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Album Review: V/A - Brazilian Love Affair 5 (Far Out)
Reviewer: Sanjiv Ahluwalia
Currently celebrating their 10 year anniversary, legendary Brazilian specialists Far Out offer their fifth installment of
Brazilian Love Affair. This is a world away from the standard fare of other Brazilian compilations with their
sitting-by-the-pool sipping cocktails aura. Thankfully, Far Out gets to the roots of Brazilian music, evoking the fire,
soul, and passion of the land and its people. Brazilian Love Affair continues from previous volumes, offering
dance-orientated tracks from recent Far Out releases and, almost uniquely for a compilation, no less than eight unreleased
tracks and mixes.
Troubleman featuring Nina Miranda’s Paz has already been playlisted on Gilles Peterson’s influential Worldwide show,
which is recommendation enough. Sun-drenched, smooth, vocal harmonies introduce us to shuffling percussion, a bright
acoustic guitar, and varying electronic effects in the background. This is the perfect soundtrack, as well as being an
apt musical description, for the hundreds of evening football games which take place between bare–footed,
bare-chested Caroica (Rio resident) youths on Copacabana beach.
The Ipanemas’ Suspita (Stephane Malca remix) is a good example of the Far Out philosophy. The Ipanemas helped with
innovating bossa nova in the late fifties and then developed a new sound called ‘Afro Samba’. A subsequent album released
in 1961 was slept upon and the duo split up. Forty years later, Far Out owner Joe Davis stumbled upon said album and
persuaded the band to re-form which resulted in the much acclaimed The Return of The Ipanemas. Now Stephane Malca
offers a chilled variation of Suspita with a sway of lazy, humid, bossa grooves and just the right level of
enhancement via digital beats.
Also worthy of mention is Friends From Rio 2’s Sob O Mar (Kyoto Jazz Massive remix), a mood enhancing sugar-soaked
song with some nu-jazz touches from hip Japanese producers Kyoto Jazz Massive. Galope is an interesting
collaboration between Joyce’s fast, soothing guitar and warm vocals and Bugge Wesseltoff’s nocturnal, cool electronic
jazz touches. Viper Squad’s Neon Dawn is probably the highlight of the CD: a wonderful dawn rising sun of low end bass,
shuffling Brazilian rhythm, gliding flute, and mood-lifting grooves.
All in all, the album works well from beginning to end and will appeal to underground heads (eager for the unreleased tracks and mixes)
as well as those with more mainstream tastes.
RELATED LINKS:
Far Out Recordings
Buy Brazilian Love Affair 5 at Amazon
UK
(CD)
| US (CD)
RELEASE DATE: Monday 17 May 2004
PUBLISHED: Sunday 9 May 2004
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::: RELATED LINKS
Far Out Recordings
Buy Brazilian Love Affair 5 at Amazon
UK
(CD)
| US (CD)
More Reviews
|
