Panamérika is Mexico's premier radio show for the sound of the alternative latin music scene around the world. Not just highlighting those artists taking the clave headlong into new territories, Panamérika is also RBMA Radio's longest-running regular weekly broadcast, clocking up over 175 shows in the last three-and-a-half years.

To celebrate what a packed year of music it's been, the Panamérika crew have dedicated a four show series compiling the best singles of 2011, covering the full spectrum of all the weird and wonderful sounds that have permeated their universe throughout the year.

The first show in Panamérika's 2011 round-up bundles together new and established artists alike. Colombia's Sidestepper have been around for a minute, but their twist on cumbia and salsa still sounds fresh this year, and Julian Placencia's long-running electronic band DiscoRuido! also came through with 'Go Twisters', sounding something like Herman's Rockets if they'd grown up in Coyoacán. There's plenty of upcoming artists too, such as the Holland via South Africa tropical dubstep of Skip & Die, as well Academy fam like Torreblanca with his piano-led knees-up stomper 'Si', and Class of '11 Andrea Balency and her ethereal folk trio with 'El Desorden'.

The second show in the series takes on board sounds from the independent underground, covering everything from the alien vocals of Kali Mutsa, the bouncy cumbia of Bondi Blaster and the lazy chiming rhythms of The Echocentrics. There's also a couple of latinized covers, such as The Normal's 'Warm Leatherette' by Mariana Da Cruz, and Kings Of Leon's 'Sex On Fire', revamped by Los Master Plus into 'Tu Sexo Es En Fuego' complete with frazzled synth lines and tongues in cheek.
 

Third installment of the series gets deeper into the latin underground, highlighting musicians like sound artist Helado Negro and his drifting, dubbed-out soul, and bands on Spanish label Elefant Records such as Modular and Band a Part, bringing a certain harmonic sunshine to the show. The final collection of tracks are part of an online project called the Music Alliance Pact (MAP) that sees 36 blogs select a current track each month as part of a downloadable archive. This fourth installment of Panamérika's 2011 round-up is a collection of all 12 tracks selected as part of the MAP project throughout the year, and features acts like DiscoRuido!, Robota, as well as Academy lecturer Toy Selectah and class of '10 Juan Son of AEIOU.

You can listen through to all the shows below, or over at the Panamérika pages on the radio, and link with the global latin interface through Facebook, Twitter, and at their own site at panamerika.fm.