backtrack: manu chao-clandestino (2000)

hazim and the new asymptotes
hey. hazim here...again. Shakira and Los Lonely Brothers (is that what they're called...you know, the guys who sing "Heaven"?) haven't exactly paved way for Manu Chao popularity in the States and across the Atlantic or over in Asia, but....I still think he'd make a way better duet partner for Shakira's "La Tortura". This is the title track and second single of his debut album. Clandestino. It's in Spanish. Yeah, as if I understand a word, really now. Yes, it's a bit monotone, the way he goes on. And yes, it may not be anything like "Bongo Bong". But a single in his native tongue was necessary at the time, and this song was more than serviceable. And given Manu Chao's orky boy good looks (a la Conor Oberst, but more bearable), he could have gone another route. The video with the passports and the people of different races (he picked a lot of old oneso throw in so he could shine in comparison, I see) without the presence of an American just drives the point home. Americanization hasn't won yet. Oh, and one of the black guys in the video is a dead ringer for Beanie Sigel. Trust me. Hazim. Out.