Los Chicharrons
Roots Of Life (Tummy Touch Tuch2022CD, 2011)
Even though Los Chicharrons have a background in dance music, they have recorded one of the finest world beat albums I’ve heard in recent months titled Roots Of Life. Los Chicharrons are Danish musician Morten Hansen and Dominican Ramón Santana. Both are musicians, DJs and producers. Roots of Life, the group’s fourth album, is scheduled for release in January 2011.
For this project, Santana and Hansen went into an African roots direction, producing a super Afro Funk record. To achieve this, the musicians went to Bamako in Mali, where they worked with local musicians who added griot-style vocals and various musical instruments. There were additional recordings made in Paris. The album was completed in Copenhagen and London.
What’s attracted me to this recording is the fact that Los Chicharrons use an impressive amount of acoustic sounds such as dazzling balafon, powerful brass, a myriad of drums and flute, which they blend with electronic beats. Thus, it is not one of those heavy drum and bass albums with a little world music content. Instead, it is a world music album that captures griot, afrobeat and other West African elements, and funk with tastefully added electronic beats and ambiance.
Roots Of Life is a fiery, eclectic album with a beguiling mix of world music, funk and electronica.
Buy the album:
- In North America: Roots Of Life. Other recordings available: When the Sun Goes Down
- In Europe: Roots of Life
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
