Musica Do Brasil IV

My my my... I found a real gem in the store the other night. Bored and not in the mood for clubs, I hot footed iton a cd spree. Started at Newbury in Cambridge - they had a few things - Break & Bossa's but nothing new. Then went to Newbury but, no parking, so I went around the corner to Tower in Boston, the one by Fenway. It's been months since I went there and man, they had some decent stuff. Last time I was there, the sales guy obvious didn't know much about beats/dj/Brasil genre but knew of the compilations and said: "Yeah, we don't have those here..." At the time, they didn't.

But this time they had a few good ones. Particularly, one that slipped under my radar - Nueva Bossa Nova. AMAZING compilation. If you've seen some of the previous "Musica Do Brasil" threads, you know of the "Glucklich", "Break & Bossa", "Brazilectro", "Boss-A-Troniq", "Brasil 2Mil" Compilations. The thing with those - they're all different labels. Glucklich is Compost-Germany (Rainer Truby), Brazilectro is SPV-Audiopharm-Germany, "Boss-A-Troniq" is Warner-Dutch, Bossa-Tres-Jazz, I'm not sure of but is Japanese. And Brasil 2Mil was Zuirigiboom/Sixdegrees (Brasil/US).



"Nueva Bossa Nova" is Wagram-France, and takes tracks from all of the labels (not necessarily the comps). Familiar artists included are Bebel Gilberto, Mo'Horizons, Suba, Da Lata (with Christian Franck of Smoke City), Nicola Conte, Marcos Valle and Tom & Joyce. I have a few of the tracks here and there on this, but most are pretty unique, including Bebel Gilberto's August Day Song, the duet with Nina Miranda of SMoke City. Bad assed track. One of my favorites on this disc though has to be the Jet Sounds remix of Maxwell Implosion's "Tic-Tac" - as done by Nicola Conte, of course. Sexy, Kinky track... reminds me of something on a Hotel Costes CD. "Volume", by Carla Alexandar is great as is "Vista Do Mar" by Les Hommes.

Definitely pick this one up. Just when I thought the genre might have been on it's way down (thanks to the lackluster Brazilectro Vol 3 and bad bossa on "Brazil 5000"), this life raft was thrown at 10:45 on a Friday night. FYI - Brazil 5000... I found out that it was an AMerican release after all. Nothing wrong with that - a lot of US bossa releases/artists are fantastic. But this was horrible.

I also picked up "Sister Bossa Vol 3". Haven't checked it out a lot - so far it seems solid - will review later. Also picked up Brazilectro Vol IV, on loyalty to the first two. Listening to it now, it already sounds better but... the jury's still out. Hard to beat 1 and 2, which had everything from Jaffa, to Ian Pooley, to Los Ladrones to S-Tone Inc. to Orlandivo to Truby Trio. lol

 

Mais Mais Mais Comps!

I've had a busy labor day weekend - picked up a ton of music! I started out with Nueva Bossanova, but then picked up a few others. While Nueva Bossanova ranks as one of my favorite comps I've ever purchased, the reign of #1 was shortlived when I finally got my hands on Brazilectro Vol 4.



This comp is amazing. The third one was somewhat of an experiment by the label - to be more melanchollic. But they went back to the root + beyond with this one and it's awesome. Featured familiar artists are Fantastic Plastic Machine, with an interesting bossa remake to "The Whistle Song" (think late 80's, early 90's for the original). But the releases that blew me away were both songs that had Janice on them. "I'm Running To You" is a great slow track, and "One Day" is something out of a movie... reminds you of the lady of your life. Well, me at least. Then you also have S-Tone Inc' featured - a remake of "Arejar" as done by Soulstance! Surprised it wasn't Nicola Conte - definitely a bossa sound, although to get the gist of it, it's a magical remix - one of the best I've heard. Reminds me of La Septima Ola by "Los Ladrones" (see above review) meets Nicola Conte.

THe CD ends with Mondo Grosso's "Star Suite", which is probably metaphoric for the label. The group tells a story with a quick bossa nova beat in the background (for 16 minutes!!). It's a great track - pretty much the moral is "what you're looking for usually isn't that far away - but you'll never know that until you give the world a look over".

I definitely recommend this CD. Two discs, both of them are excellent and trust me, I left out a lot of other great tracks in this review - and the Janice songs aren't available on any other comps at the moment. Enjoy - and I'll give ya another review in a few.

 

Sister Bossa 3 + S-Tone Inc. update

I found S-Tone Inc's new cd - will review it as soon as I have it in my hands. The title is "Subernatural" . It's supposed to be pretty good - I hope it's better than the others. After hearing the singles: Arejar, Ainda Sonhar, La Boca Del Rio, Rendevous A Minuet, etc. I was psyched about getting their individual CDs. But both Free Spirit and Love Un-Limited were like, contemporary music that you'd hear on a US soft jazz station.

Another series of Bossa Jazz as done by the Italians is Sister Bossa. I have the second and third and passed on the first becaus of overlap. I'll review them later - but as a preview - the third is pretty damn good. And I think that is it for now... So there's much to come.

Folha Anytime you see a review on amazon by bordersj, that is me! I think i overdid it there - anytime you see the "artists who bought this also bought..." is sometimes sort of because of me I think.

 

So... found a few gems. Tom Y Joyce finally released a feature album! And of course, I have tried to get my hands on it to no avail yet I am optimistic that I'll have one by the end of the month... hopefully. Their star track is "Vai Minha Tristeza" - as heard on a ton of compilations, from Thievery Corporation's "Jet Society" to Bossa Tres... Jazz. Also, they have an awesome track on Nueva Bossa Nova called "Para Bailar" (interesting, considering the singing is in Portuguese). They're also featured on Brazilectro vol 4 too.



Next review is Sister Bossa Vol. 3. This is a nice compilation, but not nearly as strong as Brazilectro 4 or Nueva Bossa Nova. I'd rank it alnog the lines of the Cafe Noir series - perhaps a step above. The label is "Irma", based out of Italy, so already you have an idea of the percussion style and flute usage. But one thing about this CD that makes it a step above the others - authentic Brazilian music. The final track is pure Joao Donato... percussion, the lyrics and the tone is so Brasil. As is the Banda Favela song, too.

But the Italians have their additions... mostly. Montefiori Cocktail's track is okay - but I hate the singing style so I guess it's nice for about the first 5-10 seconds. Sam Paglia's "After Pizza" is okay, but a little cheezy... no pun intended - and seems to be inspired by Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Samba Do Uma Nota So" (One note samba). And the Italian Secret Service's "Sunday Morning Samba" reminds me of the movie "Blame it on Rio". Meanwhile, towards the end you'll hear a song by a group called Freetempo called "Snowfield" - the song is so eerily a rip-off of Nicola Conte's Bossa Per Deu, you'll nearly faint. Gone are the subtle female vocals and replacing them is a track about, well, I don't know what. But the baseline is exactly the same. It's not a bad track, actually. Smooth flowin'. Just takes you off guard for a second.

I recommend this CD becuase, well, it is an awesome beach cd after all. A bit cheesy, which in some ways lounge can be. I suppose if I had to make a comparison between CD's, I'd say that this is like a mix between the "Easy Tempo"'s and Break N Bossa's (not the fifth one though). So yeah, still pick it up. It'll fit nicely with any BOssa ITalia collection... as will the other two for that matter.

 

Wow - I haven't heard of that one until just now. Is it more like a bossa nova style? Ryuichi Sakamoto does so many different projects now - hard to really say what the style is. I'll definiteliy check it out this weekend - if I can find it!

 

Trip DO Brasil... vol 2.5

There is a new Trip Do Brasil hitting the American shores!



For those that don't remember, this is a series of heavy beats, nice rythms, and summer tracks featuring DJ's from Sao Paulo/Rio predominantly, along with a few guys like Armand and DJ Cam. They've had some big name DJ's in the first two and, well, it's time for a new episode.

But this one isn't all that new... they are remixs. It is funny because, well, the first Trip Do Brasil had a lot of remixes. lol. So if you have the first two, you will only be getting a handful of new songs although all of the tracks will seem different anyway because of the DJ's and the new renditions.

I'm still going to pick it up - the first Trip Do Brasil was one of the biggest reasons I got into the compilations - I got it over a year before I'd even heard of Break & Bossa or Brazilectro. The first Trip Do Brasil, ahh... transports me back to summer of 2000, cruising the streets of Boston to the clubs. Nice... beautiful ladies on the street - blasting the electric samba in the car.

 

What's to come?

I am going to have to chekc that out. Everyone is saying that is a great CD... well, I've only actually heard about it in here lol. But I'm gonna check it out at Borders or Barnes/Noble as suggested.

I'm also looking forward to picking up a few new single CD's too. Can't wait for Calra Alexandar's to come out, as well as Brown, Smith & Gray nad more than anything, Janice! Helena Azul already has had an album out... not released here though I don't believe. NIcola Conte's new CD is just DJ remixes of "Jet Sounds", but still, should be very good. Included artists are Thievery Corporation among others. I think the first of the albums I'll pick up is Marcos Valle's... heard too many good tracks from his lates, including "On Line", to keep passing over it. And of course, Rosalia De Souza, if she can ever break away and get the Italians to feature her in a real release instead of just compilations.



All in all, there's always a lot of good bossa music coming out this time of year so keep your eyes open. I picked up Tom & Joyce's along with a new Bossa Mundo so hopefully I'll be able to review them in the next few weeks. WHo knows what else is coming out? OH yes, Maxwell Implosion... new CD came out a few weeks ago. Looking forward to that, although the track I like is a Nicola Conte remix and sounds very "French". Cant' beat the cover art though..



I'm pissed I missed Jazzanova when they were in Boston earlier this summer... but if anyone knows the shows, definitely check them out. I hear they played great bossa tracks. Also, Bebel's concerts, she plays pretty much what I recommend here... hmm.... I wonder if... j/k

 

Picked up Maxwell Implosion and Les Hommes new CD. BUt I don't think they're really belonging to this thread - more along the lines of Lounge... hardcore lounge. Maxwell Implosion has sort of a "De-PHazz" sort of sound and feel, while Les Hommes could go here more so, but is a lougne/jazz CD.

But hey, at least Les Hommes features Rosalia De Sousa! So that is her group? Go figure. I will hoepfully have time to review later.

 

Lots of good music!

Nicodinho!

Yes, I picked up the Ryuichi Sakamoto CD on your suggestion and yes, it is very very good! Classic Bossa Nova and I love the remakes! They actually remade one of my all time, or perhaps it really is my favotire bossa nova track of all time "Estrada Blanca". But the entire CD is smooth - very nice. Perfect for when you come home from work and want to unwind to a glass of red wine before closing your eyes for a moment. It was funny actually, at the music store the clerk had been looking for it as the system said they had one copy remaining. IT took a junkie like me to look through the rows and find the last one!

I also picked up a few others: Bossa Nostra (they're a group), Chill Brazil (comp), Trip Do Brasil 2.5 (Comp), and finally, at long last, but certainly not least, Tom & Joyce to name a few!!!



I will review later, but at first glance, all seem rather nice - Tom & Joyce is smooth. I thought it would be more like Reminiscence Quartet, but it's hardly like them at all. And the new Bossa Tres Jazz II is also pretty smooth - the two releases are similar actually.

LIstening to them now - will update later.

 

Marcos Valle "Escape"

You know of him from the classic: Crickets sing for Ana Maria" or Os Grilos (which was ironically, going to be my screen name here before I decided on Alex_1)

Well, I finally picked up Escape over the past weekend. I'd been meaning to get it for months and months, until it turned into a year! And I must say, I can't believe that I wasted so much time! The CD is absolutely fantastic!



The tracks are smooth, and contemporary. He fuzes the old with the new. If you like the Brazilectro sounds, or the Nueva Bossa Nova you'll love this release too. The most popular track that you'll recognize is "On Line". It's on a few of the comps I've reviewed in here, and is always in the lounge playing. But my favorite track is Apaixanada por Voce... cute cute cute voice.

I guess what is cool to me is that it is so Brazilian. OF course I like the new sounds but this is really cool. It is like finally, the older generation is melding styles with the new one. In some ways it is like a very very polished Bossa Cuca Nova. You know, how Roberto Menescoal teamed with his son and the young dj's to make a few releases? This is different htough - more mature, and IMO, better music although Cuca Nova is okay too.

Pick it up! This is one of those albums that I would definitely recommend to someone that's a fan of MPB, but cautious about pursuing the more abstract comps that I've reviewed. Young or old, you'll enjoy this release!

 

Re: Lots of good music!

First, Nicodemus - if you like the Morelenbaum/Sakamoto album, you will really love the latest CD from Luciana Sousa



I actually met her - very cute, of course. lol But it was thanks to my then girlfriend so I couldn't lay any moves on her.

Anyway, she's smooth and jazzy. Nice sound - similar to this. She's also a music instructer - so she knows her stuff. Good artist.

Now for Tom Y Joyce:

Can't be bothered to get the url again. Amazing CD! It wasn't really what I expected, but at the same time I did not know what to expect. I figured maybe they'd be like other French group Reminiscent Quartet, but they're not as beat heavy. Then maybe like Los Ladrones, but no, they're more polished and smoother. Smoke City? Well, sorta, but more festive - Andrea Marquee? In a way, but still not quite that Brazilian trip. I guess you could combine all three into one and there you go. They have some pretty kickin' beats, and Joyce is a great singer!

If you can find it, I'd get it. I know I lucked up. But this is a terrific album as well - so count it 2 for 2 when it comes to good albums for the week!

 

S-Tone Inc. "Sobrenatural"

Guess who got the new S-Tone Inc. Album!!!

Yes!! It is I! Actually, I may have made a mistake, as I believe I will soon have an extra copy - not sure if I'll actually sell it or not. I'll post the info. if I do - I wouldn't charge more than what I paid, + it would be mint+unopened. But, the CD from abroad cost about 25-30 bucks.

The CD is titled Sobrenatural, and it is better than the previous two to me. It is far more jazzy, but perhaps that can be attributed to the groups new label: SCHEMA!. Go figure. Schema is perhaps the biggest Bossa label out of Italy, and to pry away S-Tone Inc. from Milano was something else. Remember, Schema also has Nicola Conte, the Break N Bossa series, Les Hommes, Soulstance and a slew of comps like Fez File and etc.

I guess that explains the remixed version of "Arejar" that can be heard on Brazilectro 4: it was remixed by Soulstance.

Anyway, it's solid. Most recognized will be Rondevous a Minuet, La Boca Del Rio and In the Mood for Love. I think this will do better than the others because it is decidedly more latin flavored, and way more bossa inspired. As much as I like the bossa flavor, don't be mistaken - I don't think the tracks have as much of a soulful feel as Ainda Sonhar or Arejar did. So you sacrifice that, perhaps.

All in all, a nice release. But only really for the collector. While I wouldn't place this above recent additions like Tom & Joyce, it still holds its own and is, all in all, better than their previous two albums "Free Spirit" and "Love Un-limited".

 

Yo Ombak - do you have the Brazilian stores by where you live? THere are tons of them up here in Mass - some places there are like 3 or 4 of them that sell goods and music - tons nad tons of music from Brasil. Life recordings from concerts, all sorts of things and all sorts of styles - Rock like Skank and etc. and old MPB and of course Bossa Nova. I think that might be the best place to get the music - outside of Brazil itself. I do like Mutantes too - hey man just talk about it!

Don't know where to start - I did pick up a few comps and artist tracks - Da Lata, S-Tone Inc. etc. Hmm. Funny thing though - a lot of my music thogh is French these days and chillout. . Maybe I will start a new thread? lol

 

Woah - nice! And don't worry - I have some $hitty looking album covers too. Will post later - have a few new ones - Chill Brazil, etc. But didn't get a lot of Brazil music - mostly French/UK stuff. yikes.

 

For anyone interested - Tom & Joyce is now available on Amazon.com... but beware - it's a bit pricey. Los Ladrones "Montana Rusa" is also available.

And.... I redid some listmania lists and did a "formal" review of Tom & Joyce - probably be published over the weekend. It shouldn't be too hard to tell who I am. Just look for the one with Smoke City as the first group - Tom & Joyce will be second - all in all I have about 7 lists up there.

 

Big News....

I debated starting a Musica a Italia but... since I first posted Nicola Conte in a Brazil thread since he rips Bossa, I figure I'll put it here.

New Album from Nicola Conte!!



First there was Jet Sounds, then there is "Jet Sounds - Re-Mixed". And now there is going to be a new album in which he features.... get this, the lovely Rosalia De Souza of Les Hommes.

This is gonna be good....

Think about it really - the whole start of disc two in Break & Bossa V featured Rosalia De Sousa and Nicola Conte with bossa beats. So now there's gonna be a pretty kickin' cd featuring her - and this comes not much longer than Rosalia De Sousa and regular nu-jazz group Les Hommes released an album here in the United States through ESL.

Very nice, very nice. It's due out on November Fourth - but it probably won't be an easy pick-up for a few months. Rest assured I'll find one and review it. Although I'm still, honestly, tracking down Jet Sounds Re-mixed too...

So Thank "Schema". That is the label of S-Tone Inc., Conte, and Les Hommes along with Gerardo Frisina and Soulstance to name a few. Find out more at www.ishtar.it... don't worry it is not all in Italian.


Another thing - Reminiscence Quartet can be found on regular Amazon.com for now. Maybe only one or two tracks. Good stuff. You can find an unreleased single of theirs in Paris Lounge too...

Yeah, maybe I should just change the name of this thread to "International Music" or something. Although Remi Quartet's singer is very much Brazilian... (Salome De Bahia in Orlandivo's classic track).

 

Well - now there is an Italian thread. But for the Brazilian fans - Remember Andrea Marquee? Lovely and cute (though you may disagree since the pictures of her on the net from a Sao Paulo concert are horribl!) her album Zumbi was a huge success. Actually, I think she was one of the reasons I started the first Music of Brazil threads.

Well... she has a new album out!! Just found out about it.


Trust me... she's adorable!

Novo disco is called Melhores Momentos. When I pick it up - I'll let you know what I think of it. Zumbi was pretty good but... honestly I think it was like one of those discs that over time, gets a bit out of date... which I guess says something about "quality".

I did pick up Da Lata's new Remix album though. And let me tell you - I was actually disappointed. The CD is much like Jazzanova's release where they remixed soem tracks - or like Thievery Corporation's Abductions and Reconstructions. I did a review on it on Amazon.com (surprise surprise) but it probably will not be published until Tuesday or Wednesday - so you're getting the "exclusive". lol. Anyway, Da Lata is very beat heavy - and this CD emphasizes that side of their music over the melodies IMO. Gone is the mysticism of Cores, Rain Song and Barboleta and in it's place are beats and sambas.

Don't get me wrong - it is still a quality album and it's perfect for the collection - I will listen to this again - just not as often as I would have hoped. ANd if you're going to spend 30 bucks for a single CD - make sure you're at least willing to do that much.



*** out of 5.

_Alex_