Café Tacuba (), stylized as Café Tacvba, is a band from
Naucalpan de Juárez,
State of Mexico
The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the mo ...
. The group gained popularity in the early 1990s.
They were founded in 1989, before they had the current lineup of
Rubén Isaac Albarrán Ortega (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Emmanuel del Real Díaz (keyboards, piano,
programming, rhythm guitar,
melodica
The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...
, vocals), José Alfredo "Joselo" Rangel Arroyo (lead guitar, vocals), and Enrique "Quique" Rangel Arroyo (bass guitar,
electric upright bass, vocals), their friend Roberto Silva played the keyboards for a short period of time. Since the ''
Cuatro Caminos'' World Tour, Luis "El Children" Ledezma has played the drums in every concert but is not considered an official member of the band, as well as Ramiro Del Real Díaz, who joined the band as a support musician playing the guitar since 2015.
History
Formation (1989–90)
Previously known as "Alicia ya no vive aquí" (a tribute to
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's ''
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore''), the band took its final name from a coffee shop (el Café de Tacuba) located in downtown
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. The café, which opened in 1912 and had its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s, was representative of the
Pachuco scene at the time, something the band would later acknowledge as an influence. The ''Café de Tacuba'' is still in operation as a coffee shop and restaurant on Tacuba Street, in Mexico City's Historic Center. The band changed its name to Café Tacvba (changing the u for a v) to avoid legal issues with the coffee shop.
Singer Rubén Albarran and guitarist José Alfredo Rangel met while studying graphic design at
Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City.
Rangel's brother, Enrique, completed the band's lineup in 1989.
The group began playing music in the garage of a house in their neighborhood, Satélite, an upper-middle-class suburban area in the
Naucalpan
Naucalpan, officially Naucalpan de Juárez, is one of Municipalities of the State of Mexico, 125 Municipalities of Mexico State, and is located just northwest of Mexico City. The municipal seat is the city of Naucalpan de Juárez, which extends ...
municipality, of the
State of Mexico
The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the mo ...
. Café Tacvba was principally influenced by alternative rock bands of the 1980s such as
The Cure
The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...
,
The Clash
The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...
,
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...
, and
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza ( ...
. Despite their English-language influences, the band members wanted to represent their native culture, so they incorporated Mexican influences into their music. The group began singing primarily in Spanish and changed their name to Café Tacvba.
Café Tacvba went from being a garage band to a concert act in 1989, when they joined the scene surrounding El Hijo del Cuervo, a cultural club in
Coyoacán
Coyoacán ( ; , Otomi: ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre- ...
featuring writers and musicians. As they performed in various venues around Mexico City, they were discovered by
Argentinian music producer
Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (; born 19 August 1951) is an Argentine composer, record producer and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Gustavo Santaolalla, numerous accolades for List of works by Gustavo S ...
, who at the time was producing albums for leading bands of the burgeoning
Rock en Español
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
movement of the time.
Santaolalla arranged a contract for the band with
Warner Music Latina (WEA), with plans to produce its debut album himself. Café Tacvba in turn proceeded to record their first song for commercial release, "Tamales de Iguanita", which WEA released as part of a Christmas-themed rock en español compilation, ''Diciembre 25'', in 1990.
Early success (1991–96)

The group's debut album, ''
Café Tacvba'', was released in 1992 and was extremely popular in Mexico. The group experimented with many different musical styles, from
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
and
ska, to
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
and
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
, to regional Mexican varieties such
norteño,
bolero
Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...
, and
ranchera.
However, the band was taken aback by the stark difference between the sound on the album and group's "rawer" live sound, likening the recording to "a pasteurized version of ourselves".
Café Tacvba released five singles from the album – "Maria", "Rarotonga", "Las Persianas", "La Chica Banda" and "Las Batallas" – with a music video filmed for each, with the exception of the latter.
"María", directed by
Gustavo Garzón, was nominated for Video of the Year at the
Lo Nuestro Awards of 1993.
Two years later the band released a follow-up album, ''
Re'', in 1994. The singles "La Ingrata" (which had a music video directed by Fernando De Garay), "Las Flores" (which had a music video directed by Carlos Somonte) and "El Ciclón" were also commercially successful. On the album, collaborators included
Luis Conte and Alejandra Flores, while unconventional rock instrumentation such as
jarana,
guitarrón,
melodeon, and
drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...
s were employed. The album's mixture of genres such as
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
,
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
, and
metal
A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
with traditional Latin American styles helped the group develop a dedicated cult following.
During the promotion of the album, the band's attendance at the 1995 New Music Seminar in New York helped garner some media attention in the United States.
In 1996 Café Tacvba released ''
Avalancha de Éxitos'', meaning ''"Avalanche of Hits"'', a covers album in which the band performed songs by other Spanish-speaking artists. The tracks were recorded while the band was in the studio working on ''Re'' and grew tired of recording new material.
''Avalancha de Éxitos'' marked Café Tacvba's first appearance on
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
's album charts (number 12 on the Latin Pop chart, 28 on Top Latin Albums), and the band commenced an international tour to promote the album.
In 1996, the band also contributed to the AIDS benefit album ''
Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin'' produced by the
Red Hot Organization performing along with
David Byrne
David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads.
Byrne has ...
.
The music video for the single "Como Te Extraño" was nominated for a
Lo Nuestro Award.
''Revés/Yo Soy'' (1997–99)
In the wake of the group's international tour, Café Tacvba withdrew from music for a while. When they returned to work, they gathered in their own studio and spent roughly a half-year working on experimental music that encompassed
ambient electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
and
musique concrète
Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...
, as well as collaborative work with the
Kronos Quartet
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...
, an American string quartet.
Santaolalla liked the resulting music and deemed it ready for release. WEA, however, did not like the idea releasing an entirely instrumental album of experimental music, after the group had gained success with their more accessible style of music. In the end, WEA and Café Tacvba reached a compromise: if the band would record a second album of more conventional material, the label would release both as a double-disc package and sell it for the cost of a standard single-disc album.
As promised, the group returned to the studio to record an album of previously written material, and released ''
Revés/Yo Soy'' in 1999. The album was a double-disc set, featuring both the band's instrumental music and the newly recorded album. The album is notable for its unconventional packaging style, designed by vocalist Rubén Isaac Albarrán. In addition, the album titles Revés (which translates to "reverse") and Yo Soy (a
palindrome
A palindrome (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpæl.ɪn.droʊm/) is a word, palindromic number, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date "Twosday, 02/02/2020" and th ...
), exemplify the band's eccentricity. The album also featured two popular singles, "La Locomotora" and "La Muerte Chiquita", and
music videofor "Revés", directed by
Adolfo Dávila. The album won a
Latin Grammy
The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...
for Best Rock Album.
Hiatus and signing with MCA (2000–02)
After ''Revés/Yo Soy'', the group would not release another album for four years. In the meantime, Café Tacvba contributed recordings to various projects such as the ''
Amores Perros'' (2000) and ''
Y tu mamá también
''Y tu mamá también'' (Spanish for ''And Your Mother Too'') is a 2001 Mexican Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy drama Road movie, road film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who co-wrote the script with his brother Carlos Cuarón, Carlos. I ...
'' (2002) soundtracks as well as the tribute album ''El Mas Grande Homenaje a Los Tigres del Norte'' (2001), which included a cover of "Futurismo y Tradición". In addition, guitarists Emmanuel del Real Díaz and Joselo Rangel produced a couple songs for Julieta Venegas: "Me Van a Matar" and "Disco Eterno".
Rangel also began work on a solo album, ''Oso'', in 2003, which was produced by Albarrán.
While Café Tacvba pursued these various projects, they were looking for a new recording contract; the WEA relationship had come to an end after a trio of compilations released in 2001: ''
Tiempo transcurrido: The Best of Café Tacvba''; a videos collection of the same name; and ''Lo Esencial de Café Tacvba'', a triple-disc package containing the band's first three albums.
Maverick Records,
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
's label, reportedly attempted to sign Café Tacvba during this time; however, the band decided ultimately to sign with MCA Records in 2002.
''Cuatro Caminos'' (2003–06)
When Café Tacvba began work on ''
Cuatro Caminos'', the band took a different approach than in the past. They decided to work with a live drummer, and recruited
Victor Indrizzo and
Joey Waronker
Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He has performed with acts including Beck, R.E.M., Oasis and Roger Waters, and is a member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta.
Back ...
. Secondly, they wanted to work with a couple choice producers besides Santaolalla and Kerpel; they recruited Dave Fridmann and
Andrew Weiss. Released in June 2003, ''Cuatro Caminos'' was met with commercial and critical success. The album won a
Grammys
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album as well as two
Latin Grammys for Best Alternative Album and Best Rock Song ("
Eres").
The group toured extensively after the release of ''Cuatro Caminos'', and released a live album of a performance in front of 20,000 people in Mexico City at El Palacio de los Deportes in October 2004. The album was called ''
Un Viaje'', and was a double-disc set. After the release of the album, the group took a three-year break from releasing music.
''Sino'' (2007–2010)

In 2007 Café Tacvba returned with a new studio album, ''Sino''. The album has been compared to
classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
groups such as
The Who
The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
and the
Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...
, a departure from their previous
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
and
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
-influenced sound.
The band also performed on the main stage at
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...
that summer. On September 10, 2008, Café Tacvba became the leading nominee at the
Latin Grammy Awards of 2008 with a total of six nominations:
Album of the Year and
Alternative Music Album, for ''Sino''. The
lead single
A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
A similar term, "debut ...
"Volver a Comenzar" was shortlisted for
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...
and Best Alternative Song, the second single "Esta Vez" received nominations for
Best Rock Song and
Song of the Year. The band took the record for most
Latin Grammy
The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...
s won in one night. The inclusion of the song "Volver a Comenzar" in ''
LittleBigPlanet
''LittleBigPlanet'' (''LBP''; stylised as ''LittleBIGPlanet'') is a Puzzle video game, puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in th ...
'' projected the band internationally.
In 2008, the band collaborated with
Puerto Rican duo
Calle 13 on the song "
No Hay Nadie Como Tú". The song peaked at number 23 on the ''Billboard''
Hot Latin Songs
The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin music, Latin songs, published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart ranki ...
and number 15 on the ''Billboard''
Latin Rhythm Airplay
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion o ...
.
Formerly
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...
students, Rubén, Joselo and Quique design their own album covers.
''El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco'' (2012–2015)
Emmanuel stated in March 2012 that a new album was planned for release before the end of 2012. ''El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco'' was released on October 22, 2012. The album was recorded in front of live audiences in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and the United States. The first single was "De Este Lado del Camino".
''Jei Beibi'' (2016–present)
Café Tacvba released the single "Un Par de Lugares" in October 2016. On January 1, 2017 they released the single "Futuro", and on March 10, released another single called "Disolviéndonos" and the next week, the single "Que No" on March 24. With the release came the announcement of a new album, called "Jei Beibi" teased for release on May 5. It was released with the company ONErpm.
Themes
Café Tacvba is also seen as a strong advocate for various causes due to the important social and political messages they discuss in their music. The themes of environmental justice and communal welfare are especially prevalent. In their song "Trópico de Cáncer" (1994), for example, the band references the disaster of
San Juan Ixhuatepec, a catastrophic explosion of liquid petroleum gas tanks that killed 500–600 and injured 5000–7000 people on November 19, 1985. In "Trópico de Cáncer," Café Tacvba calls for a return to indigenous values of nature and community over the industrial capitalism responsible for so much suffering. This theme is apparent in the chorus of the song:
as well as other sections such as:
Members
Rubén Isaac Albarrán Ortega
Vocalist and guitar player. Previously, until 2001, he played in an alternative band called ''Villa Jardín''. In 2006 he announced his solo debut, ''Bienvenido al sueño'' (''Welcome to the Dream''), it consists of electronic instruments with
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
influences and
Prehispanic Mexican which he describes as ''"música protónica por no limitarlo o estereotiparlo"'' (''protonic music so as not to limit or stereotype it'').
He is also known as "Juan", "Cosme", "Masiosare", "Anónimo" (''Anonymous''), "Nrü" (pronunciation given as "Dshiu" in Spanish; perhaps intended to be ), "Amparo Tonto Medardo In Lak’ech" or "At Medardo ILK", "G3", "Gallo Gasss" (''Gasss Rooster''), "Élfego Buendía", "Rita Cantalagua", "Sizu Yantra", "Ixaya Mazatzin Tleyótl", "Ixxi Xoo" and now "Cone Cahuitl". He lived the first four years of his life in
Monterrey
Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
. Studied at UAM (
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana) where he received a bachelor's degree in Design and Graphic Communication. Rubén, or however he is now known, has always pushed gender norms through provocative lyrics, and the occasional skirt worn on stage at concerts.
In the shows prior to the release of their first album, people would yell "Juan!" (the name of one of the band's first underground hits) to Rubén, so he kept the name for the release of the first album. Two years later he got bored and changed it to "Cosme" for the release of "Re". Since then, he has changed his name for every album and world tour.
In 2010, while on break from Café Tacvba, Rubén Albarrán formed a side project called
HopPo! In the
Dakota language
The Dakota language ( or ), also referred to as Dakhóta, is a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota people of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, commonly known in English as the Sioux. Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lak ...
, "Hoppo" means "Lets Go!" Albarrán briefly toured during the fall of 2010 in South and North America with HopPo!
Hoppo's self-titled debut album consists of
Latin American
Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America).
Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk horror
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
cover songs, and no original material. This particular type of folk music, also known as
Nueva Canción
(European , ; 'new song') is a left-wing social movement and musical genre in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, characterized by folk music, folk-inspired styles and socially committed lyrics. is widely recognized to have played a profou ...
, was originally written in the 1960s and 1970s during a
social movement
A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...
of protest and
anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958 by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
sentiment by
South American
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
singer-songwriters and
social activists. The album contains three songs written by
Violeta Parra
Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal and a ...
, including "
Gracias a la vida".
Emmanuel Del Real

Emmanuel "Meme" del Real has been in the band from the moment they took the name Café Tacvba. Since the beginning he has been in charge of the keyboards, acoustic guitar, piano,
music programming, vocals,
melodeon, and
melodica
The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...
.
For a long time he only sang backup, but since the release of ''
Re'' in 1992, he began singing lead on songs like ''El Borrego'' (''The Lamb'') or ''Pez'' (''Fish''), he also began playing the guitar more than before.
On the covers album ''
Avalancha de Éxitos'' he plays guitar on ''No Controles'' (''Don't Control''). Since then he's also been known to play the
jarana. Del Real has written some of the band's biggest hits such as ''La Ingrata'' (''The Ingrate''), ''Las Flores'' (''The Flowers''), ''Aviéntame'' (''Throw Me'') and ''
Eres'' (''You Are'').
He is known in the Mexican electronica scene as "DJ Angustias"; is part of the
Noiselab collective; and released a solo album in late 2005. Del Real has also produced songs for many Mexican artists like
Julieta Venegas
Julieta Venegas Percevault (; born 24 November 1970) is a Mexican singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer who specializes in pop-rock-indie music in Spanish. She embarked on her musical journey by joining several bands, including the ...
,
Natalia Lafourcade
María Natalia Lafourcade Silva (; born 26 February 1984) is a Mexican singer and songwriter who performs in genres such as pop rock, jazz, and folk music. Since her debut in 2002, she has been one of the most influential singers in Latin Americ ...
,
Ely Guerra, and
Liquits, among others.
José Alfredo Rangel Arroyo

José "Joselo" Alfredo Rangel, spent the first 9 years of his life in
Minatitlán, Veracruz
Minatitlán is a city in the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, in the Olmeca Region, Olmeca region, to the north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, along the Coatzacoalcos River.
...
, until his family moved to
Mexico DF where he studied industrial design in the
UAM.
During his youth he had various hobbies like comic books and design even though he decided music was his major passion.
While in college he met a person with a peculiar voice and extravagant ideas: Albarrán. They became best friends and with his brother, Enrique "Quique" Rangel and they formed a band called ''Alicia Ya No Vive Aquí''.
Later on he started working on a new project called "Cafe Tacuba" with Ruben Albarran on the vocals, Enrique "Quique" Rangel on the bass (contrabajo) and Roberto Silva on the keyboards. Emmanuel del Real took the place of Roberto when he left before the band became famous.
After 13 years with the band Rangel decided to launch a solo side project. He has released two albums: the first, 2001's "Oso" (''Bear''), named after Joselo's childhood nickname; the second, titled "Lejos" (''Far'') in 2005.
He wrote four books, ''CRockónicas Marcianas'' (a compilation of chronicles, 2011), the collection od stories O''ne hit wonder'' (2015), the novel ''Los desesperados'' (2018) and ''Cuba Stone'' (2016), a review of
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
' concert in Cuba, in collaboration with
Javier Sinay and Jeremías Gamboa.
Enrique Rangel Arroyo
Enrique "Quique" Rangel Arroyo was a designer whose interest in music was influenced by his brother Joselo. He was introduced to Albarrán by Joselo and together, along with Beto Silva, formed "Cafe Tacuba". He abandoned his career as a designer when he brought the band De Real in the late 80s and they changed their name to Café Tacvba.
He designs album art for other bands and, like De Real, composes melodies for other groups. He is also a member of a side project called ''Los Odio''.
Luis Ledezma
Also known as "El Children", Ledezma is the band's live drummer but is not considered an official band member.
Ramiro Del Real Díaz
A support musician that has been with the band since 2015 playing guitars, jarana and percussions. He is not considered an official band member.
Genre
Their musical style covers a wide variety of genres, though it is most commonly labeled as
Latin Alternative/
Rock en Español
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
. Their music has been heavily influenced by Mexico's
indigenous population and
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
traditions, but also by punk and electronic music and other bands on the
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
scene. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of their music is Albarrán's nasal voice, which, combined with his impressive lung capacity (as demonstrated on "La Ingrata", a homage of
norteño music), makes for a very distinctive sound. They sing entirely in Spanish but have a significant Anglophone following regardless.
The song "Chilanga Banda" has a
hip-hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
beat under a stream of Mexico City slang originally written by Jaime López, "María" is a 'bolero' ballad about a ghost, "El Fin de la Infancia" a
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
-heavy 'banda ranchera' sound that reflects the influence of 'banda sinaloense', "Desperté" has a tango-driven melody while "El Borrego" mocks
speed metal
Speed metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It is desc ...
.
Discography
Every studio album released by the band so far has been produced by
Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (; born 19 August 1951) is an Argentine composer, record producer and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Gustavo Santaolalla, numerous accolades for List of works by Gustavo S ...
except for ''
Cuatro Caminos'' which was produced by Santaloalla,
Dave Fridmann
David Lawrence Fridmann is an American record producer and musician.
Career
From 1990 onwards he co-produced most releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips. Other bands he has worked with include Weezer, Saxon Shore (band), Saxon Shore, Neon ...
(
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...
,
Weezer
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...
) and
Andrew Weiss (
Ween). ''Cuatro Caminos'' was featured on several Top Albums of 2003 charts, including ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'', ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
Blender Magazine
''Blender'' was an American music magazine published from 1994 to 2009 that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to pop culture". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities. It compiled lists of albums, artists, and songs, i ...
'' and won the 2004
Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album.
Studio albums
* ''
Café Tacuba
Café Tacuba (), stylized as Café Tacvba, is a band from Naucalpan de Juárez, State of Mexico. The group gained popularity in the early 1990s. They were founded in 1989, before they had the current lineup of Rubén Albarrán, Rubén Isaac Albar ...
'' (1992)
* ''
Re'' (1994)
* ''
Avalancha de Éxitos'' (1996)
* ''
Revés/Yo Soy'' (1999)
* ''
Cuatro Caminos'' (2003)
* ''
Sino'' (2007)
* ''
El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco'' (2012)
* ''
Jei Beibi'' (2017)
Other albums
*''
MTV Unplugged
''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...
'' (1995)
*''
Tiempo Transcurrido'' (2001) – best-of album with DVD included
*''
Vale Callampa'' (EP) (2002) – tribute album to Chilean band
Los Tres
*''
Un Viaje'' (2005) – 15th anniversary concert (RIAA: Platinum)
*''
Un Segundo MTV Unplugged'' (2019)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
Latin Grammy Awards
Note: In
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, ''
Revés/Yo Soy'' also was nominated for
Best Engineered, the nomination went to Joe Chiccarelli at the album's engineer.
Appearances
* Emmanuel del Real and
Chetes wrote and produced 16 De Febrero (February 16), the title song for the film
Fuera del cielo (Beyond The Sky).
* The song "Eo" from
Cuatro Caminos is featured on Electronic Arts
FIFA Football 2004 video game.
* The song "Futurismo y Tradicion" is featured on Electronic Arts'
FIFA Street 2 video game.
* The song "Volver a Comenzar" is featured in Media Molecule's
LittleBigPlanet
''LittleBigPlanet'' (''LBP''; stylised as ''LittleBIGPlanet'') is a Puzzle video game, puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in th ...
video game, as well as the Netflix film
Chupa.
* The band played at The Lollapalooza Music Festival in Chicago, IL on August 5, 2007 and were greeted by an enthusiastic audience. Following their 45:00 set, they were brought back for three encores.
* On July 17, 2007, Cafe Tacvba unveiled a new song entitled "El Outsider" on a taping for
Mun2's television show
Vivo.
* They have contributed to movie soundtracks like
Amores Perros,
Y Tu Mamá También
''Y tu mamá también'' (Spanish for ''And Your Mother Too'') is a 2001 Mexican Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy drama Road movie, road film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who co-wrote the script with his brother Carlos Cuarón, Carlos. I ...
,
Piedras Verdes and
Vivir Mata as well as tribute albums to
José José and
Los Tigres del Norte. Café Tacvba also collaborated with different artists such as
Plastilina Mosh,
Kronos Quartet
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...
,
David Byrne
David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads.
Byrne has ...
,
Celso Piña,
Maldita Vecindad,
Sekta Core,
Calle 13,
Enanitos Verdes,
Los Lobos
Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") is a Mexican American rock group, rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional ...
and
Control Machete. They have played live with
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...
,
Incubus
An Incubus () is a demon, male demon in human form in folklore that seeks to have Sexuality in Christian demonology, sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. Parallels exist in many c ...
,
Los Lobos
Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") is a Mexican American rock group, rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional ...
and
Los Tres.
*Performed at 2013's
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...
.
References
External links
Cafe Tacuba Official Web SiteUniversal Music Latin Entertainment , Cafe TacvbaTodoTacvba Sitio Fan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafe Tacuba
1989 establishments in Mexico
Grammy Award winners
Latin Grammy Award winners
Mexican alternative rock groups
Mexican musical quartets
MTV Video Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups from Naucalpan
Rock en español music groups
Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists
Warner Music Latina artists
Wrasse Records artists