On The Margins

Time for a round-up of  the outer edges of Brazil as we reach the middle of the year. This month there’s a selection of glitchy samba, twisted baile funk, Kosmische, and an amazing US/BR (kinda) rap collaboration. In fact, this month there’s a few worldwide collaborations, showing the world is not as fucked up as it seems and maybe we all want to work together.

Bruno Tonisi & Sensational – Sensational Conversations (Lugar Alto)

I have been following the making of this album for a while now, having received various rough edits as it was being put together (I used to teach the label head of Lugar Alto English many moons ago). Sensational is an underground rapper from New York, known for his contributions to the Jungle Brothers and his involvement with the great unreleased Crazy Wisdom Masters album that was shelved by Warner Bros. Tonisi, from São Paulo, I have written about before under his pseudonym of y966. I was particularly enthusiastic about the work on his Soundcloud page, of which this can be seen as an extension. Sensational Conversations was made using Whatsapp voice messages from Sensational with Tonisi in Brazil by working them into his extremely abstract electronics. There are beats, but they are chopped, distorted and mangled. Sensational’s voice sounds as though it is beamed in from a galaxy far far away as he talks about everyday shit and Tonisi’s production pushes dubbed-out electronics through a K-hole. Quite remarkable.

Inés Terra + Ajítenà Marco Scarassatti – Beira (Brava Edições/scatterArchive)

Inés Terra works with the outer limits of her voice, while Scarassatti plays the gangan, a Yoruba talking drum, and a modified version of the viola de cocho, a type of lute played in the deep interior of Brazil. As is becoming more common nowadays, the artists worked remotely from their respective homes in Belo Horizonte and São Paulo: one would send an improvisation—vocal or instrumental—for the other to freely interact with in response. With each new exchange, the recordings were put together with the independent contributions intertwining. It’s a challenging listen, as with much of Terra’s work, but the way she stretches her voice with the manner of Scarassatti’s unorthodox plucking and bowing of her instruments means the listener is positioned between tradition, experimentation and technology.

Blue beast – Equator Ping Pong (Self-released)

This duo of Truus de Groot and Miguel Barella, both with parallel pioneering post-punk pasts, continue to release albums to seeming disinterest from the outside world, but they keep at it, refining their sound and, with this release, getting plenty of new contributors onboard, including Fred Smith from Television, Jim Sclavunos from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Apollo Nove, the renowned Brazilian producer. On “End of my Rope” Truus’s voice betrays their resigned attitude but also epitomizes their brand of smokey post-industrial jazz blues. I know I’ve used this comparison before, but their music really fits into the Bang Bang Bar from Twin Peaks: The Return, the sleazier, more darkly comic last season. David Lynch missed a trick by not including this duo in his end-of-episode musical performances. The title, I imagine, refers to the process of how their albums get made, files endlessly pinging back and forth over the equatorial line. The songs have slowed right down and the lyrics are more pessimistic; is this age catching up with them? The rhyming couplets are a bit on the nose, but they feel oddly personable. “Faint scar” is a highlight for me and shows off their creativity: a cathedral organ drone, followed by minimal electronics over “O Superman” looped gasps and then topped off with a suspended strings coda.

Eduardo Manso – WOW (QTV)

Manso has his hand in all manner of recordings, being the in-house producer for QTV, so his mitts can be found all over recordings by Negro Leo, Ava Rocha and a host of other like-minded experimental musicians. On his own recordings he can indulge himself in all manner of analog electronics, generally taking in the rowdier end of Krautrock, early Cluster and such like. All the tracks have indecipherable titles, and, hey, I get it: trying to think up names for abstract instrumental tracks can be a pain in the arse, so I’m going to do Eduardo a favour and suggest some titles for him. “FRB 20220610A”, for example, I’m going to call “Cosmic lift-off”’, since it starts out with a nice eastern drone, with vocal contributions from Ava Rocha, but then escalates into Alice Coltrane meets Hawkwind. Tasty!

Pai Guga – O Túmulo do Mergulhador (Self-released)

This is an interesting mix of acoustic MPB singer-songwriting and ’90s ambient drum-and-bass beats and atmospherics. It’s the first solo album by Rio de Janeiro artist Pai Guga (the artistic name of Eduardo Valiante), whose influences range from electro rock, MPB, synth pop and even traditional European rhythms such as flamenco and tarantella. The tracks started out as beats and basslines made in his home studio and then special guests were invited, such as Fernando Catatau on guitar, as well as Gato and Raphael Garcêz on production duties, to expand and enhance the compositions. For instance, “Mirror” intelligently combines MPB songwriting with a ’90s LTJ Bukem rolling breakbeat filled out with a samba drum roll.

Azul 29 – Faixas Perdidas (Nada Nada Discos)

These are lost recordings from the early ’80s by early new wave band Azul 29, consisting of Thomas Bielefeld (ex-Zarphus), Eduardo Amarante, Thomas Susemihl (both ex-Agentss) and Malcolm Oakley (Voga). Though they only released two singles on WEA, this album collects the best unreleased recordings from the time, including demos and live tracks, all of which have never been released on vinyl. And a handsome looking album it is too, with the cover based on an expanded version of the original artwork of the second single by Ingrid Trost with a Letraset sheet of figures. Azul 29 are mostly known for their synthpop post-punk classic “Ciencias Sensuais”, which has appeared on a few compilations, and it’s certainly their strongest track. The rest of the album follows a similar formula: upbeat drums, Bielefeld’s poppy synth lines and guitar riffs straight from Agentss, who were really the main innovators. But Azul 29 took the sound and gave it a poppier edge, and certainly they could have gone on to be a success given the chance.

Iguana – Escama (Acta Recordings)

An example of excellent abstract baile funk from a label that specialises in putting out advanced Brazilian electronics with gorgeously rendered covers. People are now insisting on calling it Brazilian funk, but I’ve been writing about it since 2000 when it was known as baile funk, so for me the name sticks. Anyhoo, this sounds like funk passed through an Autechre filter and then screwed and twisted till out comes this fizzing, popping, tightly edited version. Yet another interesting direction for funk, less dancefloor-friendly and superbly abstract at that.

Arthus Fochi & Cajupitanga – Próximo (Cantores del Mundo)

The Bahian duo Cajupitanga, from Vitória da Conquista, are relative newcomers. Arthus Fochi, a Brazilian who lives in Denmark, has been around for a decade, and although they have never met in person this is an intriguing meeting of different generations. Próximo is yet another collaborative effort, like so many featured here this month. And like those same releases, it works remarkably well; its fragmentation working to its advantage. Fochi would send instrumental improvisations for the duo to rework. Then they would create collages, cut-ups, and overlay sounds. The tracks range from experimental glitchiness to loose-limbed sambas, like “Flamengo” for example. 

ULTRASONHO – Nós Nunca Vamos Morrer (Hominis Canidae Rec)

This recording by multidisciplinary artist Thomas Blum is a mixture of signalwave (Vapourwave meets shortwave radio), broken transmission, and Hauntology, using collage and distortion, all with a lo-fi aesthetic. There are radio fragments, cut-up melodies, and textures that shift between the familiar and the unsettling. Blum’s hometown of São Mateus do Sul is the album’s invisible protagonist, with the sonic geography of this city in Paraná presented through local radio recordings and distant echoes of the Beach Boys amongst others. It was funded by a cultural support program through the Municipality of São Mateus do Sul, so I’m trying to imagine the puzzled council members sitting around listening to this and wondering how their money was spent.

MonchMonch – MarteMorte (Seloki Records)

This manic recording reminds me of the work of the Colombian surrealist Julian Mayorga, particularly his most recent album Chak chak chak chak. And just as with Mayorga’s work, there’s sly anti-capitalist commentary. Lucas Monch recorded the EP in Brazil and Portugal with members from projects like Baleia Baleia Baleia, Marquise, and Conferência Inferno in multiple languages. The central concept of the EP is that billionaires colonize Mars and, from there, watch—and contribute to—the collapse of Earth. The absurdities of the postmodern world are emphasized with distorted atonal guitar riffs, flushing toilets and other mad sampled noises. There’s elements of Tom Zé, but also pretty basic punk rock. It also comes with a comic book that visualises the music and so I imagine it will be equally mad.

DJ Guaraná Jesus – Ouroboros (Seloki Records)

The second recording from Seloki Records to be featured this month, and what an excellent catalogue they have of independent Brazilian music; well worth investigating. This new release from the magnificently monikered DJ Guaraná Jesus, aka Julio Santa Cecilia, is much more frenetic than his last EP. He still works within basic drum-and-bass languages, but this time there’s more of a junglist edge and even elements of breakcore and happy hardcore are dropped in. It’s very intense, because, as we all know, everyone’s feeling the pressure.

Various Artists – Nunca Mais Eu Ouço Você: Um tributo a os Replicantes (Dub Studio Records)

Os Replicantes were from the rougher and artier end of ’80s Gaucho rock (rock from Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost tip of Brazil) and were all the more interesting for it, mixing hardcore and acid-humour. Coming from Porto Alegre they were physically and intellectually distanced from the MPB that dominated Brazilian pop and, on their debut album, notoriously named names, slagging off Gil, Chico, and Caetano amongst others. This tribute to the band was put together by the people who curated the Brazilian Kraftwerk compilation, featured on these pages back in May 2022, with the intention to show new generations the work of Os Replicantes and also to demonstrate some lesser known bands. The 17 tracks really hurtle along and it reaches heights of full-on rattling punk noise; the opening “Loomer” and Autorama’s contributions run into each other in a grebo-like dirge. Column faves Anvil FX also appear, putting their post-punk synth stamp on “Problemas”.

Various Artists – Música Ambiente do Brasil (Discos Flutuantes)

A late addition to the column, but this 62-track behemoth pretty much does what it says on the tin. It was put together from a nationwide open call by Pedro Chediak, who received over 200 submissions. There are some familiar names from these pages: Pandit Pam Pam, Mari Herzer and even Carlos do Complexo, who contributes an uncharacteristically meditative piece. It all moves at a glacial pace and is a perfect way to end this month’s column. Float, float on!

Follow Sounds and Colours: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Mixcloud / Soundcloud / Bandcamp

Subscribe to the Sounds and Colours Newsletter for regular updates, news and competitions bringing the best of Latin American culture direct to your Inbox.

Share: