"São Paulo, Brazil. The world's fourth megalopolis with over 18 million souls, and more arriving every day. A stressful maze of massive skyscrapers, kilometric avenues and relentless chaos. Think 'Blade Runner' in the Tropics."

This is how Suba introduces his classic debut solo album, ‘São Paulo Confessions.’ And he’s right. This is an urban, futuristic sound from a classically trained pianist and composer who also studied Afro-Brazilian and Native American music.

Suba (Mitar Subotic) originally came from Yugoslavia, but moved to Brazil in the late ’80s. With a musical background ranging from ballet and film to fashion, Suba also had a huge interest in electronic music. As a producer, he worked with the likes of Marina Lima on her 1998 ‘Pierrot do Brasil’ album, as well as Katia B, Cibelle and Bebel Gilberto. He was at work on Bebel Gilberto’s ‘Tanto Tempo’ album when he tragically died in a fire, at the age of 38. Although he initially escaped unharmed, he returned to his burning apartment-studio. It’s believed he was trying to retrieve original audio files and back-up copies of Bebel Gilberto’s album. Rushed to hospital, he died of smoke inhalation just an hour after the fire was originally reported. He’d been due to travel to Belgium the next day to promote ‘São Paulo Confessions.’ His death was a severe blow to the Brazilian music industry.

The city of São Paulo was Suba’s home for ten years, and in this album, he manages to convey the chaos of the huge metropolis, and its cultural mixes. It was Suba who discovered the young singer, Cibelle, and she appears in three tracks on the album. Of the twelve songs, about half are instrumentals. There are also other artists guesting either as singers or musicians. Suba himself wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks bar one by Vinicius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim. He also supplied the piano, keyboards and programming.

‘Tantos Desejos’ (So Many Desires) kicks off the album, with Cibelle singing.

“Eternal whispering winds
Rebellious dissonant seas
Forever you”

This is one of the more conventional tracks. Nevertheless, Suba’s electronic layering is there, creating a sophisticated sound that lures the listener in.

Percussion leads directly to the next track, with no pause for breath. ‘Você Gosta (I know What You Like) moves further into electronic dance music, layering different electronic effects, as well as letting them weave in and out throughout the song. There’s also heavier percussion than on the first track, giving a good thumping beat. Taciana provides the vocals, speaking rather than singing, even whispering sometimes. ‘Você Gosta’ is a sultry track.

‘Na Neblina’ (In The Fog) is the first of the pure instrumentals, with an electronic lead in, picked up by a strong beat and piano. Suba’s piano provides the main melody, but it’s a delicately picked out tune. Moving around it is an electronic soundscape. Halfway through, the music becomes distorted, conjuring up an image of urban fog-bound chaos, before returning to the sophistication of the main melody.

‘Segredo’ (Secret) with Katia B on vocals follows. The seductive, downbeat, hip-swinging tempo and the sensuality of Katia B’s singing make this track. Although the electronica is still there, it’s less obvious than in the previous two tracks.

“If it is desire
I ask you to guide me
If it is a secret
I let it carry me on
If there is no courage
I pray for a blessing
Dark skies are moving on
And will soon be pouring down.”

The sophisticated, urban electronic dance sound is back on ‘Antropòfagos’ (Cannibals.) Another instrumental, this one deserves to be turned up full volume. The rabeca, a Portuguese fiddle commonly used in Brazil, played over percussion, bass and programming, gives this thumping track a real edge.

‘A Felicidade’ (Happiness) is delicious electronic bossa, rich, dark, smooth as chocolate, but jazzy and urban too. Cibelle’s voice is perfect for this updated version of the classic by Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim, and the track looks forward to Bebel Gilberto’s sound on ‘Tanto Tempo.’ It’s another hipsway of a track, and one of the gems of the album.

‘Um Dia Comum’ (A Normal Day) is largely instrumental, though Suba mixes in a sample of a woman speaking. Piano leads on the melody, over a guitar, strong rhythmic percussion and electronic programming. This is the kind of track that can be blasted across a dance floor, or listened to in the comfort of a car, or at home, lying back, with a glass of wine in your hand.

Cibelle is back on ‘Sereia’ (Mermaid,) which she also co-wrote. More electronic and distorted than ‘A Felicidade,’ the song is seductive, mysterious and also somewhat menacing. The lyrics come from a poem Cibelle had written previously.

"I have your soul in the palm of my hand
I have your hand over my body in the sand.”

After this comes the absolutely fantastic ‘Samba Do Gringo Paulista’ (Paulista Gringo’s Samba.) A heavy electronica-percussion instrumental that mixes in samba school samples, this track starts off with wonderful percussion and gentle electronica, before it moves up a gear. At its most powerful, with the samba school percussion, it’s tremendous, a real bouncing, Latin head-banger of a dance track. And yet, in quieter moments, a more ethereal electronic sound comes in that perfectly conveys the urban setting of a huge lighted city at night. And then we’re off again, into the pulsating beat and samba drumming. Best blasted across a nightclub or party, or played on full volume while driving. Alternatively, drive the neighbours mad and dance by yourself if need be.

On ‘Abraço’ (Embrace) Suba’s long-term collaborator, João Parahyba, who features on percussion on a number of the tracks, uses congas and snare to contribute a seductive Afro-Brazilian beat. Joanna Jones and Arnaldo Antunes supply the vocals, and Antunes has a marvellously low pitched voice, practically growling through his rap lyrics.

‘Pecados Da Madrugada’ (Sins Before Dawn) is an instrumental track that mixes in vocal sampling now and then. As the title suggests, the track has the atmosphere of night, darkness, and the city. A steamy, tropical urban landscape.

‘A Noite Sem Fim’ (The Endless Night,) the final track on the album, continues this theme. Given the dark visuals of the album sleeve, depicting a night-time street in São Paulo, this whole album has a nocturnal theme to it. But in ‘A Noite Sem Fim,’ we return to the idea of the futuristic Blade Runner city. If any track on ‘São Paulo Confessions’ best conveys this, it’s this one.

Five years on from Suba’s death, it’s impossible to know how far his music would have evolved by now. But his influence on the Brazilian electronic music and dance scene is clear. You only have to listen to recent albums like ‘Brazil Lounge Dois’ to see how the genre is developing. ‘São Paulo Confessions’ is a classic Brazilian dance album, featuring a breathtaking mix of sounds, and yet it’s also downbeat enough to relax to. Certainly, it successfully portrays the city Suba describes:

“Life in São Paulo is fast, crazy and dangerous, as reality changes constantly. The city if full of people from all over Brazil and foreigners, all trying to make sense out of it. With time and patience to dig deeply enough, you can make discovery after discovery, you can find very strange people and very special places.”

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.