Soundtreks: Calle 13, Buena Vista Social Club, Bollywood

SoundTreks: A regular feature on the music the other 97 percent of the globe is listening to.

Buena Vista Social Club returned from the dead (almost literally) last week, and this week Puerto Rican rappers/provocateurs Calle 13 took on the living, breathing lyrical fire. (Colombian rock outfit Aterciopelados wasn't far behind on that front either.) Plus, a sneak preview of songs from a hotly anticipated Bollywood flick, and Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo goes folkloric ... again?

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this edition of SoundTreks.]

Calle 13, Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo
Nobody can touch these guys for sheer innovation. Three albums ago, this Puerto Rican duo (with the massive take-along band) were simply reinventing reggaetón; on Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo, they've taken on, you know, music. Guess who wins? Residente is at the top of his lyrical game: he brings swagger and braggadocio to the table, but he tempers it with humor and biting political satire.

Check the opening of the title track, in which he raps: "Yo vengo de atrás, yo vengo de abajo/Tengo las uñas sucias porque yo trabajo/Me ha pasado toda la vida mezclando cemento/Para mantener los gringos contentos." In a nutshell, "I come from behind, I come from below/My nails are dirty because I work/I've spent all my life mixing cement/to keep the gringos happy." Ouch. And yes. Meanwhile, Visitante can't keep his hands out of the world's music chest, which makes this album sonically exciting, politically inspiring and completely cool. Drooling yet?

David Hidalgo and Los Cenzontles, Songs of Wood and Steel
This one is near and dear to my heart, since Los Cenzontles's cultural center -- dedicated to preserving and teaching traditional Mexican music -- is just a boatride across the San Francisco Bay. And who doesn't love Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo? I'll confess that initially I wasn't overwhelmed by this album, but as I say in my review, it's a grower not a show-er. If you had to pick just one song to listen to, make it "Howling Moon."

Attention, Bollywood fans!
My Name Is Khan is one of 2009's most hotly anticipated Bollywood films. Karan Johar's directing (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) and Shankar Ehsan Loy is doing the music. Through means that I won't disclose, I got an early earful of the songs from film, and let's just say they're amazing -- earthy, fascinating, anything but run of the mill. Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sings. 'Nuff said.

And finally, Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall
In the post-Buena Vista Social Club era, it might be easy to dismiss what this conglomerate did for Cuban music around the world. I have colleagues who feel Americans can only accept Cuban music if it comes from doddering octogenarians playing music that had its heyday 50-plus years ago, when Havana was still a playground for rich Americans. Why can't people get interested in what's happening in Cuba now? These friends ask. Are they threatened by young, potent Cuban men?

Possibly. But to despise Buena Vista because it appeals to the American audience's rather limited taste is akin to shooting the messenger. The 1998 concert, the subsequent film, the release of the album that set it all off struck many of us on a very deep level. It was profoundly gratifying to see aging musicians who'd had such a vital place in the development of Cuban son finally receiving a few years in the spotlight -- not to mention some money for their trouble. That simple human truth would have resonated, even if the music hadn't been as elegant and, frankly, as enjoyable as it was. But it was. The U.S. isn't always big on saluting its own elders; it was nice -- and it still is nice -- to see American audiences give props to Cuba's.

Viva Buena Vista, and enjoy the release (finally) of the live recording of a concert that occurred 10 years ago. With just the two opening chords of "Chan Chan," Cuban music finally got its visa to return to the States.