Good afternoon everybody, and welcome to the weekend! In honor of this wonderful (if somewhat dismal, weather-wise) Saturday, this week’s Selection is Sabado Sessions, the first album from California hiphop/reggae sensations, The Olé’s.

In my humble opinion, you can tell most of what you need to know about this album from the first 25 seconds, the “Olé Intro”.

You can be sure any album that starts like this is going to be a damn good time, and The Olé’s do not disappoint. I’ve listened to this album several times in the past week, usually first thing in the morning at work. Let me tell you, it is not every album that can get you hype about trimming leaves off tomato plants at 7:30 am, but Sabado Sessions gets the job done.

There are a lot of things I could say about this album, a lot of different reasons I like it. From the silly exclamations thrown into some of the songs — a high pitched cartoonish voice shouting “Sabado!” in “She Knows“, and the tentative, goofy voice that warbles “The Olé’s” at the beginning of “Anchor“, one of the prettiest love songs I’ve heard in a while — to the fact that I’m pretty sure one of the band members’ grandmothers is featured on the intro to “Al Grande“. But the main thing you should take away from this post is that Sabado Sessions is, first and foremost, a lot of fucking fun. A beautiful melding of reggae and hiphop, with bits of ska, folk, and classic rock influences thrown in, you can tell that these guys know how to party — The Olé’s’ music is made for getting down.

As much as I really enjoy the whole of the album, “On The Move” is definitely my favorite song (at the moment — my favorite song on any given album tends to change over time). The guitar line that holds the song together is just dirty, and the massive breakdown at the end of the track is so good it’s almost Floydian. Check the song out and then hop on over to the band’s website and get the whole album for yourself. The Olé’s are so cool they’re giving Sabado Sessions away for free.

Anywho, that’s all for me folks, I’m gonna go enjoy this Sabado Tarde. See you all next weekend!

– Zev