Customer Reviews

Brasil: A Century of Song, Vol. 4: MPB - Musica Popular Brasileira

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a pretty good album, full of wonderful MPB songs. If I could change one thing about it, I would wish that it had more songs. For those of you who may not know it this album is a part of a box set (the other 3 or 4 CD's don't come with this album though - you must buy those separately). Each one of the other albums (which consist of different styles of Brazilian music - like Carnaval samba music, Choro, etc.) are all wonderful. I defnitely recommend getting this CD whether you are new to MPB music and want a good introduction, or if you already know you love MPB and just want another CD to add to your collection.

This is some of the best produced [and unpretentious] cutting-edge music anywhere on the globe. It's solid from top to bottom.

#'s 3-7, 9-10, 12-17 are all 5 stars; #'s 8 and 11 are "only" 4 stars! These songs are all very meaty, unlike much of the fare we are currently served here in the States. I say this, and I don't even understand Portuguese [Brazilian dialect or otherwise].

#'s 3-6: Great lead singing, cuica/cavaquinho duels, and gutsy, full choral response. [Cuica is a friction drum = one that has a stick through its drumhead; the stick is rubbed with a damp rag to produce the instrument's characteristic repertoire of dog barking and whining sounds. Cavaquinho is a small guitar, about the size of the ukelele.]

#7: Begins with haunting whistling, acoustic guitar accompaniment and percussion. Once the singing begins, it's rather offhanded melody and rhythm (jazzy) with ample reverb in the mix.

#8: Unusual melody and rhythm, and almost a church trope in the choral phrases; electric bass/guitar, drum kit and other percussion.

#9: More whistling, with choral yelling, lead speaking then singing, 'atonal' studio style electric guitar chords and ostinado. An inspiring, medium to up-tempo love song.

#10: Double-tracked berimbau (musical bow), with electric bass and rock guitar. Jazzy melody with incredible singers; some multi-tap panning delay (an innovative engineer here!). Also, an awesomely-conceived, lengthy bridge section!

#11: Jazzy intro, motor-mouth singing, but very good!

#12: Double tracked bossa scat, panned right and left (female lead singer). Very innovative structure; gutsy, well-nailed performance. Pop-sounding, but exceedingly brilliant. Faintly reminiscent of the style of "The Girl from Ipanema", but a little quicker, and 100 times better [imagine that!].

#13: Lilting introduction @ slow ballad tempo with two acoustic guitars (left = low accompaniment, right = high flourishes) for 1½ minutes; then goes into a gorgeous medium-tempo samba with cavaquinho (~ukelele), traditional 'samba school' percussion, and a vocable chorus. The song is incredible!

#14: Samba on drum set, with electric bass, which reminds me of the style of Les Negresses Vertes, or else the Gipsy Kings.

#15: Back to samba-school style percussion, with an unusual, powerful ostinado chorus, in a minor key. String section comes in (but does not distract).

#16: Happy-sounding samba, which moves right along.

#17: Fusion samba . . . head-spinning progressive jazz, with samba beat in the quicker passages. Gorgeous singing and playing. This would serve as a gourmet platter for the right choreographer.

La selezione dei titoli e degli interpreti può dare una buona idea dell'anima del Brasile. Purtroppo tale idea è solo un richiamo per quanti conoscono, o credono di conoscere, l'intimità degli abitanti di questo sterminato e sconosciuto Paese.