21 November 2007 - 12:04NAVIGATING THE MOMENT: THE NOW SOUND OF BRAZIL
ELECTRONIC MUSIC IS NOT THE FUTURE. IT IS THE MOMENT. Romantics need not worry, for, to dispel the mystique, there requires as much human input and creativity into making a progressive, inspired club cut as any piece of music. Computers are yet another extension of earthly possibility; sounds rendered are further progress into our potential.
The Now Sound of Brazil references an incredibly expansive electronic revolution occurring for our southern neighbors. This dozen-deep compilation on Six Degrees Records (licensed from Brazil’s Zirigulboom/Crammed Discs) features top-notch artists stretching bossa nova and samba sounds with futuristic vision, poignant, tasteful melodies adrift in an electronic landscape.
The next phase of national music - a move to the dance floor via digital a la Tropicália to politics — Now Sound presents artists pushing sonic boundaries with experimental groove tunes. Not that the experiment is unknown; Brazil has long been a hotspot for getting down. Swerving from acoustic, soul-moving dynamics to upbeat, explosive anthems made infamous in club and football games alike, rhythm is not acquired, it’s genetic.
Steady textures of percussion mesh with lilting vocals throughout Brazil’s history. Now Sound features top artists doing such: Bebel Gilberto, Bossacucanova, Trio Mocotó, and Zuco 103, as well as two posthumous tributes via Suba (aka Mitar Subotic), the great producer unfortunately killed in a studio fire in November 1999.
The disc opens with Suba’s “Tantos Desejos (Nicola Conte remix)” a brilliant downtempo club cut capturing the essence of electro-fusing. Weaving jazz sensibility into bossa-layers, featuring the soft-spoken vocals of Rosalia de Souza, it’s the kind of song to sit back with and nod, tap out the rhythm and float into gorgeous instrumentation.
Segueing into the Bossacucanova track, we hit full-on samba jazz (epitomized later by the Trio Mocotó track “Os Orixás”), turning from digital to live players. Integrity maintains through Now Sound, be it performance or technological-driven; in fact, the most interesting aspect of this collection is how brilliantly the two fuse, as if no separation existed. “Influência do Jazz” moves easily into Peter Kruder’s beloved remix of Bebel Gilberto’s “Tanto Tempo” (also featured on the incredible global beats compilation Sultan32 Presents: Earth N Bass), a titled, bouncing track led by a phased-out bass loop contrasting light piano tones.
From here the disc varies, maintaining a strong lounge feel rooted in chest-opening rhythms. The Brazilian/ German/ Amsterdam connection gets wicked with Zuco 103’s “Outro Lado (Charles Webster remix),” and Cibelle, featured vocalist on Suba’s early Brazilian work, plays backbeat on “Dia de Yemanjá.”
The Now Sound is, as far as titles go, pure marketing. Its attempt to define a movement gives it a point of reference, but (as with most artistic expressions) cannot define or limit the smooth, softly expressive music being imported from down south. A boggling contradiction to the economic and social disparities the country has faced, this compilation points to the great testament of human will: light in the face of darkness, yielding in forceful collapse. And, most of all, a shimmer of hope sung through a divided nation in cultural braise. — Derek Beres
Derek Beres is the managing editor of Global Rhythm and has written for The Village Voice, Urb, Trace, Relix, and Blue. He is currently working on his first book, Global Beat Fusion, about the electronic fusion of South Asian classical music. He is a globa l beat DJ and plays nationally as part of the Globesonic crew and is one-half of DJ duo Baroque Monad. He also served as a featured journalist for the “Picks of the Week” segment on Metro TV’s The Daily Beat and has recently launched a clothing line, Bhakti. He is also the music editor of Rattapallax. For more info check www.earthrisearts.com.