On The Margins

Crikey, it’s been a while. However, I offer a wonderful selection of Tropical dance-punk, avant queertronica, sunny guitarrada, microtonal improv and golden era MPB.

Akira Umeda – Gueixa (Lugar Alto)

There’s a remarkable scene near the end of Luca Guadagnino’s Queer where the two protagonists take yage, i.e. ayahuasca, and they start to move in sync, seemingly performing contemporary dance moves, until their bodies start to merge. It’s easily the most surprising moment in the film. Umeda’s work has a queer sensibility that aligns his sound with that of his beloved Coil and there’s also the seemingly shared fascination with William Burroughs (the author of Queer) adopted in the ideas of cut-ups, control and language. The way that Umeda has edited and treated these 202 excerpts from his previous work enables them to merge together seamlessly, creating a collage-like mixtape, which, for me, is the sonic equivalent of the aforementioned scene from Queer. Umeda has carefully spliced together strange vocal contortions, zen-like drones, alien Autechre-like electronics and strange spoken word philosophical meanderings that sound like no other artist. This is an excellent follow up to his double album debut on Lugar Alto, and I anticipate even more strange experiments to demonstrate that Umeda is Brazilian experimental music’s best kept secret.

Teto Preto – Fala (MAMBArec)

The house band of São Paulo’s leading alternative Queer party collective, Mamba Negra, release their second album, and it’s quite a mixed bag of genres, noises and postures. Singer CARNEOSSO (Laura Diaz) is backed by Matheus Câmara (Entropia) and Sarine from Deaf Kids, whose recent “Asas Terranas” is his own excellent global psyche project. There’s also a host of invited guests including Thiago França (see below) and raps from Jup do Bairro. It’s a lot of fun mixed with serious topics and a strong visual identity, with the whole dressed-up sword-swallowing vibe. The pop sensibility keeps everything within the realm of accessible and the music is a full-on tropical mash-up of dubstep, acid house, tecnobrega, euro-trance, trap, and hyperpop, much of it within the same track. The subject matter can be far from frothy: “Queda pro Alto”, with its distorted breakbeat and chunky synths, is a reference to the first book by a trans-man to be published in Brazil, in 1982. The book was infamous for its highly problematic (trans-phobic) and limiting preface.

Tetine – Tropical Punk EP (Slam Dunk)/Tetine, Laura aLL, Angelica Freitas, Yoko Afi – Berlin Improviso (Slam Dunk)

Two releases from Hackney-based Brazilian traditional family, Tetine. The first is a welcome re-release of an EP of tropical mutant punk-funk with an art pop twist from 2010. The title track is a sublime piece of Tetine electronica, a slinky house beat and a remarkably melodic vocal sung by Bruno Verner. Bruno and Eliete Mejorado return to their respective Belo Horizonte and São Paulo post-punk origins on the remaining tracks with bass-line-led dance punk numbers interspersed with shards of guitar noise a la Gang of Four. I had forgotten how good this EP was. 

The second release is an altogether different beast. A series of extended improvisation sessions that were edited down from four hours of spontaneous playing in Kreuzberg, Berlin, last year. The music meanders through choppy post-punk guitar, samples, spoken word and wonderful cello playing from Tetine’s prodigal daughter Yoko.

Thomas Rohrer + Philip Somervell – Folwen (scatterArchive)/Bruno Trchmnn + Morgane Carnet – Muitos Pássaros (scatterArchive)

Thomas Rohrer has a well established presence in the São Paulo improv scene playing the rabeca, a kind of rustic violin used in folk music from the northeast, and soprano saxophone. Philip Somervell first arrived in São Paulo in 2014 and soon integrated himself into the experimental music scene, collaborating with Rohrer. These tracks were recorded at the “Complexo Cultural Funarte”, a government arts centre in São Paulo where the duo experimented over weeks and months, adding strange subtle textures to Somervell’s piano and Rohrer’s saxophone, creating an engaging series of micro-tonal sounds as found objects are scratched and stretched to their limit.

The second improv-based release here is by Brazilian Bruno Trchmnn who also plays rabeca and the zabumba drum, playing alongside Morgane Carnet, from France, with alto and baritone saxophones. This was recorded at the  Chiii festival in Campinas, about one hour outside São Paulo, which had an amazing line-up and is one of the few festivals dedicated to free improvisation in Brazil. This is a great set of atonal noise created by Trchmnn with deep and sensitive sax blasts supplied by Carnet, recorded in a converted 19th century train station.

Nyron Higor – Nyron Higor (Far Out Recordings)

For how much longer can Brazil keep producing these sublime albums of sensitive singers harking back to the golden age of MPB? I’m thinking about releases by Morelenbaum, Berle, Sessa, and Lau Ro, all of an equally high quality, with Far Out Recordings managing to find yet another young voice. What’s more, Higor’s from Maceió, so he enlists the help of fellow Maceioenses Bruno Berle and Batata Boy to perfect this laid-back delight of a record; there must be something in the water there. “Demo love” uses a simple two note backing which just leaves enough time for a quick keyboard doodle. ”Ciranda” is based on a frevo shuffle with some soulfully melancholic trombone. Alici Sol adds an upper octave feminine contrast on “São só palavras”, where barely does she utter the phrase than it ends, leaving you wanting so much more. There’s light guitar picking, subtle electronic atmospheres, and beautifully sung melodies on “Som 24”, which manages to sound like lo-fi bossa yacht rock, if you ever thought that was possible. If the new wave of MPB interests you then there’s much to love here.

Roberto Barreto, Manoel Cordeiro & Pupillo – Estado de Espírito (Maquina de Louco)

Certainly different sonically to much of the music I write about here, but this album is a fascinating example of guitar music from the North and northeast. Brega (and its more modern cousin Tecnobrega) originates from the style of guitarrada, a kind of instrumental lambada, it’s based on upbeat guitar solos with a Carribbean influence and Brazilian swing. Roberto Barreto is a founding member of the BaianaSystem and is known for his Bahian guitar playing, a small electric guitar commonly heard in frevo music. Manoel Cordeiro is one of the original architects of lambada and guitarrada, while Pupillo is a drummer and part of the pounding rhythm section for the legendary band Nação Zumbi, a cornerstone of the manguebeat movement. Pupillo was called in to this project for his production skills, but also his ability to translate traditional rhythms into contemporary soundscapes. We can hear a mixture of carimbó, brega and cumbia mixed with buoyantly positive fretwork, bringing the sunshine out from the clouds.

Various Artists – Onda Verde (Rádio na Manteiga)

It’s worth poking around this interesting selection of São Paulo-based house- and dance-oriented tracks from this label started by the independent web radio station. I’m willing to overlook the overt sponsorship by the ever ubiquitous Heineken, who are determined to get their sweaty green mitts onto all areas of Brazilian nightlife, and look at some of the classy names involved: Ney Faustini for one, who offers up some sexy Moodymann-via-Chicago-style grooves. There’s also column-fave Pandit Pam Pam who does some digital dub messing around with Gigios.

Thiago França & Rodrigo Brandão – Telefone sem fio (YB music)/Thiago França & A Espetacular Charanga do França – Bololô (YB music)

You can always rely on Thiago França to do something interesting. These two releases are no exception to the rule and are completely different to his jazz trio release from last year, Canhoto de Pé, one of my albums of the year. The title of his collaboration with spoken word artist Rodrigo Brandão means “Chinese whispers”, thus its theme is communication, or rather the lack of it in the modern world. It’s a short but excellent collection of angry rants, Afro-Brazilian candomblé beats, and França’s always innovative brass arrangements. It comes over as a modern-day Brazilian Last Poets at times, which knowing Brandão is probably quite deliberate. There’s also contributions from Metá Metá’s Juçara Marçal, fellow cosmonaut Edgar and the poet and writer Rodrigo Carneiro. 

França’s second release is a brass-led carnivalesque celebration. As I write this, carnival has been and gone, but it’s a time when França takes his Charanga to the streets for the blocos (kind of wandering street parties) and parades. It’s a brass band samba hybrid, but there’s much of the second line New Orleans Mardi Gras here, with the snare keeping time and the brass riffs moving the body and the crowds through the packed streets.

Guerrinha – “A Fanfiqueira”/”O Fofoqueiro” (Guerrinha)

Gabriel Guerra plays and produces everything on his latest jazz odyssey. He plays a nice line in keyboard and flute riffs that hark back to seventies yacht rock, a filtered D50 organ put through effects and weird drum programming that tries to sound like a real drummer but sounds a little off. I love the wordplay of the two titles: “Fanfiqueira” (a woman who follows fan fiction) and “Fofoqueiro” (a man who likes to gossip).

Mantena® – Probabilidades (Rubedo discos) 

Fernando Bones, whose work in Displicina I have written about here, leads this original sounding project. It’s a startling mix of samba and 1980s New York No Wave, more specifically James Chance and the Contortions as the backing band for Jorge Ben. There may be some flippancy involved, as in the interview for the release they answer the question “Do you believe in carnival?” with a resounding “Yes, but the rule is clear: crack open the first can at 8am and be in bed by 6pm. Your hangover will thank you and you will protect yourself from the obsessive spirits of the night. And remember: hipster blocos make Dionysus sad. Don’t make Dionysus sad.”

SUX – “Just one more drink” (self-released)

This is the solo project of Andreza Michel, a singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Curitiba, Brazil. She mixes electronic beats with down-tuned distorted guitars. With its nonchalant vocal delivery and hip-hop beat, it sounds like the work Kim Gordon has been releasing lately.

Cover photo of Teto Preto courtesy of Hick Duarte

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