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2.0 out of 5 stars
Sophomore Slump, March 16, 2005
This review is from: Cafe Samba 2 (Audio CD)
Summer 2003 was a great year for compilations. Brazilution, Brazil After Dark, Sister Bossa 4, Nova Latino and several others came out. But of those that came out, Sunswept/Varese put out a real gem titled "Cafe Samba" which featured some unique and very smooth cuts. Granted 75% of the cuts on that one were taken from a combo of Sister Bossa series/Brazilution/Brazil Remixed, it was still a good cd. 2004 saw the follow up to the cd come out and it flew under the radar of many. In fact, I remember picking it up in August but lost it two days later, only to find it a couple of days ago in a random jewel case. Not a good sign.
In my opinion, this was a capable competitor but it just didn't have the same originality or 'magic' that the first one did and left you thinking 'meh'. It starts out with a more melancholic "Maracana" and is followed up with Thievery Corporation's "Samba Tranquilla". The good songs were the ones that weren't so popular yet - you get a taste for BossaCucaNova's busy 2004 with "Ultra Samba", a very nice beat. Barrio Jazz gang's "Copacabasa" is also sorta funky too. Unfortunately there's quite a bit of filler there and some of the songs, even the more upbeat ones just didn't seem particularly inspired to me and was like a forced Brazilian ambiance. Panaphonic is one of those groups that I never got into, even on Varese records Jazz Lounge II cd. And let's face it, Nicola Conte's "Bossa Per Due" is almost an eye-sore now on any nu-bossa compilation. And Racoon's "Sensacao" is a song that either you love or you hate, but I didn't like that it was chopped in the beginning, giving it an unusual flow. But "Sabor Antibe" by Time Passing is a solid wind-down to this solid but un-remarkable cd.
I'm having trouble recommending this because there were plenty of superior alternatives in 2004. It gets 2 stars mainly because it has a few cuts you don't see on other compilations. You don't have the "Latin Vibe" tracks that were sorta cute in the first one and you don't have the cool Italian bossa that take you to the beach and remind you of the sunshine, like "Segundo". Heck... it had yet ANOTHER of the songs from Brazil: Remixed on it with what's IMO an eerily soul-less interpretation of "One is the Lonliest Number". I'd recommend Nova Latino 4 and Brazilectro 6 instead of this. But if you do like this, you might also like Frequent Flyer: Brazil... although I must admit I hated that compilation.
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