LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO
A stunning feat of voice in the form of African tribal chants; with a few pop entries scattered on various albums. A sleek group, although if you have the desire to sing along-- and you will-- be forewarned that they use some phonetics not used in the English language. For some reason I cannot explain, this is excellent "cruising around" music.
LORDS OF ACID
Kinky lusty porno techno with a fetish twist. What more do you need? No other group has better songs about STDs, masturbation, sex with aliens, and a wide array of perverse sexual practices-- What more do you need?! This is a required college listening for those sexually mature enough to handle it, or for younger folk would be a quick-ticket to scaring your parents. Get some!! If you feel like being particularly obnoxious at a music store, ask a clerk if he has "Pussy," and if not then to order "Pussy" for you.
LOS LOBOS
In the same logic that all "black films" must have rap soundtracks, all Latino films have to have at least one Los Lobos track. I'd like to believe that this is done out of recognition that Los Lobos is one of the best rock bands around today, and not merely some effort to try and score the next "La Bamba" out of them. For those not acquainted with Los Lobos' work, this band suffers from McFerrin Syndrome-- They have a large and impressive talented body of work unrecogized by the general public, yet captured perfectly on their Another Band From East LA set. Listen to the grace and soul of "Kiko and the Lavender Moon" and wonder how or why MTV underplayed this song. If you're tired of today's boring music offerings, give yourself a chance to recognize Los Lobos for what they're good at and not what they're famous for.
LUCAS
In my heart of hearts [excuse the New Age aphorism], I recognize Lucas as the first rapper whose music struck me as non-posturing, bouyant, and ultimately addictive to listen to. In reality, I know that Lucas is merely a one-hit wonder with a killer one-take video. Still, I can't help but recognize that he's been in my 100-disc CD player as long as I've owned the damn thing, and that for many months I listened to "Lucas with the Lid Off" every single day. He's the first rapper I ever heard scat in a song or rap trilingually. It's rap without the gangsta attitude or the need to rap about dick size in every song. And Django Reinhardt is his favorite musician-- How many rappers [or Top 40 musicians] even know who that is? And Puffy is platinum material, people? How f***ing wrong is that?!
