Aguaverde - Summer 2014

I'm calling it. It's summer time. In honor of the upcoming weekend which I hope will be filled with much relaxing, perhaps a rum-based cocktail or two and maybe a large quantity of grilled meat I'd like to soundtrack your summer with the sweet vibes of Bresil.

I first got interested in Brazilian music after hearing the unbeatable compilation "Tropicalia - A Brazilian Revolution in Sound" from SoulJazz. If you don't already have this record it is one of the best compilations SoulJazz (who are at the top of the game, in my opinion) has ever put out. Get it.

Let me ramble on about the roots of Tropicalia for just a second. Born out of the fires of a repressive government trying to quell the spirit of rebellion that was spreading across the globe in the late 60s by trying to keep a lid on outside culture, Tropicalia combined music and radical politics in a way that really hasn't been seen in Brazil before or since. These dudes were part poet, part psychedelic weirdo, building trippy rock tunes out of the roots of traditional Brazilian samba and bossa nova.

They were basically psychedelic, funky Brazilian punks. Quite a few of the architects of Tropicalia were even exiled from Brazil for decades because of their radical music and political stance. (Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil who were two of the main figureheads of the Tropicalia movement lived in london until the mid-to-late 70s. Upon returning, Gil even served as the Minister of Culture for Brazil under Luiz da Silva)

In this mix I've included a couple of Tropicalia tracks as well as some of my favorite Brazilian tunes from before and after that era. Check out Gilberto Gil's fuzzed out "Bat Macumba" and the breezy psychedelia of Os Mutantes' "A Minha Menina" on the Tropicalia front. I've included two songs by Baden Powell and Vincius de Moraes as well as "Samba de Minha Terra" by Joao Gilberto, these guys (along with Antonio Carlos Jobim) pretty much singlehandedly developed Bossa Nova. More recently, Sandra Sa's 1983 jam, "Trem da Central" represents movements in Brazilian music toward a slightly more electronic, funky sound.

Tons of jams on this mix. Have a caipirinha or four and let the jams guide your weekend.

AGUAVERDE

1) Edu Lobo - Aguaverde
2) Baden Powell & Vincius de Moraes - Canto de Ossanha
3) Astrud Gilberto - Take it Easy my Brother Charlie
4) Jorge Ben - Mas, Que Nada!
5) Os Mutantes - A Minha Meinina
6) Gilberto Gil - Bat Macumba
7) Elizabeth Cardoso - Na Cadencia do Samba
8) Tim Maia - Belleza
9) Sandra Sa - Trem da Central
10) Martinho da Vila - Claustrofobia
11) Nara Leao - Birimbau
12) Abilo Mandel - Olha La
13) Chico Buarque - Sem Fantasia
14) Joao Gilberto - Samba da Minha Terra
15) Geraldo Azevedo - Berekeke
16) Baden Powell & Vincius de Moraes - Canto de Xango

Many thanks to Luke Warmcop at Tristes Humanistes and Clifton at Aquarium Drunkard for hipping me to some of these tunes.

A/G/U/A/V/E/R/D/E