Argentine Music: Find out the top bands, songs, and albums to get a taste for music in Argentina

Argentine Music — By Diego

Argentina is the home of many famous music artists, and to get a true taste of Argentine culture, you should become familiar with the music. It helps you learn about Argentina, Argentines, and it will certainly help you improve your Spanish!  Buenos Aires is a great place to see some of these famous artists live, so you should keep an eye out for who is playing while you’re here. Some of the smaller artists play regularly in Buenos Aires, and the concerts are usually pretty cheap.

Below is a list of some of the more famous artists, and I have included one album and one song from that album that I recommend you look for, to give you an idea of what each group is like. I have broken down each section into types of music, and have included some of the best and most popular groups for Argentine Rock, Reggae, Ska, and Folk. Tango is also important in Buenos Aires, but I will touch on this in another section.

**There are tons of great artists from Argentina, new and old. Instead of trying to name them all, the idea is to give you a taste of the music available in Argentina. Hopefully this will help you find some music you like. If you think there is an Argentine artist that can´t be left out, write me a comment and I will consider adding them.**

Rock
Argentina is famous in South America for their rock, which has become a genre in itself (Argentine Rock). Below are some of the most famous rock artists/groups in Argentina in the last 25 years.

Artist/Group: Fito Paez – Very famous Argentine singer. He sings a softer, pop style of rock.
Recommended Album: Amor Después del Amor
Recommended Song: Brillante Sobre El Mic

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Artist/Group: Soda Stereo – This group could be considered the epidemy of Argentine rock. It’s a much harder rock than Fito Paez.
Recommended Album: Me Verás Volver (selection of hits)
Recommended Song: De Musica Ligera, super famous song.

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Artist/Group: Sumo - one of the most influential bands of Argentine Rock.   It is more of an alternative rock, with lots of reggae and ska sounds.
Recommended Album: Obras Cumbres (selection of their best songs on two disks)
Recommended Song: No Tan Distintos

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Artist/Group: Andrés Calamaro – originally part of the famous Spanish-Argentine group Los Rodríguez, he eventually broke away to produce his own music. He became hugely popular in Argentina, releasing various hit songs, and at one point, started uploading his own music for free downloads for fans.
Recommended Album: Honestidad Brutal
Recommended Song: Te Quiero Igual

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Artist/Group: Babasonicos - A newer Argentine rock group (although not that new), and very popular. They put on a lot of free concerts in Buenos Aires.
Recommended Album: Anoche
Recommended Song: Yegua

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Artist/Group: Attaque 77 – Another well known group, though much newer than Soda Stereo, and not as famous. This is harder rock as well.
Recommended Album: Trapos
Recommended Song: No Me Arrepiento.

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Reggae
Argentine Reggae is also extremely popular here, and you can find shows nearly every day of the week. Some of the best Latin Reggae comes from Argentina.

Artist/Group: Los Cafres – Currently the most famous reggae band in Argentina. Fairly chill reggae.
Recommended Album: Quién Da Más
Recommended Song: Si el Amor se Cae

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Artist/Group: Fidel Nadal – this guy looks, moves and acts Jamaican, but is Argentine. The way he raps has a special rhythm that really grabs you. Fairly upbeat reggae.
Recommended Album: Emocionado
Recommended Song: Intensivo

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Artist/Group: Los Pericos – Fairly upbeat reggae.
Recommended Album: Pampas Reggae
Recommended Song: Home Sweet Home

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Artist/Group: Dread Mar I – Very chill reggae, nice lyrics.
Recommended Album: Amor Es
Recommended Song: Lluvia, Nubes, Tristeza

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Ska/Punk
Argentina has had a strong ska and punk following for many years, and ska music now is still very popular.
Artist/Group: Karamelo Santo This is one of my favorite groups. They have recently become quite big, and were recently touring in Europe. The music is pretty upbeat, though sometimes bordering on Reggae, and they put on a great concert live.
Recommended Album: Antena Pachamama
Recommended Song: Luna Loca

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Artist/Group: Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – energetic ska music mixed in with any other styles.
Recommended Album: 20 Grandes Exitos
Recommended Song: Matador

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Artist/Group: Todos Tus Muertos – punk, with some rock and reggae mixed in. Very popular group in their day, its where Fidel Nadal started out.
Recommended Album: Dale Aborigen
Recommended Song: Sé Que No

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Hip Hop
There is very little hip hop in Argentina, in terms of hearing hip hop and in terms of groups that make hip hop. However, there are a couple of excellent groups, and it appears as though hip hop music is slowly gaining a following.

Artist/Group: Iluminate – A group of 5 different rappers who often sing/rap all at the same time, there are also numerous other instruments, such as horns, drums, and a DJ. The leading group for underground hip hop in Argentina, their music is a great mix of sounds and lyrics.
Recommended Album: Luminareas
Recommended Song: Luminareas (la definición)

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Artist/Group: Dante Spinetta – Although more commercial than Iluminate, Dante has been one of the pioneers of the Argentine hip hop scene.
Recommended Album: El Apagón
Recommended Song: Olvídalo(la definición)

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Folk
Artist/Group: Onda Vaga – Up and coming folk music group, has developed quite a large following in Buenos Aires. Very catchy music.
Recommended Album: Fuerte y Caliente
Recommended Song: Sequía de Amor

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So now the hard part – how do you listen to this music?

One option is a magical site called Taringa. Taringa is a site where people upload links to sites (such as MegaUpload, Rapidshare, etc.) where albums of artists have been uploaded to. The selection is amazing, especially of Latin music, because it is an Argentine site. Unfortunately, this also means it is in Spanish. To use the site, do a search for music (use quotes to narrow the searches if you need to). Enter a result, and it should have a link to a site where you can download it from. Sometimes, they are dead links, so you have to go to look for another one.

MySpace and YouTube are also great options. All of these bands listed have MySpace sites as well as videos that have been uploaded to YouTube (although on YouTube they often have very poor audio quality).

If you have downloaded the music and decide you like it, you should buy the CDs whenever possible. In Buenos Aires, this music can be found at any music store. In other countries, some of it can be pretty hard to come by.

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Tags: argentina music, fito paez, soda stereo, taringa