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Twelve Cult Albums of Brazilian Music

15/3/2019

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Selection, introduction, commentaries and general info by Wagner Hertzog
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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. 

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Di Melo – Di Melo

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 – Quinteto Violado 

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.  

Arnaud Rodrigues – Som do Paulinho

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. 

Egberto Gismonti – Sonho 70

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. 

Airto Moreira – Seeds on the Ground

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.    

Lula Côrtes and Zé Ramalho – Paêbirú: Caminho da Montanha do Sol

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.  

Joyce – Passarinho Urbano

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.

Sivuca – Sivuca

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 – Quinteto Armorial 

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 – Ave Sangria 

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 – Flaviola e o Bando do Sol

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. 

Recordando O Vale Das Maçãs – As Crianças da Nova Floresta

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
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