TOM ZE - TOM ZE
Tom Zé
is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, innovator and composer who was hugely
influential in the Tropicália movement of '60s Brazil. Zé is often thought of
as Brazil’s answer to Zappa or Captain Beefheart; a true innovator and a true
artist. Mr Bongo re-issued Zé’s debut record ‘Grande Liquidicao’ originally
released in 1968. This, his second solo album, is self-titled, and was released
by RGE Discos in 1970. After the peak of the Tropicália period, Zé went into
relative obscurity. It was only in the '90s, when musician and Luaka Bop label
founder David Byrne discovered an album recorded by Zé many years earlier, that
he returned to performing and releasing new material. Continuing in a similar
musical vein to Grande Liquidicao, ‘Tom Ze’ is a wonderful combination of
guitars, layered of percussion and tough rock ’n’ roll, underpinned by Ze’s
instantly recognisable vocal. Ze is infact one of Brazil’s most sampled
artists. ‘Jimmy, Renda-Se’ has one of the most recognisable intros you will
hear, so it was no great surprise that Amerie sampled it for her smash ‘Take
Control’. All in all, another essential record from a true legend of Brazilian
music.
OS BRAZOES - OS BRAZOES
Rare and
highly sought after in its original format, Os Brazoes self-titled album was
originally released on RGE Discos in 1969. It is a psychedelic masterpiece that
fuses samba, r’n’b and rock ’n’ roll influences using fuzz guitars, synths,
percussion, lush vocals and effects. Os Brazoes formed in Rio de Janeiro in the
late '60s. They backed Gal Costa during her Tropicalia period, yet apparently
never recorded in the studio with her. Miguel de Deus, the bands front man,
recorded the highly sought after ‘Black Soul Brothers’ LP in '77, which became
an important record in the ‘Black Rio’ movement. Mr Bongo released the title
track from that LP, on the ‘Brazilian Beats: Brooklyn’ compilation in '06 and
recently as part of their Brazil 45s re-issue series. ‘Os Brazoes’ features
covers of Gilberto Gil’s ‘Pega a Voga, Cabeludo’ and Jorge Ben and Toquinho’s
‘Carolina, Carol Bela’. The Mr Bongo LP reissue is manufactured in Japan,
presented in a super high quality card sleeve with replica original artwork.
The CD is presented in a 4-page digi-pack.
KING FLOYD - WELL DONE
Wonderful
work from King Floyd – post-Stax, post-Atlantic, but still sounding great here
– with that undeniable charm that always makes his records sound so great!
Floyd's got a way of singing that's deep, but also a bit effervescent too –
this crackling sort of energy in the way he puts over a lyric, even bluer one –
which really gets some great support here from a small backing combo at Malaco,
who can really hit the right sort of "Groove Me" mode at times! The
set's a great example of the way that Malaco easily picked up the torch when
those other two labels were starting to lose their coverage of the south – and
King's very much at home on a sweet set of tunes that include "I'm Gonna
Fall In Love With You", "I Don't Think I Could Face It", "I
Feel Like Dynamite", "Movin' On Strong", "So True",
"Can't Give It Up", and "Try Me". Nice photo of some ribs
on the cover, too!. ~ Dusty
Groove
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