mpb
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One of the blessings afforded to me by choosing this small platform to hold a conversation, is that I get to talk about artists like Rosana Fiengo. While other sites may go back in history, rewarm stories about “ye olde classic rock band”…or worse…act as a gatekeeper, confusing rarity and exclusivity for something of value,…
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First off: a huge thank you for Sara Mautone for cluing me in to this album. I say this, because when you listen to Nina Catarina’s Acordei Com Preguiça I think you’re getting to hear something special. What I believe you’re hearing is part of that ongoing Brazilian musical evolution, influenced by the proximity, culture,…
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As you all may know now, “late summer” is more of a vibe than a season. It’s in between times when hot summer days ease down with cool, easy-going, summer breezes. For the longest, I’ve been fascinated with music that speaks to this period. It’s precisely this hammock season that I’m going back to an…
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Once again I turn towards an old love of mine, the music of Brazil. Where else can one get that special emotion of saudade – evoking the bittersweet, mixed up flights of fancy we all share – than through the genuine deal, as today’s album by Vital Lima does? All the touchstones and waypoints that…
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Once again, I’m just here to add overtones to others’ resonances. In this case, it’s to add something to further describe Carioca guitarist Ulisses Rocha’s Casamata. It’s not lost to me that somehow when I’m writing about this release, we’re all sharing a bit of the same seasonal weather. In the Northern Hemisphere this part…
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Simply wonderful summer moods abound in this one. What’s the one I’m referencing? None other than Fernando Girão’s Índio, an intriguing release combining deep Brazilian ethnic and indigenous folk music with new wave, experimental electronics. It’s as Fernando hinted at in the name of his record label, fusion etnica or ethnic fusion. Many moons later…
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Regardez-moi dance un samba. It’s me, again, with another look at our relationship with Brazil. In the past, I took the time to create a mix outlining the contours of Japan’s relationship with its largest immigrant community and how that shaped its own pop music. On my latest mix for LYL Radio, I take a…
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Let me be forthright, I wish I had more info to share about this album. Doris Monteiro’s Agora, released in 1976, was a revelation then as it still is now. It’s a funk album, it’s a chanson album, it’s a detached post-bossanova album, it’s a whole bunch of other unclassifiable stuff, but first (and foremost)…
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One of my worst kept secrets is my love for Diana Pequeno’s Mistérios. It’s no mystery that it hits all the points I love about music: it’s dreamy, it’s complex but easy going, it’s the product of an artist going out on a limb (in a way most wouldn’t expect). Most importantly, the reason Mistérios…
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Albums as unique as Lucio Battisti’s Anima Latina are rarely the product of one person’s/band single vision. It’s easy to forget how little by little Lucio was baiting his audience — mostly Italian and rarely big outside of mainland Europe — into letting him explore places his own influences had gone before. He did all…
ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist mpb neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic