Street Signs (2004)
13 tracks, 52 minutes
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I’m heading off to Boomtown festival in a couple of weeks and Ozomatli are right at the top of my must-see list. They are seriously one of the very best live bands I’ve ever seen – they can turn any occasion into a party within seconds of arriving on stage and it doesn’t let up until they’re leading the crowd on a massive samba from within. While their sound has evolved across their 24 years, their core has stayed basically consistent: Latin music of all colours (from salsa to cumbia to mariachi to the aforementioned samba) with a whole load of hip-hop in there and a good measure of rock, and usually with some pointed lyrics too. This is the real sound of Los Angeles.
When you have a band whose live shows are such a tour de force, it’s sometimes hard for their studio albums to live up to the same standard. That’s not a worry when it comes to Street Signs, although it does stick out as a little bit different from the rest of the group’s albums. It was Ozomatli’s third full length release out of (currently) eight studio albums, and it is by far their most ‘world music’ of offerings. Their first two (1998’s Ozomatli and 2001’s Embrace the Chaos) were much more focused on the Latin hip-hop thing, and afterward they went in a more good-time pop-rock direction. On Street Signs, though, they brought all sorts of stuff to the table, from Arabic sounds to Balkan brass, flamenco to Indian elements, and all without taking anything away from that classic Ozo sound.
This eclectic mix is also apparent in the amount and variety of guests on the album. There are so many: there’s featured artists such as Nuyorican salsa piano legend Eddie Palmieri, Los Lobos frontman David Hidalgo and baritone rapper and erstwhile Ozo member Chali 2na, but there’s also more subtle and less assuming guest slots for other stars in their own right such as Gnawa master Hassan Hakmoun and French Roma jazz group Les Yeux Noirs. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan even gets a co-writer’s credit on ‘Believe’, although I’ve never been able to work out what for, exactly. Usually albums with a buttload of guests end up sounding stilted and try-hard, but not this one. Everyone just fits in where they’re supposed to, never take up too much room than necessary and just slot right into the Ozomatli party.
Because, for all its difference from the band’s other records, Street Signs still has that same atmosphere. Tracks such as ‘Saturday Night’ and ‘Street Signs’ are typical Ozo bangers with some amazing raps and blaring horns, but even when they do something different such as the brooding opener ‘Believe’ or Chali 2na’s Egyptian-flavoured guest number ‘Who’s to Blame’ have a suitably political message while all but requiring you to dance along.
Street Signs is Ozo’s most esoteric album of their career so far, but I still reckon it’s their best all-round set. But as good as it is, you don’t want to hear this coming out of your stereo speakers – you want to hear it all going on in front of you in all its sweaty, chaotic glory. Ozomatli: see them live at any cost; if you can’t, Street Signs is still as good a time as any.
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