Best local band
Phoenix readers had twice picked Babaloo - whose roots are in Jamaica Plain rather than Havana - as
winners of the local world-music category in our annual Best Music Poll before handing them Best status
this year. Maybe the seven-piece "punk mambo hardcore juju band" benefited from the 50th anniversary of
I Love Lucy, though control freak Desi Arnaz would probably have an aneurysm listening to their CDs.
Hardcore Juju, the band's 1999 release on their own Butcher's Ghost label, includes "Ichaban" (described
in the liner notes as "bossa nova"), "Cherry Yo Yo" ("rhumbasoukous"), and "Skamambert" ("skacheese"). Add
some hula, reggae, and Arabic music, and you've got a sound that no one else would dare to imitate.
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