i am... in love

mylene, _mylene: pipoca contemporanea
caetano veloso, joia joia: pipoca moderna

I found this record while browsing at one of my favorite record stores in all of Brazil, Desafinado in Fortaleza, CE. It's a really great family run store that I highly recommend if you happen to be in the northeast travelling around. The staff is highly personable, and they had CD's that it seemed no one else in Brazil carried, ironically enough.

Mylene's self-titled debut is no exception. After grabbing a stack of about 25 cds to listen to (by the way, a great idea that should be adopted here more often), this disc... well, to be honest, the cover... caught my eye. I popped it in, and heard one of the brightest underground talents in Brazil that literally no one has ever heard of.

Afte a little bit of research on the internet, it turns out that this CD has been released on an American label, Fast Horse Recordings, and has actually had quite a bit of attention over here, leading me to believe that this CD is marketed more towards the "chill-Brazilian" crowd in the states than it is to Brazilians. But don't let that dissuade you (that is, if it would dissuade you). This is one solidly-crafted album, and Mylene has made a more intelligent album than perhaps her genre would indicate.

She hails from Rio, and it's definitely got some of your typical chill-Brazilian production sensibilities. But underneath there is far more going on... This song, Pipoca Contemporanea, or Contemporary Popcorn is a take off on the Caetano song of the post-Tropicalia period, Pipoca Moderna, or Modern Popcorn. Interlaced with a few Chomsky soundbites, this album is decidedly political, as is much of the underground music coming from Brazil. I put up the Caetano song for comparison, so I hope you dig these holiday gems.