Booze, Music and Chicks... Brazilian Style

We haven't visited Brazil in a while, have we?



I won't claim to be an expert on Samba... as a matter of fact, I know pretty much jack shit about Samba except that I like it and download some occasionally. You can't really dislike this music... it's so freakin' happy. I mean, I don't know any Portuguese or anything, but I'm almost positive that the lyrics to any and every Samba song ever go something along the line of "Let's grab a Caipirinha or twelve, go out to the streets and dance around with some beautiful naked girls"... but, ya know, I'm paraphrasing. Anyhoo, here's a tune from one Martinho Da Vila and it's quite nice to listen to...

(DMCA'D FOUR YEARS AFTER POSTING... WHATTHEFUCKEVER)

Actually, I ran the song title through Babel Fish and it came out "Master, Arrests It's Cattle", so I'm gonna conclude that a) Babel Fish sucks or b) Brazilian folks have some pretty odd metaphors for getting drunk and freaky on the streets with naked girls. Anyone care to help me out on this?

Grandpa's Still Got It

Old guys trying to stay hip can be pretty sad indeed. But not in today's case...



The trio Azymuth are legends of Brazilian music, mixing in Jazz, Funk, even Disco and House at times... you would almost call them "fusion" if that wasn't such a horrible (as is any word that instantly invokes the visage of Kenny G) word that should never be used to describe music that is actually good. But their willingness to mix in these popular styles has in the modern day resulted in them being willing to have their music remixed the shit out of... to often spectacular results. There have been multiple Azymuth remix compilations, the latest being reworkings of their 2011 record Aurora. Here's one from the fantastic Mr. Ashley Beedle...

Azymuth - E Mulher (Ashley Beedle's Afrikan On Marz Voyage Remix)

Sweet. But to see how good these three old geezers really are, just take the next hour and check out their recent performance from Gilles Peterson's Brownswood basement via The Boiler Room...



Suck on that... AND GET OFF MY LAWN!

A Great Gal

You see a lot of guys named Guy, but no so many gals named Gal. Discuss...



... but here's a gal for you right here... Brazilian legend Gal Costa. Now, I won't pretend to know everything about her, but I do know that she was probably the top female artist of the Tropicalia movement and was every bit as funky and out there as the boys. That said, this tune is more traditional sounding and even quite purdy...

Gal Costa - Presente Cotidiano (ysi)

Bonus points for cameltoe on the album cover. Because that's the kind of thing we give out bonus points for here...

What did YOU invent? Oh, right. Nothing.

Dang, it's been tough getting something up this week. But here we go, finally...



I won't pretend to know anything more about Cartola except for the fact that he's one of the folks they say invented Samba... which is, I'd say, pretty significant. Also, there's something weird going on with dude's nose. It kinda freaks me out. But the cuica helps me get past it. Loves me some cuica...

Cartola - Aconteceu (ysi)

And here's some cool old video...



I imagine I shall see you all again on Friday and I will now say "good day" to you...

Blog-achella X: It's Okay If You Suck

Now, I realize that in a case such as Coachella, not every band is going to be great. Hell, you don't even want every band to be great, because that just creates conflicts over who to see. And conflicts just make us all rage-y, and you wouldn't like us when we're rage-y. But that said... seriously, where do they find some of these duds?

Like Sleigh Bells. They seem to be a combination of The Kills and Fidget House... which is an insult to the Kills for which I apologize. I hope Kate Moss doesn't go on a scotch bender and beat my ass for comparing her dude's band to this crapola. But it's a pretty decent comparison really, so suck it, Kate Moss...

Iglu & Hartley are apparently an L.A. band, although I've never heard of them either. Then again... I never go out any more, so that means fuck-all. BUT! Awful, cheesy Pop. I mean, is this a Disney show I've never heard of? Where did this come from?

Not that I have a problem with little known acts... I just prefer little known acts that are GOOD at music, such as...

Ceu



Who she is: She is NOT Bebel Gilberto...

What she sounds like: ... but she does sound a lot like her...

Ceu - Rosa Menina Rosa (ysi)

What I think: I know... real 500-level criticism there, eh? But fuck it, it's accurate. It's a hot Brazilian babe and there's some electronics... it writes itself! But hey, Ceu does let a little Reggae into the mix, unlike Bebel, so there's that...



So yes, more of this, please. And remember to say thanks for the shitty bands, too. Because without them you'd be worried that you were missing something good. This has been "Deep Thoughts"...

One scary lookin' dude...

What would you do... if your daughter came home... with THIS MAN...



Marcos Valle may not be as well-known as Antonio Jobim, Jorge Ben or the various assorted Gilbertos, but he is just as big a deal in the world of Brazilian music. I'm guessing it's the bad boy look he's rocking up there that turned folks off. People don't react so well to such raw, unbridled aggression, guy. You need to stop taking fashion tips from Marilyn Manson. (Quick note: My first choice for that joke was G.G. Allin, but I decided I'd like someone to get it) Anyhoo, here's an instrumental jam with some hot hot hot bateria...

(DMCA'd?!?! WTF?!?!)

And how about the Olympics being awarded to Rio? I heard that 100M Mugging and Team Kidnapping have been added as demonstration events... BOING!

Time Warner Cable can eat me

You know what's fun? When the cable guy comes and accidentally unhooks your cable, net and home phone on noon on a Saturday... and you can't get it fixed until Monday. Yeah, that's a regular hoot...



... maybe I should send that tough guy up there to go deal with 'em. He looks like he could kick some ass... oorrrrrrr not. Anyhoo, he's a keyboard player, not a fighter, this Joao Donato cat. Legend has it that the record company told him to do "whatever the hell you want" on this one (shouldn't that be the rule on every record? I know, just sayin'...), so he went to town buying some new electronics, called up a bunch of equally rough and rugged characters and Voila! Brazilian Psych-Funk masterpiece. Seriously, this record is really fucking good...

Joao Donato - Lunar Tune (ysi)

Some of the other cuts are funkier but I like this one best, so suck on that. Or else I'll send Loungey McDenim up there over to your house after he bitch slaps Time Warner...

Takin' it down a couple (hundred) notches

This may be the mellow-est song I have ever posted...



Brazil's Tamba Trio, one of the all-time top Bossa/Jazz acts, experimented with synths on this record from 1974, and although the purists have issues with it, that's because purists are usually a bunch of tight-assed curmudgeons. For me, it's one of the best albums of it's kind, and as I am a world-reknowned expert on everything, you can take that to the bank. Like a breeze, this one...

Tamba Trio - Morada (ysi)

Man, I wish Brazilian people knew how to chill out...

In which I give some props to Acid Jazz

I know what you're thinking when you read that post title, but just hang on and hear me out, okay?



I'll admit that I'm generally in the front of the line when it comes to bashing Acid Jazz for being the tepid Neo-Fusion pap that it is/was. It was just hard for us to see it at the time, since there wasn't a hell of a lot of any kind of Jazz going around and it was kinda funky and relatively fun. But most importantly I think it acted as a "gateway drug" for the real Jazz & Funk that we'd become obsessed with. We had to get into it somehow, right? It wasn't The Prodigy or Nirvana that made us say "what the heck" and pick up a Coltrane record. And yes, I'm using the royal "we" today because it makes me feel classy. Try it out sometime. Anyhoo... the real Jazz showed us how wussy the Acid Jazz was, but we must appreciate the Acid Jazz for what it was and go ahead and blog it when it pops up in the shuffle. So here's Jazzinho, a Brazilian-flavoured outfit from Portugal, produced by Brazilian legend Ed Motta, and it's kinda nice enough to snuggle up to at home but just wussy enough that you don't want be seen out with it in public...

Jazzinho - Da Tempo Ao Tempo (ysi)

So to conclude, Acid Jazz = kinda weak but kinda not. Got it? Did any of that make any sense? Does this blog ever? You don't have to answer that last one...

Brazilian Funk - two words that cannot possibly suck

Yes, our never-ending trip around all things funky today takes us back to Brazil... which is a good thing, because I left my hair dryer there last time. That's even funnier because I'm bald...



Black Rio. Sounds like a great name for a Bond villian, or perhaps an African-American Duran Duran tribute band, no? Well, it was also a musical movement in Brazil, of all places. To put it as simply as I can... "You got your Funk in my Samba! No, you got your Samba in my Funk!" Either way, the results were pretty awesome, and one of the biggest acts of the era was the very appropriately named Banda Black Rio, because Brazilian people don't have time to waste fucking around trying to think of clever band names... there are Caipirinhas to drink and festive headdresses to dance about in! Then you put on tunes like this and get freak-ay...

Banda Black Rio - Vidigal (ysi)

And you gotta love the YouTubes when you find classic footage like this...



I particularly enjoyed the way they just rolled with the graphics scroll right over the top of the band like that. So-and-so is on trumpet, if you could see him behind these words! Genius...

Brazilian Beauty

I'm not sure but I think it's been quite a while since I've posted some proper Brazilian business 'round here... let's fix that today.



When it comes to current Brazilian chanteuses, everyone knows Bebel Gilberto, but she has some competition in the form of Ms. Rosalia De Souza. Who? Well, Rosalia doesn't have the immensely famous family, but she does have the same last name as the great Brazilian tromboner Raul De Souza, so let's just go ahead and start the rumor that she's his daughter here at Tonegents, okay? Good. Done. Actually, Rosalia left Brazil for Italy to get her start, finding a champion in Nicola Conte, and we all know how the chicks dig Nicola. Sure. Anyhoo, how about some brand new old-school Samba with vocals that'll make yer pants get twitchy...

Rosalia De Souza - Amanha (ysi)

You're gonna like her even more after checkin' this YouTubes...



You ever see Bebel Gilberto rock the shaker like that? Didn't think so! Recognize the game, foo! :P

From Zimbo to Kimbo

Saw that Universal Studios fire live and in person (well, from my patio, anyway) on Sunday... pretty wild stuff. I'm sure someone, somewhere was hoping that the flames would wipe out all evidence that Waterworld ever existed, but no such luck...



Let's start June (it's freaking June already? Holy crap!) with some nice Bossa Jazz from Zimbo Trio, another great find courtesy of the mighty Loronix, a site which I will pimp incessantly until each and every one of you have it safely stored in your bookmarks. It's hard to find a lot of info on these guys if you don't read Portuguese, but I guess you don't need to know their individual names or favorite breakfast cereals to appreciate that they make great music and continue to do so to this day... okay, fine, I think I was able to translate that the piano player likes Apple Jacks... happy now?

Zimbo Trio - Zomba (ysi)

This one's long out of print, but I've already told you where to get it and I suggest you do so...

Now, honestly, this track was picked out for today early Saturday morning, long before I randomly flipped my TV over to the MMA matches on CBS that night, which featured internet beatdown king Kimbo Slice... which naturally I had to mention, and for obvious reasons. You might not know this, but for someone who hasn't been in a fight since the 4th grade, I love watching dudes kick the crap out of each other. Anyhoo, Kimbo would have definitely gotten destroyed by someone who knows what they're doing, so wisely for his big primetime debut they put him in there with a big tomato can for him to pound on. A big tomato can who was the proud owner of the most insane cauliflower ear I have ever seen... I mean, dude was smuggling a golf ball inside his earlobe, and this was before the fight even started! And that's what made it either disgustingly awesome or awesomely disgusting... depending on your point of view... watch if you dare...



All I can say is DAAMMMMMMMMN that was nasty. I'm almost sorry for posting it, but the "Zimbo to Kimbo" line was just too good to pass up...

X marks the Samba

It's not every day that you get to post a song that's title begins with the letter "x", so I'm pretty stoked today...



... yeah, I'm a dork like that. But sure enough, here's Brazilian percussion master Airto Moreira and an all-star group rocking a samba like all get out. Dope, dope percussion on this one of course, but Airto's one dope dude. He played with Miles and was sampled by Basement Jaxx, which is a pretty cool combo for starters... but that's just a couple things off a long, long list of steez...

Airto Moreira - Xibaba (ysi)

This one's strangely out of print, but you can get it if you know where to look... and I shouldn't have to tell you where that is by now... ;)

And here's a completely unrelated video that's pretty damn hilarious, especially if you are a cat owner... then it's the story of every morning of your life...



For real... friggin' cats...

The Tonegents World Tour: Brazil

Considering the amount of music from this country that has been featured on the blog, it's not surprise that the #7 location for Tonegent visitors is:


Brazil!

Yep, we like Brazilian music a whole lot around here, but you know what else we like about Brazil?

1) Capoeira - perhaps the most stylish way to kick the living shit out of someone.
2) City Of God - best. movie. ever.
3) Carnaval - yeah, I know that's kind of a cop-out choice, but sure as hell looks like fun to me!
4) Loronix - the blog by which all other music blogs should be judged.
5) Adriana Lima - or any one of the thousand other smoking hot Brazilian supermodels out there - seriously, what's in the water down there?!?!?

I've posted plenty of classic Brazilian jammies here, so how's about something new... from yet another smokin' hot babe, Bebel Gilberto...



Considering her dad was one of the dudes that invented Bossa Nova, it's no surprise that Bebel turned out to be pretty good at music herself. Her albums combine the traditional and the modern, and she's embraced the remix like no other, putting out stellar remix albums for both of the regular albums she's released so far. Here's a track from the new one, and I'm sure we'll see Momento Remixed before too long...

Bebel Gilberto - Cacada

Now, back to those supermodels...

And now back to Brazil

Because we hardly ever touch on Brazilian music around here...



It's about time to give Jorge Ben some shine. He's one of the giants of Brazilian Pop (or Musica Popular Brasiliera, as it's called) and Tropicalia, and he's got a cool name, so there's two pluses right there. And um... that's all I got for ya really. It's Monday morning, folks... what do you want from me? :P

Jorge Ben - O Rei Chegou, Viva O Rei

So hopefully that will start your week off right. This album's out of print now, but you can get it if you know where to look (nudge nudge, wink wink)...

And how about I make up for my lack of insight with some cool YouTubes action...



Much better!

So sophisticated...

Time for a change of pace today...



So, this one is pretty obscure here. Can't even tell you much of anything about it, except that it is some nice mellow Bossa Jazz I scored from Loronix, a site I don't think I have to tell you about again for the 100th time! Piano, bass, drums... smooth as silk. Play it at your next dinner party instead of that damn Hotel Costes CD all of your friends are sick of already :P

Le Trio Camara - Nascente

Love that cover, too... looks like those dudes are having some kind of Super Vulcan Bossa Nova Mind Meld action goin' on, eh? Or something...

Hello Summer!

Tonegent Presents "Mistura Do Verao"


(Continuous (sorta) DJ Mix (or should I say blend?) - 76:48 - 87.9 mb @ 160 kps - yeah, I know... it's huge. Deal with it :P )

100% Pure Brasilian Summer Vibes:

1) Escola de Samba da Cidade e Paulinho e sua Bateria
2) Milton Banana Trio - Vesti Azul
3) Mandrake Som - Deixa Isso Pra La
4) Trio Mocoto - Swinga Sambaby
5) Raul De Souza - Estamos Ai
6) Luiz Carlos Vinhas - Ye-Mele
7) Dom Um Romao - Escravos De Jo
8) Escola de Samba da Cidade e Paulinho e sua Bateria
9) Sergio Mendes - Capoera Do Brasil
10) Escola de Samba da Cidade e Paulinho e sua Bateria
11) Luiz Bonfa - Apache Talk
12) Luiz Carlos Vinhas - Pourquoi
13) Azymuth - Esperando Minha Vez
14) Joao Donato & Eumir Deodato - Whistle Stop
15) Bebeto/Helcio Milito/Luiz Eca - Reflexos
16) Jorge Ben - Ponta De Laca Africano (Umbabarauma)
17) Caetano Veloso - Alfomega
18) Gilberto Gil - Bat Macumba
19) Tom Ze - Dor E Dor
20) Banda Unaio Black - Black Rio
21) Gerson King Combo - God Save The King
22) Banda Black Rio - Vidigal
23) Miguel De Deus - Black Soul Brothers
24) Dom Salvador e Abolicao - Uma Vida

Enjoy!