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Alt.Latino's Favorite Songs, Albums And Artists Of 2013

Clockwise, from top left: Bosnian Rainbows, Mala Rodriguez, Frikstailers, Raquel Sofia, La Santa Cecilia.
Courtesy of the artists
Clockwise, from top left: Bosnian Rainbows, Mala Rodriguez, Frikstailers, Raquel Sofia, La Santa Cecilia.

As we combed through this year, Felix Contreras and I both marveled at the sheer amount of adventures that filled our 2013. It feels as if we've crammed several years into one.

We got to hang out with Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar, Oscar-winning producer Gustavo Santaolalla and Puerto Rican rapper Tego Calderon. We brought you killer music festivals — South by Southwest, Latin Alternative Music Conference and Vive Latino. And we did a lot of traveling: Much of the year found us in Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico, as we gathered new music and great interviews and stories along the way. Speaking of big moves, this is the year we went international: With me in Mexico City and Felix in Washington, D.C., we can truly say that Alt.Latino is a fully bi-cultural show, with one foot in the U.S. and one in Latin America.

This year, we got to make you dance and picked you up, but we also had serious conversations with journalists and authors about issues that affect our community. But the conversation that means the most is the one we have with you — not just when our show comes out, but on Facebook and Twitter. Every day, you send us amazing music, stories, ideas, criticism and praise that makes this more than a podcast; it makes it a dialogue about who we are as Latinos, where we've been and where we're headed.

Now, before anyone jumps up to remind us who we left off the list — or who shouldn't be on here — remember that this, like everything we do on our show, is part of an ongoing conversation. We want to hear from you. Next week, the show will be made up entirely of your picks for the year's best songs, albums and artists.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jasmine Garsd is an Argentine-American journalist living in New York. She is currently NPR's Criminal Justice correspondent and the host of The Last Cup. She started her career as the co-host of Alt.Latino, an NPR show about Latin music. Throughout her reporting career she's focused extensively on women's issues and immigrant communities in America. She's currently writing a book of stories about women she's met throughout her travels.