Pan Caliente: Favorite Christmas Tracks
The hits are the hits when it comes to holiday music, and if for some reason a massive “new” song comes along, it is 9 times out of 10 a…
By José Galván • • 1 min readThe hits are the hits when it comes to holiday music, and if for some reason a massive “new” song comes along, it is 9 times out of 10 a cover or remake of the classic. But, there are good new Christmas songs out there, whose musical integrity isn’t enraptured by traditional holiday melodies.
With the Holidays reaching their zenith, we bring you a couple of new and old songs about Christmas, Goodwill, and Holiday Cheer… en Español.
Feliz Fiestas Navideñas!
We start off with this newly released original by É Arenas, “Buñuelos a Montón.”
É Arenas otherwise known for his integral part in the band Chicano Batman, has created a holiday foodie track that takes us through all the delicious comida that comes with this season. Tamales, champurrado (most closely resembles hot chocolate), barbacoa, menudo and buñuelos (a type of deep fried dessert bread) make up the chorus to this cumbia/grupera inspired holiday track. Not saying an instant classic, but definitely catchy.
Next up we have our musica indie darlings, Buscabulla with this cover of “Cantares” made popular by El Gran Combo.
It’s a version that builds in choral rounds and is meant to mimic a Christmas Choir (in the key of Buscabulla, of course). The band remade the song as a form of nostalgia for their days as kids in Puerto Rico.
In 2015, Gaby Moreno released a phenomenal Holiday album entitled Posada. On it were covers and interpolations in both English and Spanish that stayed true to Moreno’s sound.
Originally entitled “El Burrito de Belen” and released in 1972, Gaby Moreno took this ultra classic, which most musicians rarely touch, and slowed it down into a sultry cumbia.
We close out with the soothing electronica sounds of Palenke Soultribe.
Included in a great compilation released 6 years ago with holiday originals, Palenke’s track brought their signature Caribbean grooves to December in style.