The annual Latin Alternative Music Conference is the single biggest event of its kind in the U.S. Once a year, Felix Contreras and I head up to New York City in order to soak up the live music, meet up with industry folks and, most importantly, see up-and-coming artists.
This year was no exception, as we caught some amazing concerts by the likes of the Chilean band Astro. But our minds were also blown by the sheer quality and quantity of records and samples that were dropped in our hands by young musicians.
After several nights spent cavorting through New York concert venues — it's a tough job, but someone has to do it — we sat on a bench in Central Park and taped this week's Alt.Latino. We discuss our favorite shows, artists we'd heard for the first time and loved, and whether or not Felix sneaked into my hotel room dressed as a lucha libre ninja and took some CDs and makeup.
As we headed to Central Park, we posted our location on Twitter and Facebook — and guess what? Several listeners stopped by to say hi and talk about music with us, including New York Times music critic Jon Pareles. It turns out that people listen to our show, so from now on, we're going to have to watch what we say on the air.
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