U2 & Coco Freeman

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. read less