#469 Manu Chao, 'Clandestino' (1998)

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I had actually thought that I’d listened to this album last time, but after a quick check I discovered that last time it was the album ‘Próxima Estación: Esperanza’ at #474. To be fair, easy enough mistake to me. While his music is infectiously joyous and very danceable, it is often quite samey. And that goes from song-to-song and album-to-album. This record features the single, ‘Bongo Bong,’ a song I remember discovering on MTV back in 1998/1999. It was a song I had hunted down in the very early days of illegal file sharing and I listened to over and over in amongst my growing MP3 collection. Listen to it and try and not feel happy, I dare you!

The album was recorded on a small laptop in various locations across the world and is a mix between Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, English and French. I think by the end of this challenge I might be fluent in Spanish. Gran álbum, pero con 16 pistas, comienza a sentirse un poco demasiado.

#rs500albums