I haven't heard most of these. My un-informed comments:
8 Y MÁS!: Juega Billar (Haven't heard it. Audio clips sounds okay, but it's more of the same New York retro cover stuff that I tend to avoid these days)
BENEDICT & THE MAGIC BAND: Swing Sabor 3 (Bought it. Didn't really like it very much, though it's okay and it does kind of remind one of an early 70s Willie Colon sound at times.)
ALBERTO CAICEDO: La Voz De Colombia - Gerardo Rosales Presents: Alberto Caicedo (Don't know it. I think I checked out some samples and was unimpressed.)
MAMBORAMA: Directamente Al Mambo (Haven't liked the other Mamborama I've heard, and didn't like the samples or sample tracks or whatever that I heard from this--BUT, as I've said ad nauseum, I don't like timba very much, and that's basically what this band does.)
OCHÚN: En El Año De Ochún (Don't know it. Don't like the samples I checked out.)
LEFTY PÉREZ: Salseros Unidos (Haven't heard it, don't really know him. Have heard some not so pleasant things about him.)
REAL CHARANGA: Real Charanga (I think I checked some samples from this and said nah, but it's charanga after all and I tread carefully in that style.)
LITTLE JOHNNY RIVERO "PEQUEÑO JOHNNY": Pasos (Bought it. Wanted to like it, tried to like it, ultimately found I didn't like it.)
ROBERTO ROENA Y SU APOLLO SOUND: Sr. Bongó (Haven't heard or really heard much about. Roena has to compete with his own reissued Fania albums. I think I would rather get those before trying something like this, although I wouldn't mind hearing it. He's made some great music in the past.)
TELMARY: A Diario (Don't know it.)
AFRICANDO: Ketukuba (This didn't really sound like my thing from the millisecond clips I checked, but I would like to hear it. I don't think the African artists involved do music I would ordinarily be that interested in.)
LOS ASES DE LA TIMBA: Aquí Están Los Ases (More timba. I'm hoping someone will eventually hook me up with a copy of this, since it's one of the more talked about timba releases this year, and maybe I would find something I'd like--but I'm not about to just buy it.)
IGNACIO BERROA: Codes (I think I checked some of this out and it was too jazzy.)
DESCEMER: Siete Rayo (Don't know it.)
MIGUEL ANGA DIAZ: Echu Mingua (One of my favorite albums from the last few years, as mentioned before.)
PEDRO LUIS FERRER: Natural (I'm not interested in this. I suspect this is a case where knowing Spanish is more of a necessity.)
PEDRO GIRAUDO: Desconsuelo (Don't know it.)
EL GRAN COMBO: Arroz Con Habichuela (Bought it. I really like the title track and "No Te Detengas A Pensar." It's pretty good overall and the vocals are particularly strong, but there is at least one track I don't like, and it's a short album.)
HAYDÉE MILANES: Haydee (Don't know but the audio clips sound nice.)
FRANCISCO MELA: Melao (Don't know it.)
GOZA PEPILLO: Inter-Activo (Don't know it. I think I managed to track down some audio samples and it was nothing like the description in descarga.com, but I might be imagining that since I can't remember what it did sound like.
GONZALO RUBALCABA: Solo (Haven't heard. Won a Lammy. I think maybe the only album on this list that did.)
