Search - Various Artists :: Brazilution 5.6: Winter Edition

Easily the Better of the Two

bordersj2 | Boston | 01/16/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Assuming you're comparing it with Brazilectro 10. Brazilution is the sister compilation series to Brazilectro, as the founders of Brazilectro moved on to Ministry of Sound (MOS) and ultimately settled into the Stereo Deluxe label (also a part of MOS, I believe), where they started a new series titled Brazilution. Whereas Brazilectro had generally warmer, more dancing vibes, Brazilution was cooler and seemed to take it's que from Brazilectro vol. 3. That is, more atmospheric and chillout oriented. The series did evolve, where a few chapters had easy going cuts on disc one and then a mixed set on disc two. But here we are now in winter, 2009, and I think Brazilution's sort of returning to it's roots. As for the "5.6" thing, the split occured at Brazilectro vol. 5. So you had Brazilectro 5 and Brazilution 5, then Brazilectro 6 and Brazilution 5.2, 5.3, etc.



I think that the serie's has taken a note from the past for a few reasons. 1: The tracks on this one are far more atmospheric and reminiscent of Brazilectro 3/Brazilution 5. And 2:, neither cd is a mixed set of tracks. CD 1 starts well with Edu Lobo's "Zum-Zum". It's class Lobo, with his guitar play and unique voice. And then there's one from Sergio Mendes' successful 2006 return, "Timeless", which featuers India Arie on vocals. It's a wonderful, postiive song as you might expect from Sergio mendes. Concorde A L'Orange features Janice again with "Linhas De Mao". Janice always finds the best arrangements in her music and hasn't let me down, not even once, with any of her songs. Sabrina Malheiros has the type of voice that makes you smile the very second you hear it, and a matching personality as well. "Brisa Mar", from her latest album, fits in very well.



CD 2 is of a very similar mold as cd 1, if not even deeper. Clara Moreno's "Sabe Quem?" opens the set up, a duet with her mother, Joyce. Road feat. Valerie Etienne also have a track on this album that's very nice with "Toda Menina Baihana". DJ Mibor's "Bahia Alegre" really reminded me of Brazilectro vol 3, actually, with the melody... one of Aaron Bingle's songs called 'Inner Oceanscene"'s old songs. Bossa Futura return for another gerat track, this time with "Rios Y Ramas". I've really been liking their material, this one has a very basic, yet effective built consisting of wonderful piano, orchestration and a consistent guitar chord. It's very nice. As is Janice Andrade's "Samba Paixao". She features twice on this set and her second song doesn't disappoint either. It's a particularly moody song with a nice and easy tempo and the piano glides the song along.



All in all, I really liked this Brazilution and there are several other good songs I didn't mention. There was plenty of good material here to enjoy and just like I had grown to expect from the series, the exclusive tracks were quality, by & large. Couldn't give it five stars or 4.5 because there were some songs here that wanned too much. And Quantic's song on CD 2 didn't fit the mood of this album AT ALL, and was actually on an earlier edition of Brazilectro. And the rendition of "Corcovado" here was pretty bad, and Jen meets Kieser Velten's song needed more production work & was a little all over the place. But there was still plenty of good stuff here and a few group name changes that had me second guessing; for example, "Channel Two" are also known as "Deja Move", whom I first heard of on Brazilectro III and the Brazil 5000 series. Also note that Deja Move is one of Aaron Bingle's projects. Anyways, while I was so disappointed with Brazilectro 10 in the summer, Brazilution seems to have turned into a pleasant winter alternative."