“ôÔÔôôÔôÔ”

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Genre:  Brazilian : MPB (Brazilian Popular Music)
Release Date: 8.23.11

The trombone in the introduction of  ôÔÔôôÔôÔ, the guitar that leads to the harmony, the precise rhythm and even the whistle heard in the background give us the certainty that, yes, we are right in Rio de Janeiro and entering the world of samba. In the same intro, a subtle distorted guitar, some silences and the few notes of a Rhodes piano remind us that, yes, we are in the samba, but there’s something else going on the century-old genre. This foreigner and wishful look comes from Thaís Gulin, singer from the cold Brazilian south that chose the warmth of Rio as her city to live and to love. Her second album, ôÔÔôôÔôÔ, reflects this decision: it’s a Rio-themed album, but not one only focused on exploring the city’s effervescent cultural identity. Thaís is more interested in her own discoveries, in the people, places and signs she can relate to.

The album is produced by Kassin (known for his work with Caetano Veloso and Vanessa Da Mata) and Alê Siqueira (Tom Zé, Elza Soares, Arnaldo Antunes) and co-produced by Thaís herself. With that dream-team behind the soundboard, Thaís had just to let her strong personality pour into songs, some written by her, some borrowed from friends.

These friends are “just” icons like Chico Buarque and Tom Zé, both Thaís’s fans. Chico contributes and sings the waltz “Se Eu Soubesse”, a beautiful love song that some says resulted in the romantic involvement that happened between them. Tom Zé, one of the few non-carioca musicians involved in the album, lend Thaís “Ali Sim, Alice”, a song that combines his eccentric timbre with her sweet and powerful voice.

Even though ôÔÔôôÔôÔ can be labeled almost as a concept album, what stands out is a way of thinking and style of a singer and songwriter who knows what she wants, and has a universe of its own.

Chico Buarque releases his first album with unpublished songs in five years. The self titled album, Chico, features ten new tracks and has special participations of João Bosco, Thais Gulin and Wilson das Neves.  In this album Chico pays tribute to Blues and Bossa, without forgetting the Samba.

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1944, Buarque spent his early youth in Sao Paulo and Italy. Upon returning to Brazil, Buarque artistic development was greatly enhanced by the friends of his father (the historian Sergio Buarque de Holanda) who were prominent in the early bossa nova movement. Although he immersed himself in music, specifically the new bossa nova sounds of João Gilberto, Buarque decided that a college education was more practical and he decided to study architecture at the University of Sao Paulo. That turned out to be a short-lived career choice and it wasn’t long before Buarque was cutting classes and hanging out with Sao Paulo’s bossa nova cognoscenti.

Of the early stars of MPB (música popular brasileira), Chico Buarque was one of the first to become a certifiable pop star. With his warm, nasally croon, elegant phrasing, and considerable skill at lyric writing, Buarque (who is handsome to boot) became extremely popular with women, who loved his understated sensuality. However, Buarque was uncomfortable playing the role of pop star, preferring to be seen as a serious artist. Throughout his career, he’s managed to have the best of both worlds, but not without some significant bumps along the way. Still, he remains a towering figure in Brazilian pop music, one of the country’s greatest singer/songwriters and interpreters of the samba.

In 1971, he recorded the album Construction which was a decided break from his earlier bossa nova records. This was the start of the second half of Buarque’s career, which saw him writing more intense songs with complicated lyrical layers revealing social and political protest. Forced to submit his material to government censors, nearly two-thirds of his work was rejected. And from 1974-1975, the censors approved almost nothing he wrote.

In the ’80s, Buarque was given more compositional leeway and recorded some stunning music, along with branching out into other artistic endeavors that included writing plays and novels, as well as scoring films, all of this work consistent with his desire to re-examine Brazil’s cultural past, its relationship with the present, and its limitless possibilities for the future.

Artist: Chico Buarque
Title: Chico Buarque de Hollanda
Label: Som Livre
Genre: World
UPC: 7891430121129
Territory: North America, Europe, Australia
Release Date: 02.01.10

A man of many talents, Chico Buarque has gained worldwide notoriety since the 60’s as a singer, guitarist, composter, dramatist, writer, and poet. His music, however, is most securely tied to his name; his bossa nova compositions from Brazil throughout the 60’s were not only smooth and impressive, but also caused controversy as they were charged by social, economic, and cultural commentary on Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. His music was deemed dangerous by the Brazilian military dictatorship of the time which led to his departure along with several of his fellow musicians to leave the country in 1970. Since then he has battled through government censorship in his music, novels and plays, all of which have been critically acclaimed. IODA is proud to present Chico’s 1966 debut, Chico Buarque de Hollanda in its high-quality remaster from the fantastic Som Livre label.

The album is a polished presentation of Chico’s ear-catching debut: a mix of bossa nova, jazz, and big band, all lined with his distinct, charming vocal style. The whole album features his flamenco style finger picking on the guitar, touches of horn sections, upright bass, flute, and Latin instrumentation.  His lyrics also stand out: during Brazil’s military coup d’état of 1964, Buarque wrote about the events which transpired and avoided censorship by using cryptic analogies and wordplay. For example, in the song “Cálice” (“Chalice”, or Jesus’ Last Supper “Cup”) he takes advantage of the homophony between the Portuguese imperative “shut your mouth” –cale-se– and “chalice” –cálice– to protest censorship against freedom of speech by the dictatorship, disguised as the Gospel narrative of Jesus’ Gethsemani prayer to the Father to pass from Him the chalice of bloody death probation. He is clearly a master of wordplay as well as musical composition.  His beloved classics “A Banda”, “A Rita” and “Sonho de Um Carnaval” are all included.

Fans of Seu Jorge will find a comfortable fit with Chico’s laid back, sunny Latin style. This is classic, classy, and musically advanced. Perfect for everything from cocktail parties to homework music to something to just relax too.