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Señor Coconut: El Baile Aleman

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: multiColor Recordings
Released: 2000.01.02
Time:
 47:12
Category: Electronica
Producer(s): Atom Heart
Rating: ********** (10/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.senor-coconut.com
Appears with: Atom Heart, Flanger, Sieg über die Sonne
Purchase date: 2001.02.03
Price in €: 15,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Introduction (Señor Coconut) - 1:15
[2] Showroom Dummies (R.Hutter) - 5:29
[3] Trans Europe Express (R.Hutter/K.Schult) - 5:59
[4] Robots (K.Bartos/R.Hutter/F.Schneider) - 5:11
[5] Neon Lights (K.Bartos/R.Hutter/F.Schneider) - 4:56
[6] Autobahn (R.Huetter/F.Schneider/K.Schult) - 6:35
[7] Home Computer (Bartos/Huetter/Schneider) - 3:55
[8] Tour de France (K.Bartos/R.Huetter/F.Schmidt/K.Schneider) - 4:36
[9] Man Machine (K.Bartos/R.Hutter/F.Schneider) - 4:30
[10] Music Non Stop (K.Bartos/R.Hutter/F.Schneider/K.Schult) - 4:46 

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


UWE SCHMIDT alias SEÑOR COCONUT Y SU CONJUNTO - Main Performer on AKAI MPC3000 and S6000

JORGE GONZALEZ - Vocals on [4], [8], [9]
LISA CARBON - Backing Vocals on [5]
RICARDITO TAMBO - Additional Midi-shaker

UWE SCHMIDT alias ATOM HEART™ - Executive Programmer, Concept, Production
LINGER DECOREE - Design Sampling
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Geil - einfach geil!!! Das man sowas mit Kraftwerk Songs machen kann, hätte ich nicht einmal geträumt. Cha-cha, Mambo usw. von Ralf & Florian? Denskte - von Uwe ... aber sehr schräg und daher genial! Diese Scheibe ist auch für nicht eingefleischten Kraftwerkern ein Leckerbissen. Gleich in die nächste CD-Bude und kaufen! Apropos: ich habe diese CD im Laden unter World Music Regal unter Latin/Cha-cha/Mamaba gefunden - ha, ha, ha ... Pardon, ganz grob stimmt es sogar ... oder ?

© 2001 audio-music dot com



"The best interpretations of Kraftwerk classics I have ever heard" ...so wird auf dem Cover ein gewisser Jeffrey Brown (wer auch immer das sein mag) zitiert. Dem kann ich mich nur anschliessen! Mit süssen dreizehn kaufte ich mir meine erste Kraftwerk-Single; "Die Roboter"; seitdem liess mich diese Band nicht mehr los. Mit fünfundzwanzig plünderte ich Mutters Plattenschrank auf der Suche nach Perlen des Easy Listening; und auch das liess mich nicht mehr los! Und nun halte ich dieses Werk in meinen zitternden Händen: Namen wie Perez Prado und Mongo Santamaria fallen mir ein, während langsam die Hüften zu den Takten des zweiten Tracks ( Showroom Dummies) in's Wackeln geraten.. Es ist als würden die grossen "Lateiner" in den Kling-Klang-Studios mit Huettner, Schneider & Co jammen. Diese Platte hätte den Sommer (?) 2000 mit einem guten Stück Extra-Sonne bereichern können: Verräucherte Bar, laszive Menschen, Cuba Libres ohne Ende... und dazu diese Platte! Wer dazu nicht tanzt hat hoffentlich eine gute Lebensversicherung abgeschlossen, denn allzu lange hat dieses unwürdige Menschlein nicht mehr zu leben. Erfreut euch an der charmanten Sammlung der Kraftwerk-Klassiker und holt euch ein Stück Sommer in den beginnenden Winter!


Futurism - an old-fashioned concept!

It would be pointless and even superfluous to list projects or releases from Uwe Schmidt's past once again. Uwe Schmidt is Atom Heart, label manager (Rather Interesting), musician, and is Senor Coconut. Ever since he moved to South America (Chile) some time ago, he has been presenting us with absolute delicacies in electronic music, i.e., the Pop Artificielle album (the cover songs of pop history) or with his new strike "El Baile Alem". But sometimes, maybe even too seldom, Uwe Schmidt is also Senor Coconut. Although a fun-loving comrade of our era, Senor Coconut is also extremely remote from the music of his origins. It seems as if, the major part of his life-elixir was the transportation of music into other genres and dimensions. The theme is Kraftwerk, a formation from Dusseldorf possessing an undoubtable cult-status, and Kraftwerk cover songs in Senor Coconut's album "El Baile Alem". In "Showroom Dummies", "Trans-Europe-Express", "The Robots" and "Music Non-Stop", Kraftwerk's footprints in music's history have been given a totally new and unfamiliar look - one of latin american character....! The first beats of "Showroom Dummies" hit one's soul and hips simultaneously. The source material for this cover album could have hardly been more sterile or repetitive in it's basis as Kraftwerk's songs originally were. It is for this same reason however that one is instantly fascinated by the warmth flowing from the cover versions. The ingredients Senor Coconut uses for the latin flavor are every instrument one instantly comes up with when thinking about Latin American music, especially trumpets, percussion, and singers. Is he the first ever to rebel against reduction and minimalism? Despite the hot climatic circumstances Senor Coconut approaches the subject pretty cool-headedly. The cover versions resulted from an eight month long process - they impress with massive self-consciousness, and wink at one mischeivously. One is tempted to speak about the first virtual band, if the boundaries between electronic, simulation and the virtual world weren't already interflowing and everything other than transparent.... The virtual band in Senor Coconut's studio will come to life within this year and will bestow us (the world) with live performances...

www.emperornorton.com



Considering the fact that Kraftwerk inspired an entire genre of musicians with its pioneering electronic pop, a tribute album dedicated to its music isn't so surprising. But who would have ever thought that "Trans Europe Express" would one day be reinterpreted as a sultry, faux-Latino cha-cha driven by sassy brass, claves and maracas? Señor Coconut is arguably a bit cuckoo (as is Frankfurt-born experimental electronic producer Uwe Schmidt, the man behind the curtain), but that's precisely what makes his covers of these Kraftwerk classics so deliciously entertaining. El Baile Aleman (The German Dance) admittedly colors outside the lines with its interpretations, and it's certainly many stylistic worlds away from the originals it covers, but you don't need to be a Latin lover to get your groove on with this upbeat salsa sensation.

M. Tye Comer
CMJ New Music Report Issue: 677 - Aug 07, 2000



Upon the American arrival of El Baile Aleman, the first record from Señor Coconut Y Su Conjunto, listeners were forced to contemplate the notion that a traditional Latin group from South America had organized a tribute album to Germany's favorite futurists, Kraftwerk. Even given the comparatively close ties between the two regions ever since World War II, it's a ludicrous proposition and turns out to be the work of Frankfurt native Uwe Schmidt, who has recorded his Atom Heart material in Chile since 1997. El Baile Aleman is that rare humor LP that succeeds on its musical merits as well. Beginning with a short vocal intro on which Señor Coconut himself introduces the record with appropriately comic English, El Baile Aleman presents remarkably faithful covers of Kraftwerk classics ("Showroom Dummies," "Trans Europe Express," "The Robots," "Autobahn," "Tour de France") with the stark percussion and effects of the originals replaced by just slightly less rigid Latin rhythm presets. Latin music can be a surprisingly precise genre of music, and Schmidt walks the verge between Latin and techno with a special genius that would be practically impossible for other electronic producers. Far more than just a novelty record (though many will see it that way), El Baile Aleman accomplishes an excellent Latin-electronic fusion, one that's seamless and excellent.

John Bush, All-Music Guide



Anyone even a little familiar with the movie-making business knows the term "high concept"--a short sentence in which the premise for a film can be summed up. Many high concepts (such as "It's like High Noon in outer space" or "It's like Gone with the Wind in wartime Poland") juxtapose dissimilar, well-known elements. So a German techno producer who relocates to Chile, steeps himself in Latin American dance-music styles, and releases a CD of a synthetic South American dance band covering Kraftwerk songs surely qualifies as high concept. El Baile Aleman is the third Senor Coconut release by Uwe Schmidt, whose Atom Heart moniker is the best known of his dozen or so aliases. And even though the whole package is delivered with a big ironic wink, Uwe Schmidt is plainly hoping that the music itself will transcend the joke, which it does about half the time. The music mostly achieves escape velocity when the singing is not the center of attention. The chattering layers of percussion and limpid vibraphone on "Tour de France" take the listener a lot further out than the bland repetition of the title phrase on "Showroom Dummies." As is common on Latin music records, every track is labeled with its style (cha-cha-cha, merengue, cumbia, and so on). Serious Latin music fans are likely a little puzzled, but partisans of the easy listening-exotica electronic music style are having a gas.

Bob Bannister, Amazon.com



Kraftwerk auf Lateinamerikanisch? "The Robots" in einer Cha-Cha-Cha-Version? "The Man Machine"-Merengue? Uwe Schmidt, ein in Chile lebender Deutscher, macht den Traum, den nie jemand geträumt hat, wahr. Schmidt, der mehr Pseudonyme hat, als zwei Hände Finger, verkörpert auf El Baile Aleman Senor Coconut, einen elektronischen Bandleader, der seinen Sampler bis unter die Hutschnur mit dem Lebenswerk des Mambo-Gottes Dámaso Pérez Prado geladen hat. Wo ehemals vier ernst dreinblickende junge Deutsche stoisch den vor ihnen stehenden Maschinenpark bearbeitet haben, um den typisch unterkühlten Kraftwerk-Sound zu erzeugen, steht nun eine achtköpfige virtuelle Band und spielt zum Tanz auf. Elegante lateinamerikanische Versionen der besten Kraftwerk-Stücke aller Zeiten, zusammengesetzt aus unzähligen Miniatur-Mambo-Splittern, laden zum Paartanz ein, funktionieren allerdings auch in der Bar Ihres Vertrauens oder am Strand unter Palmen ganz hervorragend.

Markus Hablizel, Amazon.de
 

 L y r i c s


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 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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