From album
Clandestino
Manu Chao · 1998 · Track 7
Details
TonalidadBm
Compás4/4
Tempo81 BPM
Duración2:23
CompositorManu Chao
ÁlbumClandestino
Año1998
ISRCFRZ189800017
Credits
Music Manu Chao
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The story behind
The song Mama Call, part of Manu Chao's debut album, Clandestino, released in 1998, has a particularity in its conception: a large part of the sound material was built from speech fragments. One of these fragments comes from a speech by Subcomandante Marcos. This approach of incorporating "soundbites" is something that Chao would continue to explore in his later works, creating a distinctive sonic tapestry. The recording of this album, and by extension of Mama Call, was done in a very personal way, with the musician himself using a small laptop, a method described in the album's liner notes as Estudio Clandestino. The French edition of Rolling Stone magazine recognized the importance of Clandestino, including it in its list of the 100 best French rock albums, and the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die also featured it. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it 469th on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Manu Chao, whose full name is José Manuel Arturo Tomás Chao Ortega, was born in Paris, France, in 1961, with family roots in the Basque Country and Galicia. His musical career began on the streets of Paris, passing through bands like Hot Pants and Los Carayos, where experimentation with the mix of languages and styles was already taking place. Together with his brother Antoine Chao and other companions, he founded Mano Negra in 1987, a project that achieved notable success, especially in Europe and Latin America. After the dissolution of Mano Negra in 1995, Manu Chao began his solo career, maintaining a dynamic of constant tours with his band Radio Bemba. He currently resides in Barcelona. His compositions often address themes such as freedom, life in marginalized urban environments, and immigration, reflecting his own family history and political convictions, influenced by his friend Jorge Abascal and his affinity for anarchism. The duration of Mama Call is 2:23.
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