Music : Clandestino

Rating: - Happy music
I first came across Manu Chao whilst on holiday in Thailand. I had asked for some latino music and the shopkeeper came up with Clandestino. I only had to listen to the first song to know it was exactly what I was looking for. Happy, reggae, latino music with a slight funky twist. I particularly like all the background news snippets blended into the songs. It gives a more authentic, political flavour to the music. The guy in the shop told me that everytime he played this album people would stop by and ask what it was. Indeed, a passerby came running in delightedly to jiggle his hips to the tune of Bongo Bong and went on his way with a smile on his face. Such is the effect it has on you!

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Rating: - Portuguese memories
I first heard songs from this album when I was in Portugal in 98, and then could not find out who they were by. Forgot all about it, but whilst channel hopping the other night I heard a snippet of 'Bongo Bong' playing in a film. So, then I had to watch the rest of the film so I didn't miss the credits. This upset me because it was a truly awful Madonna/Rupert Everet film. But anyway, ordered the CD the next day and it was worth the watch. Tracks 3, 4, and 14 take me back to Portugal, but all the rest are fantastic too.

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Rating: - Dont Question it, Just Buy This CD !
This CD is a brilliantly inventive collage of culture - spanning salsa, rap, reggae, french, spanish, english lyrics which all go toether to produce gorgeous melodies, great beats and up lyrics. Worth buying for track 3 'Bongo Bong' alone. I haven't stopped playing this CD since I acquired it, it is very cool and lots of fun.

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Rating: - Blimey...
First heard this by accident whilst on holiday in France... an interesting blend of Spanish, French and English all rolled into one continual album, each track blending into the next with subtle repetitions popping up throughout the album.
If you call yourself a true European this is a must for the collection. Plays as well in the car as it does in the background. Excellent music to wash the dishes to (no disrespect intended!)
If anything, it should be the next album you buy.

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Rating: - Superb
This is a great album like its follow up. Some have criticised 'Proxima Estacion Esperanza' on the grounds that it borrows the tune of 'Bongo Bong' from 'Clandestino' and re-uses it on a couple of songs. They suggest that this means Manu is now running out of ideas. The fact that such an idea is nonsense is shown clearly on 'Clandestino'- Manu is already reworking an earlier song here in the shape of 'Bongo Bong' which is a new version of the Mano Negra song 'King of Bongo'. If he has run out of ideas on 'Esperanza' this suggests he had already done so on 'Clandestino'. Those who make this criticism haven't listened to much of Mano Negra's stuff where Manu was constantly reworking earlier themes ('King Kong Five' fed into 'Long, long nite', etc). Now in his early 40's (born in Paris in 1961) Manu has been around the block with several groups (Les Hot Pants, Los Carayos, La Mano Negra) and shows no sign of tiring- just go and watch him live and see how much of the live material has not yet appeared on record. 'Clandestino' seems a much more personal offering than 'Esperanza'. It is generally slower and more acoustic. Less varied, it therefore holds together better as a coherent whole. The influences here are mainly reggae and Latin American folk- although it is very difficult to categorise him. The main influences which have disappeared since his Mano Negra days are Punk, Rockabilly and Ska but there is a considerable continuity between 'Clandestino' and the last Mano album 'Casa Babylon'. You do not need to decide which is better 'Clandestino' or 'Esperanza'- you should just buy both.