Rant about chicken ports, hip-hop and and other things

Those who know me well will know that I have a thing for Brazilian music. And for Brazil. Not sure which came first, the music or the country, or how the one affects the other (I still remember fondly a drunken night in an outdoor bar in Porto de Galinhas when I asked a guy "who's that Chico Science who's on your t-shirt?" upon which he got very excited, ran off somewhere and came back with a cassette with what turned out to be some amazing music, to which the entire crowd listened and grooved the remainder of the night... and how it started raining at one point and everyone had to huddle under a narrow strip of thatched roof by the bar... and I could hardly speak a word of Portuguese and they couldn't speak a word of English but everyone was happy and smiling and that and a German guy who translated bits and pieces was all we needed to communicate perfectly...but I digress), not that it matters; it is in any event handy to know someone down there who can keep me updated on current sounds.

So, recently did a payment-in-kind type of job for Andy's club thing; I design him a poster and flyers, and in return get some new music. Resulting in me recently receiving a bunch of CDs in the mail, two of them among the best Brazilian albums I've heard in ages.



Quinto Andar's 'Piratão' (Tomba) had been on my want-list for almost a year; I'd heard some tracks, loved them, but hadn't been able to locate a copy. So that being in Andy's package was wonderful. And so is the album. Mostly based around summery, jazzy grooves (well, Brazil...), very playful, a bit of dub thrown in for great effect, experimental use of samples, a bit of baile funk, rapping I don't understand but which sounds cool; this might end up being my favourite hip-hop album of the year. (Not that I hear all that many... and those who know me will tell you I like very few... and those I do are usually pretty far removed from mainstream hip-hop anyway... Edan, Prefuse 73, Clouddead... but I digress again). 'Piratão' comes highly recommended!

Quinto Andar | Meu Amor Não Me Abandone



And so does 'E O Método Túfo De Experiências' (Slag), the second album from Cidadão Instigado. This is Saõ Paulo musician Fernando Catatau's project, and as with so many great Brazilians (since 1967 anyway), here's a guy who's got everything and the kitchen sink in his bag of musical tricks. It's like a cross between tropicália pioneer Tom Zé and samba soul giant Jorge Ben, mixing guitar freakouts, batucada drums, weird noises, heady grooves... add a sprinkle of cheesy listening plus an apparent (again, I don't actually understand Portuguese much) sense of humour, and you get a sprawling yet still coherent type of record that could only be made in Brazil. Great fun!

Cidadão Instigado | O Pobre Dos Dentos De Ouro

Cheers for these Andy, and do let me know when you actually want the poster and stuff, yeah? (And does anyone know if Porto de Galinhas is still good?)

[Buyer's guide: These and other independent Brazilian CDs are often to found at sambastore.com and/or braziliancd.]