Loaded with Fresh Material
bordersj2 | Boston | 11/06/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've been a fan of Far Out Record's artsits for some time. But the Brazilian Love Affair CD's were a series that seemed to elude me. And what a shame that was, since this series is actually one of the very best in the market of nu-Brazilian music. The series now spans 5 volumes, six if you include the Kenny Dope mixed tribute, and the 5th volume is every bit as worthy an entry as the others. What I look for in the compilations are the exclusive cuts and tracks. This one was anything but short of those with the first 6 cuts being originals, 8 overall out of 13!
Of course Far Out has an advantage over many of the others in that the cuts are often features from their label's artists. The CD starts out with Democustico's "O Sonho", a track that admittedly didn't really grab me even though Gabriela Geluda's voice reminded me of Janice Andrade's. Troubleman's "Paz" followed up - a very cool and dark cut featuring Nina Miranda (Smoke City) on vocals. Want something eerily similar - check Arkestra One's "I Really Want You". Os Ipanemas and Azymuth, heroes for Far Out Records, come up some downtempo loungish cuts - good for setting the mood. I didn't fall for the remix to "Suspeita", but I really dug "Te Querendo"; you can feel Roc Hunter's influence and I can't wait to hear the vocal on Azymuth's 30 year anniversary cd! Another gem was Sabrina Malheiro's "Estacao Verao" which has a pure Brazil loop to her singing and musicianship that I loved - although the Kenny Dope remix gives it an awesome bossa beat. Meanwhile "Chuva"'s rather solid although I preferred the clubbed up, latin guitar remix found on Brazilution 5.2. Finally... what's a Far Out compilation without Joyce or Marcos Valle? Quality music with Joyce's trademark dancing vocals but this time done with the coolness of Bugge Weseltoft. What more can I say about Joyce without exposing my obvious bias! Supremely talented and amazingly creative singer. And Marcos Valle - what a fantastic comeback he's had since the late 90's.
I highly recommend not just this volume, but the entire "Brazilian Love Affair" series. There are many other good tuens here - check Grupo Batuque's "Ida E Volta", a cut that pulls parallels with their "Taruma" or how about the nice vocal work done in "Tarde Em Itacuraca"? That's not to say that this CD wasn't totally without fault - I dig the Kyoto Jazz Massive remix to Nair Candia/Jaime Alem's "Sob O Mar" but for some reason, Brazilian Love Affair chopped the first 12 seconds of the remix. I didn't like that mainly becuase that percussion build-up is a signature of Kyoto Jazz Massive's sound and it's like an art to their music - just check their "Calmaria". That's not enough to drop it down some pegs, and if you dig this release and the other BLA's, you might also like the individual releases by the artists involved, the Kenny Dope tribute (oddly, vol. 5 is also listed as a tribute), Brazilution 5.2 and "Brazilian Love Songs"."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1
