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mpvernon on 09/26/2009 at 04:00PM
Fosforo - Macondo
By their own description, Fosforo plays "punky reggae jungle music". Bits of reggae, dub, Latin, punk and electronica all blend together in their free online album titled Macondo. What is impressive is that all these elements sound unforced and authentic when you hear the final result. Even more amazing for me is the fact that the group members went to Van Nuys High School, a school that is more known for having alumni like Marilyn Monroe, Robert Redford and Paula Abdul rather than guys who play multi-cultural socio-political music. Time have changed since I used to cruise Van Nuys Boulevard on a Wednesday night. But I digress...
Macondo is six tracks and over 30 minutes of addictive foot-moving music. Fosforo has a great range of moods. They can play reggae that sounds right off the streets of Kingston or deliver an sweet Afro-pop influenced "Desconocido" that would make King Sunny Ade smile or just celebrate and party on with "Cumbia de Obama". This is a fine band that should do well as long as they keep to their global vision.
(A slightly different review was originally posted on Free Albums Galore on 10/3/2008.)
