
Maybe because my girlfriend makes fun of me about my supposed 'crush" on Lila Downs, I overlooked this DVD on my top ten list of last year. It was only recently that I watched Loteria Cantada and I wasn't disappointed. I have to admit, it took me a while to get into Lila's last release, La Cantina. It wasn't until the DJ's started bumping "Cumbia De Mole" at the clubs that I gave La Cantina the once over again. The concert footage was recorded in Mexico City and in her home state of Oaxaca in 2006. Each song on this DVD was edited by nine different visual artists, bringing the concert footage to life with color and imagery synonymous with Mexican art. The DVD is set up like Loteria, with each song being a different card in a Loteria deck. The footage and sound quality are broadcast quality and even if you feel the visual art maybe be too ambitious, Lila performance is top notch. If you are a fan of Lila's music and classic Mexican art like me, this is well worth getting.
Below is a clip from the DVD. It's Lila's version of the Son Jarocho standard, "La Iguana," courtesy of youtube.com.





One of my predictions in the beginning of this year was that this would be the year Reggae En Español would come into the forefront. Reggae En Español has been around since the early 80's but with a few exceptions it has never become popular with the mainstream Latino audience. However, late last year, one of the biggest songs on Latin Pop Radio has been DJ Flex's (formerly know as Nigga but changed his name for obvious reasons) "Te Queiro." Other artists such as Eddy Lover w/ La Factoria ("Perdoname") and El Rookie from Panama and have been rocking Reggae clubs all over Latin America since the 90's. However, the trend has been to change these artist's style to "romantic Reggaeton" to accommodate the audience that listen to Latin Pop radio .

