Momento (Dig)

Bebel Gilberto | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Six Degrees
• ASIN: B000NJL4X0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,592 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #20 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Samba
  • #32 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Brazilian > Bossa Nova

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Three discs into her acclaimed solo career, it's a no-brainer that the Brazilian pop charms of Bebel Gilberto will conjure a slew of beach-inspired adjectives. "Refreshing," "wind-swept" and "sun-kissed" spring to mind. Momento continues Gilberto's trend of crafting sultry scenes of afternoon delight via tunes that both adhere to traditions and sound ultra-modern. But she also mixes things up a bit in the process. Gilberto's sensual delivery--featured here in English and in Portuguese--hovers in and around each song, more an extension of the rhythms than the showpiece. Make no mistake, though: Gilberto's vocal work is a thing of beauty. She again blends bossa nova, samba, pop and electronica flourishes, but no one genre overpowers any other. Liliting guitars give way to pulsing percussion and horns, which crash against loops and samples. Gilberto coos amid the catchy club flavor of "Bring Back the Love," and the moonlit "Close to You" recalls Sade. The daughter of Brazilian guitarist Joao Gilberto even tackles Cole Porter's "Night and Day," recasting it as a hushed moment of bossa loveliness. And the title track is a collage of sonic secrets and memories. Perfect for a patio brunch--or an evening under the stars. --Joey Guerra

Product Description

2007 release, the third album from the undisputed Queen of new Brazilian music. Bebel is the multi-talented daughter of Brazilian legend Joao Gilberto who has created her own musical path while also embracing her past. Recorded in Rio de Janeiro, London and New York. Momento features titles penned by Bebel, producer Guy Sigsworth (known for his collaborations with Bjork and as being a former member of Bomb The Bass) and The Brazilian Girls. Momento's sound is perfectly poised between the crystalline, Electronic simplicity of her debut album Tanto Tempo and the acoustic sophistication of her second, self-titled opus. V2. 2007. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but inconsistent for Bebel's treble effort, April 15, 2007

By 

Kye Kwon "Dream Machine" (Harrisburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Momento (Audio CD)

I've had this album since February as part of a pre-release, and I was told that 2 of the tracks may change. Surprisingly, they kept all of the pre-release tracks intact, without any additions or subtractions to it.

The first thing people may notice is the inclusion of more English-language songs. Honestly, I think it tends to take away more from the album than adding to it, especially when there are grammatical errors, like in "Words" when Bebel sings, "I need some words just to explain my pain and describe my misbehave".

The album opens with the title track, "Momento", which is a nice little relaxing diddy without too much fuss, much like much of her beach-lounge music. "Bring Back the Love" is a more upbeat-dance tune with just a bit of electronica thrown in. I found that the repetition of the words "bringing back the love" and the vocals do not match the background beat/music. "Close To You" is a nice romantic song, and probably my favorite of the English-spoken songs (with Portuguese thrown in) on the album. It's got a nice low-key intstrumental background. In "Os Novos Yorkinos", Bebel sings with Sabina Sciubba (who doesn't sing, and speaks 2 lines in the whole track) of Brazilian Girls (a group with none of the members from Brasil) is a light, fun, acoustic song without too much substance, but is pleasant to listen to.

"Azul" is one of my favorite tracks, which the instrumentals highlight Bebel's voice very well, and is another slower romantic song with some acoustics in the mix. "Cacada" is an upbeat samba-ish song with drums in the middle part of the song, it makes for good listening. "Night and Day" is my other favorite English song (entirely in English), is a very lazy love song with mainly an acoustic guitar serving as the instrumental. It complements a rainy day very well. "Tranquilo" has a very Mexican cha-cha sound to it, which sounds out of place at first. The song is so-so without any substance at all.

"Um Segundo" is another song that doesn't really fit into any category with mainly an acoustic guitar and some light drumming to ompliment more upbeat vocals. "Cade Voce" is my favorite song on the whole album, with the intro being an acoustic strumming which then stems into lush instrumentation and more lush vocals. The enunciation of Bebel's lyrics stand out in a very good way. It has a very relaxed feel to it, with background singers oohing and aahing along with 2 accompanying violins/violas towards the end. "Words" is an so-so song which is entirely sung mostly in English. It sounds more like filler, like some of the other songs on this album with minimal background music and not much in the way of vocals.

Overall, this album was slightly disappointing. I think her trying to be more mainstream in the States is taking away from the overall polish of the album, and too many of the songs sound like filler, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say they sound pretty similar. The songs I did like though, I liked a lot with the varying types of instrumentation.

Recommended tracks: "Cade Voce", "Azul", "Close To You"

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gilberto's Got the Goods, June 14, 2007

By 

Rudy Palma "The Writing Fiend" (NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Momento (Dig) (Audio CD)

Like a warm ocean breeze or the cool of air conditioning, the music of Bebel Gilberto provides the perfect summertime accompaniment, making the release of her new album "Momento" well-timed. The daughter of the legendary Joao Gilberto, one of the creators of bossa nova, she adds elements like jazz and electronica to his sound and formulates one that still remains true to those of her father's native Brazil. With a comfortable mix of English and Portuguese throughout the record, her music is as familiar as it is international.

As on her first two LPs, she starts things off with a sensual selection, this time with the ethereal title track. Warm, passionate sounds frame the enchanting Brazilian cool of her voice, harkening thoughts of 60's lounge singers and tropical cruises. Singing that all the stresses her listener faces will soon come to pass, that the words are in Portuguese makes no difference - her silky voice alone is the perfect remedy. She then moves on to the lightly danceable lead single "Bring Back the Love," where the awesome New York-based quintet Brazilian Girls (which incidentally has just one female member) add buoyancy to its dreamy melody.

This is not to say that her sound is uniform, however. "Tranquilo," which features the brilliant sounds Orquestra Imperial on instrumentals and backing vocals, is a rousing affair straight out of a late-night party that fits perfectly into the album's tropical aura. Contrastingly, "Um Segundo" is a breath of fresh air with its sparse accompaniment, making Gilberto's vocals invariably take center stage. Also, "Cacada" features a sprightly melody and a zesty host of ethnic instrumentation.

The sultry songstress tips the hat to her native New York with the urban-themed "Os Novos Yorkinos" while also giving well-versed music lovers something to treasure with her gorgeous, lilting take on Cole Porter's classic "Night and Day." Normally an animated showtune, Gilberto reinvents the song into a meticulous slice of romantic balladry with her bossa nova flavors.

The best moment of the set (arguably), however, is the euphoric "Cada Voce?" With an overwhelmingly beautiful mix of guitars, synths, violins and spirited vocals, producer Guy Sigsworth takes home the gold with this one. Gilberto concludes the record on a high note with "Words," a soul-searching slice of life accompanied by a single acoustic guitar.

Gilberto's music is something special that a privileged few have come to know, and she only sets the bar higher with "Momento." Listen, and be transported.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid, May 10, 2007

By 

bordersj2 (Boston) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Momento (Dig) (Audio CD)

I remember when I first heard Bebel Gilberto years ago off of Cazuza's "Preciso Dizer Que te Amo". Great song, and Bebel's voice was very sweet. But it was after hearing her on the soundtrack to "Next Stop Wonderland" that I began looking and anticipating hre feature cd. "Tanto Tempo" came out and I was impressed - very nice album with some terrific tributes and arrangements. Granted, "Samba De Bencao" was laced over fellow Brazilian Amon Tobin's "Nova" from his Permutation CD but it worked so well! But Bebel's second cd was a bit disappointing to me, so I was a bit guarded with this one - particularly when I saw how much the producers seemed to be trumpeted out...

Her third feature with Crammed/Ziriguiboom is good. It's got a few nice moments. In particular, I thought "Azul" was nice with a mellowed bossa beat to it. And I liked "Cacada" too - maybe most of all. Nice arrangement, actually sounded a little lighter and the guitar play was great. Celso Fonseca featured so no surprise there. A latin touch with "Um Segundo" did admittedly take me by surprise. And I liked "Words", just guitar and her voice. Sort of reminds me of "Samba E Amor" from her first album. But in the end those were the highlights to me. "Bring Back the Love" was the song used to announce the arrival of this cd, and it's nothing spectacular to me... sort of forgetable but it is meant for the dancefloor so it'll probably get some neat remixes. And some of the other songs on this one seemed to wan a bit... I understand the vibe intended but a bit more of a real, live, *SPARK* would have been great here. To be honest, some of the songs really did sound like 'filler'.

At the end of the day, it's a nice album but perhaps I put a little too much expectation on some of the releases. Without question though I think it could be better... just my opinion, but sometimes I felt like this album wasn't as much about the singing/songwriting and music like her first album... I don't care if it's "Brazilian Girls" producing anything, what matters is the sound and actual music. On Tanto Tempo, of course Suba's influence was great but wasn't "August Day Song" very nice too, which featured Christian Franck and Nina Miranda? I just came away from this album feeling like it sounded good, but something was missing. Like maybe there should be some more guest artists like featured in Cacada... it would be neat for Marcos Valle or the Far Out crew also could have contributed (Imagine what Roc Hunter could do!)

But if you did enjoy this, of course be on the look-out for the remix album - maybe there'll be another stunner of a mix like The Latin Project's take on "Aganju". Speaking of Christian Franck and Nina Miranda, be on the lookout for an album from them too - they've got a project going called "Zeep" which promises to be pretty interesting. If you liked "August Day Song", you'd like their track "Agua". You might also like Ceu's album... very interesting and fresh approach and... she's absolutely stunning!!