Reviews
 What Happened?
The Lone Sharks
Nine Lives
Steve Winwood
Moneyland
Various Artists
I'm Not There (Original Soundtrack)
Various Artists
Home Before Dark
Neil Diamond
Toby Keith's 35 BIGGEST Hits
Toby Keith
It's A Shame About Ray (Collector's Edition)
The Lemonheads
About a Son
Otis Blue (Collector's Edition)
Otis Redding
Loaded
Wood Brothers
|
Manu Chao
It’s albums like this that prove beyond a doubt that our world is getting smaller. Clandestino blends languages as if they were instruments, leaving me waaaayyyyy behind in the comprehension department; I know about three words in French, and I guess I should have paid more attention in Spanish class. Fact is, Chao relies mostly on Latin rhythms with either European or Caribbean flavors, which means that there are times that this sounds like a collaboration between the Gypsy Kings and the Clash.
The Latin rhythms used here are not particularly inventive, but the production utilized to modernize them certainly is. Tracks feature voices buzzing in and out, like bar callers standing in the doorway of a very seedy looking dive. If you don’t speak Spanish you’ll be lost, but the message somehow transcends language. The content is almost certainly political, but my lingual abilities are too limited to determine if it’s leaning to the left or to the right. Rather, it’s the attitude expressed by the music (as well as the artwork of the booklet) that speak plainly from the left.
The melodies and rhythms used by Chao seem predictable, almost transparent, on first listen, but they grow addictive. "Lagrimas De Oro" ("Tears of Gold", I think), "Mama Call" and "Malegria" all sink in with a rhythmic persistence, while his use of the riff from "Tequila" (on "Welcome to Tijuana") is plainly satirical, and therefore amusing. On "Bongo Bong," Chao plays the role of a jungle dweller who heads into the city for fortune and fame, but ends up ignored by the masses. Nevertheless, he states that he is the self-proclaimed " king of Bongo Bong," so who am I to argue?
Grade: 
 
|
More Music Reviews
More Movie Reviews
More Book Reviews
More Concert Reviews
Powered by Millennium Communications Inc.