genre adds: int'l (3), reggae (2)
greetings blogoids.....new material is gushing into the studio.....VINICIUS CANTUARIA is particularly hot at the moment, having shot up to #6 on the CMJ New World chart in only its second week....GROUNDATION's dub disc has also cracked the chart's top 30.....the re-issue by AUGUSTUS PABLO has already been featured on Reggae Children.....ZIRIGUIBOOM offers a blueprint of how to mix bossa nova and electronica, and will in all likelihood be an EarthBoom staple.....and UTA BELLA at least has the decency to throw some curveballs....on to the reviews!Artist: Vinicius Cantuária
Title: Silva
Label: Hannibal / Ryko
Genre: int’l / Brazil
Grade: A
Vinicius Cantuária has provided evidence through a string of fine recordings that not only is the bossa nova form not dead or merely fashionably retro, but is a viable music form for exploration and expansion. On Silva, he wrote or co-wrote everything and his own lovely acoustic and electric guitar playing is aided and abetted by collaborator/trumpeter Michael Leonhart on some tracks, and a Brazilian string section and percussionists. This is a thoroughly modern bossa set: along with the acoustic instruments and Leonhart's trumpet, electronic treatments and atmospherics were added tastefully, yet brazenly, to many of the cuts here. Silva’s restless adventurousness is tempered by soulful roots tradition, and a delicate balance of grace and sensuality. (4 stars)
Reviewer: Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Date: 28 Jan 2006 Label: Six Degrees
Artist: v / a
Title: Ziriguiboom: The Now Sound of Brazil 2
Genre: int’l / Brazil / electronica
Grade: A
This compilation focuses on warm suggestion rather than blatant booty-shaking. The wonderful Bebel Gilberto is, wisely, used twice, on the sweet and sultry "Simplemente" (01) and the simply lovely "Cada Beijo" (08), presented here in a suitably chilled-out mix by Thievery Corporation. Zuco 103 and Celso Fonseca each makes two appearances as well, and their tracks are also highlights -- in fact, if Zuco 103's gently spectacular "Love Is Queen Omega" [09] (prominently featuring the celebrated reggae madman Lee "Scratch" Perry) doesn't convince you, then you may be impervious to the modern Brazilian muse, to your great misfortune. Also noteworthy are the lovely trombone playing on DJ Dolores' "Trancelim de Marfim" (14) and Cibelle's largely acoustic "Esplendor" (04). Highly recommended. (4 stars)
Reviewer: Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
See Also: The Rough Guide to Brazilian Electronica
Artist: Uta Bella
Title: Uta Bella
Label: Mia Mind
Genre: int’l
Grade: B
Ms. Bella sounds like she’d be fun to catch live at a club, but this disc doesn’t leave you begging for more. Though you will be scratching your head. “Amio” (02) captures the afropop party vibe of disc’s first half….but in the final stretch, things inexplicably go disco-funk. “Nassa Nassa” (07) is the other nugget on the disc, chugging along like a soundtrack for the ‘79 Pittsburgh Pirates. Charmingly odd!
Reviewer: bjorn ingvoldstad
Artist: Augustus Pablo
Title: King David’s Melody (re-release)
Label: Shanachie
Genre: reggae
Grade: A
The melodica player Augustus Pablo, armed with a child’s instrument and the best rhythm sections in Kingston, was involved in a bunch of reggae’s best records in the 1970s. As opposed to his heavily post-edited dub records, the music on King David’s Melody, a new re-issue drawing on recordings from 1975 to the early ‘80s, is mostly straightforward, mellow instrumental tracks. (A few dub versions of the songs have been appended to the re-issue, however.) Pablo also acted as a musician-producer, playing keyboards and synthesizers; on “Hot Milk” (13) and “Freedom Step” (14), he lets rudimentary drum-machine patterns take the place of the drummers, making the songs both more homely and more eerie.
Reviewer: Ben Ratliff, New York Times “Playlist”
Artist: Groundation
Title: Dub Wars
Label: Young Tree
Genre: reggae
Grade: B
Groundation has been making a fairly strong case for Cali reggae as of late, but Dub Wars feels like something of a lateral move. It seems like the band is aiming for an oxymoronic goal: organic dub. I would never claim to be a dub connoisseur, but I can’t help but wonder where all the crazy s**t a la Mad Professor et al is. Still, liking the dub trombones when they slip in, no doubt.
Reviewer: bjorn ingvoldstad
posted by Anonymous @ 11:53:00 AM
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