Electroma

Anyone who has read this blog more than once will know that I have a slight obsession with Daft Punk, and I am finding that this obsession is growing despite the fact they haven't released a record for more than two years. Not to say they haven't been busy, there is the huge Kanye West single Stronger, the everlasting tour, and their new movie, Electroma. I was going to write all about said movie, which I watched a couple of weeks ago, but then the Guardian wrote this and the Observer Music Monthly wrote this, thus saying everything I wanted to say but with like proper words and that. So instead I'll simply say that it's a very strange, dialogue-free, grotesque, possibly pretentious, beautifully shot, very slow and bizarre movie with no music by Daft Punk in it. Suffice to say, your mum probably won't like it. I did, and I would encourage anyone who doesn't mind watching films where not a lot happens to see it.

It does have some very fine music in it, Eno standing out in particular, along with this beauty:

Todd Rundgren - International Feel

Remain In Light

Here in the great Talking Heads giveaway, we have reached what is generally regarded as their finest hour, Remain In Light. It's hard to argue with this opinion, as the album contains Once In A Lifetime, everybody's favourite Talking Heads song. The enormity of this song tends to overshadow the fantastic album tracks, such as Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On), Crosseyed and Painless, and The Great Curve. If you don't have it, you need it. Real bad. Right now.

Talking Heads - Fela's Riff [unfinished outtake]

Talking Heads - Unison [unfinished outtake]

Talking Heads - Double Groove [unfinished outtake]

Talking Heads - Right Start [unfinished outtake]

Once upon a time, Mercury Rev were good...

In many ways I am quite a dull man. I do not partake of the alcohol, the nicotine, the meat and the drugs. However, that doesn't mean that I want my artists holding back in a similar style. I would be particularly disappointed to discover that Josh Homme didn't indulge himself in all four, for example. Sometimes the absence of a vice, normally drugs, can remove the essential ingredient of what made a band interesting in the first place. The best example of this that I know is Mercury Rev. Originally they were a mess of smack addled freaks who made two genius albums of psychedelic pop. Then they kicked out the most messed up member, singer David Baker, cleaned up and became increasingly dull over the years. Now while I understand why for personal reasons they wanted to clean up (they wanted to live rather than die, which is fair enough I suppose) but part of me wishes they pick up the phone to give Baker a ring, and pick up the needle to go back to the days when they were actually good. Is that wrong?

Mercury Rev - Chasing A Bee

Mercury Rev - Bronx Cheer

As this is unlikely to happen, I have to comfort myself by listening to those two old albums, and to their closest contemporary musical equivalent, Animal Collective, whose Panda Bear released the very fine Person Pitch album a couple of months ago:

Panda Bear - Comfy In Nauticaa

Where the songs are passionate...

The bunting has been prepared, the elephants are on standby and the carnival has been brought forward several months. Yes, today is my first anniversary in Brazil. I could write a very long and detailed feature about my recollections and experiences, but I can't be bothered. So instead here is a flippant list of things I miss about the United Kingdom:

Cheddar cheese
Reading the Guardian on a Saturday while listening to Jonathan Ross on Radio 2.
Cricket
Sky Sports News
Being indoors when it's raining
Second hand record shops
Decent crisps (I'd kill a man for some prawn cocktail)
Gigs
Parsnips

And here's a list of things that I am particularly enjoying in Brazil:

Caqui
It being hot, but not too hot, all the time
The architecture in Brasília
Teaching
6 (so far) different types of banana
Having greatly increased mooching opportunities
Knowing that I am learning a language (although not the painfully slow process of learning itself)
Knowing that, not too far from here, monkeys roam free



Secondly, here's a special blog about the song known by most people as Brazil. It is actually called Aquarela do Brasil (Watercolour Of Brazil) and is considered to be one of Brazil's most patriotic traditional songs. Written by Ary Barroso in 1939, it has been covered by numerous people as you can see below. It's an extremely catchy tune, and has a yearning quality, as if the singer is trapped on the other side of the world, away from his beloved (or adopted) homeland, dreaming of returning to "old Brazil". I'm sure this is something I will identify with in the future, but then so can anyone who is homesick or longing to return to a place they love, whether it's Brazil, Bahrain or Bolton.

The imagery of the song is very evocative without being too specific, mentioning the "amber moon", the twilight and the sun. We know this place is paradise, but we are not sure why. If we want to know we will have to go there for ourselves, and discover it's secrets (which could take a lifetime, it's the fifth biggest country in the world!). I think the images in this song have probably contributed to the stereotypical image of Brazil around the world (by 1945 Brazil had been performed more than two million times on U.S. radio and TV), an image that most countries would die for: hot weather, carnival, beaches, football and beautiful people.



Brazil
(English lyrics by S.K. “Bob” Russell)

Brazil
The Brazil that I knew
Where I wandered with you
Lives in my imagination.

Where the songs are passionate,
And a smile has flash in it,
And a kiss has art in it,
For you put your heart in it,
And so I dream of old Brazil

Where hearts were entertaining June,
We stood beneath an amber moon
And softly murmured “someday soon”
We kissed and clung together,
Then tomorrow was another day
The morning found me miles away
With still a million things to say

Now when twilight dims the sky above,
Recalling thrills of our love,
There’s one thing I’m certain of;
Return I will
To old Brazil.

Here are some very fine Brazilian versions:

Gal Costa - Aquarela do Brasil

Catano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Joao Gilberto - Aquarela do Brasil

Elis Regina - Aquarela do Brasil

Tom Jobim - Aquarela do Brasil

The song was used extensively by Terry Gilliam in his film Brazil. Almost the entire film is accompanied by various versions of the song (which is the only reference to Brazil in the whole film), including this one by Kate Bush:

Kate Bush - Brazil

Two more versions:

Django Reindhardt - Brazil

Pink Martini - Brazil

In 1975, the Ritchie Family had a hit with a disco version:

The Ritchie Family - Brazil

In recent years, it has been covered by some better artists (better than the Richie Family you scoff!):

Cornelius - Brazil

Beirut - Brazil

Arcade Fire - Brazil

Of course they all pale in comparison with this masterpiece:

The Vengaboys - To Brazil

For more information go here.

The good tracks from a half good, half bad album that you've never get around to listening to otherwise part one

Hey there's a new tribute album to Joni Mitchell out, and it features such luminaries as Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox, and yes, James Taylor. I can feel your excitement through my keyboard. But hold on, before you go back to youtube to look for clips of monkeys fighting, the album also contains these fine artists:

Sufjan Stevens - Free Man In Paris

Bjork - The Boho Dance

Caetano Veloso - Dreamland

Elvis Costello - Edith & The Kingpin

Prince - A Case Of You


Jamesinbrasil - wading through the Lennox to give you the Stevens.

Pitchbjork

The new Bjork album Volta is out tomorrow, and where I'm from, this is a reason for much celebration. She is the closest thing we have to a bona fide genius, every album is fascinating and brilliant. She becomes more interesting as she gets older as she continues to experiment while retaining her pop core. The new album Volta, sees her working with fine roster of artists, from Antony to Konono No. 1. The most interesting collaborations are with Timbaland and Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt. The idea of Bjork singing over a Lightning Bolt track is possibly the coolest idea I can imagine, and she's only gone and done it on the track Declare Independence. The second coolest thing I can think of is for her to sing over one of Timbaland's sickest beats, and she's only gone and done that too, on the single Earth Intruders and on Innocence. Just listen to the beats on this track, they are beyond ridiculous:

Bjork - Innocence

And as a bonus here's a remix of Earth Intruders by your favourite B-more booty bass electro hip hop crew (a hotly contested title for many of you, I know) Spank Rock:

Bjork - Earth Intruders (Spank Rock remix)

Apple Records

What's the worst thing about Oasis? Where does one begin? For me, their worst crime was a lack of ambition. There is nothing wrong with being obsessed with another band, particularly when that band are as good as the Beatles. But to focus in on only one aspect of their songwriting and ignore everything else was just lazy and lame-o. The thing that made the Beatles so good was the fact that they pushed themselves, which gave us Tomorrow Never Knows, I Am The Walrus, Glass Onion et al. Oasis couldn't be bothered with all that risky business, they are happy to generate third rate pastiches of Rubber Soul b-sides until they die.

The Beatles influence has taken many varied forms over the last 40 odd years, from Ozzy taking Helter Skelter to it's logical conclusion, to ELO's shiny sky blue pop. The latest album to follow this well trodden path is by Apples In Stereo. Although they have been around since the early 90's I have only just heard them for the first time, and the album, New Magnetic Wonder, is everything I want from Beatles inspired album, with a healthy dose of The Beach Boys, Velvet Underground, Todd Rundgren and yes, ELO, on the way. Its the kind of music that makes me strut around my flat, singing along with all those winning melodies and catchy hooks. In short, it's a great (power) pop record.

Apples In Stereo - Can You Feel It?

Apples In Stereo - Energy

Yacht Rock

I really should have talked about The Blow on here before, as their album Paper Television was one of my favourites of last year. They are a mish mash of electronics, girl groups, hip hop, doo wop, and no wave vocals, colliding to create pop music, pure and simple. Heartfelt, sing along, sincere, fun pop music, which, in case you haven't worked it out yet, is all I want not just from music, but from life. They should be massive, but the world doesn't work that way, does it?

The Blow - Pile Of Gold

The fella from The Blow, Jona Bechtolt (the other member of the band is Khaela Maricich) is a solo artist under the moniker, and appears to be something of a internet renaissance man. Check out his wikipedia page for his impressive resume, and this fascinating and probably fictional account. I am mainly familiar with his remixes, but this solo track sounds promising (and doesn't it sound like Miss You by the Rolling Stones?):

Y.A.C.H.T. - See A Penny, Pick It Up

The Blow - Hock It (Y.A.C.H.T. Remix)

Fear Of Music

Sorry I haven't posted in the last couple of weeks. I'd love to tell you that I've working 24/7 and haven't had time, but that would be a lie. The truth is that I have been distracted by the combined forces of Pro Evolution Soccer, Grand Theft Auto, and seasons 3 and currently 4 of 24. Oh and we keep getting power cuts (there's nothing like a power cut to remind you how important electricity is. What am I supposed to do, read a book?) And I have been suffering from a general lack of inspiration, enthusiasm or whatever you wanna call it. Doing a blog, can, at times, be a nuisance, so it's bound to happen every now and again. Anyway, I'm back now, so here's part three of the great Talking Heads giveaway.

Fear Of Music was the third Talking Heads album, and the second produced by Brian Eno. It has two of their finest songs. Life During Wartime, features a typical David Byrne lyric, half about the practicalities of everyday living in that environment, and half about well, nothing really. I Zimbra, their full on afro-funk Fela Kuti homage, with nonsense lyrics and possibly the finest groove ever captured on a Talking Heads record. The extra tracks here include an alternative take on Life During Wartime, which has had a screeching guitar solo added to the song, and a different version of Cities (listen to the opening lyric about London, which seems entirely wrong and still brilliant to me):

Cities [Alternate Version]

Dancing For Money [Unfinished Outtake]

Mind [Alternate Version]

Life During Wartime [Alternate Version]



Checking back I realised that the post for the previous album More Songs About Buildings And Food didn't allow you to download and keep the mp3's. If anybody wants, I will go back and repost them so you can have them. Just let me know in the comments.

EDIT: I have added the aforementioned tracks to the original post. Click here.

Let's Work...

So you'll never guess what I did this week. I worked. Check me out. I had my first two private conversation classes with students. In these lessons I spoke to a Brazilian about me and my opinions and my life, and listened to them while they did the same. In other words we had a conversation. For an hour. I think leaving retail behind might have been a good idea...

Prince - Let's Work (Live In Long Beach, 31/03/83)

Talking Heads - Found A Job (Live 29/09/79)

Daft Punk - Teachers (Live At The Rex Club, Paris)

Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes

Super Furry Animals - The Teacher

Tom Waits - I Can't Wait To Get Off Work (Live On VH1 Storytellers)

Props to the Shrigley

I'm back...

So I'm back after my month off, sufficiently recovered from my jetlag and the English cold that I got two hours before I left the country. The jumpers have been replaced by shorts, and the sore nose with mosquito bites, and normal service has been resumed.

It's good to be back in the sunshine and my flat, which i have multimediered up with a dvd player, extra hard drive, PS2, and various speakers, is now providing me with a million more distractions and time killing opportunities that I could probably do without, but am very happy to have nonetheless.

Bruna and I had a lovely time in the UK and it was great to see everyone. So if you let us stay in your house, bought us gifts, took us to dinner, gave us discount in HMV or provided us with your fine company, than a big thank you. We probably won't be back for a couple of years, so unless you want to come and visit, lets keep this internet based communication going, as its a lot of fun. You can find me on myspace and last fm, and of course use the comments section here, as your feedback is important to me.

So down to business. I had a lot of catching up to do with the blogs when I got back (three weeks is an age online) and here is a random smattering of new songs I like. This Villalobos remix of Depeche Mode is never going to be released apparently. What fools. It's an absolute masterpeice of remixing, building up and and up over it's thirteen minutes:

Depeche Mode - The Sinner In Me (Ricardo Villalobos Conclave Remix)

Here are Brazilian funsters Cansei De Ser Sexy messing about with a indie rock classic:

CSS - Pretend We're Dead

Talking of indie rock classics, here are splendid new tracks from the new Dinosaur Jr and Low albums:

Dinosaur Jr - Almost Ready
Low - Breaker

I don't know anything about this band, but I know this remix is well tasty:

The Black Ghosts - Face (Switch mix)

As is the latest Diplo offering:

Claude Von Stroke - The Whistler (Diplo Remix)

And this sounds like TV On The Radio doing electrorap:

Muscles - Ice Cream

P.S. I am attempting to use a new filesharing site, for the 53rd time. Please let me know if the mp3's download okay. Thanks.

More Songs About Buildings And Food

As most of you will know, Jamesinbrasil wil be Jamesinengland for three weeks, so there won't be any posts for nearly month. Hopefully I'll get to see most of you at some point. And if not, well, have an nice February and I'll leave you with the bonus tracks from the second Talking Heads album:

Thank You For Sending Me An Angel [Country Angel Version]

Stay Hungry [1977 Version]

The Big Country [Alternate Version]

I'm Not In Love [Alternate Version]




See you in a month!

i heart 2007

First I get the tremendous new LCD Soundsystem album (out March 20th) Listen to the first single, North American Scum, here. Then I hear new Arcade Fire tracks (new album Neon Bible is out on March 6th):

Arcade Fire - Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Arcade Fire - Black Mirror



Then we get the new fabulous !!! album (taking the afrofunk via Talking Heads Remain In Light route and making a damn fine job of it). Out February 19th:

!!! - Must Be The Moon




And then I have the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album (stream it here, download it here or wait until 30th of January to buy it in your local record emporium):

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Satan Said Dance




Its all going my way right now. Lets hear it for 2007! Woo!

Christmas In Brazil...

...and new year too...

















Download Sex Pistols - Holidays In The Sun and Tom Ze - São São Paulo from here: christmas in brasil

Caetano Veloso vs Ghostface Killah

I have spoke here before about Caetano Veloso, a Brazilian singer that I consider a genius. He's a fascinating character. In the '60's he was imprisoned and then exiled in London due to the Brazilian dictatorship, as he was perceived as a threatening, counter-cultural revolutionary. His ability to sculpt the Portuguese language in creative ways is well known in Brazil to the point where the verb caetanear exists, meaning to invent new words. A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to see him in concert, and he was tremendous. He is a very engaging performer, changing musical styles constantly. It is always good to see an older musician continuing to challenge themselves. He performed this song, which is in English, about his time in London:

Caetano Veloso - London, London



In 2006, Ghostface Killah released the hip hop album of the year with Fishscale, a magnificent album that doesn't suffer from the sprawling self indulgence of so much commercial hip hop. Then he followed it up with More Fish, the spin off album of bonus tracks, remixes etc, which manages to be almost as good. Maybe he was inspired by Sufjan Stevens Illinois and Avalanche double bill. Or maybe he wasn't. Anyway both albums I heartily recommend.

The reason I mention Caetano and Ghostface together is because of this track:

Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown

which is based around a sample from this track:

Caetano Veloso - Alfomega

from the album Irene or the Soul Jazz Tropicalia compilation. The Ghostface track is a leftover that didn't make it on to either album, probably due to clearence issues. Produced by MF Doom, it shows how at its best, hip hop is the most open minded and creative music in the world. Together at last, as they say.