I just bought Julieta Venegas's CD "Si" a week ago. It has not left my CD player. I know all the songs now. I have no favorite song. I look forward to the next song as much as I'm sad the last one is over. This whole CD rocks.
She is an amazingly talented muscian! She plays the acoustic guitar in her songs, the accordian, sings (como no!) and WROTE all the songs herself. She has a talented cast of musicians filling in the gaps (record scratches, bass, synthesizers, electric guitar, et cetera.) She does a fantastic job of mixing a little of the traditional Mexicana sound with funkified rhythmns and thumping beats. Very disco tech and yet grounded in tradition. This makes it easier to listen to, I think, and easier to love.
Yeah, it's all about love, as the cover might suggest. (Julieta in a wedding dress.) I thought it was funny to flip to the back and see her in a green punky jacket and funky shoes over the dress. She's incredibly cute and the whole CD is a lot of fun.
"Andar Conmigo" is the most traditional sounding and caught the attention of the Latin Grammies as well. What a beautiful song. ("Walk with me.") Lento (Slow) is not slow at all but is a fun song. I could go on gusing about each song... they're really just all fantastic. If you've ever thought about getting into Latin music and didn't know where to start, let me recommend Julieta Venegas whole-heartedly.
I was disappointed in my Alejandro Sanz album -- maybe I'll like it more as I'm better able to express emotion in Spanish. (Your language of emotion is always your first language after all!)