Real World
2006
Lda V The Lunatics
About This Album
The third release on the international market from Los de Abajo shows off some interesting mixes. There's a fairly large amount of Mexican rock and its related idioms (think of Café Tacuba or Los Mocosos). However, the bag of tricks goes deeper with these folks. The album centers around a remake of "The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum," with a heavy ska beat. The Latin-ska influence holds throughout, but mixes in further with other sounds now and then (was that a touch of G-funk synthesizer on "Cumbia del Castor"?). The album opens with a basic hip-hop-influenced, politically fused piece, à la Ozomatli, and quickly moves into its proper ska territory. Mariachi items appear, and though doctored, retain elements of the classics ("A La Orillita" has some new lyrics, but the music itself is the prototypical solo mariachi form -- compare even to something like Antonio Banderas' work for Desperado for a note-by-note similarity). Dub makes its way in quietly, making the odd skip from ska to dub without a lot of roots in between. It's a bouncing collection, worth a spin for fans of contemporary Mexico City sounds (in which Los de Abajo are certainly leaders), or cross-cultural fusion. More than that though, it's just a generally hot album, begging for some dancing. ~ Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Track List (try tracks 2,5,7,9,10,11,13 and 15)

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