Posts

mc beyonce funk carioca

The challenging sound of Funk Carioca

/20 Comments/in

I can’t speak for the whole of Rio, but if you live in or around my neighbourhood, you can’t have missed a distinctive new sound during the last month or two. The sound I’m talking about is a Funk Carioca (AKA Baile Funk) track called Fala Mal De Mim. I guess the literal translation would be “Speak badly of me”, but probably a better translation would be “Talk sh*t about me”. The artist responsible for this is MC Beyonce.

 

mcbeyonce

This is MC Beyonce. She’s seems very nice, just don’t talk sh*t about her hair or make up. And definitely don’t attempt to steal her boyfriend…

 

Wanna hear the track? OK, here it is:

Read more

Tom Jobim

Não fala que grava!

/6 Comments/in

I’ve mentioned a few of my favourite Brazilian albums in recent months – music by artists such as Jorge Ben, João Gilberto and Novos Baianos to name a few. There are a lot of other artists still to talk about, but one name is particularly conspicuous by its absence.

Antônio Carlos Jobim

Also known as Tom Jobim, this colossus of Brazilian music is known as the main force behind the creation of Bossa Nova and one of the most talented and successful composers of the 20th century. You can’t mention the man without also mentioning his most famous composition, Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema). The original (Portuguese) lyrics are so much nicer than the English version that it’s reason enough to learn Portuguese in itself!

For me, it seems like this subject is almost to big to cover – I don’t know enough about him and besides, you can get a better run-down of this man and his story on Wikipedia.

Tom Jobim

Tom Jobim (sounds kind of like Tohn zho-been). The man credited (along with João Gilberto) with the creation of Bossa Nova.

 

So instead of trying to cover Jobim’s entire career, I’m going to focus on just a single song.

Read more

Ney Matogrosso

Secos e Molhados

/27 Comments/in

I wanted to start a little differently today. What I’d like you to do is click on a link – this will open another window/tab on your browser into which will load a youtube clip. There may be an advert that you have to wait for – once the proper clip starts playing I want you to come back here to continue reading. Everyone clear on that? You’ll continue reading here while the music is playing there.

OK, here is the link: http://youtu.be/bAdlGZSaQRg

Secos e Molhados

I should explain to younger readers that this is what was known as an ‘LP’.

Read more

Novos Baianos

/9 Comments/in

Brazilian music has been on the Eat Rio menu quite a bit recently – we’ve charted the highs of João Gilberto and Bossa Nova and we plumbed the lows of a plagiarising Rod Stewart, legs akimbo. In one of the comments I was even accused of having good taste in music! Well, I feel that I have a real ace left up my sleeve when it comes to Brazilian music recommendations.

There is a very select group of albums that I mentally file under the label “Solid Gold”. You know, no dud tracks – what you might call perfect albums. This list includes Blondie’s Parallel Lines, Neil Young’s After The Goldrush, Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Van Morrison’s Moondance (you’ll let me know if this starts to get a little self-indulgent won’t you?).

Well, since coming to Brazil I have a new album to add to this list of mine. It is called Acabou Chorare (which means ‘No More Crying’) and is the work of a group called Novos Baianos. What can I say about this album? It really is one of my favourite albums of all time – a beautiful piece of work.

Novos Baianos

Novos Baianos – the founding members (from left to right) Luiz Galvão, Baby Consuelo, Paulinho Boca de Cantor and Moraes Moreira.

Read more

What links Rod Stewart, George Benson and Zumbi?

/4 Comments/in

If you’re asking yourself who or what Zumbi is then go and check out yesterday’s post. OK, so I’m going to assume that we’re all up to speed on Zumbi. I’m sure you guys know about the other two, but just in case, this is Rod Stewart:

This is Rod on a visit to Brazil in 1978. I can’t say for sure, but I suspect Rod didn’t need much persuading to wear a sunga…

 

And this is George Benson:

Looks pretty happy with himself doesn’t he?

 

So what do these guys have in common with each other and also with a 17th Century leader of escaped slaves?

Read more