Fri 9 Sep – Manu Chao
I've listened to Clandestino backwards and forwards, for years, loving every song in its original state. Admittedly, I stopped there.. never really venturing into Manu Chao's other albums. I don't regret this. Especially after last night's show.
I didn't last five songs - if you could rightfully separate that long and repetitive drone into five individual tracks.
Each "song" felt reworked, the melody and tempo were switched to suit its inevitable end - which sounded remarkably like The Isley Bros' "Shout!" The bassist knew maybe two different bass-lines (and I'm being generous in that assumption), the lead guitarist had a designated wah-wah solo located somewhere between the middle and end.... and then came the shouty, jumpy, desperate cry for attention.
Why? These songs were perfect, perhaps not always inciting rowdy excitement, but they were perfect in themselves. Instead, they were produced with what I assume was the formula for maximum crowd appeasement. …
I've listened to Clandestino backwards and forwards, for years, loving every song in its original state. Admittedly, I stopped there.. never really venturing into Manu Chao's other albums. I don't regret this. Especially after last night's show.
I didn't last five songs - if you could rightfully separate that long and repetitive drone into five individual tracks.
Each "song" felt reworked, the melody and tempo were switched to suit its inevitable end - which sounded remarkably like The Isley Bros' "Shout!" The bassist knew maybe two different bass-lines (and I'm being generous in that assumption), the lead guitarist had a designated wah-wah solo located somewhere between the middle and end.... and then came the shouty, jumpy, desperate cry for attention.
Why? These songs were perfect, perhaps not always inciting rowdy excitement, but they were perfect in themselves. Instead, they were produced with what I assume was the formula for maximum crowd appeasement. …
