Orquesta El Macabeo – Yankee Go Home 7" record

Orquesta El Macabeo – Yankee Go Home 7" record

This 7" by Puerto Rico’s salsa rebels Orquesta El Macabeo features a very timely cover version of the Daniel Santos anti-imperialist anthem “Yankee Go Home” appropriately coupled with the title song from their last LP, “La Maldición Colonial” on the flip side. In choosing to reinterpret “Yankee Go Home”, the original of which was released decades ago on the LP “Los Patriotas” (a joint release from Daniel “El Jefe” Santos and Pedro “Davilita” Ortiz Davila) as a daring protest song that sang “truth to power”, Orquesta El Macabeo give a fresh new take on the long, rich tradition of Puerto Rican protest music that fits in perfectly with current events on the island. The second half of the song features a spoken word section taken from the 1999 tune “Estado Colonial” from the cassette by the Boricua hardcore punk group Actitud Subversiva. As always, lead singer Luis De La Rosa inspires us with his distinctive vocal timbre and vigor, adding a sense of righteous indignation and playful critique to the urgent anti-colonial messages in the lyrics. The band, led by bassist José Ibañez and arranger/pianist Aníbal Vidal Quintero, backs Luis up with fierce and joyful playing that lends an air of celebration to an otherwise serious and heartfelt subject matter.