Rei Momo [Import]

Three years after Paul Simon's Graceland, the most identifiable member (by far) of the Talking Heads ventured way beyond his band's terrain with his solo debut. With Rei Momo, David Byrne inaugurated his plunge into Latin American music, doing so with a variety of styles, from son to salsa to meringue to samba, each lit with horn charts and piles of rhythm. The album, like Graceland, inspired some critiques (many of them vehement) of Byrne's cherry-picking of styles, which smacked a bit of postmodern exotica. The album certainly genre hops, mixing national styles with lyrics that gnash about Latin American political and human rights concerns. But it also helps contextualise the late-1990s fascination with native Cuban popular music, as well as the rise of Latin pop, which shares Byrne's border-agnostic mesh of all available styles. More than anything though, Rei Momo stands as one of Byrne's most inspired outings, perhaps even as an early pinnacle of his now-lengthy solo career. --Andrew Bartlett

Three years after Paul Simon's Graceland, the most identifiable member (by far) of the Talking Heads ventured way beyond his band's terrain with his solo debut. With Rei Momo, David Byrne inaugurated his plunge into Latin American music, doing so with a variety of styles, from son to salsa to merengue to samba, each lit with horn charts and piles of rhythm. The album, like Graceland, inspired some critiques (many of them vehement) of Byrne's cherry picking of styles, which smacked a bit of postmodern exotica. The album certainly genre hops, mixing national styles with lyrics that gnash about Latin American political and human rights concerns. Released a decade prior to the late-1990s fascination with native Cuban popular music, Rei Momo sheds light on the background for the explosion of interest in Buena Vista Social Club as well as the meteoric rise of Latin pop, which shares Byrne's border-agnostic mesh of all available styles. More than anything, though, Rei Momo stands as one of Byrne's most inspired outings, perhaps even as an early pinnacle of his now-lengthy solo career. --Andrew Bartlett

Trois ans après le Graceland de Paul Simon, le leader des Talking Heads, David Byrne, s'aventure bien au-delà des chemins parcourus par le groupe sur son premier album solo. Avec Rei Momo, il effectue sa première immersion dans la musique latino américaine, abordant ses diverses facettes, depuis le son à la salsa en passant par le meringue et la samba, tous accompagnés de parties de cuivres et de rythmes superposés. Tout comme Graceland, cet album a inspiré les critiques (souvent véhémentes) à l'égard de la sélection que Byrne a effectuée dans les styles. L'album passe de genre en genre, mélangeant des musiques traditionnelles à des paroles grinçantes sur les questions de politique et de droits de l'Homme en Amérique Latine. Mais il permet également de remettre en perspective l'engouement de la fin des années 90 pour la musique cubaine, ainsi que le succès de la pop latino, avec qui Byrne partage le mélange de nombreux styles. Quoi qu'il en soit, Rei Momo reste une des productions les plus inspirées de Byrne, peut-être l'apogée précoce de sa longue carrière solo. --Andrew Barlett