As Fantasma do Cerrado, Rafael Stan Molina creates sound mosaics that oscillate between pop song forms and exploratory ambient recordings. Nowhere is this dialectic more explicit than in “Catanduva”, where suave folk is suddenly broken by an explosion of strange shapes, and simple melodies alternate with wild and sparse modulations reminiscent of the the unexpected turns of Jim O’Rourke’s compositions
Category: Brazil
Hidden Waters: Strange And Sublime Sounds Of Rio de Janeiro
Hidden Waters, the recent vinyl compilation of new Brazilian music by Sounds & Colours, offers a dreamscape view of the alternative music scene that has recently bloomed around the Audio Rebel studio in Rio de Janeiro. From established icons of ‘nova MPB’ like Kassin and Letrux to up-and-coming artists like Raquel Dimantas and Os Ritmistas, and from the serene soul pop of Jonas Sá and Marcello Callado to the abrasive noise experimentalism of Cadu Tenório & Juçara Marçal and Ava Rocha.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Tim Bernardes
São Paulo’s Tim Bernardes swept us off our feet earlier this month with his new album, Mil Coisas Invisíveis. Across fifteen tracks sung in beautiful, tender Portuguese, he mines love, loss, and change with equal splendor bringing his diaristic existentialism to vibrant sonic life. For his inaugural Lagniappe Session, Bernardes keeps the flame aglow, tackling one from fellow countryman Gilberto Gil’s 1971 self-titled album, the Dirty Projectors’ knotty, Tropicália-tinged art rock, and one of The Beatles’ most spiritually mystic moments.
Tetê Da Bahia :: Duplo Sentido
A simmering rendition of Gilberto Gil’s “Duplo Sentido”. The first of only four sides recorded by Brazil’s Tetê Da Bahia, between 1974-75, finds the chanteuse throwing the drifting, folky hue of Gil’s original out the window of a speeding car before heading into a dimly lit tunnel of dream logic and psychic dislocation.
Sessa :: Estrela Acesa
A celestial nocturne, Estrela Acesa is the sophomore stunner from Sessa. It’s been three years since the São Paulo-born singer-songwriter dropped his perennially stellar debut, Grandeza—a jubilant, sun-dappled LP embodying a confluence of Brazil’s rich past and musical traditions. But where Grandeza was an ode to temporal pleasures, Estrela Acesa is a humble meditation on the nature of love, eternity, and the point of intersection between music and spirit.
Sá & Guarabyra :: As Canções Que Eu Faço
During the 1970s, Brazilian luminaires Sá, Rodrix & Guarabyra invented what they called “rural rock” as a mixture of anglophone folk rock and música caipira (an umbrella term for the Iberian-descending, acoustic-guitar-based musics from the countryside of Brazil). In 1974, Rodrix dropped the band and Sá & Guarabyra continued as a duo, detaching themselves even further from conventional MPB and going simultaneously more regional, towards genres like sertanejo de raiz and xote, and more pop, towards the esoteric country ballads of Van Morrison or JJ Cale.
Wagner Tiso :: A Igreja Majestosa
Legendary composer and arranger Wagner Tiso is one of the most underrated figures in Brazilian music history. Tiso led the Clube da Esquina scene in the 1970s, and although his name is scarcely mentioned in international guides to the movement, his maximalist aesthetics and chamber music influences are deeply engraved in all of Clube da Esquina releases.
Cambriana :: Aroma
Wandering through the freakier terrains of psych folk, math fusion and afrobeat/chimurenga, if earlier Cambriana sounded anglophilic in its attempt at ‘universality’, now – as international indie seems itself closer and closer to MPB – Cambriana sounds more Brazilian than ever.
Spectrum :: Geração Bendita
Sung in both Portuguese and English, Spectrum dropped Geração Bendita in 1971 as a companion soundtrack to the banned 1971 Brazilian film of the same name (Blessed Generation). Recorded at Todamérica studios in Rio de Janeiro, the ad hoc group consisted of actors/musicians from the film along with former members of the band 2000 Volts. The serving? Post-hippie comedown energy with loads of fuzz guitar, psych-folk jammers, harmonized vox, and indiscriminate Tyrannosaurus Rex leaning oohs and ahs.
Alberto Continentino :: Tudo
Born into a family of musicians, Alberto Continentino made a name for himself playing in backup bands for legendary Brazilian artists like Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso and Marcos Valle. His solo work, however, isn’t far below. While 2018’s Ultraleve delves deep into the Brazilian jazz tradition of Azymuth, 2015′ Ao Som Dos Planetas delivers a modern synthesis of bossa nova and indie pop that sounds like a more grounded version of Stereolab, The High Llamas or Giorgio Tuma.
Atenção! Novos Sons do Brasil
Coming your way especially for Record Store Day, Aquarium Drunkard’s own premium house blend of heady Brazilian vibes. Curated and produced by AD founder Justin Gage, Atenção! is the stuff that’s scarcely left our turntable in the last few years, a compilation of artists who seem to be working both independently and collectively, presenting a kaleidoscopic mash-up of sounds and styles rooted firmly in the present, all laced with loving doses of classic Brasiliana.
Jards Macalé :: Farinha do Desprezo
After hanging out and recording with Caetano Veloso in his London exile, Jards Macalé returned to Brazil to lay down this slinky slab of progressive MPB. Released in 1972, just as the last embers of tropicália were still giving off heat, Jards Macalé is a stripped-down acoustic outing combining a loose, giddy irreverence with exacting rhythmic interplay.
Elis Regina :: Golden Slumbers (1971)
Covering the Beatles is often met with mixed results, but Brazilian songstress Elis Regina pulled it off in 1971 via her rendering of “Golden Slumbers”. Singing in English, released two years after Abbey Road, Regina works McCartney’s nostalgic lament into a soulful, orchestrated, vamp.
Manduka :: S/T (1972)
An organic affair employing minimal production, the record is buoyed by Manduka’s sympathetic vocal, acoustic guitar, and occasional accompaniment by vocalist Soledad Bravo. Abetted by light flutes, harmonica and congas, as a piece, Manduka excels in its low-key blend of provincial folk, tastefully draped in the ubiquitous psychedelia of the zeitgeist.
ÉVÉ :: Canto Aberto
Born Everaldo Marcial in Sao Paulo, Brazil, ÉVÉ fled the countries military dictatorship in 1974 to settle in France. Recorded in Paris, and released in 1979, Canto Aberto is his sole recording. Long out of print, the album’s just been reissued via the Parisian jazz label, Komos Records.