The eleventh annual Latin Alternative Music Conference returns to New York City starting July 6 for five days of shows and panels dedicated to Spanish-language alternative music.

Performers include Manu Chao, Calle 13, Café Tacvba, Pitbull, Ivy Queen, Coheed and Cambria, Yerba Buena, Nortec Collective and several more. There are free shows at Central Park, Prospect Park and paid showcases at venues across the city. Panels include licensing Latin music for TV, film and games, digital marketing and the increase of Spanish-language bands on the touring circuit.

Check out our interviews with artists playing this year including Brazilian Girls and Federico Aubele, as well as LAMC alumni like Bomba Estéreo and Juana Molina.

Many “national months” should be held up to persiflage until they gather their diminutive rallying points and disappear into a hazy yonder far, far away. (I mean really, who has time for Prune Breakfast Month, Correct Posture Month or National Toilet Tank Repair Month?)

However, only a pitiable fool who darns wet blankets in their spare time would fail to recognize the considerable merits of National Hot Dog Month. One weiner-loving rocker is embarking on what has been characterized as a “juicy, one-day hot dog rock tour of the New York/New Jersey area.”

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Where oh where would generations of bedroom sulkers with big dreams be without The Smiths? When you’re in a mood (you know the type), who better to turn to? The English band is venerated as the most influential alternative rock band of the 1980s alternative rock scene, and remains popular with a devoted cult-like following all over the world.

Uncensored Discussions host Courtney E. Smith talks with Josh Venable, a DJ at L.A. rock radio station 98.7 KYSR in this two-part conversation on The Smiths.

Download Podcast | Subscribe to podcast feed

Download Podcast | Subscribe to podcast feed

Now that the U.S. has been knocked out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, who should Americans root for? (Those of us who follow football, anyway.) Well, if we’re as multi-culti as we like to think, we probably all have roots in other countries–or a couple if you’re Brazilian Girls’ Sabina Sciubba.

The best part about the World Cup is the exposure it brings to international music. Two-hundred and four countries attempted to qualify for this installment of the World Cup, and here we present a selection of interesting music from around the globe. Boring “world music” this ain’t.

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When you’ve lived in Buenos Aires, Cologne, Santiago and Paris, a little piece of every place is bound to follow you. Such is the case for Matías Aguayo, the Chilean-born, German-raised DJ and producer who is just as comfortable creating sparse, minimal techno as he is working with big warm Latin dance floor hits.

His 2009 release Ay Ay Ay was something of a surprise, as people expected more of the techno sound he and label Kompakt were known for. Instead, he tapped into his international flair and released quite the experimental record, one that was dubbed “irrepressibly catchy.”

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Best new downloads from the month of June all in one place, guilt-free.

1. Cassettes Won’t Listen “Animal Ox”
A mash up of Animal Collective and Cannibal Ox. That’s all you need to know.
Download album via XLR8R

2. Creepoid “Stranger”
Mysterious, murky and lo-fi, this Philly duo is like The Velvet Underground with a vaguely southern bent.
Download track via What I Heard Today

3. El-P “Meanstreak (In 3 Parts)”
From his all-instrumental Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixx3, you’ll hear some familiar El-P threads, but it’s worth a spin while he’s (probably) behind the boards working on a full-length.
Download track via XLR8R

4. Keep Shelly in Athens “Fokionos Negri Street”
Chill summertime track for crusing through town with the windows rolled down just as the sun’s setting. It’s downtempo without being too muzak retail-store about it.
Download track via Pitchfork

5. Japandroids “Younger Us”
Aw, nostalgia about being a wee bit younger, going out drinking and raising hell with an emo twist.
Download track via Fuck Yeah Go Team

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The Roots and John Legend will release Wake Up!, a collaborative album out September 21. Named after the Arcade Fire song, the idea to team up for an album came about during the 2008 Presidential election. The guys turned to politically and socially charged soul and R&B songs from the ’60s and ’70s, recreating tracks like Marvin Gaye’s “Wholy Holy” and Donny Hathaway’s “Little Ghetto Boy.”

Check out a video of the studio session for the first single, a cover of Ernie Hines’ “Our Generation” after the jump.

The Roots just released their eleventh full-length How I Got Over earlier this week.

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