Coco Freeman & U2

Coco Freeman & U2

Similar artists via Last.fm

Vania Borges feat. Quincy Jones Aquila Rose/Idania Valdes Casuso Rhythms Del Mundo feat. Amy Winehouse Ibrahím Ferrer Omara Portuondo, Chuco Valdes

About Coco Freeman & U2

U2 & Coco Freeman are a "duo" formed for the album "Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba" by Buena Vista Social Club Artists' Project Earth (APE), a group committed to bringing about awareness of environmental disasters, climate change, and related challenges, spearheaded Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba. The compilation CD pairs a roster of well-known British pop/rock stars with a number of Cuban musicians billed as the Buena Vista Sound (after the much-celebrated Buena Vista Social Club, some of whose members are featured here, notably Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo). Conceived and produced by Kenny Young, Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba seems to have been recorded separately: the musicians recording versions of hit songs in Cuba and the Brits laying down the vocals afterward in either London or Barcelona (according to the engineering credits, at least). It's a little bizarre to hear "Clocks" (Coldplay) and "She Will Be Loved" (Maroon 5) get the Cuban treatment, granted, but it's curious all the same. Then there are a pair of Coco Freeman performances, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (U2) and "High and Dry" (Radiohead), that are especially bizarre, as they incorporate not the bands themselves, but rather samples of the original versions of the songs. In contrast, the more straightforward performances by Latin performers such as Vania Borges, Ferrer, and Portuondo are never less than pleasant, ensuring that the entire CD doesn't play like a cross-cultural mash-up. In the end, it's difficult to imagine who exactly is the target audience of Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba. Those who are fond of Cuban music, or Buena Vista Social Club specifically, aren't likely to spring for a compilation featuring the Arctic Monkeys or Dido, to single out a couple of the other pop stars not yet mentioned. Conversely, those who are fond of British pop/rock likely aren't going to be wild about Cuban music such as that featured here. In any event, the intention of APE was good, no question about that. For instance, the CD booklet is laden with essays about global warming, and while some of the writing seems rather polemic for the context, if not downright doomsaying in its urgency, it all is well intended and written, notably including a short piece by Al Gore related to his An Inconvenient Truth project.

Taken from Last.fm

14,691 listeners  ·  58,953 plays via Last.fm