Café Tacuba

Hailing from the suburbs of Mexico City, Café Tacuba is one of the rare convergences of art and commerce in the Latin music world. Tacuba's music has been heavily influenced by Mexico's indigenous population and folk music traditions, but also by electronica, punk, and metal. One of the most distinctive features of the band's music is vocalist Ruben Albarran's gratingly nasal voice, which is put to impressive effect on classics like "La Ingrata" (a parody of norteño music) and "Chilanga Banda." Café Tacuba scored its biggest hit with "Eres" a surprisingly romantic rock ballad that will likely be played at weddings for years to come. "Tropico de Cancer" showcases the group's ability to also write intimate acoustic-based songs that can appeal to both rockers and their padres.

"24 Horas" is a life-affirming and optimistic track taken from the venerated Re album, which more than one critic has hailed as being the "Mexican answer to Sgt. Pepper's." "Avientame" is a sparse acoustic ballad taken from the Amorres Perros soundtrack. "Yolanda Niguas" finds Café Tacuba collaborating with Talking Heads founder David Byrne on a downright jubilant bilingual norteño romp.

The MTV Unplugged version of "El Aparato" was recorded in 1995, but did not see the light of day until 2005 — it is finally here for your discovery. The live version of "Como Te Extraño" is taken from the triple disc concert album El Viaje, and was recorded in front of 100,000 fans in Mexico City. Vocalist Ruben Albarran (recording under the name Sizu Yantra) and guitarist Joselo Rangel have both recorded solo albums, and are respectively represented with "Bienvenido" and "Sobriedad."

Hailing from the suburbs of Mexico City, Café Tacuba is one of the rare convergences of art and commerce in the Latin music world. Tacuba's music has been heavily influenced by Mexico's indigenous population and folk music traditions, but also by electronica, punk, and metal. One of the most distinctive features of the band's music is vocalist Ruben Albarran's gratingly nasal voice, which is put to impressive effect on classics like "La Ingrata" (a parody of norteño music) and "Chilanga Banda." Café Tacuba scored perhaps its biggest hit with "Eres" a surprisingly romantic rock ballad that will likely be played at weddings for years to come. Like its gringo kindred spirit Beck, Café Tacuba have a remarkable ability to juxtapose genres and indulge in both musical and cultural pastiche.