Various Artists

This alternative Latin music anthology immediately defies expectations. The opening acoustic nortena, "La Trampa," emphasizes the texture of gentle plucking while disembodied voices echo the lead vocals with growls and murmurs. The second cut, "Amor Pa Mi," starts with straight reggae toasting before a call for liberation ushers in salsa rhythms. King Mafrundi's cover of "Hasta Siempre," a well-known tribute to Che Guevara, seamlessly blends a rock-steady verse with Latin rhythms and Spanish guitar. From dub to cha cha to rap to accordion-heavy ska, this album presents unusual arrangements that sound astoundingly natural, no doubt because they reflect the organic influences of the musicians.

These artists from Mexico, Cuba, Spain, Argentina, Brazil and France are part of one of rock history's lesser known, though wildly significant, stories. Half of the artists here have a direct link to the legendary Spanish band La Mano Negra, and almost all of the rest seem to be kindred spirits. That unity actually makes this album more instructive than most anthologies -- the connections are evident. What Bob Marley learned from the American pop hits of the early '60s, the Clash learned from the Jamaican music Marley helped create. And in the early '90s, La Mano Negra carried that ideologically leftist, musically inclusive torch throughout South America. The fires burning here are consistently bright, at times dazzling and always compelling.