My 15 (+1) Favorite Songs of 2009: 4. Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro, “Linda Morena” (2009).
3. Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro, “Linda Morena”
- From the 2009 album Tradition in Transition.
- Official website
The closer I get to the top songs, the more ineffable they become; it’s as if the sheer pleasure of the listening experience as such robs you of wordsmithing faculties. (I think it’s why I prefer writing about movies; not having any musical background, I can’t describe what I’m hearing properly.) Maybe it’s because there’s a somatic quality to music that movies will never have; they’ll never make you pump your fists in the air as you drive, or dance until you’re out of breath, and when this happens, my words can only describe the experience.
The Englishman Will Holland has been knee-deep in the funk — and soul, dub, bossa nova, R&B, jazz, cumbia, you name it — for almost a decade now, under different guises, and his latest project, Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro, just might be the best of the lot. Tradition in Transition, recorded in Cali, Colombia, where Holland now lives, is already his 13th album for the Tru Thoughts label.
“Linda Morena” is one unbelievably sizzling hot track; it jumped out of my speakers the first time I heard it and demanded I listen to it again. It’s not just a song that makes you want to dance, but a song that makes you want to dance to it properly. Panamanian soul singer Kabir’s vocals are fantastic, but when Alfredo Linares comes in with his piano solo halfway through the song, you wish it would never end.
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The rest of the list so far:
5. Passion Pit, “Folds in Your Hands” (2009)
6. Ximena Sariñana, “Vidas Paralelas” (2008)
7. Thomas Tantrum, “Work It” (2008)
8. The Zombies, “I Want Her She Wants Me” (1968)
9. Ben Kweller, “Old Hat” (2009)
10. Ida Maria, “Oh My God” (2007)
11. Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel, “How Do You Judge Me” (2003)
12. The Phenomenal Handclap Band, “15 to 20″ (2009)
13. Speech Debelle, “The Key” (2009)
14. ComaR, “I Want You D.A.N.C.E.” (2008)
15. Michael Jackson, “Happy” (1973)
16. Wonder Girls, “Nobody” (2008)
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