Dancing For the Cabana Code in the Land of Boo-Hoo
A generation after serving as August Darnell’s zoot-suited comic foil in Kid Creole and the Coconuts, this ageless Nuyorican jack-of-all-trades reappears with his first solo album in 27 years, and only second ever. It’s a hoot, too: Homemade-sounding, salsa-percussive electro-rap, cheerfully stretched to the breaking point. Lyrics address things Coati Mundi likes (the mall, his dog), things he doesn’t (brown-nosers, narcissists), and things he can’t live without (money). The opener, “Voyage Libertad to the Boat Dance,” is a nine-minute celebration of international freedom. But the pinnacle is “Bundas Bom,” as forboding a slice of Brazilian-drummed acid-house as you’ll ever hear.