100 words music reviews
After her intimate 2003 debut, Maria Rita’s music has often been delivered with an unnerving level of precision that belies her carefree vocals. Desse Jeito returns to the same tidiness, but with as much personality as the singer has ever shown. There’s a slight fracture in Rita’s voice, singed with emotion, that paves a deeper […]
Volatile and probing, Rastilho flew out of Mais Um Records like a rusty harpoon. Dinucci interacts with power in two ways: to honour forces such as Oxosi (the spirit associated with hunting, forests, animals) or to honour those felled by political might. Further on side one, alongside the traditional opener ‘Exu Odara,’ we hear the […]
Considering her unquestionable talent and light-hearted appeal, Joyce Moreno holds a relatively low-profile in Europe. It’s a shame: Brasileiras Canções is as lovely a summer soundtrack as any artist will produce this year. Crucially, at no point does Moreno indulge in her swoop and soar vocals, which possess a range capable of aimless loop-de-loops and […]
This record is so many things at once, gyrating in different directions, but somehow synchronous. Synchronous, but off-key. Off-key but melodically charged. Charged but humorous and light. Light but poison-tipped. Poison-tipped but joyous. You understand me: this is brave music. The vocals brim with a quality that seeks to exhibit the full capacity of the […]
The pool that Sessa draws on here is life-affirming, colourful, and zesty. The execution, however, leans towards a jam-style vibiness that sadly tails off into an innocuous blur. ‘Dor Fodida’ especially possesses pleasant tools, but Sessa layers them in such a way that each has its soul cooled by a flavour-deficient tone. There are instances […]
Tim Bernandes’ sophomore album drops beside us with an opener educing golden festival evenings and the passing sight of brown-bottled beer. The Brazilian eccentric plays with melody in a child-like, Paul McCartney-inspired, joy—there is simply so little to dislike about the way these tracks are constructed. The psychedelia that slinks around the album is purely […]
Bola Sete’s live performances show the Brazilian hunched over a guitar, with his face skewed in concentration as faint plucks radiate from his instrument. It is easy to forget exactly how intricate Sete’s playing is by way of seduction; while he operates on a mechanical level, there is sufficient soul in his compositions to thrill […]
Attached to many Western heroes is a manufactured sheen. In the 1960s, Caetano Veloso was no fan of Elvis and uninterested in Marilyn. Instead, he saw “the ridiculous aspirations of Americanophiles, the naive good intentions of the nationalists, traditional Brazilian “backwardness”, the Brazilian avant-garde” and aimed to redeem each with genuine creativity. Polemics ricocheted across […]
Having marinated in the political tensions of the past two years, ‘IRE’ has arrived with a mob of thumping drums and bass being marshalled by lethal vocalist, Carolina Oliveras. As they call upon the epistemic heritage of spiritual elders, Combo Chimbita envelop their manifesto in a futuristic sound. If ever revolution had a singular epithet, […]
100 words music reviews 