KCRW’s Global Beat is a series highlighting emerging artists from around the world. Our second season takes us to México, hosted by KCRW DJ Raul Campos alongside our curators, Mexico City DJ and music supervisor Junf, director of Festival NRMAL Moni Saldaña, and NPR’s Betto Arcos.
This week, Monterrey’s Moni Saldaña returns to Global Beat to highlight some of the most cutting-edge women in the alternative Mexican scene. Ranging from classical cello to modern dance-pop, artists Mabe Fratti, Margaritas Podridas, and Kirnbauer celebrate musical and cultural diversity through their unique artistic perspectives. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of tradition to experimentation, this episode is guaranteed to have a track for you. Relax, tune in, and get ready to experience the sounds, textures, traditions, and visions of Mexico’s vast musical landscape.
More: Global Beat México: percussive trip-folk, symphonic-pop, and expansive jazz
Mabe Fratti - “Cada Músculo”
Sultry, smooth, and genre-bending, this Mabe Fratti track demonstrates how weaving traditional instruments into unconventional sounds is ushering in the future of Mexican music. Mabe’s round, silky vocals and classical cello training out of CDMX fuse with alternative Latin elements for a result that is tantalizingly beautiful. Draw yourself a bubble bath, light some candles, and let the relaxation of “Cada Músculo” pour over you. You deserve it.
Margaritas Podridas- “Ceremonia”
Hermosillo’s Margaritas Podridas deliver cascading instrumentation layered with a punk, screw-the-system attitude in their exploratory body of work. Aptly titled “Ceremony,” this track feels like a celebration of the shoegaze past and New Wave future. Catch Margaritas Podridas at the Paramount Theater in Boyle Heights Nov. 10 — it’ll be a bash you won’t want to miss. Find out more information here.
Kirnbauer - “2000nunca”
Been daydreaming about quitting your job to travel the world, fawning over a new crush, or just being the main character you know you are? “2000nunca” is the perfect score for that moment. Bringing her German roots to Mexican culture, Kirnbauer’s fresh modern pop delivers no less than sonic bliss. Reverberating vocals permeate the track’s house production style, and characterize the careful composition of Kirnbauer’s discography as a whole.
More: Global Beat México: Los Vaguens, Don Couto, and Costa Felina
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