There's a movie about a bird that can't fly called "Rio", there's a popular game called
Angry Birds: Rio, and even Vin Diesel and the Rock is "Fast & Furious" in Rio! With the next World Cup to take place in Rio de Janeiro, there's no denying that Brazil is hotter than ever.
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Free Download
Beirut's cover of the Caetano Veloso song "O Leãozinho" at
redhot.org
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 Red HotRed Hot + Blue was one of the first CDs I've ever own. This was an AIDS-benefit CD which sold over 1 million records, put out by the good people at www.redhot.org.
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RED HOT + RIO 2
www.redhot.org
Red Hot + Blue was one of the first compact disc that I purchased in 1990, so it's one of those albums that hold a special place in my heart. I loved every track, even the odd
funky rap track, and over the years I have had the album stolen/lost and repurchased it three times (the last time was because I wanted the DVD version of the album!).
I'm happy to see that the Red Hot organization is still very active these days, from social networking to transforming their website as news and blog. It's quite a long way to go from their beginning of just bringing awareness of AIDS through music.
Red Hot + Rio 2 is the sequel to the 1996 release, which definitely has the flavor of that time period (Everything but the Girl, PM Dawn, Stereolab, etc). Version two basically updated to more modern artists, including Brazilian Girls, Beirut, Alice Smith, John Legend, Ceu, of Montreal; but also keeping timeless acts from the first version of David Byrne (Talking Heads), Bebel Gilberto, and Money Mark.
One thing to note, about all of the
Red Hot projects, is that they only feature original recordings. There is the odd remix, for instance Beck's song "Tropicália" from his 1998
Mutations, which actually sound more like a mashup because there are some Portuguese cover of "Tropicalia" and then later you hear Beck's vocals. Still, for any Beck completist, this is a must-have release.
Alice Smith and Aloe Blacc set the tone for the album with "Baby". It's loungey and laid back. It's message is clear: "we live in the biggest city in South America" and that it's been a long time, but we're happy to be back.
As you might suspect, these songs are covers or influenced by musicians from the Brazilian music scene (in particular Tropicalia/Tropicalismo), and, yes, sometime they only sing in Portuguese. You would expect to hear natives like Ceu, Curumin, and Gilberto to churn out these Portuguese numbers, but surpisingly some Americans (Beirut, Mia Doi Todd) and even Danish (Quadron) did a wonderful job with their songs.
If you like latin music and you want to support the Red Hot Organization, this is a wonderful start. I hope this generation will pick up the album for one reason or another, only to discover this wonderful world of Brazilian music and the various musicians to help made this possible. I know that the original
Red Hot + Blue made a special mark on me, I loved every one of those Cole Porter cover songs and it really opened up my eyes and ears.
Red Hot + Rio 2 will be out June 28, 2011.
Pre-order here. From the look of the order page, you may also get some bonus extra tracks. The digital album will be delivered in high quality 320kbps MP3 on June 28th at midnight. While some organization only donate a portion to charity, I have to tell you that Red Hot donates
all proceeds go to charity.
* PS, I didn't want to spend the whole article talking about Bebel Gilberto. But I think she's great. She sounds just like her mom (Miucha).
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 PutumayoPutumayo World Music was established to introduce people to the music of the world's cultures. Th...
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BOSSA NOVA AROUND THE WORLD
www.putumayo.com
What I love about Putumayo is that it's not for the aficionados, it's for normal people that just wants an taste. It's perfect as a starting point for a particular genre, and with this release, they're introducing "Bossa Nova Around the World". Obviously with that title, they're emphasising artists from other countries outside of Brazil, for strictly Bossa Nova, you need to check out their first release of
Samba Bossa Nova.
To get a background on Bossa Nova, check out Dave's
Jazz Note #13: Go Global, which goes into detail about how a jazz saxophonist Jewish kid from the Bronx help bring Bossa Nova to the world (hint Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto were reponsible for "The Girl from Ipanema" with Gilberto's then-wife Astrud on vocals).
As you listen to
Bossa Nova Around the World, it's easy to see why this Brazilian sound caught on: you feel like you're on a beach with the music as a light breeze over you. This is the soundtrack that you can relax to a book.
While many of these songs try and emulate the winning formula of "The Girl from Ipanema" (rhythmic acoustic with loungey girl singer), I thought these bands stood out:
2raumwohnung, in particular, blew me away with "Melancholisch Schön", because, from my understanding, they are a dance/pop group from Germany, and here they are on this compilation doing a wonderful laid-back bossa nova song. Hilde Hefte from Norway had a very similar sound with "Vakker Natt (Corcovado)", but with acoustic and piano.
From Mexico (and Canada?), Amanda Martinez, did a nice job with a classic samba rhythm with distinctive Spanish-style with "Hasta Que Pueda". It's really a nice song, I'm glad they chose that song as a
freebie (I just verified that the link doesn't work!).
Dusko Goykovich from Serbia did a really fun song, "Menina Moça". It has a big band sound and the horns and the flutes are singing to you, even though there are no words in the song.
As usual, each Putumayo release comes with biography on each band. For this type of music, it's perfect to sit band and read the various biography on each band. You can order some various Brazil Putumayo releases below:
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