Apr 4, 2017

RhoDeo 1714 Roots

Hello,

The music of Brazil encompasses various regional music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms. After 500 years of history, Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as samba, bossa nova, MPB, sertanejo, pagode, tropicalia, choro, maracatu, embolada (coco de repente), mangue bit, funk carioca (in Brazil simply known as Funk), frevo, forró, axé, brega, lambada, and Brazilian versions of foreign musical genres, such as Brazilian rock and rap.


Today's artists are a mixed bag in the sense that there are 3 different groups as we near the end of Brazil's music on this blog, it's been a long stay 15 months clearly Brazil is the powerhouse of the musicscene in South America, and there's still plenty the coming weeks  ...  N'Joy


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A very confident prog-psych release from Brazil, Som Imaginario display a unique and innovative approach to a genre which by 1970 had become kind of overcrowded. Songs like Super God, which sounds like nothing else from the era (the closest comparison I can come up with would be the Jimi Hendrix Experience covering CAN), prove that the band were not content to simply replicate the sounds of other groups but were keeping their finger on the pulse and striving to make their own contribution to the progressive scene, and that makes them stand out from a good many bands who were happy to simply tread water.

Som Imaginario's debut is a strong, confident work, which proves that South American rock bands from this era weren't just mimicing their more famous influences from the US or UK but had something to add themselves. In fact, had this come out from a British or American band I'm sure it'd be much more famous than it currently is. Anyone seeking to expand their musical horizons - and let's face it, if you weren't you wouldn't be here - would be well served by checking these guys out.



Som Imaginario - Som Imaginario (flac  217mb)

01 Morse 3:34
02 Super-God 3:09
03 Tema Dos Deuses 2:53
04 Make Believe Waltz 2:22
05 Pantera 3:39
06 Sábado 2:45
07 Nepal 5:02
08 Feira Moderna 3:45
09 Hey, Man! 3:00
10 Poison 2:31

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Uakti (WAHK-chee) was a Brazilian instrumental musical group that was composed of Marco Antônio Guimarães, Artur Andrés Ribeiro, Paulo Sérgio Santos, and Décio Ramos. Uakti was known for using custom-made instruments, built by the group itself. The name of the group comes from a Tucano native South American legend. Uakti was a mythological being who lived on the banks of the Rio Negro. His body was full of holes, which, when the wind passed through them, produced sounds that bewitched the women of the tribe. The men hunted down Uakti and killed him. Palm trees sprouted up in the place where his body was buried, and the people used these to make flutes that made enchanting sounds like those produced by the body of Uakti.

In 1993 Philip Glass was commissioned by Grupo Corpo to produce a composition for a ballet. Glass then chose Uakti to perform his composition, Águas da Amazônia - Sete ou oito peças para um balé. The arrangement was done by Marco Antônio Guimarães, who adapted the work to Uakti's instruments; this was the first time that Glass's music was arranged by another composer. The recording of this music was released in 1999, under the contract with Point Music. In 2004 Glass invited Uakti to collaborate again, this time on the Orion project. The city of Athens, as part of the 2004 pre-Olympic celebrations, commissioned Glass to do a series of open-air shows. Uakti took part, playing Glass's compositions.

Uakti's principal composer, Marco Antônio Guimarães, took his classical training and uses in his compositions a style composed of complex rhythmical structures. Normally more than one time signature is used in the same composition, when free metre is not used. The melody and harmony are constructed so as to take advantage of the playing characteristics of the instruments. Uakti's style has been compared to the minimalism of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. If, on one hand, their compositional techniques are modern, the sound of the instruments, on the other, lends a fine and unfamiliar aspect, to the group's music. This dichotomy is the secret of Uakti's sound.



Uakti - Aguas da Amazonia (flac  225mb)

01 Aguas Da Amazonia. Tiquie River 1:41
02 Aguas Da Amazonia. Japura River 4:44
03 Aguas Da Amazonia. Purus River 7:44
04 Aguas Da Amazonia. Negro River 4:19
05 Aguas Da Amazonia. Madeira River 4:00
06 Aguas Da Amazonia. Tapajo River 2:49
07 Aguas Da Amazonia. Paru River 4:25
08 Aguas Da Amazonia. Xingu River 5:03
09 Aguas Da Amazonia. Amazon River 7:26
10 Metamorphosis. Metamorphosis I 12:32

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Samba-reggae is a music genre born in Bahia, Brazil. As the name suggests, it was originally derived from a blend of Brazilian samba with Caribbean reggae. It arose in the context of the black pride movement that occurred in the city of Salvador de Bahia, around the 1970s, and it still carries connotations of ethnic identity and pride for Afro-Brazilians today. Bahia's population has a large proportion of dark-skinned Brazilians who are descendants of African slaves who were brought to Brazil by the Portuguese in the 18th and 19th centuries. These Afro-Brazilians played a major role in the early development of samba, which first took form in a Bahian style of dance and music called "samba de roda”. Samba de roda was brought to Rio de Janeiro by Bahians around 1900, where it was combined with harmonic and rhythmic elements from European influences (such as chorinho and military marches). By the 1930s, samba de roda had developed into the faster, more harmonically complex Rio-style samba that is now played in Rio's Carnival. Samba-reggae represents an effort by black Brazilians to develop a Carnival parade music that they could call their own, and to form all-black or mostly-black blocos with which they could parade during Carnival. The afro bloco music was very different because they aimed to recreate and strengthen their community through their music.

Olodum is widely credited with developing the music style known as samba reggae and for its active participation in carnaval each year. Neguinho do Samba, the lead percussionist, created a mix of the traditional Brazilian samba beat with merengue, salsa, and reggae rhythms for the Carnaval of 1986. This became known as samba-reggae. This "bloco afro" music is closely tied to its African roots, as seen through its percussion instruments, participatory dancing and unique rhythm. It also directly draws from many Caribbean cultures, like Cuba and Puerto Rico. Olodum's performing band (or Banda) has released records in its own right and has been featured on recordings by Brazilian stars such as Simone and Daniela Mercury.

In 1995, Olodum appeared in the second music video for Michael Jackson's single, "They Don't Care About Us" (the original "Prison version" was banned on most music stations due to its violent scenes). The music was changed slightly to fit Olodum's style of drumming. The "Olodum version" (unofficial title) of the song has since become more popular than the original album version. Olodum also performed on Paul Simon's album The Rhythm of the Saints.The distinctive rhythmic pulse of Olodum's samba-reggae-styled drums is what continues to mark it out as unique. I've never wanted this to come out of the player while listening and it's never bored me, but unfortunately the only song that sticks with me when it's not playing is the one the Pet Shop Boys copped for one of their best Bilingual singles - "Estrada Da Paixão" (AKA "Se A Vida E") - which is where I first encountered the tune.




Olodum - Filhos Do Sol   (flac  413mb)

01 Cartão Postal 3:32
02 Samba Rap 3:17
03 Girassol 3:55
04 Furacão 4:06
05 Hora H 3:50
06 Estrada Da Paixão 3:58
07 Trem Da História 3:40
08 Gira 3:40
09 Valente Nordeste 3:38
10 Careta Feia 3:36
11 Desce E Sobe 3:53
12 Poético Olodum 4:20
13 Evangelização 3:28
14 Parada Obrigatória 3:59
15 Encantada Magia 3:40
16 Mordida De Vampiro 3:55

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This album contains Olodum's previously unreleased version of "No Woman No Cry" - a legendary tribute! Some of Olodum's classics like "Rosa", "Alegria Geral", and "Berimbau" have been remixed and the surdos (base drums) have more of a kick now. On this album, Olodum has invited other stars to perform with them on some of the songs. For example, Ivete Sangalo in "Rosa", Jimmy Cliff in "No Woman No Cry"; it sounds fantastic! Expect nothing less than the finest Olodum beats!



Olodum - 20 Years   (flac 385mb)

01 No Woman, No Cry feat: Jimmy Cliff 4:03
02 Tekila 3:33
03 O Reggae Não Pode Morrer 3:14
04 Prepara a Boca 3:30
05 Lua de São Jorge 3:54
06 Requebra 3:54
07 Rosa feat: Ivete Sangalo 3:15
08 Olodum Me Leva 3:35
09 Alegria Geral 3:38
10 Nossa Gente (Avisa Lá) 3:03
11 Pot-Pourri: Protesto Do Olodum/Madagascar Olodum/Faraó Divindade 4:43
12 Deusa Do Amor 3:39
13 Berimbau 4:09
14 Declaracão 3:18
15 Candelaria 4:27

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3 comments:

Guitarradeplastico,scraping oddities said...

many thanks for Som Imaginario

Cass said...

Thanks for Uakti

Anonymous said...

Dearest Rho, would it be possible for you to re-upload the album Som Imaginario if & when possible? As always, enjoying your wonderful efforts.
Regards