Tag Archives: Brazilian Music

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Review: Chino – Moto Continuo

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Here’s my review of Moto Continuo by China, a Brazilian rapper-turned-pop-star. This was for Time Out Sao Paulo October 2011.

Album Review
China – Moto Continuo
Trama Records
****

Pernambuco, along with Sao Paulo, Bahia and Rio, is one of the musical epicentres of Brazilian music. Yet, it doesn’t currently have a musical icon in the way that the other have Céu, Seu Jorge or Carlinhos Brown. This could change with Moto Continuo, the new album from China that takes manguebit (a highly percussive mix of funk and rap from the region) and pumps it full of punk attitude, pop hooks and the occasional tender moment.

China has recently started as a VJ for MTV Brasil and it feels as if he has been absorbing the videos he has been watching on the channel. Opener “Boa Viagem” and “Nem Pensar” have the kind of crunchy synth lines that MGMT have become notorious for, “Só Serve Pra Dancer” is a surf-punk swagger though Tarantino-esque waters, and we also get the conventional strummed rocker “12 Queda” and melancholy duet “Terminei Indo.” The impressive thing is that China manages to pull off all the different styles that he embraces, and this is surely why if Pernambuco is to get it’s own national star it could well be him, especially if he can continue on this form.

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Review: Mauricio Maestro feat. Nana Vasconcelos – Upside Down

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My review of Upside Down – a new album by Mauricio Maestro and Nana Vasconcelos, and essentially a follow-up to their 2009 album Visions of Dawn which also included Joyce – has just been published on the Revivalist website. Here’s a little taster of the review:

What’s immediately obvious with Upside Down is that to compare it with Visions of Dawn would not do it justice. That album featured one of Brazil’s most revered vocalists in Joyce, as well as a couple of songs that have gone on to become her best-known. Upside Down is a darker affair with extended song structures and a greater predilection for repetition. The pop credentials of Visions of Dawn are gone, but what we’re left with is a dense, hypnotic affair.

You can read the rest of the review here: revivalist.okayplayer.com/2011/11/15/mauricio-maestro-ft-nana-vasconcelos-upside-down

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A Glut of Articles on Lucas Santtana

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First off, if you’ve not heard Sem Nostalgia yet by Lucas Santtana then you need to pull yourself together. Get a taster via this clip on Youtube. The album was released in Brazil in 2009 and finally made it’s way to the UK via Mais Um Discos on August 29th, the same record label that put out the superb Oi! A Nova Musica Brasileira! last year. Well, it turns out I got a bit excited about it’s release and wrote quite a few articles about the album as well as interviewing Lucas himself! Continue reading A Glut of Articles on Lucas Santtana →