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At first glance, one would expect this inspired, wide-ranging collection of traditional songs to have originated in Mexico’s heartland—instead, it comes from a quintet of paisanos in Chicago, which makes a whole lot more sense after a close listening session places the music in context. The Spanish lyrics of the title song (a cover of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”) apply perfectly to today’s Mexican-American immigration situation aptly enough, it’s served up in the festive, accordion-driven norteño style from just south of the border. The rest of the music—performed on a dizzying array of 70 instruments, including 16 different guitars and twice as many percussion instruments—is fine-tuned to regional styles like son huasteco (with falsetto vocals), son jarocho (featuring the guitarlike jarana) and old-school mariachi dance music (with strings, not brass). All in all, this celebration of tradition and identity is about as good as it gets.
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