Putumayo Presents: Latin Lounge (2005)

by Various Artists

The downtempo side of fusion between traditional Latin forms and electronica. The mixes are surprisingly good throughout, with styles taken from everywhere from Spain to Argentina to Texas and thrown together with electronic beats and grooves. The album opens up with Alacran, an Italian outfit specializing in electronic tango à la Gotan Project. Son is taken on by Roberto Poveda with only slight modification, but enough to evoke the samba at times. There's proper chillout from Bebe, Cuban-British dub from Sidestepper, and a ... Read More

The downtempo side of fusion between traditional Latin forms and electronica. The mixes are surprisingly good throughout, with styles taken from everywhere from Spain to Argentina to Texas and thrown together with electronic beats and grooves. The album opens up with Alacran, an Italian outfit specializing in electronic tango à la Gotan Project. Son is taken on by Roberto Poveda with only slight modification, but enough to evoke the samba at times. There's proper chillout from Bebe, Cuban-British dub from Sidestepper, and a mix of flamenco and more from Amparanoia. More tango fusion and then a bit of nostalgia from rising star Charange Cakewalk. Perhaps the oddest bit here is an appearance by Deepak Chopra in a full-on bout of Indian-exotica-via-Mexico with aid from Adriana Castelazo. The mix is coherent and holds a constant sway without the schizophrenic breaks that are so common with cross-cultural albums. A charming album that belongs in league with Putumayo's other lounge-focused albums as perfect backing music to any given evening. ~ Adam Greenberg, Rovi Read Less