Manu Chao - La Radiolina
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Free Music Notes for La Radiolina
Free Music Review: ADD Kills
Hit: 2 Stars
Manu Chao is quite the interesting cat, with potentially joyous and groundbreaking music that celebrates international culture while slyly resisting globalization. He's got a fresh and intriguing sound that mixes Europop with world music of the Latin/Afro/Caribbean persuasions, with some westernized rock and rhythm mixed in. His lyrics jumping amongst five different languages are also a polyglot delight. With so much going for him, it's hard to imagine how Manu Chao could create such a massively disappointing and annoying misuse of his skills. This album contains 21 largely interchangeable tracks that zoom by with the validity of poorly-designed mashups and with not much more impact than a series of ringtones. The five so-called bonus tracks are merely undeveloped snippets of riffs and melodies that already appeared earlier, and most of the songs overall end quickly after failing to develop a series of very similar basic ideas. This album's production process suffered an ADD-addled breakdown.
An ignoramus would say that all the songs sound the same, but here the discerning listener will find that many of them really ARE the same. Five different songs contain the exact same backing tracks with minimally different melodies on top, and even more songs than that contain the same irritating four-note ascending guitar line. Other basic melodies are also recycled (not reprised, mind you) throughout the album. The initially lovely ballad "A Cosa" also reuses a backing track that Manu contributed to an album by African popsters Amadou & Mariam two years ago. Reprising themes throughout an album can be an effective artistic device, but here it's just widespread replication of undeveloped ideas. Hence, only a few songs in this mishmash can truly stand on their own, such as the sly "Politik Kills" or the rockin' "Rainin in Paradize" (which is the first, and only useful,, appearance of that annoying riff). Otherwise, this album is little more than quantities of different manifestations of a very limited number of quality ideas. You may get the feeling that the album takes longer to listen to than it did to record. [~doomsdayer520~]
Free Music Review: Good, but ....
Hit: 3 Stars
I'm a real Manu Chao fan and regard his music as some of the most original there is. However, this CD recycles a lot of stuff from his previous CDs and while there some good, new material on it, overall it was not enough. For example, there are the police sirens recycled from the Amadou & Marianm "Dimanche A Bamako" CD. And a lot of the songs just sound very similar. So while there was obviously a lot of studio time spent producing this CD, there is just too much repetition.Free Music Review: Wonderful, as expected
Hit: 5 Stars
It may sound like a drastic, upbeat departure from his other 2 studio recordings, but La Radiolina is in fact an integration of the styles of all the projects Manu's ever worked on over the years. Right away, I heard influences from Dimanche A Bamako, his live performances, as well as his solo style. I had to give this CD several listens before loving it as much as I love all his other albums. And now, to me, it is no longer about the particular style he's working with, but simply the fact that his music is always able to captivate and entrance me. And it is such a pleasure to see everyone else here experiencing the same feeling.Free Music Review: And I waited 6 years for this?
Hit: 2 Stars
OK-so when I saw a new album from Manu Chao-I wanted to see what he had been up to. I was sorely dissapointed to find that not much has changed. His style is the same and I guess I am not as much of a fan as I was in the past. You might as well buy the older, classic stuffFree Music Review: Infectious, Upbeat, Excellent!
Hit: 5 Stars
So far the best of the year! Takes every musical direction and makes it worth listening to. Hope he tours the US.