The Love Belo...

Vanessa da Mata, Self-Titled: Eu Não Tenho
Vanessa da Mata is a talented songstress from Belo Horizonte, the capitol of the state of Minas Gerais. I was fortunate enough to have caught her in concert in Salvador last June, in a great show at the Teatro Jorge Amado.

Her songs have been recorded by Daniela Mercury, Maria Bethania and Chico Cesar, but on her debut self-titled album, she and her band have a sound all their own.

This song isn't indicative of the album as a whole, but in this case that's a good thing... The style's on the album are varied, but it blends very well as an overall scheme. Some is more traditional samba/batuque stuff, other stuff is more pop oriented in general.

I'm looking for some expanded webspace, and when I find it I'll try to re-post some older songs...

Just a quick note to point you in the direction of Alizinha's webpage, for all things related to Brazilian music in NYC. If you're in or near the tri-state, check her page out for all the happenings.

thank you, america (aka my first political post).

You know, I was hoping that with the election behind us, I could give my mind a well-deserved break from contemplating the obsurdity of the last four years. But it looks as though that's not going to happen anytime soon, thanks to the hard-hitting journalists over at ABC News. At least this story is somewhat apropos to the theme of this blog, but I honestly don't know what to make of this.

If it were me, I would just change the lyrics at the end of the song, resubmit it for copyright under the new lyrics, and sue Bob Dylan for copyright infringement. After all, isn't that the American way?

Happenings in the northeast

Mundo Livre S/A, O Outro Mundo de Manuela Rosario: Caiu A Ficha

The northeast of Brazil is routinely cited by development agencies as the poorest region of the country, with the greatest amount of economic disparity between rich and poor. Thus, many of the great socially conscious movements within the world of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira, or Brazilian Popular Music) originated in the northeast.

The Mangue Beat movement is no exception. Mundo Livre S/A, from Recife, along with NAÇÃO ZUMBI, Mestre Ambrosio and Lenine carry along a movement pioneered by Chico Science, the original lead singer of NAÇÃO ZUMBI. Science was killed in a car accident in 1997, but the movement is still flourishing under the auspices of Zumbi and others. Mangue Beat is a combination of various northeastern rhythms (maraketu, embolada, forro, baiao) with hip-hop, punk, r&b, funk and other contemporary styles. This, coupled with socially progressive lyrics, characterize the movement.

The success of the movement has led to the development of the Recife Pro Rock Festival, an annual Rock festival held in the capitol of Pernambuco.

Ok, I'll be posting a lot of stuff from these groups, as they don't have even close to the exposure that they should have. Enjoy...

and so it begins...

Monobloco, 2002: Madureira...É Assim Que É!

A big cyber hello to everyone out there... this audio blog is primarilly going to be dedicated to Brazilian music, since niches seem to be the trend out there, but naturally like anyone dedicated enough to post music to share with the world, I'm not going to be restricted to posting Brazilian tunes. Nor will the posts be relegated to the musical world, because it is often difficult to keep my big fat opinionated yapper shut. Nevertheless, here we go...

That being said, the first track is Monobloco, a Carnival Bloc from Rio de Janeiro. The 50 or so musicians in the group play a blend of Samba Batucada and hip-hop (or hippie hoppie as is it so affectionately known in Brazil). This track can be found on their 2002 recording.

The group was started by Pedro Luis, borne from his group PLAP! or Pedro Luis e A Parede (Pedro Luis and the Wall). Luis, a reknowned percussionist from the Tijuca area of Rio, started PLAP! in the early 90's, where they remained a key fixture in the underground music scene of Rio.

First, a couple of thank-yous. This website is indebted to O-dub and Soul Sides, the first music blog I frequented, and which is always filled with interesting and noteworthy posts. The other thank you goes to all the people I befriended in Brazil who were more than happy to pass along the names of groups I'd be interested in, so, pra vocês, eu mandou um abraço grande. Let's get this party started...

every music blog must begin somewhere.

music will be up sometime over the weekend... for now, welcome.