Category Archives: Blog

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New Reviews In The Quietus, Brighton Noise and Sounds and Colours

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Quite a few articles that I am relatively proud of have gone down over the past two weeks and so I thought I would flag them up here.

Firstly, a review I wrote a while ago of Toma Tu Jabón Kapax, the debut album from Colombian group Los Pirañas was published in The Quietus. I originally sent it to them in February this year but they deemed it too old (it had been out in Colombia for around six months). When I realised it had been released on vinyl in Spain I saw my opportunity to send the review in again. Here it is: thequietus.com/articles/10773-los-pira-as-toma-tu-jab-n-kapax-review.

I also realised that I have a page on The Quietus which lists all my contributions (just three of them so far): thequietus.com/users/7862.

My review of the Micah P Hinson show at the Basement in Brighton has also been published: brightonnoise.co.uk/review?p=34317.

Finally I wanted to shed light on two of my recent pieces on Sounds and Colours, a review of the new Meridian Brothers album Desesperanza (soundsandcolours.com/articles/colombia/meridian-brothers-desesperanza) and an interview with the Brazilian rapper/singer Criolo which became quite epic (soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/art-soothes-the-soul-it-calms-us-gives-us-warmth-an-interview-with-criolo)

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Now Writing for Brighton Noise

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So, a few months ago I moved to Brighton, upon which I pretty spent all my time going out drinking with people who couldn’t speak English or working on the Sounds and Colours Colombia book. Now that the book is finished it seems only right that I start going to more gigs, a process which I’ve already started by writing for Brighton Noise.

You can read my review of Why? at The Old Market in Hove here and my preview of Dope Body at The Hope in Brighton here.

This is just the beginning…

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Sounds and Colours Colombia Book Released

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Many, many things have happened since I last updated this blog. The most exciting thing is that I recently self-published a book about Colombian music and culture. This was a venture borne out of Sounds and Colours, the South American music and culture website which I started about two and a half years ago.

The book is 198 pages long and is full on interviews, articles, illustrations and photos by many different contributors from all over the world. The intention was to create something different and exciting, and that reflected the interesting cultural things happening in Colombia right now, and the wide range of Colombian musicians, artists, writers and designers that have something interesting to say.

You can find out more about the book at soundsandcolours.com/01-colombia

The book also comes with a compilation CD of new Colombian music which I compiled and which you can buy and listen to at soundsandcolours.bandcamp.com

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New Book/CD Celebrating Colombian Music and Culture

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Pretty much all year I’ve been working on a Colombian project which is finally going to see the light of day this summer. Sounds and Colours Presents Colombia is a new book/CD celebrating Colombian music and culture.

This new 208-page book (limited to 1,000 copies) and accompanying CD will celebrate everything that’s great about Colombia, with lots of articles traditional styles of Colombian music as well as the current music scenes, Colombian cinema, Circo Para Todos, the giants of Colombian literature and theatre, original artwork, and lots more. It’s gonna be really special for anyone interested in Colombia.

To raise the money for the printing costs we’re currently selling advance copies through a fundraising campaign. If you want to help a great project get off the ground, as well as discover a hell of a lot about Colombia you should really check out the link: indiegogo.com/sc-colombia

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Appearance on Red Bull Panamérika

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In September 2011 I was invited to talk on Red Bull Panamérika, a radio show broadcast in Mexico, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Guatemala and Belize. For the show I chose three new songs from South America and talked a little about Sounds and Colours.

You can listen to the show at panamerika.fm/blog/red-bull-panamerika-no-160-%C2%A1chidongongo

To find my interview go to the third audio link. I get introduced around the 1:20 mark.

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Review: Junio Barreto – Setembro

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Review of Junio Barreto’s latest album for Time Out Sao Paulo November 2011:

Junio Barreto
Setembro
***

Any Junio Barreto release will always be dominated by his voice – a relaxed yet powerful croon, full of character – and Setembro is no different. Barreto flexes his vocal chords over 10 tracks that vary between classic samba-jazz and laid-back funky numbers with dashes of ska and reggae.

Tracks like “Serenada Solidao” and “Gafieira da Mare” are the kind of up-beat sambas that will make you want to get down to the beach straight away. Yet there are also reflective numbers such as “Alento da Alagoinha” whose tumbling drums tick all the ‘late night jazz’ boxes. In fact, percussion plays a pivotal role in this album, with the rhythm section ensuring you can dance to all the songs on the album, whether the party is in full swing or things have slowed down for the last dance of the night.

Barreto is joined by some of Brazil’s finest young musicians on this album, people like Céu, the guys from Nacao Zumbi and even Seu Jorge, who plays guitar on one track, and they keep the album musically interesting from start to finish, leaving a musical mix that will get your feet moving but will also warrant repeat listens.

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Sound of the Underground: Lucas Santtana

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Sound of the Underground preview written for Lucas Santtana’s show in Sao Paulo. Printed in Time Out Sao Paulo November 2011.

Sound of the Underground
Lucas Santtana

If there’s one person that represents the “melting pot” culture of Brazilian music it’s Lucas Santtana – each of his four albums has focused on a different musical style, starting with a mix of African grooves and Brazilian percussion on his debut, before moving onto the electronic-based beats of Rio’s favelas and later dub music. His most recent album Sem Nostalgia was constructed just using guitar and vocals, yet sounded like the free-flowing electronica of Four Tet or Thom Yorke. It’s an album that has earnt him much praise in both the UK and USA, where he is applauded for both his ability to write a great melody and the sonic explorations that his albums normally involve.

Live, Santtana sticks to his more up-tempo numbers, mixing relentless rhythms with infectious melodies and a sound that is clearly influenced by African, Jamaican and international pop music yet still sounds quintessentially Brazilian.

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Review: Copacabana Club – Tropical Splash

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Review written for Time Out Sao Paulo August 2011:

Copacabana Club
Tropical Splash

Copacabana Club are not from Copacabana, or even from Rio for that matter; they hail from Paraná. Yet this is the kind of music you could imagine a bunch of friends from Copacabana playing. That is, if Brazilians made pop music like this. Copacabana Club’s music is closer to Alphabeat or New Young Pony Club than any Brazilian contemporaries, with their English lyrics suggesting this is how they think of themselves.

With their dual male/female vocals, spiky guitar riffs and bubbling synth lines, Copacabana Club show throughout this album that they are ready to become an international band, peppering their songs with the kinds of hooks that will instantly get people moving and melodies stuck in heads. This is most convincing on the opening salvoes of “Mrs Melody” and “Sounds Like Confusion” where the band’s non-stop energy never becomes grating, mostly due to the amount of ideas they manage to pack into each song.

They also manage to mix things up too, with “Sex Sex Sex” being the kind of slow-burning plea you might expect with that title, and “Peaches”, which continues the theme, albeit this time with the kind of biting guitars and programmed drums that you might expect from Sleigh Bells (one of 2010’s biggest revelations). The best track here though is “Comeback”, a summertime anthem which takes a minute to get going, but then never really feels like it’ll go away. With songs like this it is just possible that Copacabana Club may be a band that never goes away too.

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Preview: Ed Motta

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Preview written for Time Out Sao Paulo August 2011:

Ed Motta
SESC Pinheiros

Ed Motta is that rare thing, a great Brazilian soul singer. In a country blessed with amazing voices, there are a surprising few that are able to belt out a powerful soul vocal. This is where Motta comes in. His work in the 90s saw him gain something of a following in the US, where they took a shine to his impassioned vocals and urban grooves. After this, he experimented a little with his sound, adding jazz licks and updating his production, possibly taking out a little of the raw quality that appealed to some people, and lost the odd fan along the way.

However, in 2009 he released Piquenique (the Brazilian way of saying “picnic”), with breezy, soulful gems like “A Turma da Pilantragem” and the title track, that suggested this was a man back to the top of his game.

It’s song from this album that Motta will be performing over two nights at SESC Pinheiros. Expect top-heavy grooves recalling Brazil’s soul great Tim Maia (whose worth checking out if you’re not familiar) as well as soul/jazz crossover artists like Roy Ayers and George Benson, and even a little of the funkiness of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

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Preview: Telefonica Sonidos

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An extended preview of Telefonica Sonidos written for Time Out Sao Paulo August 2011.

Telefonica Sonidos

The formula for Telefonica Sonidos is simple: match a tried-and-tested Brazilian performer with one from the rest of the Latin world, put them on stage together and see what happens. It was such a success on it’s debut last year that it has returned. The formula remains the same, with the event split across two stages, one focusing on jazz and the other on pop.

It’s the pop stage where many eyes will be fixed but there’s also plenty going on in the jazz section. It starts off with legendary Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés, who will be joined by Brazil’s mandolin virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda for the opening night (24/8); next up (25/8) is Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Jaques Morelenbaum, and Omar Sosa, another Cuban pianist; continuing the Cuban theme on Friday (26/8) will be Alex Cuba, a young singer/songwriter already with a Grammy award to his name, and an as-yet-unconfirmed guest; on the final night (27/8) will be Pitingo, a Spanish flamenco singer and the Carioca chanteuse Marina de la Riva, whose own fondness for Cuban rhythms, means you could very appropriately rename this the ‘Cuban’ stage.

Now, onto the pop acts. These are split over just two nights, Friday and Saturday. It is fair to say that this year has thrown up some mouth-watering combinations.

It begins on Friday (26/8, 22h) with the Venezuelan group Los Amigos Invisibles, purveyors of funky pop and jazz, who will be joined by Seu Jorge. Probably the biggest Brazilian name attached to the event, you will know Seu Jorge from his roles in City of God or A Life Aquatic, or simply as one of the most popular samba-soul singers in Brazil.

Marisa Monte is a Brazilian singer, unafraid to take chances, yet always recording songs that the Brazilian people take to their hearts. She is next up on Friday (23h30) with Julieta Venegas, a singer/songwriter from Mexico whose inventive approach to pop music has seen her become one of Latin music’s true crossover gems of recent years.

Rounding off the night (0h30) will be Juan Formell y Los Van Van, one of the most important Cuban groups still active today, and Carlinhos Brown. Recently they collaborated together on the Red Hot + Rio 2 tribute to Brazilian music, a collaboration they will be continuing here.

Saturday has a very different feel. Essentially it’s all about commercial pop and rock. The Mexican soft-rock group Camila (imagine a Latin Backstreet Boys) will be up first at 22h with a TBC collaborator. They will remain on stage later (23h30), where they will be joined by Victor & Leo, one of Brazil’s most popular sertanejo groups, essentially country music – cowboy hats and all – for Brazilians. The most interesting team-up on this final night will be the Argentine rappers Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas’ meeting with Jota Quest (0h30), a Brazilian rock group with Maroon 5-like crossovers into r’n’b music. Neither group takes themselves too seriously, and together they should be able to instil the party atmosphere needed to see out this eclectic, and innovative, festival.