Nordeste

So I guess there is nothing easier to write about than an artist you know nothing about. And I know nothing about Flaviola and his Bando do Sol. I only know that it is one of the bunch of great psych-folk groups that came out of the Recife region just when the tropicalia movement was dying down. Others include Satwa, Ave Sangria and Paebiru. Some of the these artists went on to become big, like Ze Ramalho, some disappeared from music, like, apparently, Flaviola.

I hope to post more of Nordeste music later, maybe even the more mainstream ones, like Ednardo, and I actually started this blog with a song by Alceu Valenca, who is one of the Northestern rock pioneers. Because ti's great music, and it should be mentioned more. Flaviola e o Bando do Sol has never been reissued, and the quality of the source LP for the MP3's I got from slsk wasn't the greatest, I guess, so sorry for the hiss and such. It's great music however, and i'm sure you'll enjoy it anyway. Tracks are short, so - no less than four. Still, had to leave some great stuff out.

Flaviola e o Bando do Sol - Canto Funebre
Flaviola e o Banda do Sol - Noite
Flaviola e o Banda do Sol - Palavras
Flaviola e o Banda do Sol - Romance da Lua

Am I alive?

Yeah I guess. Just lazy.

Sadly, though, great brazilian drummer Dom Um Romao passed away in Rio a few days ago. You can read about him elsewhere, he was a pretty famous dude, but I'll just put a couple of tracks from his second album (Dom Um was the first). It was released in 1972, and is coupled on CD with its follow-up, Spirit of the Times, somewhat less breezy and just as good, as 'The Complete Muse Recordings'. 'Dom's Tune' is the opening track, and is Romao's composition (pretty cool somewhat Santana-like guitar from Joe Beck), and Edu Lobo's 'Ponteio' is another. Thinking of it, I'll also put one track from 'Spirit of the Times', called 'The Angels'. Check out the drums.

R.I.P.

Dom Um Romao - Dom's Tune
Dom Um Romao - Ponteio
Dom Um Romao - Angels

Tema dos Deuses

hey ryan, thanks for the feedback! just hope you're not the only one reading.

anyway, Milton Nacimento is one of the most famous brazilian musicians, and for a reason. i will admit that i never delved too much into his post 70-s output, and my expectations ain't very high, but i can assure that since his debut up to 1976 he released a string of great albums (well, i skipped 'Courage', it's on CTI). 'Clube Do Esquina', 'Minas', 'Travessia', 'Geraes' are all more than worth checking out, but my favourite, and the one i been listening to most (actually the only one i'm not thinking about 'it needs another listen' right now) is 'Milagre Dos Peixes'. made at the time of harsh censorship, it's mostly instrumental album, and probably the most experimental Milton ever released. i must say that i was looking for words to describe the feel and atmosphere of this record, and couldn't really come up with anything. i guess it has to be heard.

Nascimento is backed on this album by Som Imaginario, who were led by Wagner Tiso, a very prominent musisian by himself, and featured such folks as Nivaldo Ornelas, Toninho Horta and Robertinho Silva. the group was formed around 1970 to suppost Nascimento, but also released three albums in three or four years of its existence. two first albums were (in the best tropicalia tradition) eponymous, and are quite similar, great tropicalia stuff, with some prog and psych influence and many great songs on these. unfortunately, group changed it's line-up a bit on the third, called 'Matanca Do Porco', and i guess Tiso 'took over the proceedings', as they like to say. instrumental baroque prog, pretty slick, overproduced and overblown; well played though, but it isn't worth much, now is it? pretty disapointing, that one.

anyway, i listed Nascimento's 'Tema dos Deuses' in my favourite songs list recently, and i've got three versions for you. the first one, actually, is from Som Imaginario debut album from 1970, performed without Nasimento. Much more stripped down than the Milton version from the studio album, released in 1973. Last, but least (snap!) is the live version, from 'Milagre Dos Peixes - Gravado ao Vivo' (yeah, the cover above), released the next year, which keeps all the lush orchestration of the studio version, and at least equals it. i dunno if you wanna listen to all three in a row, but i listened to it about six times myself today, and i can easily take more.

Som Imaginario - Tema dos Deuses
Milton Nascimento - Tema dos Deuses
Milton Nascimento - Tema dos Deuses (ao vivo)

second

i came to know thelmo cristovam over soulseek.

thelmo cristovam is a brazilian musician who has several projects, or at least two that i know of. Combo Recife de Improviso is a free improv group, and they play stuff roughly in so called EAI vein to free jazz. in my opinion, they still have a lot to learn, but they are steadily improving. Hrönir is an electroacoustic duo, playing music ranging from electroacoustic compositions to harsh noise. they have one release on mp3 label Fronha (easy to google), and two on Cumshot (not that easy to google). my favourite by them is the latest, 25 minutes long track on cumshot, worth checking out if you like noise. i told my criticsims about his music to him one day, which he took pretty calmly, but when i wrote that his music doesn't have enough brazilian influence, he replied: "It's there, you just can't hear it." so see if you can.

thelmo also tries to move things among brazilian experimental musicians, and has some great plans, that might be too early to talk about, but i'm looking forward eagerly to their realisation. (some day i will talk about the Sao Paolo scene, which s relatively prominent). all the best luck to him.

finally, thelmo also one of the people behind the site dedicated to a legendary brazilian 'outsider' musician Damião Experiença. it's a great site, and i'm feeling somewhat guily that i'll probably never translate it into russian. there is a full bio, photos, discography with dome mp3s and even some low-fi videos. make sure you take a look at the FAQ. so check it out. NOW!

here is some Combo stuff for you. ogg file, quite large.

Combo Recife de Improviso - Trio # 4

javascript sucks.

dunno but i guess the name is in spanish. anyway sounds great.

so this is my modest contribution to the international mp3 blogging community. my blog is gonna be dedicated (mostly) to brazilian music of sorts, because i don't really see any point in doing it otherwise. not that i'm some sort of an expert, but i am slightly above average i believe. at least i know about it more than about other stuff.

now, because i'm lazy and all my blood have been sucked out by mosquitoes, right now i'm just gonna grab whatever i have on my pc that i like, put it in yousendit and link to it. sort of a test.

alceu valenca & geraldo azevedo - planetario.mp3

also, greetings.

p.s. sort of worked. well, live and learn.