What do You Think about Manu Chao

Quinny · 10-10-2011, 05:27 AM

So youve got Real Big Fish a lot on here, they are pretty cool, but I reckon Manu Chao are one of the most lively ska bands around, I dont know how big they are in the states but in england they are like a undiscovered treat!! Very big in south America and Spain. Any one heard of them, What do you think?

MoonlitSunshine · 10-10-2011, 07:13 AM

I wouldn't have really considered manu chao ska, really...

jackhammer · 10-10-2011, 06:08 PM

Manu Chao is a solo artist and more Pop music than anything else. He was in a band called Mano Negra who were a little more interesting musically than his solo output.

Zer0 · 10-10-2011, 06:27 PM

Saw him at a festival in 2006 and he put on a good enough live show, seemed like a good festival act. I was also a bit stoned which seemed to add to the enjoyment somewhat. I wouldn't really listen to any of his albums as I would probably be disappointed by them or even just bored by them. He's kind of a mixture of a lot of things: pop, rock, world music, hip-hop, ska etc.

AcidMaxima · 12-06-2011, 10:52 AM

I'm also obsessed with Manu Chao. His musics great, he's not put out a bad song solo or in Mano Negra.

wannabegenx · 01-09-2012, 05:15 AM

I've just walked out of a Manu Chao concert! His live act is like some bizarre ska hooked on manu chao classics rip off! Every single song starts as an up tempo version of the original before suddenly switching into high energy ska that bounced the entire Enmore Theater. Being a bit of an ex-ska boy from several generations ago, I think it wasn't even good ska!

Lisnaholic · 01-11-2012, 08:57 AM

I have his first solo album, Clandestino :-

Quote:

Chao then returned to South and Central America, spending the next few years drifting around with his guitar and a four-track, recording here and there. The resultant collection of songs was released in 1998 (1999 in the U.S.) under the title Clandestino and included a reworking of the Mano Negra track "King of Bongo."

Actually, the method sounds more interesting than the result: Clandestino is a pleasant but unexceptional album of "Latin Light", enlivened, if that is the word, with bits of recorded tv dialogue, which would`ve been ground-breaking stuff forty years ago.
Manu has a good voice which makes his Spanish lyrics very clear, but King of Bongo , sung in English, sounds like a rather too calculated attempt to produce a chirpy international cross-over hit. If you`ve got tired of playing that Gypsy Kings album you bought after your Mediterranean holiday, Clandestino could be the album for you.

Guybrush · 01-11-2012, 09:23 AM

I listened to some Manu Chao ages ago and, while I wasn't completely sold, I thought he was cool enough. I couldn't quite connect with it though and today, I consider him an artist whose cool image is "better" than the music he actually puts out.

Still, an interesting artist and I can see why people fall in love with his music.

Argento · 01-20-2012, 11:21 PM

Manu Chao, and Mano Negra are all French.

I heard some of his works but didn't found it very appealing.

French are very open minded as Europeans. They hear music from all around the world, but they give me the impression of having a "looking down" attitude.

And that is what I perceive in "Clandestino". Is "academically" interesting as an exploration of a mix of African clues, French, English, a stereotyped image of a Mexican, and other things.

But out of a curiosity, I don't find it very appealing.

Lisnaholic · 07-15-2022, 11:38 AM

Wow! I didn't realise that I could be so snooty about music ten years ago. Since then, I have come to enjoy Manu Chao's Clandestino album. It has some great tracks like Mentira and El Viento, though I would stand by what I said about King of Bongo Bong being a track to avoid.

A thread about an artist should always have at least one "suck it and see" video clip for people to check out, so here is Manu Chao, singing in English & Spanish and surely channelling a bit of JJ Cale:-

10-10-2011, 05:27 AM	#1 (permalink)
Quinny Groupie Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bournmouth Dorset UK Posts: 7	What do You Think about Manu Chao So youve got Real Big Fish a lot on here, they are pretty cool, but I reckon Manu Chao are one of the most lively ska bands around, I dont know how big they are in the states but in england they are like a undiscovered treat!! Very big in south America and Spain. Any one heard of them, What do you think?

10-10-2011, 07:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
MoonlitSunshine Dat's Der Bunny! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 1,088	I wouldn't have really considered manu chao ska, really... __________________ "I found it eventually, at the bottom of a locker in a disused laboratory, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard". Ever thought of going into Advertising?" - Arthur Dent

10-10-2011, 06:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	Manu Chao is a solo artist and more Pop music than anything else. He was in a band called Mano Negra who were a little more interesting musically than his solo output. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

10-10-2011, 06:27 PM	#4 (permalink)
Zer0 ∞ Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 3,792	Saw him at a festival in 2006 and he put on a good enough live show, seemed like a good festival act. I was also a bit stoned which seemed to add to the enjoyment somewhat. I wouldn't really listen to any of his albums as I would probably be disappointed by them or even just bored by them. He's kind of a mixture of a lot of things: pop, rock, world music, hip-hop, ska etc. __________________ Last FM \| RYM \| The Final Sound

12-06-2011, 10:52 AM	#5 (permalink)
AcidMaxima Groupie Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 14	I'm also obsessed with Manu Chao. His musics great, he's not put out a bad song solo or in Mano Negra. __________________ How can I express, let alone possess?

01-09-2012, 05:15 AM	#6 (permalink)
wannabegenx Groupie Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 1	I've just walked out of a Manu Chao concert! His live act is like some bizarre ska hooked on manu chao classics rip off! Every single song starts as an up tempo version of the original before suddenly switching into high energy ska that bounced the entire Enmore Theater. Being a bit of an ex-ska boy from several generations ago, I think it wasn't even good ska!

01-11-2012, 09:23 AM	#8 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	I listened to some Manu Chao ages ago and, while I wasn't completely sold, I thought he was cool enough. I couldn't quite connect with it though and today, I consider him an artist whose cool image is "better" than the music he actually puts out. Still, an interesting artist and I can see why people fall in love with his music. __________________ Something Completely Different

01-20-2012, 11:21 PM	#9 (permalink)
Argento Music Addict Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Córdoba, Argentina Posts: 95	Manu Chao, and Mano Negra are all French. I heard some of his works but didn't found it very appealing. French are very open minded as Europeans. They hear music from all around the world, but they give me the impression of having a "looking down" attitude. And that is what I perceive in "Clandestino". Is "academically" interesting as an exploration of a mix of African clues, French, English, a stereotyped image of a Mexican, and other things. But out of a curiosity, I don't find it very appealing. __________________ Here is my thread on Argentine music. Le hizo un par de promesas imprudentes y así fue que de ella se aburrió.

07-15-2022, 11:38 AM	#10 (permalink)
Lisnaholic ...here to hear... Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: He lives on Love Street Posts: 4,444	Wow! I didn't realise that I could be so snooty about music ten years ago. Since then, I have come to enjoy Manu Chao's Clandestino album. It has some great tracks like Mentira and El Viento, though I would stand by what I said about King of Bongo Bong being a track to avoid. A thread about an artist should always have at least one "suck it and see" video clip for people to check out, so here is Manu Chao, singing in English & Spanish and surely channelling a bit of JJ Cale:- __________________ "Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953