Thursday, March 27, 2008

Stuff I've been listening to

Greetings, readers.

Since I'm sure everyone out there's curious, I thought I'd share some info about new stuff I've gotten lately that I'm really digging. I don't think it's at the station yet, but if we get some action on this blog I'll be happy to burn some copies and take them down to the station.

First off is the Born Ruffians- it's straight-ahead rock, mostly just a guitar, bass and drums. But they're loud and make really fun tunes. The lead singer has a pretty incredible voice: he's shrill but not obnoxious, and can really fling his voice around in some pretty interesting ways. Their new album "Red Yellow and Blue" has some great stuff on it, my favorites being "Little Garcon" and "Foxes Mate For Life." "Little Garcon" is softer than the rest of their stuff, but like most of their songs it settles into an interesting (if unsurprising) beat and allows the vocals to carry the more interesting parts. "Foxes Mate For Life" is a little faster, and features a very clever throwback use of background vocals. This stuff won't change your life, but makes for a diverting, enjoyable listen.

On the other end of the spectrum is the soundtrack for "Manda Bala," a documentary about kidnappers in Brazil. It features Brazilian music (tropicalia, bossa nova, etc.), and a couple tracks in particular really stand out. "Quero Voltar pra Bahia" (translating to "I want to go back to Bahia") is an astoundingly catchy tune by Paulo Diniz with a sound somewhere near the intersection of funk, psychedelia, and ragtime. Most of the song is in Portuguese, but his attempts to sing the chorus in English really hold it together. "You Don't Know Me" by Caetano Veloso is a cleaner sounding, more traditional ballad with a nice Brazilian lilt to it. "Dê Um Rolê," a waltz by Novos Baianos, is also worth hearing- it's got a strong flute sound and a some very nice guitar work in the background.

And with that, let's keep this blog rolling!

1 comment:

dmarvs said...

Do you actually have the soundtrack for the documentary? I agree that it is really a solid album and gives listeners some much needed exposure to both some classic and more recent brasilian tunes. I have been trying to track it down but haven't seen anything about it. Anyone know more info about when/where it might be available?