’Mensagem de amor’ by Metrô opens on a woman speaking quietly. From there, a guitar takes us into a beautiful modern bossa. Laid back, there’s electronic programming, but overall it’s a simple, sophisticated sound. The inclusion of dialogue and a telephone later is reminiscent of some of Zuco 103’s work. ‘Sem você’ by Eletrobossa is another laid back bossa, as the group’s name suggests. Again, the vocalist talks softly over the vocals in the intro before singing. This is the music of a summer night.

’Lounge caf’ by Luiz Macedo is slightly more upbeat, with a beautiful ambient-chill out atmosphere. It’s still essentially bossa, with vocals by Izy Gordon. ‘Movimento azul is by Mr Tea, and features Maria Sólis singing. Though interesting, it’s not as quite up to the standards of the surrounding tracks. ‘Maliciosa bossa’ by Cris Bergamo follows and is one of the best songs on the ‘Urban’ CD. Catchy, it’s easy to sing along with the title words. Even if you just have to hum the rest, it’s worth a listen. Cheerful, upbeat, sunny.

’Samba do morro’ by Macumbalada (DJ Mystical) is a cracking chill out electronica track. Sophisticated, with a great underlying beat and occasional sax melody, this is one to listen to again and again. The vocals are spoken samples, mixed in now and then. ‘Brasileirada’ by Maracutaia has a slightly funkier rhythm and sound to it. The seventies updated for the 21st century.

’Diablos’ by Wado is more of a Hip Hop track. ‘Samba Funk de luxo’ by Instituto, Max B.O e Prego also features rapping, in Portuguese, naturally.

One of the best tracks on the whole album is next: ‘Coco nutz mass’ by boTECOeletro. This track is the epitome of cool. If anyone ever makes a glamorous Brazilian heist film, this is an absolute must for the soundtrack. It’s a thumping piece of beat, that in a cinematic sense conjures up split screens and car chases. It’s completely instrumental and must be played at high volume for maximum appreciation. Luiz Macedo is back again for ‘Bossa nova, né?’ which has a delightfully catchy sound, and kicks off like a few tracks with a woman speaking. It’s a funky piece, mostly instrumental.

’Meu guarda chuva’ by Funk Como Le Gusta has a good thumping beat to it, but also a funky edge. ‘Tudo passa’ by Kaleidoscope continues the dance rhythm, and has a sunny ambience to it. Kaleidoscope are back again, this time featuring Ramilson Maia in ‘Chuva.’ From the laid back bossas of the early tracks, we’re into a more pop style, something you might hear in a club. ‘Som de alma’ by Laboratório concludes the ‘Urban’ CD. With a more ambient intro, strong electronic programming, another woman talking and laughing, and an almost Indian sound at one point (Indian subcontinent, not Native American), this track breaks into a strong electro-beat dance track. Like the wonderful ‘Coco nutz mass’ this track ought to be played loud.

The compilers of ‘braziLounge’ say of the ‘Urban’ CD: “we can almost listen to the pulse of big metropolis as São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro.” This is certainly true. The ‘Leisure’ CD on the other hand “is a travel in a time machine, from the past to the present, through the original roots to the modern fusions…”

’Leisure’ kicks off with the wonderful ‘Dona da banca’ by Alê. This has a real funky seventies feel about it. There’s a strong temptation to sing along even if you don’t know the (Portuguese) words. ‘Dona da banca’ is one of the best songs on the album. ‘4 paredes’ by Tutti Baê also has a funky feel to it. It’s a great track.

’João Candido’ by Afonjah has a slight reggae sound. But from there, we go into the dance track ‘For all’ by Edson X. ‘Forró 2000’ by David Villefort follows. Forró is one of the musical styles on the album, along with bossa, samba, dub, mangue beat, folclore, hip hop, and others. ‘Forró 2000’ is a mostly instrumental dance track. Things go slightly downbeat with ‘Jeito esquisito’ by Fabio Fonseca Trio. There’s a slight funky edge to this one, and a wonderful sax closing section.

’Pandeiro sideral’ by Beto Brito is back to reggae-tinged sound, and features an interesting use of percussion. It’s a catchy, foot-tapping track. ‘A sala’ by Mirton comes next. A ballad, it has a more sophisticated studio sound, and is followed by ‘Meditação’ by Renata Gebara, a great laid back song with a catchy chorus.

’Maracoeira’ by Edson X is another of the album’s best tracks. Summery jazzy electronica with more spoken Portuguese - this time by a man. As if this isn’t enough, the fantastic ‘Tantric groove’ is next, from Rhami vs. Funkshaker. A fabulous piece of ambient-chill out with a great undulating, exotic, eastern flute melody later on.

Pausa Fama takes things on from here with ‘Longue.’ If the opening track on ‘Leisure’ had the sound of the seventies, we’re now right in the twenty-first century. ‘Longue’ is another great chill out track. ‘O telefone tocou novamente’ from Sonic Junior turns away from ambient to Afro-Brazilian song. ‘Música nova’ by Cabruêra alternates between finger-playing guitar and strong male backing vocals, almost shouting at times. The last track has a latin-reggae sound: ‘Candongueiro’ by Velha Guarda da Mangueira. Again there’s a strong collective backing vocal here. This is the sound of Carnival and provides a lively, sunny, foot-tapping conclusion to the album.

Compilations are often a mixed bag in more ways than one, but ‘braziLounge dois’ is a fabulous introduction to those bands and artists who don’t have the international standing of the likes of Bebel Gilberto. It’s also a great trip through the music of modern Brazil. With tracks like ‘Coco nutz mass,’ ‘Dona da banca’ and others, this is one seriously good album.

Kara Kellar Bell is a film and media graduate from the West of Scotland, with a passion for European novels, French films, silent cinema, and Brazilian music (everything from Daniela Mercury and other pop stars through to bossa nova). As a writer, she likes to have room to move around creatively, so she’s not located in one genre. She writes realism and also stories of a more fantastic nature, usually grounded to some extent in the real world. She also takes delight in writing across the sexual spectrum, and as a bisexual, considers it important to remind people that things are not always black and white, either/or, in sexuality or in gender. She is currently completing her first novel. For a selection of Kara’s writing on the Showcase section of this site, click here

© 2004 Laura Hird All rights reserved.