Por Onde Andara Stephen Fry [Import]

Zeca Baleiro | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 22, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Random Music
• ASIN: B000VVLYNK
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #615,272 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

ZECA BALEIRO POR ONDE ANDARA STEPHEN FRY?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stephen Fry came back, January 11, 2011

By 

Kirin "el Escandalo Infamoso" (Portland, OR, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Por Onde Andará Stephen Fry (MP3 Download)

Por Onde Andara Stephen Fry is a song about how Stephen Fry, known for many roles in British TV including Jeeves and the Black Adder series (in various roles), disappeared for a while and no one (supposedly) knew where he was. But Stephen Fry knew where he was at all times, and has since returned to the public sphere. However, the song is sweet and heartfelt... Other songs on the album kick its ass though... "Salao de Beleza," "Parque de Juraci," "Mamae Oxum," and "Heavy Metal do Senhor" are all great tracks, and "Essas Emocoes" is one of my favorite songs, period. To appreciate the cleverness of the lyrics it helps to know Portuguese. For example, "O Parque de Juraci" is a great tune in and of itself, about a guy who goes on a disappointing date to a non-existent park, where the chorus is "Juraci que parque, juraci que parque juraci, que parque essa que eu nunca vi" ("what park, Juraci, what park that I never saw"). But this is how Brazilians pronounce "Jurassic Park," so the song is making a play on the Spielberg film which was immensely popular at the time of this album's release. That's right, it's funny. His lyrics are often very humorous in this way and have inspired my own songwriting (in English) a great deal.

But I don't think you have to speak Portuguese to get it. The sound of his lyrics often flow beautifully from line to line in a mellifluous way, and an ongoing theme for him is the playful appropriation of English words and phrases (for example: "Kid Vinyl, when are you gonna record a cd?"). Zeca is a great fan of American music from Blues and jazz (heard strongly on his albums "Liricas," and "Baladas do Asfalto") to Rock and Roll. He mixes these styles very creatively with samba, forro, and other Brazilian musics to create his own, innovative, playful, brilliant style. Between Zeca Baleiro, Olodum, and Bezerra da Silva, these three have made some of my favorite albums on the planet.

For Zeca, start with this album, which is his first, and most entertaining. If you like it, "Liricas" is next (took me a few tentative listens but became a nonstop selection in my car for a while), and "Pet Shop Mundo Cao" has a few GREAT tunes on it as well. Stay away from the Fagner album and "Baladas do Asfalto" unless you find you love everything Zeca does.

4.0 out of 5 stars fun music, June 3, 2011

By 

Katya Cohen (Clemson, SC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Por Onde Andara Stephen Fry (Audio CD)

Disclaimer: Not sure if this review will help anyone choose whether or not to buy this album.

I was born and raised in Brazil but left the country at the age of 17 to come study here (USA), and here I stayed. Listening to Baleiro's songs takes me back to a time and place I thought I had learned to forget. It is not only the sound of the music that takes me back there, it's the attitude. An attitude that makes itself felt not only in the way Baleiro articulates his sound, but also in the way he constructs his lyrics.

In terms of sound, Perfil is pretty global. Baleiro not only integrates together a bunch of different Brazilian musical beats and styles; but he also deftly cannibalizes and assimilates other genres ranging from American rock, pop, hip-hop, rap and even country, on to Indian beats and rhythms. On the other hand, although Por Onde Andara Stephan Fry (pronounced by Baleiro as Steefã, which I love) contains some of the same songs found in Perfil with their global feel, the album has more songs with a Samba beat and feels more straightforward Brazilian (or Brazeelhã).

In terms of lyrics, well, one just has to learn the Portuguese to understand the breadth and natural poetry of the language, not to mention the humor with which Brazilians put it to use. Brazilians are adept at assimilating other cultures without ever diluting their own. Listening to these albums reminds me of how they integrate into their culture anything that washes up onto their shores, especially the English language. They do it effortlessly and with (again) humor. They consume it and weave it seamlessly into the fabric of their own speech where it feels entirely at home and yet points to the fact of its appropriation and difference. Brazilians do this so gracefully, so unlike the French who do it with a petty Anglophobic attitude. So yeah, I really miss the attitude.

Zeca Baleiro's music takes me back to a certain time and place, which is weird, because he is of this time and not of mine. It reminds me of how much I actually miss that time and that place...

Are these good albums? I like all the songs, love some, and find myself moving to a lot of them. That said, nobody actually makes albums in this day and age anymore... But the music: it is fun.