EMI Int'l
2006
Lo Mejor De La Mano Negra
About This Album
This is it, the set that offers a glimpse, because it can only be a glimpse, of the crazy, overheated, wildly musical, drunken genius of Mano Negra. Many are now familiar with the more laid-back exploits of Manu Chao -- his lead vocals, guitar playing, and songwriting fueled this almost-insanely talented band (and also included his brother Tonio Chao) -- which were full of surprises and could keep a live show going for hours at 100 mph. Mano Negra were a French band with a Latin name that offered the original ground-zero for rock en español. Their influence offered an inspiration to the entire movement which heavily borrowed from them. Many older groups like los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Todos Tus Muertos, and Maldita Vecindad also nodded with admiration to this rock band who used everything from hip-hop, ska, reggae, Cuban son, and rhumba, punk (they invented ethno-punk), roots rock, rai, dub, sound collage, man -- everything -- and what a funky brass section! This band at its beginning listed eight members, all of whom sang. The music on this double-disc set is fantastic. Lo Mejor de La Mano Negra is a sampling from their five recordings, but it's hardly the whole story, as too many excellent tracks have been left off.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17 and 18)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 2,3,4,9,11 and 15)

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