Corridos pa' la Raza Acelerada

Regional Mexican music has changed a lot since the 1940s and '50s. Banda and norteño are much more prominent than they were back then, "duranguense" has become an important word in the regional Mexican vocabulary, and mariachi bands are viewed as classic or old-school rather than cutting-edge (sort of like Dixieland bands in jazz). But some things in regional Mexican music haven't changed much since the '40s and '50s; corridos, for example, are more popular than ever. So from a marketing standpoint, it makes perfect sense for Dueto Voces del Rancho to come out with a 2008 release titled Corridos Pa La Raza Acelerada — and as that title indicates, this 32-minute CD focuses on corridos exclusively. Although corridos also work well with mariachi, banda, tierra caliente, sierreño, or duranguense instrumentation, Dueto Voces del Rancho opt for an accordion-powered norteño approach — which is appropriate considering that some of today's most exciting corrido providers (los Tigres del Norte, los Tucanes de Tijuana, Grupo Exterminador) are norteño bands. Outlaw themes have been asserting themselves in corridos for generations; long before los Tigres did a lot to popularize narcocorridos (corridos about drug smuggling) on '70s classics like "Contrabando y Traición" and "La Banda del Carro Rojo," corridos with outlaw themes were plentiful. And outlaw themes are certainly plentiful on Corridos Pa La Raza Acelerada, which contains its share of hard-hitting narcocorridos. "El Toro Puntal," "La Vida Recio," and "El Pachangón" candidly describe the activities of Mexican drug cartels, and the disturbing "El Taliban" outlines the gruesome methods that some narcotraficantes have resorted to in Mexico (including beheadings). Of course, one needs strong storytelling skills if a corrido-oriented album is going to be a creative success; thankfully, Edgar Rodriguez and Mariano Fernanez are both lively, engaging storytellers, and they see to it that the excellent Corridos Pa La Raza Acelerada is one of late 2008's most memorable — if, at times, unsettling — corrido discs.