Spring Break
The King Of Bongo Returns With 'La Radiolina'
Eric Nigosanti
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Focus
When presented with the idea of world music, most Americans imagine oddly-crafted instruments either played in some cultural costume by middle aged men or looped over rave style electronic dance beats. One listen to Manu Chao's new solo album "La Radiolina" (the little radio in Italian) will abolish these stereotypes.
From his foundation of the Clash-inspired, punk rock band Mana Negra almost two decades ago, Manu Chao has been the lead musical missionary into the United States proving how musically exciting and technically innovative the sounds on the world stage have become. It should have been a crime that Chao made the world wait six years in between studio albums, but the timing for "La Radiolina" could not have been better. Worldbeat albums have been rejected in American markets and a supporting boost by an established legend might help other artists receive some recognition. Fortunately for all of the patiently waiting fans, Chao returns on "La Radiolina" at the high creativity level he left off of on his 2001 international hit, "Proxima Estación: Esperanza," bringing back everything we have come to expect on a Manu Chao album: genre bending arrangements, seamless transitions between songs, and politically charged lyrics sung in a variety of languages, but this time scaled to a more mature sounding level. In the same fashion as his previous albums "La Radiolina" represents a musical trip around the world in just about an hour's time.
From the rock and country sounding guitars of the opening track, "13 Días," until the final Portuguese statement of "Amalucada Vida," Manu Chao manages to dip into everything from Latin American reggae themes to Algerian rai. The genius in Manu Chao is that he can make these genre hopping changes, like from the simple mariachi flavored "Mala Fama" to the French rocker "Panik Panik," with a seamless fluidity, meshing them all together into a unique style of his own. Yet with all the complexities, Manu Chao's message on "La Radiolina" is very clear regardless of whether he is singing in Spanish, English, French, Italian, or Portuguese. On many of the tracks Chao sings with a voice representing the downtrodden against the oppressors of today's world, whether it would be a globalization movement or Bush's foreign policy. On the guitar driven almost atmospheric single, "Rainin In Paradize," Chao covers the most glaring problems of the globe from Africa "In Zaire, was no good place to be/ Free world go crazy, it's an atrocity." to the Middle East "In Baghdad, it's no democracy/ That just because it's a U.S. country." Of course like all other Manu Chao albums, at "La Radiolina's" heart is the prevailing sense of fun. The intensely festive feel to several of the tracks can raise the urge to dance in the most despondent of hearts. This does not belittle Chao's message; it just shows that life can be celebrated even under tyranny's heaviest foot.
There are no low points on "La Radiolina's" 21 tracks and there are enough creative musical arrangements to keep any listener interested regardless of their international political views. It is amazing that despite being in his mid-forties, Manu Chao's music still remains fresh and youthful, which makes his image as a voice of the people all the more appealing. In America, Manu Chao's name is still limited to worldbeat and more cosmopolitan circles, but hopefully with "La Radiolina" and his recent tour of various music festivals like Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo, he will finally achieve the respect the rest of the world has already given him.
From his foundation of the Clash-inspired, punk rock band Mana Negra almost two decades ago, Manu Chao has been the lead musical missionary into the United States proving how musically exciting and technically innovative the sounds on the world stage have become. It should have been a crime that Chao made the world wait six years in between studio albums, but the timing for "La Radiolina" could not have been better. Worldbeat albums have been rejected in American markets and a supporting boost by an established legend might help other artists receive some recognition. Fortunately for all of the patiently waiting fans, Chao returns on "La Radiolina" at the high creativity level he left off of on his 2001 international hit, "Proxima Estación: Esperanza," bringing back everything we have come to expect on a Manu Chao album: genre bending arrangements, seamless transitions between songs, and politically charged lyrics sung in a variety of languages, but this time scaled to a more mature sounding level. In the same fashion as his previous albums "La Radiolina" represents a musical trip around the world in just about an hour's time.
From the rock and country sounding guitars of the opening track, "13 Días," until the final Portuguese statement of "Amalucada Vida," Manu Chao manages to dip into everything from Latin American reggae themes to Algerian rai. The genius in Manu Chao is that he can make these genre hopping changes, like from the simple mariachi flavored "Mala Fama" to the French rocker "Panik Panik," with a seamless fluidity, meshing them all together into a unique style of his own. Yet with all the complexities, Manu Chao's message on "La Radiolina" is very clear regardless of whether he is singing in Spanish, English, French, Italian, or Portuguese. On many of the tracks Chao sings with a voice representing the downtrodden against the oppressors of today's world, whether it would be a globalization movement or Bush's foreign policy. On the guitar driven almost atmospheric single, "Rainin In Paradize," Chao covers the most glaring problems of the globe from Africa "In Zaire, was no good place to be/ Free world go crazy, it's an atrocity." to the Middle East "In Baghdad, it's no democracy/ That just because it's a U.S. country." Of course like all other Manu Chao albums, at "La Radiolina's" heart is the prevailing sense of fun. The intensely festive feel to several of the tracks can raise the urge to dance in the most despondent of hearts. This does not belittle Chao's message; it just shows that life can be celebrated even under tyranny's heaviest foot.
There are no low points on "La Radiolina's" 21 tracks and there are enough creative musical arrangements to keep any listener interested regardless of their international political views. It is amazing that despite being in his mid-forties, Manu Chao's music still remains fresh and youthful, which makes his image as a voice of the people all the more appealing. In America, Manu Chao's name is still limited to worldbeat and more cosmopolitan circles, but hopefully with "La Radiolina" and his recent tour of various music festivals like Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo, he will finally achieve the respect the rest of the world has already given him.
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