Manu Chao first made a splash in the late Nineties with his fantastic debut solo album, Clandestino, the work of a multilingual, post-modern leftist busker whose music seemed to infuse the everything-at-once sonics of Beck’s Odelay with the spirit of Woody Guthrie, Bob Marley, and Joe Strummer. The title appropriated …
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Nobody could have a bad day singing with Willie Nelson, which is probably why Manu Chao sounds pretty upbeat on his duet with Nelson, “Heaven’s Bad Day.” The track appears on Viva Tu, Chao’s just-released first record in 17 years. The artists sing, “Nobody come to visit my heavens today,” …
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On “São Paulo Motoboy,” Manu Chao narrates the ballad of a daredevil motorcycle courier weaving in and out of traffic in the Brazilian megalopolis to make a delivery, or he’ll be fired. The music takes a relaxed tempo, but the video, much of which is taken from the motorcycle equivalent …
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