Music is one of the threads that make us a tapestry. Hear the author of The Polish Boxer, Eduardo Halfon, on NPR’s Alt.Latino in a conversation about Guatemala, Judaism in Latin America and, of course, music.

On this week’s Alt.Latino: Venezuela rock, South American disco and the sounds of the Mexican Caribbean reinterpreted Los Angeles-style.

Coffee is a cunning, baffling brew that has led political factions to battle; race is discussed through it; heartbreak has been stewed in it; and many a passionate night has been launched with a single, delicious cup of coffee.

Hear NPR’s Alt.Latino explore the sex, rage and politics of coffee in Latin American song.

Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

Unearthed and awesome: A ’70s performance by The Troka Rhythm and Sign Ensemble, led by now-California poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera. Oh and that guy playing timbales in the blue shirt? That’s Alt.Latino’s Felix Contreras.

Listen to Juan Felipe Herrera on NPR’s Alt.Latino.

• 5 p.m. CT - Jovanotti
• 6 p.m. CT-  Bajofondo
• 7 p.m. CT - Molotov
• 8 p.m. CT - Cafe Tacvba

We asked the hosts of Alt.Latino to dream up the most fantastic, mind-blowing lineup they could possibly imagine for SXSW. Get ready to dance.

Alt.Latino’s Jasmine Garsd went to Puerto Rico last week as a translator for NPR’s Morning Edition, but you can’t just hit the island and not check out the local music scene, right?

Soak in the new sounds of Puetro Rico.

Photo: Yarimir Cabán

Alt.Latino celebrates the music that rocked its world in 2012 — from a Colombian electronic journey to a Chilean rap masterpiece and a Mexican film soundtrack that left us breathless.

In honor of Los Lobos’ 40th anniversary, as well as a deluxe reissue of the Chicano rock band’s 1992 classic Kiko, members Louie Perez and Steve Berlin visit Alt.Latino to share current favorites and the music of their youth.

Photo: Drew Reynolds

Hecho en Mexico is a visually stunning, poetic and musically breathtaking new movie. NPR’s Alt.Latino sits down with director Duncan Bridgeman and music producer Lynn Feinchtein to discuss how they made a movie about Mexican life and its original soundtrack, including a new song by Carla Morrison.