Biography:

Formed in 1989 in Mexico City, Café Tacuba is at the forefront of rock en espanõl, Latin rock with all-Spanish lyrics. Consistently popular in Mexico, the band has gathered a loyal following of fans in the United States over their more than decade-long career. Café Tacuba are praised for their innovative sound that incorporates a wide variety of styles, including alternative rock, traditional Mexican music, ska, punk, funk, new wave, and electronica.

The only consistent trait across the band's albums is that there is no consistency—each album is different from the previous, and critics have found it nearly impossible to define Café Tacuba's style. After winning the first Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Album of the Year in 1999 for their double CD Reves/Yosoy, Café Tacuba took time off to refresh their creative energy. Much to the delight of their fans and critics, Café Tacuba emerged from their hiatus in 2002 with a quirky four-song EP, Vale Callampa, and a well-received full-length album, Cuatro Caminos, in 2003.

The four members of Café Tacuba lead singer Ruben Albarran; guitarist Joselo Rangel; Joselo's brother, bassist Enrique "Quique" Rangel; and keyboardist and programmer Emmanuel del Real, met while they were design students at the National Autonomous University in Satellite, a northern suburb of Mexico City. The guys originally called their band Alicia Ya No Vive Aquí, naming themselves after the 1974 Martin Scorsese film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. They were influenced principally by alternative rock bands of the 1980s like the Cure, the Clash, the Smiths, and Violent Femmes. Despite their English-language influences, they wanted to represent their native culture, so they incorporated Mexican signifiers into their music and they also changed their name.

They named themselves Café Tacuba after a restaurant in Mexico City called El Café de Tacuba, which had been established in the early twentieth century. In 1992 they signed with WEA Latina, a division of Warner Bros. & released their debut CD, Café Tacuba. The album—a mix of Mexican folk, techno, hard rock, Afro-Cuban, and jazz was an immediate double gold hit in Mexico and sold over 40,000 copies, surpassing the expectations of their record label. Record sales were especially high in the United States, despite the fact that the band received very little air play and the strength of the original songwriting was lost to non-Spanish-speaking listeners.

Reves/Yosoy was awarded the first Latin Grammy for Best Rock Album of the Year in 1999. After ten years with WEA Latina, Café Tacuba switched labels, and three years passed before the band released its next recording, this time with MCA. With their new label, they would now have a worldwide deal, rather than separate deals in the United States and Mexico. In 2007 Café Tacuba returned with a new studio album, Sino, and also performed at this year’s Coachella 2008. You can see more of Café Tacuba on Verdad y Fama on LATV.

Discography:

• Café Tacuba (1992)

• Re (1994)

• Avalancha de Exitos (1996)

• Reves/Yo Soy. Warner Bros, (1999)

• Tiempo Transcurrido – The best of Café Tacuba (2001) 

• Lo Esencial de Café Tacuba (2001)

• Vale Callampa (2002)

• Cuatro Caminos (2003)

• Super 6 (2003) • Un Viaje (2005)

• Un Viaje [3-CD/DVD] (2005)

• Unplugged (2005)

• Unplugged [CD/DVD] (2005)

• Sino (2007)

Websites:

www.cafetacuba.com.mx

www.myspace.com/cafetacvba

Courtesy of cafetacuba.com, wikipedia.org