by John Oseid

Given his goofball name, you'd expect to find Señor Coconut & his Orchestra pitching schlocky music on late night TV. ("But wait, there's more. Get two Señor Coconut CDs...") Sure, the band's new album Around the World has all the deliberate camp of a novelty act, but it's also an utterly original work of serious fun, a riot of famous pop tunes mashed-up in Latin big band, mambo, and merengue styles.

This holiday season I see myself twirling around the tree, 'nog in hand, to a cha-cha-cha version of the German 80s hit "Da, Da, Da." It's camp with street cred: Stephan Remmler of the group Trio, who originally sang "Da, Da, Da," provides vocals, and in the song's quirky video above, Señor Coconut frolics with Japanese erotic performance artists Romantica.

Marimbas, upright bass, and trombones turn the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" and Prince's "Kiss" into Latin classics. There's a merengue version of the 80s hit "White Horse," while Tom Jobim's legendary bossa nova "Corcovado" sounds like it got filtered through Cuba (and then through one of those Vocoder voice synthesizers). The title track is borrowed from the French electronic duo Daft Punk.

So, who in the world is Señor Coconut anyway? Mr. Coconut's life itself is a mash-up. He's actually a Frankfurt DJ named Uwe Schmidt, a.k.a. Atom Heart, who now lives and produces his cult-ish Latin wackiness in Santiago, Chile. So, put out your tiki mugs, grab your maracas, and start shaking your pompis. Just keep your hands off the lamp shades!

More music:
* Señor Coconut made his name in 2000 with "El Baile Alemán" (The German Dance). The album, an awesome Latin reworking of the seminal German electronic group Kraftwerk, has just been reissued.
* Señor Coconut's label, Nacional Records, is becoming a force in Latin alternative music.
* Boom Box:An unabashed gusto for music of the world