4 posts tagged “putumayo”
This is perfect for the upcoming Black Friday: I've filmed my W♥M Holiday Gift Guide 2009. These are the stuff that I want and/or own. Other like-mind geeks out there here's where you can find these
awesome stuff.
Music: Superdrag - 4-Track Rock !!! 1992-1995 + Complete "Bender" Sessions, Putumayo Presents - Jazz Around the World
Toys: Red Hulk, Grey Hulk, Green Hulk (all are from Marvel Universe 3 ¾" Series)
Games: Dragon Age Collector Edition
Books: Ghost World: The Special Edition (Hardcover), Adrian Tomine's "Summer Blonde" ($5!)
Movies: Star Trek Target Exclusive DVD. Bluray version not available on the crappy target.com website. I would also like to formally lodge a complaint about target search: it sucks. Also: Shaw Brothers Metal Tin: Epic Heroes (4 DVDs and T-Shirt Offer) , this tin case is a great gift for the Martial Arts fan. I already own two of the movies on this collection, but bought this anyway.
So, as you know, I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to pop culture stuff, quite interested in collecting all of the Shaw Brother's movies on DVD. If you like that sort of thing, I'm maintaining a checklist of sorts at movies.weheartmusic.com. They're mostly only being released as DVDs, the only Shaw Brothers to get released as a bluray in the US market is Opium and the Kung Fu Master, and it's brilliant. Image quality is amazing for a 1984 film - much better than some of the dodgy bluray releases (I'm looking at you, Anchor Bay).
I have also been playing Dragon Age, quite slow-moving, but I love it. The best version to get is the PC version, surprisingly. First of all it's about $10 cheaper than the Xbox or PS3 version, and it looks fantastic compared to those console version. Plus you can zoom out for that top-view like those Baldur's Gate games. Love it.
The collector's version comes with some useless junk: in-game items (I hate these digital "extras") and cloth map. The best thing out of this collection is the soundtrack and "making of" DVD. I did watch the DVD features, they're professionally produced. Take the time to watch the strategy feature, there's some great insights on how to create your characters and what's the best weapons & armors in the game.
The soundtrack is composed by Inon Zur, who also previously did soundtrack work for Bioware's Baldur's Gate II and Icewind Dale II. Dragon Age soundtrack has the typical epic orchestral instrumentals, however there are a few songs on the album that features Gaelic-type singing by Aubrey Ashburn (particularly on "Lelianna's Song", "I Am The One", and the main theme song). From Ashburn's description on the DVD interview, it looks like the song writing process had quite a fast turn-around time.
There is one song on the soundtrack that I do not believe actually appears in the game, DJ Killa's remix of "I Am the One". Keep in mind that I haven't finish the game, so the song may be in the game... I was told that 30 Seconds to Mars also has a song on Dragon Age, but I've yet to encounter that either.
Music: Superdrag - 4-Track Rock !!! 1992-1995 + Complete "Bender" Sessions, Putumayo Presents - Jazz Around the World
Toys: Red Hulk, Grey Hulk, Green Hulk (all are from Marvel Universe 3 ¾" Series)
Games: Dragon Age Collector Edition
Books: Ghost World: The Special Edition (Hardcover), Adrian Tomine's "Summer Blonde" ($5!)
Movies: Star Trek Target Exclusive DVD. Bluray version not available on the crappy target.com website. I would also like to formally lodge a complaint about target search: it sucks. Also: Shaw Brothers Metal Tin: Epic Heroes (4 DVDs and T-Shirt Offer) , this tin case is a great gift for the Martial Arts fan. I already own two of the movies on this collection, but bought this anyway.
So, as you know, I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to pop culture stuff, quite interested in collecting all of the Shaw Brother's movies on DVD. If you like that sort of thing, I'm maintaining a checklist of sorts at movies.weheartmusic.com. They're mostly only being released as DVDs, the only Shaw Brothers to get released as a bluray in the US market is Opium and the Kung Fu Master, and it's brilliant. Image quality is amazing for a 1984 film - much better than some of the dodgy bluray releases (I'm looking at you, Anchor Bay).
I have also been playing Dragon Age, quite slow-moving, but I love it. The best version to get is the PC version, surprisingly. First of all it's about $10 cheaper than the Xbox or PS3 version, and it looks fantastic compared to those console version. Plus you can zoom out for that top-view like those Baldur's Gate games. Love it.
The collector's version comes with some useless junk: in-game items (I hate these digital "extras") and cloth map. The best thing out of this collection is the soundtrack and "making of" DVD. I did watch the DVD features, they're professionally produced. Take the time to watch the strategy feature, there's some great insights on how to create your characters and what's the best weapons & armors in the game.
The soundtrack is composed by Inon Zur, who also previously did soundtrack work for Bioware's Baldur's Gate II and Icewind Dale II. Dragon Age soundtrack has the typical epic orchestral instrumentals, however there are a few songs on the album that features Gaelic-type singing by Aubrey Ashburn (particularly on "Lelianna's Song", "I Am The One", and the main theme song). From Ashburn's description on the DVD interview, it looks like the song writing process had quite a fast turn-around time.
There is one song on the soundtrack that I do not believe actually appears in the game, DJ Killa's remix of "I Am the One". Keep in mind that I haven't finish the game, so the song may be in the game... I was told that 30 Seconds to Mars also has a song on Dragon Age, but I've yet to encounter that either.
11/24/2009 00:52:54 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
You must think
it's so great to review music, even as a hobby. That is until you
realize that I've been listening to nonstop Christmas music ... in
October!! Most of the smarter record labels are releasing their
Seasonal music of or prior to that American tradition known as "Black Friday".
What we have in store for you are three very special Christmas albums that's already released or coming out soon-ish.
Putumayo Presents: A Family Christmas
putumayo.com
Putumayo's Christmas album came out at the end of October, and features eleven tracks of very well-known Seasonal songs, including "Winter Wonderland" and "Frosty the Snowman". The emphasis seems to be on "family", as these are all very cheery and traditional-sounding. Which should also translate to boring/age-old songs, but this being from the folks at Putumayo, is nothing but predictable.
Starting with appetizers, Johnny Bregar's banjo-like strumming and snapping to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". We move to some smooth drink with a jazzy "Holly Jolly Christmas" by Martin Sexton.
The main dish for me is a swingy big band "Is Zat You Santa Claus?" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Now, I've heard of these guys when "Swing was the thing" movement, but I had no idea they were so good. Based on this Christmas song, I can see why the band was honored to play the half-time at Super Bowl in 1999.
My other favorite off the album is the Hawaiian Christmas song, "Mele Kalikimaka", as a duet between Debbie Davies & Matt Perrine. The song sounds very retro to me, like something you'd hear in the 1950s by The Andrews Sisters, especially because I have visions of Ukulele and Hulu hoops, as I'm drinking my Kauai Cocktail.
The rest of the album seems very snacky, especially with the acoustic version of "Winter Wonderland" by Deana Carter. This works because of Carter's sweet voice. The other girl-singer Kate Rusby, who brought an international flavor to "Here We Come A-Wassailing", you can tell with her English accent.
The album comes to a close with a dance-for-all jamboree "Frosty the Snowman" by Lars Edegran and his Santa Claus Revelers. This instrumental sounds very New Orleans to me, a bit of jazz and wild swing that grooves you to dance out of the restaurant.
As usual, with all Putumayo's releases, this release comes with a handsome packaging with large lyric book (two pages of biography is devoted to each artist, written in English, French, and Spanish). If you're not convinced, you can hear three more songs at putumayo.com with the option of downloading a free song from there.
Kermit Ruffins
myspace.com/kermitruffinsmusic
Speaking of New Orleans and jazz and Putumayo alumni, Kermit Ruffins has a Christmas album coming out on November 10th called Have Yourself a Crazy Cool Christmas.
As expected, this is an album of Christmas standards, but with a jazzy twist. Lots of trumpets and piano-playing on the album. Ruffins does some scatting "What Will Santa Say When He Finds Everybody Swingin’", which you can clearly hear some Louis Armstrong-influences.
While I say these are standards, these songs often have change in either musical shifts or lyrics have been changed or sung in a very different way. I noticed that "swing" replaces a few words, like in "Santa Claus is swinging into town". Also, as with most jazz improvisation, the music often become its own entity, usually stretching out the songs into five or six minutes, when traditionally they're two or three minute songs. For instance, "Little Drummer Boy" is now a sad New Orleans-style six minute epic song.
My favorite on the album is the duet "Baby It's Cold Outside". My review copy does not include liner notes, so I do not know who the part of the woman is sung by. Anyway, it's not as cheesy as the Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews version, but it's still pretty funny whenever I hear this song about a couple fighting and the guy is locked outside his home. Ruffins' humor can be found on his title track, "Have Yourself a Crazy Cool Christmas" where he warns people to have a crazy cool Christmas, but "don't get knocked up!"
If you want to hear Christmas songs in a jazzy style, you do need to check out Kermit Ruffins' Have Yourself a Crazy Cool Christmas. The album will be available next week on Basin Street Records.
Tori Amos
toriamos.com ♥ myspace.com/toriamos
On a similar note, Tori Amos' Christmas album is a reworking of classic Seasonal songs. While it's easy to dismiss these Christamosed song, I think she's doing a fantastic job on changing your expectations of these songs. If you have ever heard any Tori Amos cover songs, you'll notice that she always transforms the original song into something completely new and different. And that's exactly what she's doing on Midwinter Graces.
While some of the more popular and traditional songs, "What Child Is This?" (retitled as "What Child, Nowell"), "Emmanuel", and "We Three Kings" (retitled as "Star of Wonder"), are reimagined, I think there might actually be some original Tori songs such as "Pink and Glitter" and "Our New Year".
What else is new is that she has a full orchestra behind her on this album. You can clearly hear all the sweeping arrangements on all the songs, in particular "Harps of Gold". In contrast, my favorite is "Snow Angel", a quieter song with lots of violins and pianos.
If you're a Tori fan, there's something to like here: a bit of traditional with a bit of modern... but clearly a Tori Amos product. I've stressed before that Abnormally Attracted to Sins will only appeal to Tori Amos fans, with Midwinter Graces, I feel people outside of the Amos circle will like and understand. I mean, who doesn't like Christmas music?
Midwinter Graces is available next week on Universal Republic. You can pre-order the CD/DVD combo on amazon. Unfortunately, my review copy does not include the DVD portion, but I'm sure it's the usual interview and/or music video.
What we have in store for you are three very special Christmas albums that's already released or coming out soon-ish.
|
|
putumayo.com
Putumayo's Christmas album came out at the end of October, and features eleven tracks of very well-known Seasonal songs, including "Winter Wonderland" and "Frosty the Snowman". The emphasis seems to be on "family", as these are all very cheery and traditional-sounding. Which should also translate to boring/age-old songs, but this being from the folks at Putumayo, is nothing but predictable.
Starting with appetizers, Johnny Bregar's banjo-like strumming and snapping to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". We move to some smooth drink with a jazzy "Holly Jolly Christmas" by Martin Sexton.
The main dish for me is a swingy big band "Is Zat You Santa Claus?" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Now, I've heard of these guys when "Swing was the thing" movement, but I had no idea they were so good. Based on this Christmas song, I can see why the band was honored to play the half-time at Super Bowl in 1999.
My other favorite off the album is the Hawaiian Christmas song, "Mele Kalikimaka", as a duet between Debbie Davies & Matt Perrine. The song sounds very retro to me, like something you'd hear in the 1950s by The Andrews Sisters, especially because I have visions of Ukulele and Hulu hoops, as I'm drinking my Kauai Cocktail.
The rest of the album seems very snacky, especially with the acoustic version of "Winter Wonderland" by Deana Carter. This works because of Carter's sweet voice. The other girl-singer Kate Rusby, who brought an international flavor to "Here We Come A-Wassailing", you can tell with her English accent.
The album comes to a close with a dance-for-all jamboree "Frosty the Snowman" by Lars Edegran and his Santa Claus Revelers. This instrumental sounds very New Orleans to me, a bit of jazz and wild swing that grooves you to dance out of the restaurant.
As usual, with all Putumayo's releases, this release comes with a handsome packaging with large lyric book (two pages of biography is devoted to each artist, written in English, French, and Spanish). If you're not convinced, you can hear three more songs at putumayo.com with the option of downloading a free song from there.
Tour Dates
12/05/09 Vaughan’s New Orleans, LA
12/07/09 Blue Nile New Orleans, LA 12/10/09 Bullet’s New Orleans, LA 12/12/09 Vaughan’s New Orleans, LA 12/17/09 Bullet’s New Orleans, LA 12/19/09 Vaughan’s New Orleans, LA 12/21/09 Balcony New Orleans, LA 12/24/09 Bullet’s New Orleans, LA 12/26/09 Vaughan’s New Orleans, LA 12/27/09 Blue Nile New Orleans, LA 12/28/09 Balcony New Orleans, LA Read More
|
myspace.com/kermitruffinsmusic
Speaking of New Orleans and jazz and Putumayo alumni, Kermit Ruffins has a Christmas album coming out on November 10th called Have Yourself a Crazy Cool Christmas.
As expected, this is an album of Christmas standards, but with a jazzy twist. Lots of trumpets and piano-playing on the album. Ruffins does some scatting "What Will Santa Say When He Finds Everybody Swingin’", which you can clearly hear some Louis Armstrong-influences.
While I say these are standards, these songs often have change in either musical shifts or lyrics have been changed or sung in a very different way. I noticed that "swing" replaces a few words, like in "Santa Claus is swinging into town". Also, as with most jazz improvisation, the music often become its own entity, usually stretching out the songs into five or six minutes, when traditionally they're two or three minute songs. For instance, "Little Drummer Boy" is now a sad New Orleans-style six minute epic song.
My favorite on the album is the duet "Baby It's Cold Outside". My review copy does not include liner notes, so I do not know who the part of the woman is sung by. Anyway, it's not as cheesy as the Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews version, but it's still pretty funny whenever I hear this song about a couple fighting and the guy is locked outside his home. Ruffins' humor can be found on his title track, "Have Yourself a Crazy Cool Christmas" where he warns people to have a crazy cool Christmas, but "don't get knocked up!"
If you want to hear Christmas songs in a jazzy style, you do need to check out Kermit Ruffins' Have Yourself a Crazy Cool Christmas. The album will be available next week on Basin Street Records.
Tour Dates
12/12/09 Regent Theatre Melbourne
Read More
12/13/09 Regent Theatre Melbourne 12/15/09 Canberra Theatre Canberra 12/16/09 Opera House Sydney 12/17/09 Opera House Sydney 12/19/09 Thebarton Theatre Adelaide 12/21/09 PCEC Riverside Perth 12/24/09 QPAC Concert Brisbane |
toriamos.com ♥ myspace.com/toriamos
On a similar note, Tori Amos' Christmas album is a reworking of classic Seasonal songs. While it's easy to dismiss these Christamosed song, I think she's doing a fantastic job on changing your expectations of these songs. If you have ever heard any Tori Amos cover songs, you'll notice that she always transforms the original song into something completely new and different. And that's exactly what she's doing on Midwinter Graces.
While some of the more popular and traditional songs, "What Child Is This?" (retitled as "What Child, Nowell"), "Emmanuel", and "We Three Kings" (retitled as "Star of Wonder"), are reimagined, I think there might actually be some original Tori songs such as "Pink and Glitter" and "Our New Year".
What else is new is that she has a full orchestra behind her on this album. You can clearly hear all the sweeping arrangements on all the songs, in particular "Harps of Gold". In contrast, my favorite is "Snow Angel", a quieter song with lots of violins and pianos.
If you're a Tori fan, there's something to like here: a bit of traditional with a bit of modern... but clearly a Tori Amos product. I've stressed before that Abnormally Attracted to Sins will only appeal to Tori Amos fans, with Midwinter Graces, I feel people outside of the Amos circle will like and understand. I mean, who doesn't like Christmas music?
Midwinter Graces is available next week on Universal Republic. You can pre-order the CD/DVD combo on amazon. Unfortunately, my review copy does not include the DVD portion, but I'm sure it's the usual interview and/or music video.
11/03/2009 17:10:02 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
|
10/15/09 BELLY UP*, SAN DIEGO, CA
10/16/09 Troubadour*, LA, CA 10/17/09 Solar Culture TUCSON, AZ 10/24/09 930 Club*, Washington DC 10/28/09 SOB’s*NY, New York 10/29/09 Sala Rosa*,Montreal, Quebec 10/30/09 Rivoli*, Toronto, Ontario 10/31/09 Schuba’s*, Chicago, Illinois 11/01/09 Schuba’s*, Chicago, Illinois 11/03/09 Varsity Theatre*, Minne, MN 11/13/09 Womad Festival, Palmas 11/28/09 BLACK NOTEA, Valencia 12/11/09 Sala Plateruena, Vizcaya 12/12/09 La Faktoria de Arts, Barcelona *with Federico Aubele |
National
Geographic's Music have been on my mind lately. First off, I got some
free songs from Gabon People and Bibi Tanga et le professeur
inlassable, via PNY's National Geographic Bonus Offer because I had recently purchased a 8 gig SanDisk for my Olympus Camera.
DEPEDRO
depedro.net ♥ myspace.com
While searching for shows coming to Minneapolis, I noticed that Jairo Zaval, aka DePedro, will be playing here with Federico Aubele, in early November. He's probably most famous for being the touring guitarist for Calexico, but in the Spanish world, he'll probably be known for being the frontsman for the rock group Vacazul, blues band 3000 Hombres, and surf group Los Coronas. Well, his self-titled debut album was released last August via the National Geographic Music Label.
Since I only have basic high school Spanish, I really couldn't tell you what many of the songs mean. There are a few English songs that I did understand (and enjoyed, particularly "Two Parts in One"), but the majority of his songs are written and sung in Spanish.
There are some welcomed surprises, including incredibly poppy song "Te sigo soñando", a latin-bluesy "¿Qué puedo hacer por ti?", and a partial duet on "Llorona".
His single and radio song that they seem to like is "La Memoria" (the Memory), which, if you can understand Spanish, it might convey how he felt about poverty and injustice when he visited Mexico. The song was a free giveaway on natgeomusic.net, but I couldn't figure out where on their website.
PUTUMAYO PRESENTS ESPAÑA
www.putumayo.com
When it comes to World Music, I think Putumayo's the
label for these type of music. Each release is gorgeous, always
including a gorgeous booklet with each artist's biography (in English,
Spanish, and French). This is one of those company that doesn't really
release their music on iTunes - which is fine, because the real
experience is in its physical package. These releases are made to be on
display on your bookshelves.
Beyond DePedro, of course I did not recognize any of these Spanish artist on this release. But that's okay, I trust Putumayo to do a great job compiling the best of the best, as they say. After all, they've been doing this since 1993.
Most of these songs are on the upbeat side. Sometime I feel these songs are mixture of traditional with modern mix. The stand-out tracks that does that traditional/modern thing is "Cumbia Caimanera" by El Combolinga, a band from Madrid. Judging from the translated lyrics, they are singing about "real life" of the state of things in Cuba.
While I did mention that most of these songs are very Flamenco/Spanish, there is a surprisingly vaguely reggae song on the album called "Te Estás Equivocando" (You Are Getting it All Wrong) by Gecko Turner. I believe the chorus music might be stolen from "The Tide is High" by the Paragons (who was made famous by Blondie), by the way.
Also, this must be a reoccurring feature, but in addition to music, there's a few recipes for Bread Pudding and Torrijas de Natillas, by chef Eva Arguinaño. And as always, buying Putumayo means they will donate a portion of their profit to a charity. This release proceeds will go to Intermón Oxfam.
Look for their two upcoming release in late October, A Family Christmas and Jazz Around The World.
DEPEDRO
depedro.net ♥ myspace.com
While searching for shows coming to Minneapolis, I noticed that Jairo Zaval, aka DePedro, will be playing here with Federico Aubele, in early November. He's probably most famous for being the touring guitarist for Calexico, but in the Spanish world, he'll probably be known for being the frontsman for the rock group Vacazul, blues band 3000 Hombres, and surf group Los Coronas. Well, his self-titled debut album was released last August via the National Geographic Music Label.
Since I only have basic high school Spanish, I really couldn't tell you what many of the songs mean. There are a few English songs that I did understand (and enjoyed, particularly "Two Parts in One"), but the majority of his songs are written and sung in Spanish.
There are some welcomed surprises, including incredibly poppy song "Te sigo soñando", a latin-bluesy "¿Qué puedo hacer por ti?", and a partial duet on "Llorona".
His single and radio song that they seem to like is "La Memoria" (the Memory), which, if you can understand Spanish, it might convey how he felt about poverty and injustice when he visited Mexico. The song was a free giveaway on natgeomusic.net, but I couldn't figure out where on their website.
PUTUMAYO PRESENTS ESPAÑA
www.putumayo.com
Read More |
Beyond DePedro, of course I did not recognize any of these Spanish artist on this release. But that's okay, I trust Putumayo to do a great job compiling the best of the best, as they say. After all, they've been doing this since 1993.
Most of these songs are on the upbeat side. Sometime I feel these songs are mixture of traditional with modern mix. The stand-out tracks that does that traditional/modern thing is "Cumbia Caimanera" by El Combolinga, a band from Madrid. Judging from the translated lyrics, they are singing about "real life" of the state of things in Cuba.
The lone woman singer on this whole compilation, Uxía, certain stood out for me. According to her biography, she grew up very close to Portugal, so she's long felt kinship with the Portuguese culture. Her song, "Danza Ritual" (Dance Ritual) sings about a dance, describing it as a spider spinning the web of fate.From the other side of the river, where there are no streetlights
Foundtains are dry and we don't put foot to ball
That's where we the caimans live
Without a job or glamor
We have big mouths and our eyes are looking south
That's why we sing looking towards the south
While I did mention that most of these songs are very Flamenco/Spanish, there is a surprisingly vaguely reggae song on the album called "Te Estás Equivocando" (You Are Getting it All Wrong) by Gecko Turner. I believe the chorus music might be stolen from "The Tide is High" by the Paragons (who was made famous by Blondie), by the way.
Also, this must be a reoccurring feature, but in addition to music, there's a few recipes for Bread Pudding and Torrijas de Natillas, by chef Eva Arguinaño. And as always, buying Putumayo means they will donate a portion of their profit to a charity. This release proceeds will go to Intermón Oxfam.
Look for their two upcoming release in late October, A Family Christmas and Jazz Around The World.
10/13/2009 19:17:48 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
|
08/01/09 JOHNNY BREGAR Seattle, WA • Woodland Park Zoo
08/02/09 JOHNNY BREGAR Portland, OR • Oregon Zoo 08/01/09 JAY MANKITA Amherst, MA • Eric Carle Museum 08/02/09 JAY MANKITA Boston, MA • Boston Children’s Museum 08/08/09 JAY MANKITA Brooklyn, NY • Carroll Park 08/09/09 JAY MANKITA Manhattan, NY • Central Park 08/08/09 RHYTHM CHILD San Francisco, CA • Oakland Zoo 08/09/09 RHYTHM CHILD Sausalito, CA • Bay Area Discovery Museum 08/12/09 RHYTHM CHILD Pasadena, CA • Levitt Pavilion 08/13/09 RHYTHM CHILD Los Angeles, CA • Pershing Square |
New York-based record label Putumayo World Music have been compiling
some of the best Latin, African, Reggae, Celtic and other world music.
With nearly 200 albums released since 1993, their two latest releases
are Picnic Playground (for the kids) and Brazilian Café (for the adults). Both were released on July 28th on the Putumayo Label. I am happy to have the later for review.
Brazilian Café comes with a massive 35-page booklet, devoting two pages to each artist spotlighted on the disc (I am assuming these are standard in most of Putumayo's releases). Each entry is written in English, Spanish, and French, which you should all know are the major speaking language of North America. It also comes with some recipes (Coffee Pave and Pave au Cafe), perfect for listening to this album while enjoying these cookies and sipping your coffee.
The overall feeling I have listening to this album is that it's very "NPR" (National Public Radio), a milder audience who supports the arts and generally also like talk-radio and jazz. Which there is nothing wrong with that as I love NPR.
All the artists are Brazilian and all of the songs collected here are in Portuguese. Since I don't know the language, it's very important that the song tone and style reflect what the song is about - and I feel like some of these songs are about love, dancing, having a good time.
With 12 artists representing the best of Brazilian lounge/acoustic singer/songwriter-type, I thought these were some of the best:
Katie B
katiab.com.br/myspace.com
Katia Bronstein is one of the newer Brazilian artist on the compilation. Her voice is very soothing, perfect for possibly doing future electronica-type music. Her song, "Viajei" (I Traveled)
Alexandre Leão
alexandreleao.com
His song, "Vumbora Amar" (Let's Go Away to Love) has a nice melody that blends somba and bossa nova. According to his biography, he was covered by well established "Carcará"-singer Maria Bethânia, instantly establishing him as a star... and soon all the Brazilian artists started covering his songs.
Carlinhos Cor Das Aguas
myspace
Cor Das Aguas is a child of the Afro-Brazilian culture of the state of Bahia. Listening to his beautiful vocals on "Tempo Interno" (Inner Time) and based on the song title, it's about reflection on his life.
These are just a small sample of what Brazilian Café offers. If you would like more information, the album can be purchased directly at Putumayo, alternatively amazon. I don't recommend MP3s, since you aren't presented with such a wonderful booklet that goes along with the album. Also, please note that Putumayo donate some of their proceeds to various charities, in this case 1% goes to Terra dos Homens Brazilian Association.
Brazilian Café comes with a massive 35-page booklet, devoting two pages to each artist spotlighted on the disc (I am assuming these are standard in most of Putumayo's releases). Each entry is written in English, Spanish, and French, which you should all know are the major speaking language of North America. It also comes with some recipes (Coffee Pave and Pave au Cafe), perfect for listening to this album while enjoying these cookies and sipping your coffee.
The overall feeling I have listening to this album is that it's very "NPR" (National Public Radio), a milder audience who supports the arts and generally also like talk-radio and jazz. Which there is nothing wrong with that as I love NPR.
All the artists are Brazilian and all of the songs collected here are in Portuguese. Since I don't know the language, it's very important that the song tone and style reflect what the song is about - and I feel like some of these songs are about love, dancing, having a good time.
With 12 artists representing the best of Brazilian lounge/acoustic singer/songwriter-type, I thought these were some of the best:
katiab.com.br/myspace.com
Katia Bronstein is one of the newer Brazilian artist on the compilation. Her voice is very soothing, perfect for possibly doing future electronica-type music. Her song, "Viajei" (I Traveled)
Alexandre Leão
alexandreleao.com
His song, "Vumbora Amar" (Let's Go Away to Love) has a nice melody that blends somba and bossa nova. According to his biography, he was covered by well established "Carcará"-singer Maria Bethânia, instantly establishing him as a star... and soon all the Brazilian artists started covering his songs.
Carlinhos Cor Das Aguas
myspace
Cor Das Aguas is a child of the Afro-Brazilian culture of the state of Bahia. Listening to his beautiful vocals on "Tempo Interno" (Inner Time) and based on the song title, it's about reflection on his life.
These are just a small sample of what Brazilian Café offers. If you would like more information, the album can be purchased directly at Putumayo, alternatively amazon. I don't recommend MP3s, since you aren't presented with such a wonderful booklet that goes along with the album. Also, please note that Putumayo donate some of their proceeds to various charities, in this case 1% goes to Terra dos Homens Brazilian Association.
07/30/2009 10:42:30 ♥ vu ()
♥ putumayo.com
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