Lariba - “Como Lo Ves” (promo)

When I first received this CD of ‘urban latin music’ from Switzerland, I assumed it would be like their famous Emmental: cheesy and full of holes.  However, what unfolded was confident, multi-faceted and played with some serious cojones y sabor!  

Featuring four Cubans, a Mexican, a Sicilian, a Brazilian and a Swiss they sing in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian (and can handle Arabic and English as well). 

The CD covers a variety of ‘urban latin’ styles, mixing in elements of reggaeton, cumbia, hip-hop, son, mozambique, samba-reggae, baiao, mariachi, salsa, jazz, batá, santería, samba, bomba . . Whilst this might sound like a recipe for a dodgy international fondue, in fact each track is utterly convincing.  The nearest comparisons would be Sargento García and Orishas, but there’s a lot more buried within this well-produced 15 track CD.  

The copy I have is just a promo CD and I don’t know how near they are to getting a distribution deal - but you can try their sites: www.lariba.ch and www.myspace.com/lariba for further details.  

These guys are good, VERY good!  Definitely one of the best surprises of the year! Recommended.  Pass the fondue fork, please, someone.

Glyn Phillips (WorldMusic.co.uk)

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Nov 28 2008