by Evan C. Gutierrez El Rock de Mi Pueblo has the infectious, irresistible, organic, natural quality of a backyard jam session. The palette used is full of vibrant earth tones, tonal colors as honest and real as Carlos Vives' living, breathing lyricism. The joy and excitement is intoxicating and unavoidable. Vives' sensitive yet contemporary treatment of the vallenato music of his native Colombia is a breath of fresh air in the often over-processed Latin pop world, which often either refuses to update or completely obliterate the native musical styles. With smart production from Emilio Estefan, Jr. and intuitive musical direction from Vives, El Rock de Mi Pueblo is neither vallenato nor rock en español. They have instead created a music for their people, who live in multiple worlds simultaneously, a world that requires constant reinvention and integration of the old with the new. Brilliantly engineered and arranged, Vives has created his most sonically pleasing project to date, which won him a Latin Grammy nomination in 2004. The tuneful writing and intelligent lyrics distinguishes Vives as one of the smartest practitioners of the craft today. There are few artists in the broad genre creating records as charming or listenable.