfits and
0:53
it's always like the girls show up really early and they
0:55
look really nice and the boys show up like last
0:57
minute and they look like terrible. Anyways,
0:59
I felt some pressure with my birthday playlist
1:01
to kind of compete. They really play some
1:03
bangers at these kinses every week and
1:06
I just felt like still
1:08
I wasn't able to rise to compete with these
1:10
15 year olds. And so I thought to myself,
1:13
you know what they can't do?
1:15
They can't bring original Tiny Desk
1:17
Contest music. So I figured what
1:21
a great day. What a
1:23
great idea to celebrate the 10th anniversary
1:25
of the Tiny Desk Contest. We
1:27
can call this the episode where we pick
1:29
all the best Tiny Desk Contest entries for
1:31
Anna to make playlists to compete with her 15 year
1:34
old neighbors. If that will fit in the headline of
1:36
the website. I think that'll work. Yeah. This is our
1:38
annual peek at some of the artists who sent in
1:40
videos for the Tiny Desk Contest. Again, this is the
1:42
10th annual so there have been thousands,
1:45
thousands, thousands, thousands of people over the years
1:47
that have sent in videos. Some of them
1:49
will repeat but the idea is for
1:51
us to pull some out, look at the Latin
1:53
music contestants and play some of the things that
1:55
stand out. Unfortunately, we don't take
1:57
submissions outside of the US and Puerto Rico.
2:00
However, what's cool about the Latin music section
2:02
that we get is it's all people in
2:04
this country doing like a very Versatile
2:07
spread of Latin music, but
2:09
I thought that was like a really interesting way
2:11
to represent that lots of cool stuff Let's get right
2:13
into it. You get the first two choices So
2:20
my first pick really lovely artist
2:22
my first two beautiful vocalists This
2:24
artist is Garcia and she's playing
2:26
a track called bassa de cace
2:28
Hi everyone, my name
2:30
is Katya. This is Adrian and this is
2:59
Oh Talk
3:29
like burial Theclintimo
3:59
Theclintimo So
4:30
this one is really impressive to
4:33
me for a few reasons. I
4:57
mean, one, that voice is like so gorgeous
5:00
and just nice on the ears, right?
5:02
Like, and she didn't need anything besides
5:04
that guitar. And like, that was enough
5:06
to hold, I think, anyone's attention. And
5:08
it was so cute. She salved dory and
5:11
she did it in Miami out of a
5:13
really nice bodega. So the setup was great.
5:15
And it's just like a sweet, fun love
5:17
song to listen to. I mean, I was
5:19
really impressed by this one, Felix. I
5:21
really like this one. In addition to the
5:23
music, the other fun part of this every
5:26
year is to look at how people present
5:28
themselves. And this one, I really enjoyed that
5:30
where they put the camera and set up in that bodega
5:32
thing. Lots of fun. Disclaimer
5:34
for all of these, we would recommend
5:36
you go to npr.org/Latino to check out
5:38
the page where all of these videos
5:40
are going to be there. Really nice
5:42
to look at and hear for
5:44
yourself many times on repeat. Okay, so pull
5:46
up the website and let's go to your
5:49
second song. Okay. Oh,
5:51
I really like this one. So this
5:53
artist, her name is Manu
5:55
Manzo. She has a track
5:57
here called Celos. All
6:30
You is
7:01
community cups
7:30
Can't tell. Me
9:00
so that was Celos which means jealousy
9:02
by the artist Manu Manzouno. I spent
9:04
a lot of time with a lot
9:07
of these videos. I did some first
9:09
round judging and when I came
9:11
across this video I like jumped out of
9:14
my seat. I was like oh this is
9:16
it. I mean that voice it has like
9:18
a really nice almost R&B quality to it
9:20
but it does have that lovely like latin
9:23
pop like what's really like big in the
9:25
space right now in terms of just the
9:27
texture the quality it's unique. Again just a
9:29
beautiful voice with a guitar and it works
9:32
so well. I mean if you watch
9:34
the video she's just sitting there it's a
9:37
very simple presentation it's nothing that's gonna drag
9:39
you in visually but it's just that
9:41
voice that captures your attention.
9:43
She's also filming out of
9:45
Miami but Venezuelan American and
9:48
wow I think we're gonna see her in
9:50
a lot of places honestly. She
9:53
spent some time away from Miami at Berkeley
9:55
School of Music in Boston and she has
9:57
the control of someone who sees her voice
9:59
like an instrument. I gotta say
10:01
so many musicians come through
10:03
on the tiny desk that are Berkeley graduates
10:05
every year during the Latin Grammys You
10:08
could do a special set aside for Berkeley
10:10
musicians or producers and vocalists, etc This
10:13
school is bringing in people from all over Latin
10:15
America and then turning stuff out
10:17
in there making their mark everywhere It's really
10:19
amazing true I feel like that's a
10:22
really important note about that is like I
10:24
know so many people have met in other
10:26
parts of Latin America Who did their stint
10:28
in Boston went back to their home country
10:30
and are now making music training
10:33
musicians, etc So that's a really cool piece of
10:35
it is I think it just keeps multiplying on
10:37
itself that training That was
10:39
a great voice and now I have another great
10:41
voice for you. Okay. This is me. They are
10:43
Ramos and we have Right.
10:45
Yeah, me. They are Ramos is one
10:47
of the founding members of the mariachi
10:49
Florida de tolo ache She's
10:52
done some recording on her own in
10:54
a variety of styles. Her voice is
10:56
so versatile She can sing mariachi. She
10:58
can sing R&B and on this
11:00
one. She's doing country Okay, this
11:03
latinas who think country is having a moment right now,
11:05
right? Oh We've been talking
11:07
about it, but true I mean, there's there's
11:09
something about that that synergy of the voices
11:11
that makes a lot of sense So this
11:13
is a track called quiero volver. This is
11:15
made a Ramos and I love the band
11:17
This is made a Ramos and the poor
11:19
choices I
11:22
want to be in that band Hello
11:27
everybody, I'm Mireya Ramos and
11:29
I'm a proud Afro-Latina Dominicana-americana
11:32
race in Puerto Rico and
11:34
thrilled to share my song quiero volver
11:37
from the ranchera fusion with country Americana
11:39
music a beautiful song off of my
11:41
most recent album a Collaboration with these
11:44
beautiful artists all the way from Kansas
11:46
City. I hope you enjoy this
11:52
You e
12:02
must causation I
12:12
see myself
12:31
I see myself
12:40
I see myself
12:51
I see myself
12:58
I see myself
13:07
I see myself
13:16
I see myself
13:25
I see myself
13:34
I see myself
13:43
I see myself
13:52
I see myself
15:00
Remember God's
15:03
praise Remember that When I was
15:05
a little boy You
15:09
raised a pole And now today
15:13
dear, I do I
15:16
love you A long
15:18
time again Applause
16:00
like how
16:03
awhat's so
16:18
well well
16:27
in on
16:34
in we
16:44
in our
17:05
in love
17:29
that was Kiril Volber from Medea Ramos and the
17:31
Poor Choices. I'm a big fan
17:33
of her voice. I'm just gonna say it right. Oh yeah
17:35
who is it? Who is it? I remember we had a
17:37
chance to see her when we were in Havana. Oh my
17:40
god I feel like every time I see her
17:42
she's one of those artists that
17:44
you hear the voice and in
17:47
person and there's nothing compete with that. Not a
17:49
video, not a recording, nothing. It's like you have
17:51
like standing in front of her that
17:53
power it's almost like too much. You have to like
17:55
step back. So as we talk
17:57
about artists especially with this show about our
18:00
artists you should know. There's a lot of folks
18:02
who don't have the profile of her, but
18:04
this is a great example of how this
18:07
contest allows artists to also experiment on a
18:09
different side for something beyond what they normally
18:11
do, and to show the other artists that
18:13
are just as viable and just
18:15
as strong a performer as
18:17
these established performers. And I have
18:19
to say, this is, I think I
18:22
rest my case and win the argument
18:24
that's been like four episodes long now.
18:26
Something about Rancheira Vocal
18:29
so fits, it blends so perfectly
18:31
with a country. It's something about
18:33
like the emotion of it. It's
18:35
country and it's Rancheira. It's like
18:37
it's right there. It makes so
18:39
much sense. No argument.
18:42
I agree. I was about to say someone
18:44
recording this and then I was like, wow, what
18:46
luck. I
18:51
don't envy the judges on this contest because
18:53
as we've seen so far, Mireya
18:55
is a voice that we know is well
18:58
established, but on her own solo stuff, not
19:00
so much. And these other artists,
19:03
they're in the same class. They're just as
19:05
strong, but in different ways. I've been asked
19:08
to judge. I don't
19:10
know, man. I don't want to.
19:12
I could never be the deciding. I
19:14
can only do that first round stuff. Eliminate
19:16
a few, but I can't. I want
19:19
to vote for them all. Everyone
19:22
deserves a chance. I mean, there is
19:24
also like, it is worth saying. An unsigned
19:26
artist can mean a lot of things. Right.
19:28
And that's tough too, I think is like,
19:30
you know, an artist like Mireya does have
19:32
some backing. She has experience. So, you
19:35
know, it's, it's tough. And some of these other artists I
19:37
brought on with these amazing voices, they have some, like, they
19:39
have some backing behind them for sure. You go check out
19:41
their Instagrams and you're like, okay, Well
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slash whatsyourwhy. And
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we're back with more great music. We
21:50
are listening to the 10th annual Tiny
21:52
Desk Contest. I don't think we mentioned
21:54
how many entries we had this year.
21:57
How many entries? Six thousand six hundred.
22:00
6,600 entries. Can you imagine? That's like 6,000. That's
22:03
like 6,600. You can fill a room with ice cream. 6,000 ice creams.
22:05
What are you? Let's just keep going. I don't even know. A
22:14
room of ice cream in Tiny
22:16
Dust Contest in Chicago. Let's
22:20
just keep going. I'm not even sure what to do with
22:22
that one. Okay. I chose
22:24
this one. I chose the video and then I
22:26
looked to see where he's from and I
22:28
got, you know, my people, my
22:31
hinted. This guy is from Salinas,
22:33
California. A vocalist composer who calls
22:35
himself Flaco Eljandro. He
22:37
performed last year in San Francisco. When the winners
22:39
win, they do a tour of the United States,
22:42
a mini tour. And at each city, they bring
22:44
other bands to come and perform. And
22:46
he performed in the San Francisco stop
22:49
of the contest winner tour with
22:51
the band Los Perros, Gallerjeros. I love
22:53
that name. And he blew people away.
22:56
He's got two EPs out, someone to
22:58
watch and keep an eye on. This
23:01
is Flaco Eljandro. The song is Yuvia
23:03
Pessada. Yuvia
23:33
Pessada. Yuvia
23:55
Pessada. please
24:30
come first come
24:35
intoás a
25:03
y i I
25:08
all yeah
25:16
and me
25:26
well I all
25:30
make a little more on
25:35
a a
25:39
a a a
25:45
a a
25:49
a a a
25:55
a a This
26:00
is one of those with
26:04
the video backdrop. What
26:25
was that? They're like a dry cleaner. I
26:27
thought it was like a thrift store or something. There's
26:32
racks of clothing. You know, like one of those
26:34
cool kids stores. Yeah, again, go to
26:37
our website, mpo.org/out Latino. Check out
26:39
the videos because this one, I
26:41
love the backdrop. You know, I
26:43
tried to pick this one Felix and then I
26:45
went, this is going to be my cool cumbia
26:47
pick and then I went and saw you'd already
26:49
picked it. I was like, rats. You got
26:51
to move fast, man. They beat me to it. You got
26:53
to move fast. Oh, they're really good though. They're really
26:55
cool. I love the guy with
26:57
the accordion. He looks like he's just having a ball. The
26:59
whole band. This is fabulous. I would
27:02
love to hang out with these dudes. They
27:05
do look like a lot of fun.
27:08
That was Flaco Eljandro. The
27:10
song was Juvia Pessada. Okay, I
27:13
got another one. This one is
27:15
kind of a punk thing. I
27:18
didn't even know. I didn't even have the words to describe
27:20
it. The band is called
27:23
Los Quinceaneros. They're great
27:25
names. Wow. They're
27:28
from Southern California. I don't know
27:30
much about them. They don't have a website. They do have
27:32
an Instagram, but I love
27:34
their video. Like I said, there's a punk
27:36
ethos to it. You listen to
27:39
the music. There's echoes of psychedelic chicha.
27:42
It's a really fun video. At some
27:44
point, there's a subtext of what's going
27:46
on. There's a subplot in
27:48
the video about conversations on a telephone. I'm not
27:50
sure what's going on. At one point, he picks
27:53
up a phone to start talking to it while
27:55
the band is playing. Crazy. This is
27:57
called Guero. Oh
29:08
him.
29:43
And. He. He
29:47
he he.
29:54
ha Talk
30:14
about a group you want to hang out with. Yeah,
30:17
I take it back, these guys. Actually, I'm going
30:19
to throw a party in, and both bands are
30:21
invited. That was Los Quintaneros
30:23
with their song Guero. Again, we're
30:25
listening and previewing some of the bands that
30:27
entered the Tiny Desk Contest, the 10th Annual.
30:30
Again, this is a band from Southern California. Don't
30:32
know a lot about them, but I love that sound, right? Let me just
30:34
say, I think Los Quintaneros would
30:36
blow my 15-year-old neighbors out of the
30:38
water. I mean, they wouldn't know what to do
30:41
with themselves if I brought those guys to play
30:43
at my party, let me just say. Talking about
30:45
Quintaneros, right? These guys. This
30:47
is La Dornia with the track called I
30:49
Knew You Would Like This One. You still
30:52
might call me a pic, but then I
30:54
take this one, and it's called Loser Girl,
30:56
which I also love that name. I
31:57
am black. I'm
32:31
here. I'm
32:36
here. I'm
32:40
here. I'm
32:46
here. I'm
32:51
here. I'm
32:57
here. I'm
33:02
here.
33:06
I'm here. I'm
33:15
here. I'm here.
33:21
I'm here. I'm
33:28
here. I'm
33:35
here. I'm here.
33:43
I'm here. I'm
33:46
here. That
34:04
was La Donia with Loser Girl. I
34:06
mean, everything about that is so
34:08
fun to me. I'm such a fan of
34:10
hers. Like she, I mean, you people
34:14
go watch the video. This
34:16
is just like everything from the dress
34:18
and her hair and that band, that
34:20
full band she has behind her with
34:22
those trumpets coming. I'm like, oh,
34:25
it sounds so good. And it's so fun.
34:27
It's so fun to hear stylistically what she's
34:29
doing paired with like, you're hitting me up
34:31
on my phone, like, da, da, da. Like
34:34
I love that. She's an indie
34:36
artist who's been making big noises. I've been listening to
34:38
her for a while when someone sent me her music.
34:41
Just a big fan. Now
34:47
a little bit later on, I came across
34:49
the recording of Alejandro Aranda's
34:52
entry. Now this guy
34:54
is insane. He actually was on
34:56
American Idol in 2019, made it
34:59
pretty far, but he now releases
35:01
music under the name Scary Pole
35:03
Party. I just, I couldn't not
35:05
let you guys have a peek at this one. This
35:08
one is called Pieces. I always have a little bit
35:10
of it and he's super annoying too. I
36:30
can't believe you're in a position
36:32
to be with such a hard
36:34
person, I'm just in love with
36:37
you I can't believe
36:39
you're in a position to
36:41
be with everything I have
36:43
to do I
37:01
can't believe you're in a
37:03
position to be with everything I
37:05
have to do I
37:39
can't believe
37:42
you're in
37:45
a position
37:48
to be with everything
37:51
I have
37:56
to do And
37:59
what a way to wrap this up because there are so
38:01
many again great artists you got to go to
38:03
the website check out the videos the
38:05
announcements coming out later this month in
38:08
the meantime go to our website
38:10
npr.org/all Latino check out all of
38:12
these cool Latin music entrance to
38:14
the tiny desk contest so
38:17
there you have
38:27
you have been listening to all Latino from
38:29
NPR music I'm Feliz Contreras and I'm
38:31
Ana Maria Sayer our editor
38:33
is Hazel Sills and the
38:35
woman who keeps us on track is
38:37
Grace Chung our producer is
38:40
Joaquin Kotler and our executive
38:42
producer of NPR music is Saray
38:44
Mohammed. Keith Jenkins is
38:46
the VP of music and visuals at
38:49
NPR and I'm Ana and I'm Felix
38:52
thank you for listening thanks
38:55
for listening.
38:58
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I hear you have a birthday coming up. Yeah,
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40:12
that means you have a birthday coming up
40:14
eventually. And here at Life Kit, we want
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to have a good birthday, even if you're
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not a birthday person. That's
40:27
on the Life Kit podcast from NPR.
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