Pueblo Vivo (Vibrant People)

It's always a pleasure with world music – and especially so with Latin American rhythms – to be disorientated. When Spain-based six-piece La Otrabanda open their debut with a statement of origins – they're a self-declared ‘band from the Venezuelan diaspora’ – followed by a pulsing almost alt-country beat, you know you're in for some sort of re-education. The next track, ‘Fiesta de San Juan, sounds like Joni Mitchell pretending to be Violeta Parra – very lo-fi, tuneful and earnest. At the next turn, we're in folk-rock territory, then there's a Crosby, Stills & Nash number. One track kicks off with sampled sounds of a cockerel and a child for 14 seconds, while ‘Salida’ begins with an 11-second recitation. Get the picture? This is a chaotic, upbeat, and it lasts for 21 tracks. There's left-wing politics in the mix too, and protests against injustice. But where, say, Manu Chao's global pick‘n’mixing is earnestness disguised as mayhem, La Otrabanda are all sweetness and light, faith and hope – and sincerity. A fascinating, fun album, with a crisp, slightly dated electro-acoustic sound, it provides a new way into Latin American music. Hippydom clearly never faded in South America; here's its latest campfire incarnation.