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One day here, the next one there. From Barcelona to Buenos Aires. From Budapest to Rodez. From Australia to Italy. Manu Chao, it's not a surprise, never stops. He's all over the world, from small venues to big ones, playing for 500 or 70,000 people. However, since 2009, when he released his double live album Baionarena, news has been scarce. At a recent stop in Paris (while all his albums are being reissued by Because Music), and just before embarking for India, he stopped and agreed to talk to us about where he's at.
So, what's up? On his website, one can see that Manu is still performing a lot. But these days, he plays with La Ventura instead of Radio Bemba. It's a smaller band (three musicians at the start, then four: Manu, Madjid, Philippe, and Gambeat). "With Radio Bemba, we're seven or eight on stage, it's a big thing," explains Manu. "But we're used to playing in bars with Madjid, just the two of us. And we decided to simply add Philippe on drums. But we missed Gambeat too much, so we asked him to join in. With so few people, human relations are stronger. It's the tightest team I've had in my whole life. That's what I call happiness." Going on the road this way is a real challenge for the singer: "I always feel like I have to escape the humdrum: that's the story of my life. And such a band gives you danger. Three or four musicians, that's the ultimate challenge for a rock band. You just can't hide behind anybody. You must give all you have during two hours and a half. Everybody's naked! So we've been working a lot on vocal parts. As musicians, we felt the exercise very beneficial."
Sharpened, full of energy, in real life and on stage. Manu's bouncing, always moving. But he also knows how to step back and be funny. "Playing in such a small band made us find out if we were good," says Manu with a smile on his face. "And I'm confirming now, in all modesty, that I am a real musician. What I also discovered is that we have a great catalogue of songs! We're not three or four on stage but 500, 5000 or 50,000. Everybody knows what we play, wherever we play." Every time they go out, the same idea prevails: "we try to put on a real party. That's what the songs are made for." And they take as much pleasure as they give: "that's the main goal" he says. And he knows how to achieve this: "the members of the band must feel comfortable financially, so they can take time for a real family life. It's the best way to keep things fresh. If you always tour, it becomes a routine and that's not good." Always this need of fighting the humdrum. And his only luxury is to not endure long winters.
So, travelling is great. "Well, I travel to meet people. For a long time now, and maybe even more for the past years, I've been listening to cultures. Wherever I go, I'm interested in what people listen to, in what they sing and eat, in how they live and party, in their joys and sorrows."
Manu is truthful to his world citizen reputation, a globetrotting singer and philosopher. "I've got the feeling I've managed to build something, links and teams in different places of the world, from the Balkans to Argentina. Teams that are based upon work and friendship. Everybody's giving as much as he can. I think it's the true definition of a band." And what about Radio Bemba then? "We'll get back to it one day, but not today."
Today, La Ventura, tomorrow, maybe Radio Bemba. And what about a new album? "I've got loads of songs in my pocket, I'm always writing, but it's too soon to talk about an album. For now, I don't know where it's going to take me." It only takes three clicks on the computer he's always carrying to hear a few snippets of music. "There's some varied stuff here, like a Portuguese album for instance. And also an instrumental album I'm really fond of, just music and whistles. And of course, there's still this project of a rumba record. The songs are ready, but for this one, I want to work the old-fashioned way, to record in a real studio. Well, that's great because the three other musicians love it." Manu has been talking about this record for a long time, as if he needed to go back to his roots. And it's not a coincidence. Because rumba is the music of Barcelona, where he lives and settles for a while every year.
"The neighbourhood life is essential. I know I won't be able to change the world, but I can change my neighbourhood. Acting local is a great win." And the artist turns into an active and efficient neighbour as soon as he can. Giving guitar lessons to children is one of his many activities when he's at home. "The leading idea is transmission. It's my responsibility, like every adult, whatever his job, to pass on to young generations." And help each other is the other priority: "My friends and I have planted a vegetable garden and we play football three times a week. The garden and football weld the neighbourhood. Then we meet at the bar, where we can talk and idealize. And we're more efficient because we act together and we mean it."
Because Spain is in the middle of a serious crisis, Manu's words and actions are even more vital: "It's important to have a neighbourhood life, and some friends you can rely on. Thanks to all this, these little things that might look trivial, there's some joy of life left."
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CD
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BEC 5613918
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For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album Viva Tu, a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances. The lead song "Viva Tu," a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, "São Paulo Motoboy," is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day. The album also features some memorable collaborations, including "Heaven's Bad Day" with country legend Willie Nelson and "Tu Te Vas" with rising French rapper Laeti. Also available as black vinyl (BEC 5613919), blue color vinyl (BEC 5613920), and picture disc vinyl (BEC 5613921). Includes 16-page booklet.
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LP
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BEC 5613919
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LP version. Black vinyl. Gatefold sleeve, includes four-page booklet. For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album Viva Tu, a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances. The lead song "Viva Tu," a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, "São Paulo Motoboy," is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day. The album also features some memorable collaborations, including "Heaven's Bad Day" with country legend Willie Nelson and "Tu Te Vas" with rising French rapper Laeti. Also available as CD (BEC 5613918), blue color vinyl (BEC 5613920), and picture disc vinyl (BEC 5613921).
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BEC 5613920
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LP version. Limited blue crystal clear color vinyl. Gatefold sleeve. Includes four-page booklet. For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album Viva Tu, a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances. The lead song "Viva Tu," a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, "São Paulo Motoboy," is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day. The album also features some memorable collaborations, including "Heaven's Bad Day" with country legend Willie Nelson and "Tu Te Vas" with rising French rapper Laeti. Also available as CD (BEC 5613918), black color vinyl (BEC 5613919), and picture disc vinyl (BEC 5613921).
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BEC 5613921
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LP version. Picture disc vinyl. Features two different visuals. Gatefold sleeve. Includes four-page booklet. For years, Manu Chao has been travelling the world to meet his fans in unusual venues, villages and small festivals. Elusive, but always accessible to those who cross his path, Manu now presents his new studio album Viva Tu, a collection of songs written at the heart of daily lives and struggles, and a fresh take on the state of the world, singing sunny, universal songs in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, painting an unforgiving picture of social imbalances. The lead song "Viva Tu," a heartfelt rumba dedicated to the daily life heroes, has already made its mark. The second single, "São Paulo Motoboy," is a colorful, sunny ode to the two-wheeled delivery people venturing the Latin American metropoles every day. The album also features some memorable collaborations, including "Heaven's Bad Day" with country legend Willie Nelson and "Tu Te Vas" with rising French rapper Laeti. Also available as CD (BEC 5613918), black color vinyl (BEC 5613919), and blue color vinyl (BEC 5613920).
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CD
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BEC 5543731
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Limited 2019 edition of Clandestino. The original album remastered for the first time; Originally released in 1998. Includes three new 2019 songs: "Bloody Bloody Border", "Roadies Rules", and "Clandestino" featuring Calypso Rose (2019 version). Six-page digisleeve packaging; includes booklet.
"The first solo album released by the former frontman of Mano Negra, Clandestino is an enchanting trip through Latin-flavored worldbeat rock, reliant on a potpourri of musical styles from traditional Latin and salsa to dub to rock 'n' roll to French pop to experimental rock to techno... Just about every track has odd sampled bits from what sound like pirate radio-station broadcasts (a possible link to the title). There are so many great ideas on this record that it's difficult to digest in one listen, but multiple plays reveal the great depth of Manu Chao's artistry." --All Music Guide
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2CD
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BEC 5161262
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Originally released in 2009. "Manu Chao's second live album, Baionarena, is a frenetic 33-song, two-disc set... This is a lively concert featuring songs from Chao's three solo albums, as well as from his former band, Mano Negra, and a selection of covers in which Chao and his band Radio Bemba Sound System give their all and ask for the audience's all in return." --All Music Guide
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BEC 5161604
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Originally released in 1998. "The first solo album released by the former frontman of Mano Negra, Clandestino is an enchanting trip through Latin-flavored worldbeat rock, reliant on a potpourri of musical styles from traditional Latin and salsa to dub to rock 'n' roll to French pop to experimental rock to techno... Just about every track has odd sampled bits from what sound like pirate radio-station broadcasts (a possible link to the title). There are so many great ideas on this record that it's difficult to digest in one listen, but multiple plays reveal the great depth of Manu Chao's artistry." --All Music Guide
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CD
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BEC 5772387
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Originally released in 2007. "Manu Chao makes music that cuts across cultural lines. As though singing in seven languages (French, Spanish, Galician, Arabic, English, Portuguese, and Wolof) wasn't enough, he brings aspects of music from across Western Europe, North Africa, and the Americas into his sound. You could say he was destined to live a life between cultures from the start. He was born in Paris to Spanish parents who had fled Franco's regime. His mother was from Bilbao, in Basque country, while his father was a journalist from Galicia, a region in far northwestern Spain that, like Basque country, has its own unique language... The most immediately noticeable thing about La Radiolina is how relatively rocked-up it is relative to its two predecessors. It's as though his old affiliation with the Latin Alternative movement and punk decided to reassert themselves. Mind you, it's not the kind of rock that's going to smack you around with its riffs and stomping drums -- this is more measured than that, and cut with so many global influences that it can't help sounding unique... Manu Chao is living proof that you don't have to be big in the U.S. to be one of the world's most important and influential musicians, and La Radiolina provides a healthy reminder it's a big world out there beyond our borders." --Pitchfork
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BEC 5161606
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Originally released in 2001. "The French-raised Spaniard distilled the scattershot Europop-rock of Mano Negra into 1998's DIY, polyglot Clandestino, a word-of-mouth smash throughout Latin Europe and then Latin America. Clandestino was warm, sprightly, melancholy, palpably humane. This is all that with magic on top, reprising and varying a small store of infectious tunes into a motley suite segued and differentiated with sound effects, funny voices, surprise guest instruments, and spoken-word samples. The pulse is Marley sans Africa-reggae, whiter than the Bellamy Brothers, ska liter than polka. The mood is festive in the urbane, liberal, and internationalist manner of Chao's new home, the pan-European haven Barcelona, a city that resisted Franco so vivaciously for so long that it assumes entertainment coexists with dread. Just in time -- Euroworld! Never thought I'd hear it done right. A" --Robert Christgau
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CD
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BEC 5161610
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Originally released in 2002. "Radio Bemba Sound System captures a 2001 live performance featuring songs from Esperanza, Clandestino, and the albums of Mano Negra. The recording, a blend of two performances, never lets up, packing all or part of 29 songs into an hour, and I think it captures the inclusive spirit of Chao's music even better than his studio work. The cheers at the end of 'Bienvenida a Tijuana' -- when the final line offers a ringing endorsement of sex and marijuana -- are amazing, and the transformation of punky Mano Negra songs such as 'Peligro,' 'The Monkey,' 'Mala Vida,' and 'Machine Gun' into multi-genred beasts is something to hear... Chao's 10-piece band is extremely versatile, augmenting a standard rock set-up with horns, accordion, and extra percussion. They leap from reggae to funky merengue to punk to flamenco with flourishes of surf, blues, North African rai, Central African rumba, mariachi, and rock'n'roll while also switching languages, sometimes in mid-song. Esperanza's subdued reggae track 'Mr. Bobby' is much funkier live, with a great psychedelic guitar solo and second, dancehall-ish vocal from Bidji. Because it samples two shows, a few songs appear twice but that feels like an appropriate side effect of the collage approach." --Pitchfork
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CD
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BEC 5161612
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Because Music reissues Manu Chao's first all-French language album. It sold out instantly upon its limited release in 2004 and this is the first time it's widely available on CD. Features 23 tracks celebrating Parisian life. Includes the hit single "Petite blonde du bld brune."
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2LP+CD
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BEC 5161605
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2021 repress. Originally released in 1998. Gatefold double LP with a CD copy of the album. "The first solo album released by the former frontman of Mano Negra, Clandestino is an enchanting trip through Latin-flavored worldbeat rock, reliant on a potpourri of musical styles from traditional Latin and salsa to dub to rock 'n' roll to French pop to experimental rock to techno... Just about every track has odd sampled bits from what sound like pirate radio-station broadcasts (a possible link to the title). There are so many great ideas on this record that it's difficult to digest in one listen, but multiple plays reveal the great depth of Manu Chao's artistry." --All Music Guide
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2LP+CD
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BEC 5161609
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Originally released in 2007. "Manu Chao makes music that cuts across cultural lines. As though singing in seven languages (French, Spanish, Galician, Arabic, English, Portuguese, and Wolof) wasn't enough, he brings aspects of music from across Western Europe, North Africa, and the Americas into his sound. You could say he was destined to live a life between cultures from the start. He was born in Paris to Spanish parents who had fled Franco's regime. His mother was from Bilbao, in Basque country, while his father was a journalist from Galicia, a region in far northwestern Spain that, like Basque country, has its own unique language... The most immediately noticeable thing about La Radiolina is how relatively rocked-up it is relative to its two predecessors. It's as though his old affiliation with the Latin Alternative movement and punk decided to reassert themselves. Mind you, it's not the kind of rock that's going to smack you around with its riffs and stomping drums -- this is more measured than that, and cut with so many global influences that it can't help sounding unique... Manu Chao is living proof that you don't have to be big in the U.S. to be one of the world's most important and influential musicians, and La Radiolina provides a healthy reminder it's a big world out there beyond our borders." --Pitchfork. Gatefold sleeve; comes with a CD copy of the album.
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2LP+CD
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BEC 5161607
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2023 repress; originally released in 2001. Gatefold double LP with a CD copy of the album. "The French-raised Spaniard distilled the scattershot Europop-rock of Mano Negra into 1998's DIY, polyglot Clandestino, a word-of-mouth smash throughout Latin Europe and then Latin America. Clandestino was warm, sprightly, melancholy, palpably humane. This is all that with magic on top, reprising and varying a small store of infectious tunes into a motley suite segued and differentiated with sound effects, funny voices, surprise guest instruments, and spoken-word samples. The pulse is Marley sans Africa-reggae, whiter than the Bellamy Brothers, ska liter than polka. The mood is festive in the urbane, liberal, and internationalist manner of Chao's new home, the pan-European haven Barcelona, a city that resisted Franco so vivaciously for so long that it assumes entertainment coexists with dread. Just in time -- Euroworld! Never thought I'd hear it done right. A" --Robert Christgau
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2LP+CD
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BEC 5161611
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2023 repress; originally released in 2002. "Radio Bemba Sound System captures a 2001 live performance featuring songs from Esperanza, Clandestino, and the albums of Mano Negra. The recording, a blend of two performances, never lets up, packing all or part of 29 songs into an hour, and I think it captures the inclusive spirit of Chao's music even better than his studio work. The cheers at the end of 'Bienvenida a Tijuana' -- when the final line offers a ringing endorsement of sex and marijuana -- are amazing, and the transformation of punky Mano Negra songs such as 'Peligro,' 'The Monkey,' 'Mala Vida,' and 'Machine Gun' into multi-genred beasts is something to hear... Chao's 10-piece band is extremely versatile, augmenting a standard rock set-up with horns, accordion, and extra percussion. They leap from reggae to funky merengue to punk to flamenco with flourishes of surf, blues, North African rai, Central African rumba, mariachi, and rock'n'roll while also switching languages, sometimes in mid-song. Esperanza's subdued reggae track 'Mr. Bobby' is much funkier live, with a great psychedelic guitar solo and second, dancehall-ish vocal from Bidji. Because it samples two shows, a few songs appear twice but that feels like an appropriate side effect of the collage approach." --Pitchfork; Comes with a CD copy of the album.
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2LP+CD
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BEC 5161613
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Originally released in 2004. First time on vinyl, includes a CD copy of the album and housed in a gatefold sleeve. Manu Chao's first all-French language album, released in 2004. Features 23 tracks celebrating Parisian life. Includes the hit single "Petite blonde du bld brune."
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viewing 1 To 16 of 16 items
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