June 2014

  • Here’s another monument to joy, Marcos Valle’s “Previsao do Tempo”, released in 1973 at the height of military dictatorship’s grip on power it contained some of the most relaxed and groovy music ever to come out of Brazil. Marco Valle, in my eyes, will always seem like the mutant spawn of Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson,…

  • Spiritualism, metaphysics, mysticism, inner/outer worlds, futbol and alchemy…all of the play a role during the world cup for a lot of fans…and for Jorge Ben’s “A Tabua de Esmeralda”, released in 1974, the basis for another Brazilian masterpiece. Personally, I have a strong affection for 1974 musically, it still is in my opinion the greatest…

  • Edu Lobo in the ’70s. I kind of hate that I’m posting this album by Edu Lobo, “Missa Breve” released in 1973, right now. Its secretly my favorite Brazilian album (and an album I would put in the worldwide top 10 without batting an eye). Its figuratively the Jaguar of albums. So effortlessly refined and…

  • Words can’t describe how awesome it was that the US was able to advance to the next round of the World Cup, few people thought we could, but hey, we’re more than happy to prove them wrong. With this in mind, how about Milton Nascimento’s “Milagre dos Peixes”, released in 1973? Genuinely ahead of its…

  • Now here’s a group that got it. Blessed by the astounding voice of Ney Matogrosso (who eerily sounds a lot like Gal Costa), Secos e Mojados ran with what she started. The one-two punch of “Sangue Latino” and “O Vira” off their first self-titled album released in 1973, thoroughly embraced the Brazilian-ness of their background…

  • Gal Costa, what a threat! Immensely talented, tall, beautiful, and sexy; her vision was always to push the boundaries of what Brazilians could find acceptable. Take a look at India’s cover, its barely NSFW, don’t even look at back of the cover which goes even further. However, there’s a method for her forthrightness. Before her…

  • Full disclosure, I know I’ve been writing tracts that stretch much longer than most people have the time for. Know that, a lot of this information I add not out of a hate towards concise prose, but because a lot of this info you’ll probably won’t ever know unless you can understand Portuguese, and I…

  • I’m going to have a hard time describing this next Brazilian album. It’s Erasmo Carlos’s “Sonhos e Memorias 1941-1972”. Remember all those great quasi-psychedelic tracks from the Beach Boys like “All I Wanna Do” or “Feel Flows”, or J.J. Cale’s grooving “Call Me the Breeze”, early Laurel Canyon Rock, or even the more current sound…

  • Language, Man, what a barrier. Personally, this is what has always created issues for me (and I imagine other people). Since a young age you have the language that you speak at home fluently, its the one your parents use to converse with you, the one you know by heart. Then, you go to school…

  • If anything shows the true diversity of Brazilian music its Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges’ “Clube da Esquina”, released in 1972. Another bonafide classic this album highlights the growth of influential music that Brazil could produce outside of its normal region of invention, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo. Hailing from the Minas Gerais region,…

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