King of Son, the

Beny Moré, The King of Son
Both a tribute to and collection of Beny Moré songs, Cuban classics. Moves backwards in time: the first part of the album is a set of modern remixes that add heavy beats, rapping, and samples to—basically the tracks that are at the end of the album; the middle is some (icky sound quality) home recordings from 1962 featuring just Beny on acoustic guitar and vocals, and the end is a set of very recognizable Cuban classics from the 50s. The remixes (2-6) are really fun and clubby, creating that kitschy retro sampled sound; the middle tracks (7-11) are . . . good for museum value?, and the originals, at the end, are fun, Cuban big band songs. You can skip the middle tracks, but play the others and dance yer butt off! 5, 6, 4, 12, 15

*1. (0:16) cool vocal percussion—superawesome but way too short.
*2. (3:25) A classic (track 12) remixed with a heavy beat, some vocal samples, and a rap added en espanol.
*3. (3:46) slower samba-y, (remix of track 13) with added handclaps
*4. (3:41) (remix of track 14); spacy and echoey, with a heavy beat. The original is more dissected than in the previous tracks; has a lush synth strings section. Lovely trumpet solo and cool vocal percussion breaks.
*5. (3:13) (remix of track 15); sultry, with funky wow wow’s and cheesy synth and organ.
*6. (3:31) (remix of track 16) fun uptempo ska-like remix, with horns, perc, electric guitars
7. (3:24) waltz tempo song, solo guitar and vocals. Pretty.
8. (4:15) sultry, rambling song
9. (4:22) slow, halting minor key lament
10. (3:01) slow love song
11. (3:39) minor key coy teasing
*12. (2:54) big band sound, cha cha.
*13. (3:18) slower, choral backup vocals, plodding
*14. (2:22) horns intro, choral backup vocals, mambo-y, Beny vocal improvising
*15. (2:57) sultry moonlight dance, wailing trumpet, bongos, coy horn solos
*16. (3:15) quintessential Cuban sound, funky perc. and happy chord progressions.
*17. (5:54) club remix of #2. superfunky, wow wow guitars, deep beats; sampled song enters later.

--reviewed by mandy (La Chanteuse)