Iris is an American synthpop duo, active since 1993, integrated by musicians Reagan Jones and Andrew Sega. So far, they have released five albums: Disconnect, in 2000, Awakening, in 2003, Wrath, in 2005, Blacklight, in 2010, and Radiant, in 2014. Iris was founded by Reagan Jones and Matt Morris, who worked together for several years under the name Forgiving Iris, before shortening to Iris. In 2000, they released their debut album Disconnect, who earned them two awards, and inserted the act into the spotlight of the underground music scene. 

Eventually, creative divergences between the duo made Morris leave the project. So, Jones – searching for a replacement – found Sega between a mutual acquaintance, and they started working together; initially in a more experimental ground, to see what ideas they could materialize as a team. Shortly thereafter, though, the musical dynamic between both became so successful that Sega was immediately integrated into Iris, and now these two talented musicians have been collaborating for almost two decades.  

Despite the fact that Iris was never allowed a space into the mainstream – you probably never heard of them before – the duo achieved modest degrees of recognition in the underground synthpop scene, both in the United States and Europe. They tour regularly around the globe, together with other acts of the genre, always supported by a loyal and devoted fan base. 

So, I selected below my favorite Iris’ songs, some of which are probably among their relevant and best-known hits. Influences easily recognizable in their sound are British bands like Depeche Mode, New Order and Erasure, that evidently helped Iris to shape their musical style and sonorous identity. Nevertheless, they were influenced also by several other important musical acts, amongst them, more conventional groups, like R.E.M. and The Killers

This is one of their most beautiful and recognizable songs. With soft – somewhat conventional –, but elegant and poetic harmonies, The Picture displays a gentle and gracious melodic atmosphere, that uncovers the flexible tenacity of its melancholic sonorous layer. Ironically, this marvelous hit is not theirs, it’s a cover song originally written and performed by German synthpop singer Hubert Kah. 

A simple, but marvelous song that remembers a little Depeche Mode in their period of transaction to a more mature pop style in the mid-eighties, Prophetic is an elegant, somber and diffusive track, that perfectly embodies the precise qualities of Iris’ music – sober mordacity and lucid melodies –  and delivers the genre as it should be: direct, melodic, gracious and vibrant.

With a very sympathetic and almost romantic atmosphere, Twilight is another song that can be considered a trademark of the duo’s style. With simple, but gracious and rapturous melodies, the harmonies evocate a sentimental splendor, that slowly dilutes into the infinity of an elegant and surreal dream pop placidity. Sidelined by a fugacious vivacity that circulates within its reflexive density, its serene musical diagram revitalizes its inherent beauty with a deeply poetic and humane fragility.

With more aggressive musical tonalities than usual, New Invaders has an energetic and powerful harmonious vitality, despite its simplicity, conciseness and lack of extraordinary features. With a somewhat acerbic melody that revolves around a subtle and disdainful ferocity, the tempestuous layout of the song unveils its restless creative grandiosity, despite an opaque generic ambivalence, that is normal within the genre. 

Last, but not least, Lands of Fire is a beautiful song, that condensates with marvelous intensity the principal virtues of the duo’s music. With splendid harmonies that penetrates deeply into the creative wall of an objectively dense, but expansive mosaic of creative dissonances, Lands of Fire departs from the organic musical devices inherent to the genre, but reshapes them in a more fluid and flexible sonorous sensibility. Almost aspiring to be a delightful anthem of comprehensive and contemplative susceptibility, Lands of Fire reunites in its rhythmic vortex the serene vivacity that is typical to Iris’ music.   

While Iris is not well known as it should be, the veteran duo – soon it will be twenty years since the release of their debut album – certainly has left a profound mark in the synthpop underground community, with their sentimental and melancholic songs, that helped shape and revitalize the modern trends of the genre. Bringing up new enthusiasts to their music with each new record, we hope Reagan Jones and Andrew Sega continue to work on Iris for years to come, creating more beautiful songs, as they do it so well, and releasing more amazing albums, unfolding new grounds and challenges to their creativity, in accordance to their musical aspirations. 


​Wagner

Musicology, in short, is the scientific study of music, something that can involve a lot of disciplines and correlated studies, like historical musicology and ethnomusicology, amongst many others; basically, this area of knowledge embraces everything concerning the relationship human beings have with music, from the perception of sound, until the behavioral response one has with a certain genre – or genres – of music, as well as aesthetic combinations, music theory, music therapy and several other fields of study, that can multiply into different categories. As a matter of fact, it’s a marvelously splendid and complex area of human knowledge.  

But, moreover, I want to digress a little about the way we develop our musical preferences. This field of knowledge also concerns musicology.  

Early musical influences and formative years

First of all, something inherently responsible for the development of our musical preferences are related to the ambient where we grow up, especially since early infancy. I would like to share some fragments of my personal experience, if that’s all right with you. My father was a non-professional musician from his early adulthood, having played in some bands throughout his life. In my childhood – early eighties –, he was the only major source of musical reference I had. His favorite band was The Beatles, so I was surrounded from the beginning by British rock, getting acquainted with vinyl albums, something that later became a passion. Some years ago, he gave to me all his vinyl records, a modest collection that includes Beatles, David Bowie and George Harrison, to name just a few. There are some exceedingly precious and marvelous rarities in the collection he gave me, be sure about that. 

A few years later – after my mother and father divorced –, in late eighties to early nineties, my mom also became an influence in my musical preferences. As a consequence of our close relationship – we always lived together –, I developed a personal taste for one of her favorite musical groups, the Norwegian band A-ha. This passion was by far greater than The Beatles. Over the years, the passion just grew, to the point that I have almost the entire discography of the band, except for their latest albums. I have CD’s, DVD’s and one vinyl album of A-ha, a band that became a sensational success in my country, Brazil, in the eighties. In 1991, A-ha won a Guinness World Record, when 198.000 people attended a concert they performed in Estádio do Maracanã, a football stadium in Rio de Janeiro. In 2002, my mother and I went to an A-ha concert in the city of Porto Alegre, during A-ha’s tour of their album Lifelines, one of my favorites. In the mid or late nineties, by my mother’s influence, I also started to like British duo Tears for Fears. 

Nevertheless, doesn’t matter the influences we may have in early life, eventually we develop our own taste as we grow up, that can be drastically different from the music of our primary education. Some people even rebel against these formative influences, and develop a musical taste entirely different from the references they had. Certainly, our personal preferences can change several times throughout our life, as we – more or less – dare to listen to different things.
The general cultural content of a person may stay intact; one may never be too naturally eclectic, for example, a lover of gospel music that is also someone who loves jazz, classical music, funk and trash metal – though some people have a degree of eclecticism superior to others. So, while our cultural identity may stay relatively homogeneous, our musical preferences can change, probably several times, over the course of life. All of us eventually get bored of certain albums, songs and bands, and proceed discovering new musical groups, albums and genres of music, expanding our personal sound experience. 

Several years ago, when I was working in the night shift of a company – in the warehouse department –, I discovered a radio station, coincidentally located in my city, where, beginning in a certain hour, they played only the type of music similar to the ones featured in the mixes below. At dawn, beginning at 11 pm or midnight, there were no commercial breaks. In the calmer nights, I could listen to these marvelous genre of music peacefully, especially in the one-hour interval I had for dinner.

On Fridays, generally, the sound was exceedingly bad. Starting at midnight, the radio station played dance and electronic music – I think a subgenre similar to Psytrance –, where nonsense sounds were played endlessly, completely devoid of coherent and beautiful harmonies. But with the exception of Fridays, the other days of the week usually had very good, sometimes excellent, songs. Unfortunately, on late night and dawn, singers or song names where never pronounced, the radio station just played one track after another, in direct sequence. Some of them I was able to identify years later searching on Google or YouTube, by writing (wrongly or correctly) some lines of the lyrics that I could remember. Some of the songs I (re)discovered were Face to Face, by Daft Punk, Déjà Vu, by Beyoncé (the Freemasons Remix version), Good Life, by Inner City, Still Here, by Aural Float and Love Rain Down, by Gary B, to name just a few.

Since then, I developed an inextricable passion for this genre of music – adult contemporary –, and for underground alternative music in general; I already had it, but it was dormant, though somewhat latent. Listening to that radio station opened up my musical perceptions, and expanded my personal musical horizons. I’m always eager to discover musicians, bands and songs that are not well-known – especially the ones that are completely unknown –, to appreciate all the hidden treasures that are concealed somewhere. And I definitely want to inspire people to do the same. 



​Wagner

Jards Anet da Silva – better known as Jards Macalé – is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, active since the mid–sixties. Born in 1943 in the Tijuca neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Macalé had a precocious contact with music through his family in his childhood, and formed his first musical groups when he was a teenager. Soon thereafter, he learned how to play several instruments, like cello and acoustic guitar, as well as musical theory. In the sixties, Macalé gained some prominence when he became involved in the Tropicália cultural movement, that would later reveal many talented musicians, some of which would become relevant artists in contemporary Brazilian music. By the late sixties, Macalé had established himself as a prominent songwriter, having songs of his authorship recorded by other artists. He also became a respected concert manager, and with some partners from the music business, created his own spectacle agency.

By the late sixties and early seventies, Macalé was a solid name in the business, working mainly for other artists. He wrote songs, musical arrangements, assisted in production and recording, and organized everything concerning the musical direction of concerts and LP’s. Nevertheless, he sought to venture into a solo career; so, in 1970, he released a compact, titled Só Morto. Soon thereafter, now renowned singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso invited Macalé to record an album with him in the UK – together with other artists –, and Macalé accepted. Macalé worked as a musical director for Caetano Veloso, but when the album, titled Transa, was released in 1972, Macalé became extremely resentful after discovering his name was not in the credits.   

When the bitterness was over, Macalé returned to Brazil and started working in his first full-length album. The eponymous Jards Macalé – an album containing nine tracks – was released in the same year as Transa, by Caetano Veloso, in 1972, Macalé also worked with the same musicians, Lanny Gordin and Tutty Moreno.

In the following years, Macalé also achieved moderate prominence as a soundtrack composer for films and theater plays; he is occasionally employed as an actor by some of the productions for which the music he signed the score. 

Besta Fera, his most recent release, is an excellent and genuinely Brazilian masterpiece. The album has twelve tracks: 1) Vampiro de Copacabana; 2) Besta Fera; 3) Trevas; 4) Buraco da Consolação; 5) Pacto de Sangue; 6) Obstáculos; 7) Meu Amor Meu e Cansaço; 8) Tempo e Contratempo; 9) Peixe; 10) Longo Caminho do Sol; 11) Limite; 12) Valor; while this album delivers some of the more general trends that were always present in popular Brazilian music, the peculiar style of Jards Macalé is decidedly authorial and intrinsically singular. His creative sensibilities playfully disperses the harmonies among the volatile dissolutions of his soft, somewhat jazzy and fragmented melodies.

Although the entire album is a formidable, original and passionate work of art, the tracks that mostly caught my attention are Buraco da Consolação, Pacto de Sangue, Obstáculos and Meu Amor Meu e Cansaço; the fourth until the seventh, in direct sequence. The final song, Valor, also has a deeply introspective, lugubrious and sensible premise, that is wonderfully filled by a soft, but melancholic tenderness.  

With some Bossa Nova and neoclassical elements subtlety incorporated into the dispersive and elegant structure of his music, the style of Jards Macalé is widely impregnated with the glorious, refined and exotic tonalities of sixties Brazilian music. The fourth track, Buraco da Consolação, transmits perfectly the gracious sensibilities of this peculiar type of musical atmosphere, that displays a delicate, placid and surreal tenacity, whose latent, but soft and imponderable melodies undoubtedly revitalizes the sonorous past references of a country whose high culture was definitely at the peak of its splendor. 

Pacto de Sangue has a vivacious and graciously urban rhythm, whose playful guitar lines redefines the melodies over the renitent beauty of its exotic and charismatic charm. Obstáculos – with a relatively melancholic and somber atmosphere –, seems to acknowledge and project the exasperating shadows of a dying afternoon, that slowly dilutes into the vague and evasive underworld of a lugubrious life, that seems resented with the tragedy of its pale and lethargic existence. 

Meu Amor Meu e Cansaço – with sensationally vivid and splendorous musical overtones that dilates the tenacity of its resigned and serene stagnant graciousness –, displays a poetic sensibility that not only understands the lucidity of its cautiously sculpted and restrained melodies, but contemplates the fugacious contempt of an everlasting disillusion, that will be forever impregnated into the consciousness of the soul. 

Other songs, like Peixe, with its tender, humane and calmly smooth, captivating melody, Longo Caminho do Sol, with its fantastic choir of wonderful and amazingly tuned female voices, and Limite, with its poetic and melancholic atmosphere, sidelined by distant, despondent and dissonant guitar lines, are also wonderfully splendid tracks, that genuinely brings on the strength of its formidably consistent essence an exceptional degree of artistry.  

All in all, the whole album is fantastic, beautiful and full of a genuine artistic essence, whose soul is definitely shaped over a vortex of magnificent grandiosity.    

The way the artist explores sound textures and beautiful harmonies departing from guitar lines conceives a conjuncture of wonderfully creative cantilenas, that irradiates a graceful mosaic of melodies, that detaches its colorful horizons of dense and vivid serenity from the realistic depictions of a tender and sometimes despondent portrait of dramatically pungent sentimental tonalities. Evidently, Besta Fera is an album that aggregates a marvelous conjuncture of undeniable qualities to contemporary Brazilian music. 


Wagner

Severino Dias de Oliveira – better known as Sivuca –, was a Brazilian musician, who achieved international notoriety at the peak of his career, having resided in Europe and the United states, at the height of his fame as a playfully skilled and versatile accordionist. He also played acoustic guitar, besides being a creative songwriter and a profoundly methodical arranger. A very eclectic musician, his genres of preference were mostly styles exclusive to Brazilian music, like choro, baião, frevo and forró, though he also played blues, jazz and classical music, amongst many other genres.  

Sivuca was born in May 26, 1930, in Itabaiana, in the state of Paraíba, in northeast Brazil. When he was nine years old, his father gave him an accordion, and the passion for music was then rapidly developed. After some years – as soon as he started to improve his talents –, he began to attract attention locally. At fifteen years old, he became part of a radio station staff in Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco, and at twenty-one years old, he recorded his first album. In the same year, Sivuca released a single in a partnership with musician Humberto Teixeira that became a national success. 

With the firm resolution to consolidate a career in music, in 1955 Sivuca moved to Rio de Janeiro, then the capital and cultural center of Brazil. In the following year, he released another album, titled Motivo para Dançar. Then Sivuca toured Europe as part of a musical group called Os Brasileiros, and by the end of the decade, he started living in Europe, more precisely in Portugal and France. 

In this period, Sivuca’s international career started to ignite with cohesive intensity, and soon he became an artist sought by professional musicians to integrate their bands, as a composer, arranger and instrumentalist. His formidable degree of professionalism, competence and commitment impressed everybody who had the opportunity of working with him, and Sivuca started to build a solid reputation in the business. In the sixties, Sivuca moved to the United States, where he worked closely with South-African singer Zenzile Miriam Makeba, with whom he toured for several years, until the end of the decade. Sivuca lived in the United States for more than twelve years, until 1976. In the next decade, Sivuca worked in Scandinavia, with several jazz musicians. 

When he returned to Brazil, Sivuca started to compose movie soundtracks, and participated heavily in the regional music scene, consolidating his reputation as a virtuous patrimony of Brazilian folk music. He was a widely active recording artist, having released more than thirty albums, in a career that spanned half a century, most of which was accompanied by his wife, 72 years old singer-songwriter Glória Gadelha, that participated in several of his musical projects, and currently works with her daughter to preserve Sivuca’s artistic legacy.  

Sivuca died in December 14, 2006, at 76 years old. For sure, he will be deeply missed, but fortunately, his magnificent legacy survives, and his majestically creative and eclectic musical treasures remain, for the joy and amusement of folk music enthusiasts. 


Wagner

Selection, introduction, commentaries and general info by Wagner Hertzog

I’m positively sure that you don’t know anything about Brazilian music, right? Well, I’m here to fix that, and teach you something about my country’s traditional music. In contemporary Brazil, you’ll find literally all the genres being widely practiced, from post black metal to alternative rock, from Jazz to electronic music, to styles that are basically musical genres entirely created and developed in Brazil, like Forró, Bossa Nova and MPB (MPB is short for Música Popular Brasileira, which means Popular Brazilian Music), to name only just a few. The musical scene is exceedingly eclectic and varied, as well as Brazilian society and culture in general. Brazilian culture – as a matter of fact –, is one of the most heterogeneous in the world. 

All the artists chosen here, though, follow closely the more popular genres of the country’s traditional culture: soul, psychedelic, funk, Brazilian folk music and MPB. Most of the artist’s featured here are not well-known or famous musicians; nonetheless, they have careers with modest degrees of success, and all the albums chosen achieved some level of cult status within the underground counterculture communities, for their unique features, beauty, singular melodies and sagacious originality. Coincidentally, all the albums featured on this list were released in the seventies. Most of these artists are originally from the northeast region of the country, and the most relevant characteristic is the general conciseness prevalent in the records. None of these albums is too extensive. I sincerely hope you like them as much as I do. 

Singer Di Melo released in 1975 his eponymous debut album, that today is considered a vinyl rarity and a cult classic, a much sought after collector’s item. The album has twelve tracks. In the A side, 1) Kilariô; 2) A vida em seus métodos diz calma; 3) Aceito tudo; 4) Conformópolis; 5) Má-lida; 6) Sementes; in the B side, 1) Pernalonga; 2) Minha estrela; 3) Se o mundo acabasse em mel; 4) Alma gêmea; 5) João; 6) Indecisão; the album is very concise, only thirty-four minutes long. Nevertheless, its beauty and audacious creativity is unique in underground Brazilian music. The original grooves of the first song, Kilariô, feels as turnaround melodies that revolves around the groundless festive soul of exceedingly exotic harmonies.   

Singer Di Melo – whose complete name is Roberto de Melo Santos – is sixty-nine years old. He released his second album, Sons, Sacações, Sambas e Tesões in 2014, thirty-nine years after the release of this masterpiece.  

Quinteto Violado, released in 1972, is the eponymous debut album of a traditional folk music group from Recife, in the northeast region of Brazil – coincidentally, the same place of origin of singer Di Melo – a place whose characteristic and deeply peculiar exotic culture features as a distinct trace within Brazil. 

This group has a varied and large cast of musicians, being exceedingly active for almost fifty years, releasing in average one record per year, with a discography that comprises thirty-nine albums. The style of the group – which is profusely highlighted in this work – is characterized by deeply profound and authorial experimentalism, yet respecting the proverbial qualities of traditional northeast music, delivering a revolving, but cohesive and dynamic musical density, whose melodies liquefy at the tangential reverberation of proficient and flexible harmonious tonalities. This album in particular has marvelous passages of exceptional beauty, whose creative splendor trespasses genre boundaries, to create a more allegorical and impressionistic outlook on life.  

Antônio Arnaud Rodrigues released Som do Paulinho, his sixth album, in 1976. A concise album – only thirty-four minutes long – the record has ten tracks: 1) Som do Paulinho; 2) Rock de Minas Gerais; 3) O Dia que o Diabo Roubou o Bar do Português; 4) Em Cima Daquele Morro; 5) Sete de Setenta e Oito; 6) Índio do Uruguai; 7) Teté Das Lendas Rurais; 8) Mercado São José; 9) Negro Pescador; 10) Gaivota Humana; the grooves, harmonies and the graciously fluid and exotic rhymes – typical of Brazilian regional music – displays a wonderful album, that can be positively considered an underestimated state of the art work. Its lucid and authorial level of authenticity, combined with effective and dynamic melodies, makes this golden work a majestic and distinctive album of Brazilian cult classics. 

While never renouncing a gracious, but volatile simplicity, this album has a serene and humane tenderness, that revolves around a sensible quest for existential rapture. Coincidentally, Arnaud Rodrigues was born in Serra Talhada, a city located in the northeast state of Pernambuco, the same region where the two previous artists – Di Melo and Quinteto Violado – are from, though both are from another city, Recife, the state’s capital. Rodrigues released twelve albums, beginning in 1970, until 1998. He was also an actor. The singer died in 2010, at sixty-seven years old, in a boat accident. 

Sonho 70 was the second album from underground cult musician Egberto Gismonti, originally from Carmo, Rio de Janeiro, released in 1970. Gracious, dynamic and splendidly creative, the record – only thirty-four minutes long – has nine tracks, mostly written by the musician himself: 1) Janela de ouro; 2) Parque Laje; 3) Ciclone; 4) Indi; 5) Sonho; 6) O mercador de serpentes; 7) Lendas; 8) Pêndulo; 9) Lírica nº 1; a more serene and reflexive album, though effervescent in some passages, this is a vivacious, intense and very poetic work, whose musical ambitions tend to subjugate the mordacious density of the harmonies, that are overtly sidelined by soft and ethereal voices, that emanate from the intuitive horizon of a somewhat afflictive, restless and delusional creative panorama. 

A prolific artist, Gismonti has released more than fifty albums, in a career that in the current year completes five decades. A deeply authorial and original artist – whose musical majesty can be confirmed in the beautiful melodies present in this glorious album – Gismonti knows how to perfectly create genuine and effective harmonies, that are wonderfully consecrated by the preciously visionary tendencies of his versatile, plural and expansive stylish dispositions. 

Despite the English title, Airto Moreira is a Brazilian musician, born in Santa Catarina, a state in the southern region of the country. Forty minutes long, Seeds on the Ground – whose complete title is Seeds on the Ground - The Natural Sound of Airto – was released in 1971, and has seven tracks: 1) Andei (I Walked); 2) O Sonho (Moon Dreams); 3) Uri (Wind); 4) Papo Furado (Jive Talking); 5) Juntos (We Love); 6) O Galho Da Roseira (The Branches Of The Rose Tree), Part 1; 7) O Galho Da Roseira (The Branches Of The Rose Tree), Part 2; the first song begins with a berimbau, an instrument mostly developed in Brazil to accompany an autochthonous martial art that incorporates elements of dance, named capoeira, though the precise origin of berimbau, as well as capoeira, is Africa, and was brought to Brazil by African slaves commercialized by the Portuguese, where it was more intensely developed. 

A singular album that features a mixture of elements from jazz, jazz fusion, adult contemporary and Brazilian music, Seeds on the Ground – despite its beautiful melodies – distinguish itself by its exacerbated level of experimentalism. With genuinely fluid musical rhythms, and very flexible melodic overtones, the album reveals itself a majestic and proficient splendorous work, fulfilled by genuinely conceived creative sound tissues, that expands its mordacious serenity all the way through. Singer Flora Purim, Airto Moreira’s wife, sings on this album. Moreira has also enjoyed in the past a considerable degree of notoriety abroad, having participated in Bitches Brew, a 1969 album by Miles Davis.    

Paêbirú: Caminho da Montanha do Sol, released in 1975, is the only collaboration between these two Brazilian artists, being Zé Ramalho probably the most notorious and celebrated on this list. Both in the beginning of their careers, Paêbirú was the debut album of Zé Ramalho, and the second album of Lula Côrtes. Fifty-five minutes long, the album has thirteen tracks, divided into four chapters. The “Lado TERRA” (Earth Side) has the following songs: 1) Trilha de Sumé; 2) Culto à Terra; 3) Bailado das Muscarias; “Lado AR” (Air Side): 4) Harpa dos Ares; 5) Não Existe Molhado Igual ao Pranto; 6) Omm; “Lado FOGO” (Fire Side): 7) Raga dos Raios; 8) Nas Paredes da Pedra Encantada, Os Segredos Talhados Por Sumé; 9) Maracás de Fogo; “Lado ÁGUA” (Water Side): 10) Louvação à Iemanjá; 11) Regato da montanha; 12) Pedra Tempo Animal; 13) Sumé; a versatile and mostly psychedelic work, Paêbirú is another record whose vast degree of experimentalism and audacity definitely elevates its creative standards to a more distinct and genuine level of gracious and ludic introspection, a superior one, where the artists involved doesn’t fear diving deeply into a profoundly authentic, sensible and ambitious ground of sonorous interaction.

Another one of those precious achievements of Brazilian music, Paêbirú is an album that never conquered the level of exposition and recognition it deserves. Nevertheless, it’s dynamic and veracious versatility – as well as a marvelous sense of dynamic artistry – revolves between an expansive and gracefully abstract sound, whose main qualities are a convoluted, but flexible sense of spontaneous and invariable synergy. Despite some minor tedious passages, this album is a canonical work of cult status, whose elegant intensity has conceived an eccentric and exotic milestone, that proudly integrates the extraordinary legacy of the Brazilian national music scene.  

Released in 1976, Passarinho Urbano was the sixth album by singer Joyce Silveira Moreno, known mononymously as Joyce. Another extremely concise work – only thirty-two minutes long – the record has eighteen tracks, consisting of mostly very short songs. Better known as a performer, Joyce sings on this album songs written by distinctive professional songwriters, some of them famous icons of Brazilian music, giving them very personal reinterpretations.

The tracks are in this exact order: 1) Joia (written by Caetano Veloso); 2) De Frente Pro Crime (written by Aldir Blanc and João Bosco); 3) Pesadelo (written by Paulo César Pinheiro and Maurício Tapajós); 4) Pelo Telefone (written by Mauro de Almeida and Donga); 5) Pede Passagem (written by Sidney Miller); 6) Marcha da Quarta-feira de Cinzas (written by Carlos Lyra and renowed poet and songwriter Vinicius de Moraes); 7) Opinião (written by Zé Keti); 8) Chora Doutor (written by O. Gazzaneo, J. Campos and J. Piedade); 9) Quatorze Anos (written by the legendary Paulinho da Viola); 10) A História do Samba (written by G. Figueiredo); 11) O Trem Atrasou (written by Pequito, A. Vilarinho and E. Silva); 12) Radiopatrulha (written by J. Diaz Luizinho, M. Ramos and S. de Oliveira); 13) Acorda Amor (written by Julinho da Adelaide); 14) Mudando de Conversa (written by Hermínio Bello de Carvalho and Maurício Tapajós); 15) Fado Tropical (written by Ruy Guerra and Chico Buarque); 16) Bodas (written by Ruy Guerra and Milton Nascimento); 17) Viola Fora de Moda (written by Capinan and Edu Lobo); 18) Passarinho (written by famous poet Mário Quintana and Joyce); an interesting and very exotic album, Passarinho Urbano sounds like a succession of sweet, serene and poetic cantilenas, that talks directly to the restless emptiness of the soul, that is eager to see the end of the day at the forefront of a graceful and exhilarating horizon. A tender, elusive and soft work, this placid record requires an indefinite moment of appreciation, that definitely transforms your musical perceptions into a majestic and expansive channel of innocent and energized sensitivity.

Released in 1973, the eponymous album of Sivuca – whose real name was Severino Dias de Oliveira – is thirty-eight minutes long, and has ten tracks: 1) Adeus Maria Fulô; 2) Tunnel; 3) Amor Verdadeiro; 4) Ponteio; 5) Arrasta Pé; 6) Você Abusou (I'm Free As A Bird); 7) Inquietação (Foolishness Of Young Love); 8) Ain't No Sunshine; 9) Lament Of Berimbau; 10) Rosa Na Favela (A Rose Born In The Ghetto); most of these songs are reinterpretations of songs composed by another artists and songwriters, though Sivuca was the author of a few tracks. With an incomparable beauty sidelined with the immaculate serenity of the general harmonies, this album, the ninth of Sivuca’s career, features marvelous melodies ingratiated with the miraculous outlook of a flexible, vivacious and exceptionally dynamic musical layout. 

Originally from Paraíba – another state located in northeast Brazil, a region that is pulverized with the smaller states of the country – Sivuca had a long and prolific career, having released more than thirty albums. The musician died in December, 2006, at seventy-six years old. 

Quinteto Armorial was another important instrumental Brazilian group from the northeast, active for ten years, from 1970 to 1980, releasing four albums. Their homonymous album, their third, was released in 1978. The next work, Sete Flechas, released in 1980, was their last. In this same year, the band disbanded. A very concise album, Quinteto Armorial is thirty-four minutes long, and has seven tracks. A side has the following songs: 1) Baque de Luanda; 2) Romance da Nau Catarineta; 3) Toque dos Caboclinhos; 4) Entremeio para Rabeca e Percussão (4.1 – Cortejo; 4.2 – Baiano; 4.3 – Boi); The B side has the following tracks: 5) Ária (Cantilenas de Bachianas Brasileiras nº 5) [written by legendary and renowed Brazilian songwriter Heitor Villa-Lobos]; 6) Toque para Marimbau e Orquestra (6.1 – 1º Movimento: Galope à Beira-mar; 6.2 – 2º movimento: Bendito de Romeiros; 6.3 – 3º movimento: Marcha rural); working under the general folk themes typical of Brazilian cultural northeast regionalism, the music of Quinteto Armorial combines elements of musical traditionalism and technical proficiency with an authorial perception of popular melodies, a creative synergy that produced an exotic and peculiar sound. In 1975, the band won the famed APCA Prize in the best instrumental group category.   

While the band was somewhat short-lived, it is considered today one of the most important groups in Brazil to conceive a subgenre of chamber music basically influenced by popular regional rhythms, and their body of work comprises a respectable legacy that remains appreciated today in erudite circles. 

Ave Sangria is the eponymous and only album of a Brazilian psychedelic rock band, released in 1974. Thirty-eight minutes long, the record has twelve tracks. The A side has the following songs: 1) Dois Navegantes; 2) Lá Fora; 3) Três Margaridas; 4) O Pirata; 5) Momento na Praça; 6) Cidade Grande; the B side has the following tracks: 7) Seu Waldir; 8) Hei! Man; 9) Por Que?; 10) Corpo em Chamas; 11) Geórgia, a Carniceira; 12) Sob o Sol de Satã; almost all the songs were written by Marco Polo Guimarães, the group’s singer, which is also a poet and a journalist.

Although the group’s style is direct, straight to the point and simple, Ave Sangria was an early exponent of the Brazilian psychedelic rock scene in the regional northeast scene, before achieving national notoriety. The colorful lyrics were exceedingly representative of popular music, and appealed greatly to younger audiences. The LP – at the time of its release – was the subject of controversy and censorship by the military government, due to the song Seu Waldir, whose lyrics contains satirical homosexual references. Today, the group is barely remembered, though their homonymous album remains appreciated by devoted enthusiasts and cult followers. 

Flaviola e o Bando do Sol was the eponymous release – and only album – of an artist whose probable origins were the notorious regional popular music scene of Pernambuco, in the northeast (why am I not surprised?). A very concise album (why am I not surprised again?), the record has thirteen short tracks: 1) Canto Fúnebre; 2) O Tempo; 3) Noite; 4) Desespero; 5) Canção de Outona; 6) Do Amigo; 7) Brilhante Estrela; 8) Como os Bois; 9) Palavras; 10) Balalaica; 11) Olhos; 12) Romance da Lua Lua; 13) Asas (Prá Que Te Quero?); while this artist vanished into absolute obscurity, and there is literally no information available about the singer, the album, despite its sentimental overtones and overall simplicity, has a fundamental beauty, that communicates the essence of its profoundly humane soul with the exceptionally delicate layers of its melodious and graciously effective creative tenderness.

The vivaciousness present in most of the melodies – even in the apparently melancholic ones – is a witness to the restless life that reverberates in the creative microcosm of the artist, something that was visible in the regional scene from which this singer emerged, and that always had been a standalone quality in Brazilian folk music in general. While this album do feature some generic passages, most of the time its peculiar audacity and proverbial originality reveals an exotic contemporary fable of popular graciousness, that certainly qualifies as a hidden musical treasure that probably will never receive the level of attention it obviously deserves. 

As Crianças da Nova Floresta, released in 1977, is the debut album of Brazilian progressive rock band Recordando O Vale Das Maçãs, a veteran underground musical act that remains active to this day. Forty-one minutes long, the album has seven tracks: 1) Ranchos, Filhos e Mulher; 2) Besteria; 3) Olhar de Um Louco; 4) Raio de Sol; 5) As Crianças da Nova Floresta; 6) Sorriso de Verão; 7) Flores na Estrada; with a discreet, more organic and quiet style, the group incorporates elements present in the more notorious bands of the genre at the time, like Pink Floyd, that sounds as an obvious influence. The soft flow of smooth rhythms are inextricably incorporated at the axis of dynamic harmonies, that revolves between the ghosts of versatile, clean and perceptive melodies. The extension of some songs are also another major component of disruptive mordacity; the title track, for example, is a song that lasts almost eighteen minutes.   

While the album was not too innovative nor excellent, As Crianças da Nova Floresta displays a beauty and a brilliance that delivers its own qualities with a virtuous, uninterested and salutary style, that justifies its moderate relevance in an underground level. Recordando O Vale Das Maçãs also contributed to a certain degree to popularize progressive rock among Brazilian audiences. Nevertheless, despite some ordinary grievances, this album has a lucid degree of artistry, that was efficient and competent enough to aggregate a new conjuncture of standards and habits to the national music scene as a whole.

Well, this is it! I hope you have enjoyed this marvelous musical journey. And keep listening this marvelous albums, until we meet again, in the next list. 


​Wagner

Délicieuse Musique is a marvelous website and YouTube channel of alternative music, that definitely deserves to be vastly appreciated. Giving exposure to incredible, but relatively obscure artists and musicians, this is a space primarily designed for art music enthusiasts, that will find on the channel precious and incomparable musical talents, as little places in the World Wide Web are able to unite them in one single place, as Délicieuse Musique does. 

Definitely, this is a marvelous channel to keep an eye on, that is always reverberating, uploading and giving exposure to fabulous musical underground talents, that still doesn’t enjoy a loyal and considerable audience. On Délicieuse Musique, you can always find something new, exciting, rapturous and original. So, subscribe to this channel today, to enjoy all the marvelous treasures of alternative and underground music. 

This is a selection that I have done, comprising the fifteen best songs I have found on this channel. I hope you enjoy.

Remix of a beautiful song by a Brazilian singer, the tropical groove that underlines the rhythm gives space to a majestic harmony, that is occasionally accompanied by discreet, but powerful, efficient and deeply authorial sax notes. The beautiful and lucid melodies that carries on the consistent elements of playful bass lines complements wonderfully the suggestive graciousness of this fantastic and exceedingly colorful tune. 

An apparently ordinary song, with a somewhat sensationally circular tune that stays in place with a delightful funky rhythm, Amour Fou has one of those eccentric melodies that stays in your head after the music is over. Despite its somewhat ordinary structure and exacerbated simplicity, the overall harmonious lines of the song are increasingly dynamic and lucid, and its placid predictabilities just make the tune to be even more gracefully contagious. 

An amazingly gracious and vivacious song with an imperiously dynamic and groovy bass line, Dude's Den Fou is an epically authorial song, that delivers highly original compositional skills. With a formidable melody that ingratiates itself in a profoundly sensational, yet sensible and discreet mixture of distinct genres of music, the artist basically submerges himself in a totally different category of sonorous composition, displaying an innovative level of authenticity and exceptional excellence into the underground music scene.  

An interesting, pretty exotic and eccentric electronic music track, Thyme Field has a smooth sound that underlines its discreetly progressive tendencies. Nevertheless, the melody exhales a superb and delicate calmness, that somewhat overemphasizes it’s imperative, unique and exceptionally overflowing beauty. With its dilapidated textures occasionally fragmented by a coalescence of romantic vibes, the harmonies in general remain in a neutral space of polished sonorous stabilities, with abrupt variations that delivers a serene, yet enigmatic and somber perception of melancholic tenderness. 

Aaj Shanibar (RSS Disco's Vision) is one of those tracks whose futuristic tendencies overpasses its own ludic and experimental sonorous fundaments. Despite its structural simplicity, the overwhelming rhythm of the song is amazingly beautiful and marvelously contagious, virtually impossible to ignore. With an impressive pattern of inspirational excellence that surpasses the eccentricity of its own incomparable level of audacity and originality, this song definitely embraces a new category of musical sensibility, whose erudite intricacy revolves around the elements of its own creative twilight.

Despite the fact that this is a more simple tune, All The Fills has a pervasively defined melody, that overcomes its own consistent and playful rhythm. With a colorful and dynamic vibe that circulates under the sensibilities of its profoundly vivacious – almost disco grooves –, the harmonies that pulsates between the lines connects the invisible spaces that tangentially fluctuates over a selection of diluted horizons, compressing restrained variations of abrasive tonalities, that persistently breathes over the cohesive lines that overflows abundantly from this exceedingly proverbial, catchy and nostalgic track.

A beautiful track that departs from the melodic epicenter of its own sidereal, but anatomically condensed rhythmic beat, the melody is a graceful disposition of continuous overflow, that eventually resigns itself to a diffusive and mordacious tune. Although displaying a predictable degree of homogeneity after the first few seconds, this song overcomes the elemental paradigm of a futuristic dance composition, that revolves around its own epiphany of exotic splendor. 

A marvelous and deeply wonderful track – the best in this list, in my modest opinion – whose incredible and uplifting melodies pulsates according exceedingly peculiar, exotic and colorful qualities, this fantastic version of Your Love, by Dave Mathmos, is a sagacious, groovy and highly exceptional embodiment of a legitimate urban anthem. 
With fabulous and graceful tropical disco tonalities, the highly baritone vocals, complemented with the splendidly tuned female voices, are wonderfully sidelined by the effective rhythms of a sensational musical symphony, that wanders within a universe of poetic elegance that definitely achieves the highest standards of the genre.    

This more flavored and delicate tune displays an elegant and soft sensibility, whose melodies live by the plain intensity of its organic and attentive timing. Despite its structural simplicity, the song has a cohesive and lucid musical majesty, whose graciousness effectively highlights its somewhat pristine, serene and jazzy qualities. 

A very nice, flexible and splendorous track, this remix version of Fresh Start has an imponderable and versatile rhythm, that graciously revolves around the peripheral harmonies of the song. With an exceptional conjuncture of organic musical ordinances that completely rejuvenates the dance elements of the song, this festive and sensible combination of melodies definitely makes this track an overall evolution into the alternative futurepop music scene.    

An interesting song by Chilean singer Paula Tape, Agua Con Gas – they probably put the title wrong, this should mean “Sparkling Water” –, this track has an interesting colorful electronic upbeat, that definitely energizes the harmonies in a very effervescent, exhilarating and festive atmosphere. Although the lack of variation does diminish its potential groove, the dynamic conjuncture between the harmonies is excellent, and the bass line that holds the melodies altogether is as marvelously hallucinating as it is technically prudent, remaining cohesive and efficient all the way through.   

A wonderful track, that has majestic sax grooves marvelously introduced into the song’s rhythm, Dance With Me has graceful and exhilarating nostalgia elements, that reverberates in a dynamic dissonance into the astoundingly diluted atmosphere of the harmonies. Definitely a sensational song – despite its overall simplicity –, the gracious fashion of its splendidly rhythmic vibes features a mostly jazzy impressionistic groove, that is formidably catchy and unique. 

With a tropical and very eccentric upbeat, this track combines several distinct elements into a cohesive musical context, where a dynamic mosaic of very colorful notes brings together the vividness of technical splendor. With its essence departing almost from a mambo rhythmic pragmatism, the song displays a lucid and salutary sonorous fragrance, that contributes to revitalize the consistence of its own circular harmonious diagram. 

A great electro tune that reverberates at the epicenter of its own eccentric harmonies the grace of a dense musical layout – despite being a little repetitive –, San Junipero has an ambient vibe that ostensibly detaches from its sensibilities the general fortunes of electronica, while at the same time evidently displaying a loyal visibility to the most recognizable elements of the genre. 

An interesting song with a very psychedelic and colorful vibe, Flutin has a beautiful harmonious base, that condensates its vibrating musical tonalities, while reverberating extensively in line with the gracious melodies that undertakes the density of its rhythm. Almost hallucinatory at certain points, definitely Flutin has a peculiar and exceptional charm, that vividly explores the vicinities of its own creative sonorous platform.     

Actor Luke Perry – whose birth name was Coy Luther Perry III – better known as the character Dylan McKay on the Aaron Spelling produced Fox television hit show Beverly Hills, 90210, has died in the beginning of the month, March 4, in Los Angeles. He had suffered a stroke in February 27, and was immediately hospitalized. He then suffered a second stroke. Apparently, after not regaining consciousness, his family authorized the medical staff to turn off the life support machines.  

The American television industry is in shock that such an icon and a gentleman – a professional loved and respected by everyone who knew and worked with him – had passed away so soon. His family and work colleagues, from both past projects and the present day, are currently dealing with the pain for having lost so suddenly someone they love so much.  

Born in October 11, 1966, in Mansfield, Ohio, Luke Perry moved to Los Angeles when he was very young, in 1984 – he was only seventeen years old – to try a career in show business. After auditioning for 256 acting jobs, without positive results, Perry decided to relocate to New York City, where he finally had better luck, acquiring roles in the shows Loving and Another World.

His persistence was nevertheless rewarded. Perry’s big break came in the end of the decade, when, in 1989, famous producer Aaron Spelling was casting young actors for his next show, Beverly Hills, 90210, that became a popular hit. Perry initially auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders, but actor Ian Ziering got the part. Eventually, though, his talent and dramatic skills impressed the casting agents, and he got the role of the restless and rebellious Dylan McKay, one of the most iconic characters within the show.

The show run for ten seasons, from 1990 to 2000, producing effectively 293 episodes. Luke Perry was a series regular until 1995, when he left the show, determined to search better acting opportunities and more challenging roles. However, he returned in 1998, and remained until the show’s cancellation, in 2000. For the remainder of the series, Perry was described in the credits of every episode as a special guest star, though he was in fact a regular. In total, he had participated in 199 episodes. 

In his three years absence from the series, he starred in several films, with moderate degrees of success. He starred alongside Eric Roberts and Jennifer Tilly in the movie American Strays, released in 1996. He then played a cop in the movie Riot, released in 1997. Based on real-life events, the movie depicts the Los Angeles riots that took place after the beating of late Rodney King. 

After Beverly Hills, 90210 ended its run, Perry had established a reputation and a name in the business, and easily landed acting roles in series and made-for-television films. He found difficulty however, to distance himself from Dylan McKay, that remains his most iconic role, and the one he will be probably mostly associated with. About that, Perry has said: "I'm going to be linked with him until I die, but that's actually just fine. I created Dylan McKay. He's mine".

Perry developed a close friendship with several of his 90210 co-stars, especially Jason Priestley, who played Brandon Walsh. Priestley, that is also a professional motor racing driver, suffered two accidents while competing in a circuit. The first in 1995, and the second, in 2002. The second accident was a serious one; Priestley suffered massive injuries, and had to be hospitalized for treatment. Luke Perry visited him regularly during this period. The two remained close friends until Perry’s death. When hearing about the sad news, Priestley published a personal eulogy in social media, lamenting the precocious passing of his beloved friend. 

Riverdale – a show that had Perry on its main cast –, had its shooting schedule suspended upon hearing the news of his death, though now they are back to normal.   Although he died too soon, Perry’s legacy as a TV icon and professional actor will remain. Besides Dylan McKay, other memorable roles the actor has played was Jeremiah, in the eponymous TV series, and Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier, in the prison television hit show Oz.


In total, Luke Perry had credits to his name in thirty movies, five direct-to-video films, sixteen television films and thirty five television series – upon which eight had him as part of the main cast –, in a career that lasted almost thirty seven years. Perry unfortunately enters the select hall of famous actors who died too early, like James Gandolfini, who died at 51 years old in 2013, and will always be remembered as the iconic Tony Soprano, the patriarch of a mafia family in the television hit show The Sopranos. 

Luke Perry left a mark in the television industry, with unforgettable characters that will remain loved by the audiences. He may have died too soon, but his artistic legacy will stay, being widely appreciated by old and young generations of television series enthusiasts, for years to come. 


​Wagner