Pastora

The sparkling, stylish trio Pastora mix sweet electro-pop with warm acoustic sounds to create music that's future-minded but comfortable as well. Vocalist Dolo Beltrán and multi-instrumentalist brothers Caïm and Pauet Riba introduced Pastora with the sophisti-pop single "Lola." The Spanish hit landed on their self-titled 2004 debut, released by the RCA International label. Two years later they returned with La Vida Moderna, a concept album that featured 13 tales of people breaking free of convention and the sometimes exhilarating, sometimes alienating results. The CD was released with a bonus DVD that featured 13 "visual compositions" created by Pauet Riba to accompany the songs. The ambitious effort earned the trio a 2006 Latin Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. ~ David Jeffries