#samba soul

[haveyouheardthisband]

[guessimdumb]

Os Devaneios - A Beleza É Você Menina (1979)

Joyous Samba soul

[reckonslepoisson]

Fôrça bruta, Jorge Ben (1970)

Cradling in its beauty, each sweep of Fôrça bruta engulfs and transfigures.

Pick: ‘Oba, lá vem ela’

[theparanoid]

Gal Costa - Gal Canta Caymmi

(1976, full album)

[MPB, Samba Soul, Samba, Sambalanço]

[luuurien]

Bala Desejo - SIM SIM SIM

(MPB, Progressive Pop, Contemporary Folk)

The Rio de Janeiro quartet's debut is an elegant and sublime way to introduce themselves, Bala Desejo's soulful blends of samba-canção, MPB, tropicalia aesthetics, and rich live instrumentation brought on beautifully in all of SIM SIM SIM's songs. While similar in form to many of their contemporaries, it's Bala Desejo's buoyancy and lively musicianship that sets them apart from the rest.

☆☆☆☆☆

SIM SIM SIM is so much fun that it's hard to imagine a world without it after your first listen. While each of the band's members - Julia Mestre, Dora Morelenbaum, Zé Ibarra, and Lucas Nunes - have all made their marks in the Brazilian indie scene, they took the chance during the pandemic to move into a house in Rio de Janeiro together, forming Bala Desejo and finding their voice through digital live performances and the extra time to create afforded by lockdown. And though their laid-back, humble beginnings are one thing, their music is another, soulful blends of samba-canção, MPB, tropicalia aesthetics, and rich live instrumentation brought on beautifully in all of SIM SIM SIM's songs, sprightly and upbeat MPB that never stops being a joy to listen to. It's a fantastic modern take on classic Brazilian styles that doesn't feel like it's simply a tribute to them: Bala Desejo's sound is solely their own, and they do a flawless job introducing the world to it with SIM SIM SIM. While SIM SIM SIM can be listened to in two individually released EP's - Lado A and Lado B - the full hour listen makes for something even more lavish and indelible. The A side of the album is by far the more energetic of the two, harnessing the jubilant hooks and forthright melodies of 60s samba-canção on Baile de Máscaras (Recarnaval) and Clama Floresta that make for some of the most upbeat and expressive MPB this year, with strong instrumentation and explosive crescendos of strings, saxophone, horns and guitar that make for some of the album's most electrifying moments right at the beginning of things. Other times, they'll throw you for a loop with influences less connected to MPB, but still with enough energy behind them to keep the band moving forward: the Cuban salsa kick on the second half of Dourado Dourado that makes for a groovy and danceable highlight with bright brass and shuffling percussion, the dreamy balladry of Nesse Sofá that slowly morphs into a midtempo soft rock jam, how Lua Comanche situates jazzy horns and flowery vocal harmonies around a sturdy groove that keeps the song at a loungey midtempo. These early moments of SIM SIM SIM are crucial in pulling you into Bala Desejo's world, and they do an absolutely perfect job with it, each of these songs spotless and lush and only leaving you wanting more by the time you're done with them. The B side, though, is mellower and much more intimate than the first half, the quartet's quarantine home and time making music in it more exposed here than in the playful bliss of Baile de Máscaras (Recarnaval) or samba-tinged delight of Dourado Dourado. But this isn't a bad thing by any means - in fact, some of SIM SIM SIM's most sonorous and vibrant tracks can be found here when Bala Desejo balances moody, minimal MPB with some strong grooves and delicate instrumental flourishes. The most exuberant song of the second half turns out to be its opening song Lambe Lambe, a lightweight pop rock jam with some surprisingly thick guitar leads and peppy horns that almost have a bit of a glammy disco kick to them, the last bits of energy from side A subsiding as the rest of these tracks let SIM SIM SIM come to a cozy, relaxed finish. Muito Só does a surprisingly stellar job at marry sensitive MPB instrumentation with the elegant ebbs and flows of a slow rock jam, and the resonant singer/songwriter cut Cronofagia (O Peixe) that follows takes things even slower with velvety strings and pensive lead vocals that keep things moving just enough for the snappy, funk-infused finale Faixa Técnica to close things out with a long and dreamy tune that eschews the hooky melodies and bright instrumentation from before for a cruising drum groove and pulsing bassline that sounds like a relic of old 70s radio, an unusual but effective way to bookend an album so indebted to classic MPB and venerated through Bala Desejo's progressive compositions that steel feel nostalgic and blanketed with film grain. Everything they do here works perfectly, even if the more restrained presence they have here isn't as thrilling as what they brought right out of the gate in the first half. Combine the two halves, and SIM SIM SIM is one of the most fun and exuberant debuts this year, Bala Desejo's sound completely their own as they embrace the gracefulness and passion of 60s and 70s MPB while incorporating elements into the music that could only exist because of the accessibility of worldwide genres and styles that modern internet and communication allows, the band as comfortable delivering dreamy folk and MPB as they are laying down groovy disco beats and playing around with salsa and 70s soul. It's fitting that the album's title translates to "YES YES YES": Bala Desejo open to whatever ideas come to the table and using their time during the pandemic to try out all sorts of new things without a shred of fear in their eyes, SIM SIM SIM a constant joy whose wide-spanning artistic scope makes for one of the most thrilling and rewarding albums this year, and what is sure to be a decade-defining release in contemporary MPB. Bala Desejo has got it all, and they don't let a second of their joyous music go to waste with these fourteen gorgeous songs.

[twistedsoulmusic]

Brazilian singer-songwriter João Selva brings tropical pop music with an effervescent and vintage sound. Ten tracks make up this new album, reflecting various musical influences: traditional Angolan semba to Cape Verdean funaná, via Caribbean zouk and Congolese rumba – Selva channels the sounds of the Black Atlantic. Warm and infectious, Passarinho’s songs will have you dancing in ways you never imagined you’d know how to do.

[nortsauce]

OH MY GOD ZHENG STEDE AND ED CONTENT NO ONE PANIC AND EVERYONE GET OUT OF MY WAY AUAUAUAUAUAUAU

[unplugstar]

Jorge Ben, Gal Costa | Que Pena, 1982

[moonlitcomet]

New cover image for the Sorcerer article, done similarly to the style of the old one.

Feat.:

Coper & Esper - @gabedut

Rae - @diang0

Loon & Goose - @keeveehart

Tarot & Madiao - @sugarratio1

Piquet & Samba - me!

[devilsrains]

jorge ben jor - take it easy my brother charles (1969)

after the first man wonderfully stepped on the moon, i felt I had rights, principles, and dignity to liberate myself because of this, without prejudice I sing, i sing of fantasy, i sing of love, I sing of happiness, i sing of belief, I sing of peace, i sing of suggestion, i sing in the dawn. take it easy, my brother Charlie, because i sing to my love, awaited, desired, adored.

[haveyouheardthisband]

[reckonslepoisson]

Negro é lindo Jorge Ben (1971)

Much of the same unutterable grace of Fôrça bruta, plus a little more diverse percussion. 

Pick: ‘Porque é proibido pisar na grama’

[soulmusicsongs]

Samba Jambo - Jorge Mautner (Mil E Uma Noites De Bagdá, 1976)

[yuritestikov]

⚡ Luiz Melodia ⚡

[radiotatuapefm]

📸| Rita Lee (foto retirada da internet) . . . . . . . . . #ritalee #mpb #musica #arte #cinema #bossanova #soul #reggea #folk #samba #tropicalismo #vanguarda #jazz #pop #rock #blues #mental #psicodélico #fotografia #brazilianmusic #acervomusical #latinjazz #poesia (em Radio Tatuape FM) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cid1RdsOKGK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=