365 Days, 365 Files: Bloque – Nena

If I played a game of word association with you, what would be the first thing you think of when I say "Colombia"?

The unfortunate answer would be "cocaine". The answer it should be is "music".

When I was exploring rock en Español in the late ’90s, a good number of the artists I encountered were from Colombia — Aterciopelados, Juanes, Shakira, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and Soraya. The country has produced some of the most vital artists in Latin music.

Bloque also came from Colombia, and the band recorded a very high-profile album for David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label.

What happened to the band? I’m not sure. My Google-fu returns an outdated page from the Luaka Bop web site, and the word "bloque" is a generic enough not to get meaningful search results.

Perhaps the band only managed to release one album, or perhaps Bloque recorded many albums, none of which reached the states.

Regardless, Bloque, the album, is a fascinating mix of rock guitars and Latin rhythms. "Nena" was a particularly favorite track of mine to include on mixed CDs.

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