0107. Manu Chao
Clandestino
Sometimes the problem of writing a review of an album you've liked and listened to for the last ten years or so is that, well, how do you pack a decade of impressions into a couple of hundred words?
Recorded during travels through Latin America Manu Chao's first album is a mixture of influences and sounds which gives the tired "world music"-label a welcome rejuvination. The title-track alone makes me want to create and the ever-evolving Bongo-Bong's just fascinating (with a melodic history stretching back to at least 1939).
The songs range from the harsh politics of illegal immigration to somewhat lighter subjects, but all with a huge chunk of integrity. He sings in four or so languages and even though I'm not as much of a polyglot as I'd like to be I still get the gist of most of the lyrics (and frankly I've looked up translations for a couple of them).
It's an album that's a nice compaion for a decade or two.
