19 Apr 06 ·CaitlinSpelledWrong: It's a great song and the video might be even better. Scratch that out, you can't compare the song and the video. Just know that the video is amazing. 26 Apr 06 ·ambassador: i just heard this song again on the radio after not hearing it for a couple of years and it became so clear to me that the boys from R.E.M. masterfully created a modern, pleading soul ballad. Notice the breakdown at the end and you can almost imagine Mike Stipe down on his knees pleading to the audience, ala James Brown. Love the song even more now.
You might be familiar with Francoise's incredible 1971 album La Question, a track from which was recommended by another user almost four years ago (Oui, je dis adieu). I managed to get a friend to copy the album for me at the time, and I recall being very taken by 'Viens', the first song. I put this track on a compilation but somehow never really savoured the album as a whole.
Recently I found I could get the album on CD, so picked it up (along with another interesting Francoise album, 'If you listen').
The difference for me now I have the CD is vast, and I'm now able to appreciate the album in all its glory. The clincher for me is the blend of percussive Brazilian guitar, beautiful strings, and the Melody Nelson-style sparseness of the arrangements.
I chose this track to recommend because of the bizarre extra dimension brought by the fact that Francoise is just scatting - there are no words - and the intermittent moments of complete silence, which are surprising and really hold the attention. Parts of the chord sequence remind me of Henry Mancini (in particular, a track called 'Softly' from the Mr Lucky soundtrack), while the overall effect of the sexy echoey vocal naturally brings to mind Ennio Morricone's work with Edda Dell'Orso.
26 Apr 06 ·ambassador: this album's a favorite of mine, too. I also really like her album "Soliel" of a couple years earlier. The interesting thing about this album is that the Brazilian female guitarist Tuca (just one name) backed her on this as she did on Nara Leao's gorgeous tribute to Bossa Nova (recorded in France), "Dez Anos Depois." If you listen to these albums side by side you can clearly here the similarities, not to say they sound identical. And doesn't Fracoise look stunning on the b&w album cover?
WOW! 3 fat composers ( Marcos Valle, Joao Donato & Deodato) join forces for one groovy track. Awesome keyboard work from Bertrami of Azymuth. Mesmerizing,sexy and funky.
30 Jul 04 ·n-jeff: Very pleased to say I saw Marcos Valle perform this last night. Thats a great set of names to drop "Heres a song I wrote with Eumir Deodato and Jao Donato". Very cool. And a very good song, he handled the keys himself live.
And thanks to everyone whos namedropped Valle on musical taste, as I otherwise would have missed out on a great gig! 15 Jul 06 ·ambassador: this track was a reworking of Donato's tune "Batuque" from his album with Deodato, called "Joao Donato" or Donato/Deodato on the original LP. Basically, Marcos Valle liked the song and decided to add lyrics. Funnily, the way that Donato/Deodato was recorded each of these famous composers added their parts seperately starting with Donato's keyboards, then Deodato's arrangement and then marcos took that and reworked it with lyrics and azimuth as his backup band. one of my all-time favorite tracks.
13 Aug 06 ·jandek: recently discovered this myself, WOW!
I guess I'd describe it as sort of psychedelic soul, the uplifting feeling I get when the chorus kicks in is truley awesome...no need for drugs! This is one of the most beautiful life afirming songs I've heard... 16 Aug 06 ·ambassador: Minnie Riperton's voice is stellar as always, but what really shines, for me, on this song is the HUGE arrangement, courtesy of maestro Charles Stepney. Check out the earlier version of the song w/o lyrics on Ramsey Lewis' album, Maiden Voyage, also featuring Stepney arrangements.
So anyone who's seen The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou or City of God will recognize Seu Jorge as the handsome, dark-skinned actor with the gravelly voice. In Life Aquatic he plays Pele, the Brazilian safety officer on board Zissou's boat and the bard that plays Portuguese language covers of David Bowie songs. Although this is changing, even in Brazil he's better known as an actor than a musician. His second solo album (he used to be in a band called Farofa Carioca), Cru, was released last fall in France and was impossibly hard to find until recently. Tive Razao was the first release from this album and is fairly representative and is the shining peak as well. Based around an acoustic guitar riff and Seu Jorge's multi-tracked vocals, the song just floats in this melancholy haze like some of the best Chico Buarqu de Hollanda ballads. The production on this song (and the album) is much more sparse than the previous album, but much more original as well. Jorge even uses what I think is a theremin to add a slight spookiness to the preceedings. The lyrics mean something like, "I had an excuse" or "I had a reason."
from Cru, available on CD
16 Aug 06 ·ambassador: I since found out that the title means "You were right." makes a bit more sense that way.
