Ozomatli

Place in the Sun (Vanguard)

Bolstered by Jurassic 5 staples Chali 2na and Cut Chemist on their 1998 debut, Ozomatli emerged on the L.A. club scene with a fresh mix of hip-hop, cumbia, salsa, y más. Sadly, sixth studio disc Place in the Sun culminates a long drift toward global pop banality. “Brighter” is an embarrassing reggae tune given little help from Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, a notch above Canadian rasta-pop chart-toppers Magic! but still somewhere south of Sublime. “Ready to Go,” with its electro arena beat and peppy chorus might have been rejected as this year’s official World Cup theme. On an album of lows, “Only Love” bottoms out with a record number of cliches crammed into three minutes flat. Proceedings mercilessly draw to a close on “Time to Go,” solid advice for a group fresh out of ideas. The sun has finally set on Ozomatli. (6:15pm, Sculpture stage)

*.5

This article appears in October 3 • 2014.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

Thomas Fawcett has been freelancing for The Austin Chronicle since 2007. He likes good music and does not fake the funk.