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The Fleshtones debut EP (assuming one doesn't count the early Blast Off! sessions, which wouldn't be released for another two years) is a five-song calling card that captures what makes them so much fun without sticking around long enough to make the point especially well. The production by Paul Wexler lacks a certain presence, and while two up-tempo sax-fueled numbers, "Cold, Cold Shoes" and "Theme From 'The Vindicators'," would sound great on any '60s obsessive's next mix tape, "The Girl From Baltimore" and "Feel The Heat" sound frantic but thin, with plenty of energy but little immediate personality. And while they certainly give the Rolling Stones' "Play With Fire" a distinctive sound, I'm not so sure it was meant to have a neo-Bo Diddley beat. Up Front is an OK record from a band that deserves better, and sadly this wasn't the last time something like this happened in the Fleshtones' recording career. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
All stars, Buena Vista team up
Benefit CD features Cuba's finest laying new backing tracks for songs by Coldplay, U2, Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, and others, and also includes Ibrahim Ferrer's last recording.
Rhythms Del Mundo
Take some of the world's most popular rock songs, add the Cuban stylings of the Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social Club, and what do you have?
Rhythms Del Mundo, a rather unique compilation that benefits a group called Artists Project Earth, an organization focused on natural disaster relief and climate change awareness. The CD, which hits stores November 14, is being released on Hip-O Records/Universal Music Enterprises.
The list of bands that turned their tracks for the project is mind-boggling: Coldplay, U2, Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, Sting, and Dido (OK, so they're not all mind-boggling).
For most of the tracks, Buena Vista session players like Barbarito Torres, Amandito Valdes, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, and Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez lay down new Cuban backing tracks over the original vocals, under the guidance of arranger Demitrio Muniz.
But the comp also includes the last vocal recording by late Buena Vista singer Ibrahim Ferrer, who sings a duet with fellow Cuban legend Omara Portuondo on "Casablanca," as well as a solo turn on "As Time Goes By."
Sting also remakes his own song "Fragile," the theme song for the award-winning IMAX movie The Living Sea, in Spanish.
The idea for the project came about following the Tsunami disaster in 2005, and it gained momentum following the earthquakes in Asia and Hurricane Katrina.
"We need a law, we need to have the government put climate change in its place," Thom Yorke said in a statement. "If you leave industry to sort it out on a voluntary basis, that's never going to happen. So everybody if they've got any concerns about climate change has to register that concern with their government officials because it's the only way to go."
Snippets from the compilation are streaming on its Web site.
Track listing for Rhythms Del Mundo:
1. Coldplay - "Clocks"
2. Jack Johnson - "Better Together"
3. Arctic Monkeys - "Dancing Shoes"
4. Dido/Faithless - "One Step Too Far"
5. Ibrahim Ferrer - "As Time Goes By"
6. Coco & U2 - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
7. Maroon 5 - "She Will Be Loved"
8. Kaiser Chiefs - "Modern Way"
9. Omara Portuondo - "Killing Me Softly"
10. Vanya & Quincy - "Ai No Corrida"
11. Sting - "Fragilidad"
12. Vanya - "Don't Know Why"
13. Aquila Rose & Idana - "Hotel Buena Vista"
14. Coco & Franz Ferdinand - "The Dark of the Matinee"
15. Lele & Radiohead - "High and Dry"
16. Ibrahim & Omara - "Casablanca"
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