La Radiolina

Last updated
La Radiolina
Radiolina.jpg
Studio album by
Released30 August 2007
Genre Worldbeat, Latin alternative, reggae, Rock en Español
Label Because Music
Producer Manu Chao
Manu Chao chronology
Sibérie m'était contéee
(2004)
La Radiolina
(2007)
Professional ratings
Review scores
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Pitchfork Media 7.5/10 6Sep2007
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La Radiolina is the fourth studio album by Manu Chao. It was released on 4 September 2007. Italy saw an advance release of the album on 30 August.

Contents

"Rainin in Paradize", the first single from the album, was available before its official release for download on his website. The single features a music video directed by Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica. There is also a video for the song "Me Llaman Calle", featuring Manu Chao performing in a local bar.

Languages and style

The album's title La Radiolina means the small radio in Italian, referring to a small-sized transistor radio. The album is mainly sung in Spanish. "Politik Kills", "Rainin In Paradize", "The Bleedin Clown" and the first two lines of "Siberia" are in English; "Besoin de la Lune" and "Panik Panik" are in French; "A Cosa" is in Italian, a first for Manu Chao; "Amalucada Vida" is in Brazilian Portuguese.

Musically, the album features a trademark of Manu Chao's style in its re-utilizing of the same instrumental backing tracks with different melodies and lyrics:

A similar "recycling" process also affects some of the lyrics. "Tristeza Maleza" features the repeated phrase "Infinita Tristeza", from the album Próxima Estación: Esperanza ; the lyrics for "Besoin de la Lune" originally appeared with different music, and in a slightly longer version, on the album Sibérie m'était contéee ; that same album also included the original French lyrics of "Sibérie" (again with different music), which Chao partly translated in "Siberia"; the lyrics for "Mama Cuchara" were originally written in Quito, Ecuador, during a rainy Sunday, [1] and originally appeared, with different music, in Chao's short film "Infinita Tristeza", included in the Kikelandia bonus section of the 2002 Babylonia en Guagua DVD (that performance was never officially released). Additionally, "13 Días" and "Otro Mundo" contain phrases appearing several times in Chao's previous output, such as "Me hielo en la habitación / No tengo calefacción" in "13 Días" and "Calavera no llora / Serenata de amor" in "Otro Mundo". The lyrics to the tracks "Panik Panik" and "Politik Kills" are the same as those in the tracks "Camions Sauvages" and "Politic Amagni" respectively on Amadou & Mariam's album Dimanche à Bamako which was produced by Manu Chao.

Track listing

  1. "13 Días"
  2. "Tristeza Maleza"
  3. "Politik Kills"
  4. "Rainin in Paradize (Scheps version)"
  5. "Besoin de la Lune"
  6. "El Kitapena"
  7. "Me Llaman Calle"
  8. "A Cosa"
  9. "The Bleedin Clown (Scheps version)"
  10. "Mundorévès"
  11. "El Hoyo"
  12. "La Vida Tómbola"
  13. "Mala Fama"
  14. "Panik Panik"
  15. "Otro Mundo"
  16. "Piccola Radiolina"
  17. "Y Ahora Qué?"
  18. "Mama Cuchara"
  19. "Siberia"
  20. "Soñe Otro Mundo"
  21. "Amalucada Vida"

Personnel/credits

Charts

Chart (2008)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [3] 5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [4] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [5] 1
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [6] 6
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [7] 20
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [8] 10
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [9] 13
French Albums (SNEP) [10] 2
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [11] 2
Italian Albums (FIMI) [12] 2
Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico) [13] 10
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [14] 7
Portuguese Albums (AFP) [15] 11
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [16] 1
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [17] 4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [18] 1
US Billboard 200 [19] 71
US Billboard Top Latin Albums [20] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2007)Peak
position
US Billboard Top World Albums [21] 14

Sales and certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF) [22] Gold20,000^
Belgium (BEA) [23] Gold15,000*
France400,000 [24]
Hungary (MAHASZ) [25] Gold3,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [26] Platinum30,000^
United States (RIAA) [27] Gold (Latin)111,000 [28]
Summaries
Europe500,000 [29]
Worldwide1,000,000 [30]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

Manu Chao is a French singer of Spanish descent. He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek, and occasionally in other languages. Chao began his musical career in Paris, busking and playing with groups such as Hot Pants and Los Carayos, which combined a variety of languages and musical styles. With friends and his brother Antoine Chao, he founded the band Mano Negra in 1987, achieving considerable success, particularly in Europe. He became a solo artist after its breakup in 1995 and since then tours regularly with his live band, Radio Bemba.

<i>Sibérie métait contéee</i> 2004 studio album by Manu Chao

Sibérie m'était contéee [sic] is the third studio album and first exclusively French language album by Manu Chao, released in 2004. This album features, along with a CD, an oversized book with lyrics to songs from the album and previous Manu Chao albums, as well as illustrations by Jacek Woźniak. Hit singles include "Petite blonde du Boulevard Brune". The album's songs refer heavily to Paris, and Parisian life. The song "Helno est mort" is dedicated to the memory of his friend Helno, the singer of Les Négresses Vertes who died of a drug overdose in 1993.

<i>Próxima Estación: Esperanza</i> 2001 studio album by Manu Chao

Próxima Estación: Esperanza is the second solo album by Manu Chao. The album was released in Europe in 2001. It was released in the United States on 5 June 2001 on Virgin Records.

<i>Clandestino</i> 1998 studio album by Manu Chao

Clandestino is the first full-length solo album by Manu Chao, released in 1998. The album contains many soundbites throughout, two of which are bits of a speech by Subcomandante Marcos and, like Chao's subsequent albums, was mostly recorded by the musician himself in various locations around the world, using a small laptop—which is referred to in the liner notes as Estudio Clandestino. The French edition of Rolling Stone magazine named this album the 67th greatest French rock album. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album was ranked number 469 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020.

<i>Radio Bemba Sound System</i> 2002 live album by Manu Chao

Radio Bemba Sound System is a live album by Manu Chao that was released in 2002. It is the accompanying CD to the performer's live DVD Babylonia en Guagua, filmed over two nights in 2001 during the tour for Proxima Estacion: Esperanza. Many of the songs found on Radio Bemba Sound System, such as "Machine Gun", "Peligro","Mala Vida","King Kong Five" and "The Monkey", are songs originally recorded by Manu Chao's previous band, Mano Negra. However the arrangements performed with Radio Bemba Sound System are more reggae-, ska-, and rock-oriented. The album is sequenced and edited in such a way that there is very little audience noise and cheering between the tracks, thus giving the impression of an all-night happy party - which calms down in the penultimate track only to explode again in the last one ("Promiscuity"); the cheering at the end of "Promiscuity" is cut short by a very early fade.

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"Me Gustas Tú" is the second single from Manu Chao's second solo album, Próxima Estación: Esperanza. It has proved to be one of the artist's most popular songs worldwide. Its lyrics have a simple but catchy structure and it is mostly in Spanish with part of the chorus in French. The song, as well as two other tracks from the same album, "La primavera" and "Infinita tristeza", feature the same background music. In fact, on the album, "La primavera" fades and leads into "Me Gustas Tú".

<i>Dimanche à Bamako</i> 2005 studio album by Amadou & Mariam

Dimanche à Bamako is the fourth album by Malian duo Amadou & Mariam featuring, and produced by, French singer Manu Chao. It was released on the Nonesuch Records label on 2 August 2005.

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References

  1. from Babylonia en Guagua DVD booklet
  2. all credits taken from La radiolina CD booklet
  3. "Austriancharts.at – Manu Chao – La Radiolina" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  4. "Ultratop.be – Manu Chao – La Radiolina" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  5. "Ultratop.be – Manu Chao – La Radiolina" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  6. "Manu Chao Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  7. "Danishcharts.dk – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  8. "Dutchcharts.nl – Manu Chao – La Radiolina" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  9. "Manu Chao: La Radiolina" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  10. "Lescharts.com – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  11. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  12. "Italiancharts.com – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  13. "Mexicancharts.com – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  14. "Norwegiancharts.com – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  15. "Portuguesecharts.com – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  16. "Spanishcharts.com – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  17. "Swedishcharts.com – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  18. "Swisscharts.com – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  19. "Manu Chao Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  20. "Latin Albums". Billboard . Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  21. "Top World Albums - La Radiolina". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2007-12-31. Retrieved 2008-10-28.[ dead link ]
  22. "Discos de oro y platino" (in Spanish). Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  23. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2007". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  24. Cadet, Thierry (1 December 2008). "Manu Chao : une chanson inédite sur les ondes". Chart in France. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  25. "Adatbázis – Arany- és platinalemezek – 2007" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ . Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  26. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('La Radiolina')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  27. "American album certifications – Manu Chao – La Radiolina". Recording Industry Association of America.
  28. Phillips, Erica E. (18 September 2012). "Record Company Carves Niche in 'Latin Alternative'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  29. "Impala Sales Award Winner June 2005 - January 2008" (PDF). Impala. 3 December 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  30. "Manu Chao: Live Album/DVD".