A generation after serving as August Darnell's zoot-suited comic foil in Kid Creole and the Coconuts, this ageless Nuyorican jack-of-all-trades reappears with his first solo album in 27 years, and only second ever. It's a hoot, too: Homemade-sounding, salsa-percussive electro-rap, cheerfully stretched to the breaking point. Lyrics address things Coati Mundi likes (the mall, his dog), things he doesn't (brown-nosers, narcissists), and things he can't live without (money). The opener, "Voyage Libertad to the Boat Dance," is a nine-minute celebration of international freedom. But the pinnacle is "Bundas Bom," as forboding a slice of Brazilian-drummed acid-house as you'll ever hear.

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“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.