Summer Spectacular feat. Quetzal

Heat Rocks

The Albums:

• Alé Kumá: Cantaoras (Alé Kumá, 2002)
• Mary J. Blige: What's the 411? (Uptown, 1992)
• The Smiths: Louder Than Bombs (Rough Trade, 1987)
• Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly (TDE, 2015)

We wanted to dedicate an episode to talking about the music of summer, easily the one season that people have the deepest sonic associations with. To that aim, we invited the two founding members of L.A.'s Quetzal, Martha Gonzalvez and Quetzal Flores. Since 1992, the group has melded the son jarocho tradition into all manners of other genres, resulting in seven albums (and counting), including last year's The Eternal Getdown. Together, each of our quartet got to pick an album that we associate with the summer and as you see above, we covered a whirlwind of styles and eras that bring up all manners of thoughts and feelings for us. Summer love may be fleeting but it lingers, always. More on Quetzal

• Tiny Desk Concert (NPR's All Songs Considered)
• "The Fiery Music of Quetzal" (KCET's Artbound)
• Website | Facebook

Show Tracklisting:

• Quetzal: Fig Pulp
• Alé Kumá: Vola Pajarito
• Alé Kumá: Por Que Me Pega
• Alé Kumá: Oiaymelo
• Mary J Blige: Love No Limit
• Mary J Blige: Reminisce
• Mary J Blige: Sweet Thing
• Mary J Blige: What's the 411
• Mary J Blige: I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By
• The Smiths: Sheila Take a Bow
• The Smiths: Shoplifters of the World Unite
• The Smiths: Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
• Kendrick Lamar: Hood Politics
• Kendrick Lamar: Alright
• Kendrick Lamar: King Kunta
• Kendrick Lamar: These Walls
• Kendrick Lamar: i

Here's the Spotify playlist of as many of the songs above as we can find on there.

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!