I know, there's no accounting for taste, but my favorites are Vicente Fernandez and Pepe Aguilar. And, yours?
Ranchero/Norteno I can see I need to branch out, a little more, Jim and Gringation: I end up listening mainly to Ranchero and Norteno style while working, and my wife is out of the apt (she won't allow it, in her presence!). I admire the two I mentioned in part for the quality of their voices. Fernandez has a voice approaching operatic quality, while Aguilar, who also has a good voice, has mastered a smoothness that is impressive....
Seriously, these are two things I detest about Mexico. My skin crawls when I hear ranchero music. My favorite Mexican music is...wait for it...wait...wait...DISCO! Who knew that disco wasn't dead? The Mexicans knew! Just kidding. But seriously my favorite Mexican band is Molotov. And I like lots of other rock bands in Mexico, especially when they are radicalized politically and don't hold their punches. To me the most interesting thing about Mexico musically is the edgy urban underbelly of the left, that's where Mexico's music is the most alive and the most forward looking, in my mind and that's what I relate to best.
I'm with RG, Molotov, Cafe Tacuba, and Maná are all good for me. I actually like banda, but not for hours on end, it's fun for short periods as lon as it's not 6 am.
My favorite Mexican Singer is DULCE. http://www.dulcelacantante.com/ And, I've had the pleasure of meeting her in person on two separate occasions here in Cancun during the Summer of 2007.
Well, looks like we have plenty to look forward to, if we expand in the directions suggested by RG and CC. I tried using Ranchero/Norteno/Banda on her, in the early days, when my wife was convinced she wanted to try Mexico, playing it at our apt in Hanoi (I don't know what the neighbors thought), but it didn't work, she still wanted to come here. I warned her cars would cruise slowly by, this music blaring; and, if any windows were open in the house, this sound would be drifting in at all times of the day, but she'd have none of it- she still wanted to come to Mexico so, here we are! I think the reason I like the stuff is early childhood imprinting, growing up in Texas: this was music, for me. Soy norteno. _____________________
I think there's a support group for that. My father was a musician and music critic. He grew up on country music, but he was cured of it by the Beatles. The only thing my father ever MADE me do was to listen to Pink Floyd's The Wall through headphones (he had an advance copy of it, before the artwork was done).
