Ozomatli - Embrace the Chaos

The follow-up to Ozomatli's 1998 eponymous debut, Embrace the Chaos builds on the band's proven strengths: a masterful command of a palette of musical styles, a firm commitment to social activism, and an unending devotion to the power of rhythm. Like the L.A. landscape from which the group emerged, Ozo's music is a polyglot of cultures, whether it's the Puerto Rican salsa of "Dos Cosas Ciertas," the Mardi Gras funk of "1, 2, 3, 4," the Brazilian batucada beat of "Suenos en Realidad," or the Cuban son influence on "Timido." The result is a gorgeously diverse sound that changes from song to song without seeming disjointed or random. Rap fans may be disappointed to note that Jurassic 5's Chali 2na and Cut Chemist are no longer with the group, but the album is hardly suffering from a dearth of hip-hop; in-house rapper Kanetic Source and DJ Spinobi offer their talents, while notable cameos are provided by De La Soul ("1, 2, 3, 4"), Medusa ("Vocal Artillery"), and Common ("Embrace the Chaos"). Even though the album is capped at an efficient 11 songs, it doesn't come up short. With so much different music represented, Embrace the Chaos is like a dozen albums fused into one. --Oliver Wang Amazon.com\'s Best of 2001

The aztec God of dance

Langly, uno de los Pistoleros Solitarios de "Expediente X", lucía en la serie una camiseta con el logo de Ozomatli. ¿Casualidad, guiño, publicidad? Más bien una muestra del impacto que el grupo causó con su debut homónimo, con su mezcla de rock, ska, funk, hip hop y ritmos latinos.
Los europeos estamos acostumbrados a ese cajón de sastre llamado rock mestizo, y hemos sufrido en silencio la aparición de grupetes que esconden su mediocridad tras la etiqueta de "globalidad enrollada". Pero para los yanquis, Ozomatli fue toda una sorpresa.
Después de tres años de gira, el septeto multiracial de Los Angeles regresa con las ideas más claras: si en su primer trabajo fusionaban estilos en un mismo tema, en "Embrace The Chaos" tienden a diferenciarlos en distintas canciones, y para ello recurren a varios productores. Steve Berlin, de Los Lobos, se encarga de potenciar los sonidos más latinos en "Pa Lante" (con el violín del lobo David Hidalgo y la kora de Prince Diabate), "Tímido" (con influencias cubanas), y el bullanguero "Mi Alma" (de raíces mejicanas).
La faceta más rapera de Ozomatli queda plasmada en las producciones de Bob Powers: "Lo que dice"; "1234" (al estilo de la Old School, con De La Soul); "Vocal Artillery" (con los recitados de Wil.I.Am (de Black Eyed Peas), Kanetic Source y Medusa, y el efectivo scratch de DJ Cut Chemist); y el pausado "Embrace The Chaos" (con Common y una trompeta jazz). Por su parte, el productor Mario Caldato aporta interesantes fusiones en "Dos cosas ciertas" (una cumbia interrumpida por un ritmo drum'n'bass y el rap en inglés de Kanetic Source), y en "Sueños en realidad" (donde los sonidos brasileños se funden con el scratch de DJ Spinobe, los metales y las percusiones).
En lengua nahuatl, Ozomatli es el dios azteca del baile y, sin duda, el grupo angelino hace honor a su nombre.
April 5, 2006

I can't get behind this

English speaker here, somewhat fan of latin music.

A friend of mine saw these folks live and recommended that I go out and buy everything they own right this second.

As far as latin music goes, there's nothing special about this album. It sounds like every other salsa record out there. BOOORRRRIIINNNGG!!! Oro Solido was doing this 10 years ago. Who cares???

There are some hip hop tracks on this album, and let me save you some time: If you like the crap hip-hop that ozo is trying to peddle on this album, go out and get yourself some black eyed peas. these clowns can't rap to save themselves! It's almost unlistenable. God. I have it playing now, and someone on the album actally rhymed 'half-assed MC's' with something equally as cliched and self important, and, well, crappy. I'm gagging on this album.

I'm gonna give their self titled album a shot, it seems to be rather well liked by the amazon reviewers. July 15, 2005

Baltimore Hons rocks to Ozomatli

I have been listening to this CD everyday for a year! Just saw them in concert April 27 04 and they were fantastic. They jumped into the crowd and played right next to us for the last 30 min. Very rarely do you hear a group who's live performance is exactly the quality of the CD. You won't need to understand Spanish to groove to the heated explicit lyrics. Even a gringa can learn rhythm with this CD. Ozomatli played some songs from the new CD being released in June. I was on line today to see if i could pre-order it. May 4, 2004

Ozomatli excels! online concert, too...

This album is fantastic. This group is excellent. You know this album rocks, so here is a tip! They recently played a really small, initimate concert at The Expression Center for New Media in the Bay Area and it is online ...
I love Ozo and if you do, too, you'll be stoked on this.
Surfer August 16, 2002

Maximum Surprise

Having seen this group on the Latin Grammy awards perform "Dos Cosas Ciertas" and knowing nothing else about them, I bought the CD. I was very surprised to hear two of my favorite hip-hop artists on some tracks, especially the title track performed with Common! I love groups like Ozomatli and Groove Collective for their efforts at fusion. Their melange of latin and hip-hop and jazz reflects the diversity of urban America today. What Ozomatli should do now is carry their social activism further in their music. Play very loud! June 8, 2002

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