Looking back over my previous top ten lists, 2023 holds up well. The longer I’ve been at this, the more proficient I’ve gotten to finding good albums thanks to a mix of algorithms and sources. Also my ears get more and more attuned to the aural feel of music from Brazil: whenever I take a break from Brazil, it’s not too long before I miss the cadences of its sounds. Eventually I’ll stop doing this. (I actually put out fewer posts in 2023 than I did in any previous year.) But even when I stop doing the blog, I’m confident I’ll listen to the music I’ve discovered through it until I can’t listen ..read more

After a couple of years of just listing stuff until I got bored, this year I limited my playlist to 40 songs. I also emphasized tracks from albums that won’t make my top ten list, albeit those albums had to land some songs here because I loved them so much. But I’ll note that my top two albums of 2023—I’ll let you see the list in a week or two; I’m still testing it to see if it holds—don’t land a song on here, and only six of the 15 or so albums I graded A- or higher place here. I stand by all 40 tracks here, however. Two hours and 18 minutes of delight. And, sure, you got your bossas and samb ..read more

Bixarte, Traviarcado – Maybe it’s the northeastern rhythms and the commitment to place they represent. Or maybe she’s just better at making music, but Bixarte’s latest tops all the stars I recently summed up in my pop overview. Nine songs in 28 minutes never let up as beats and personality carry you along. Listen here. Grade: B+ Cabezadenego, Mbé and Leyblack, Mimosa – Performance artist Luiz Felipe Lucas (dba Cabezadenego) and producers Mbé and Leyblack worked on this celebration of Brazilian rhythm during a shared residency at the Etopia Centro de Arte e Tecnologia in Zaragoza, Spain. Fourte ..read more

The good stuff that won’t quite make the cut for my 2023 wrap up. Plus a stinker or two. ÀTTØØXXÁ, Groove – One hundred percent black music, the cover promises, and as long as you’re not silly enough to think that’s just a North American thing, the album delivers. Producer Rafa Dias and his bandmates put Bahia front and center in their international dance music, so it manages to fit contemporary dance music aesthetics while remaining thoroughly and proudly Brazilian. If the 13 tracks begin to sound samey, well old people like me aren’t the audience, and those who are are probably too busy part ..read more

As much as I prefer to focus on more traditional Brazilian musics as they are mutated for our moment, let’s not kid ourselves. Alt-samba is no more popular there than alt-rock is here. These are musics for subcultures and critics. The wider audience in Brazil, and more or less worldwide, is swept up in the same pop/hip hop/country (sertanejo) vibe that’s dominated American markets for the past couple of decades. And, some hip hop aside, I barely touch that here. So a column to rectify that a bit. May I introduce (or maybe just reintroduce) you to Anitta, Ludmilla, Luísa Sonza, and, Pablo Vitta ..read more

Patrícia Bastos, Voz da Taba – Singer from Macapá whose excellent Zulusa was a fave of 2013. Here she draws again upon the beatier traditions of Brazil’s northeast for eleven sinuous tracks that sound as rooted in central Africa as they do Brazil, especially the soukous-tinged guitar work. Of course there are 13 tracks, so skip the duds that lead and close the album to revel in a sound that’s pure up. Listen here. Grade: A- Bixiga 70, Vapor – Hands down the best album from this estimable band mostly because they are playing for the studio rather than the show. Earlier albums showcased a band w ..read more

Ana Frango Elétrico, Me Chama de Gato Que Eu Sou Sua – Avoiding being pigeonholed as indie, Frango makes a disco move. Bass, string and horn arrangements, dance beats: Frango would be unrecognizable if not for that voice. But if the sounds change, the smarts remain. With each record, Frango’s grasp of music making has deepened. The records sound richer and more thought through. That’s not an entirely a good thing, however. The loose, punky spirit of the debut has receded. Instead you get something that’s impressive, but not quite as fun. Frango still has a sense of humor. “Boy of Stranger Thin ..read more

Luiza Lian, 7 Estrelas (quem arrancou o céu?) – Following up her artistic breakthrough, Azul Moderno, Lian makes her first record where she doesn’t sound like she’s reinventing herself. Which would be find if the songs matched the predecessor. Instead it sounds like she put more effort into textures and sonics. The results are sort of impressive when you immerse in headphones, but a dozen plays in, not a single track sticks with me. Listen here. Grade: C+ Fabiano do Nascimento, Das Nuvens – Tending quiet and precise, Nascimento’s music always risks falling into some new agey, smooth jazzy pit ..read more

Rio’s Planet Hemp made their name as national rap-rock pioneers in the ’90s (and, duh, advocates of legalizing weed), but it’s the aftermath of their short career that made them more than a curiosity: rappers BNegão, Black Alien and especially Marcelo D2 went on to become pillars of the Brazilian hip hop. Planet Hemp traced its roots to the chance meeting of Marcelo Maldonado Peixoto (Marcelo D2) and Luís Antônio da Silva Machado (Skunk). The latter had been floating among Rio’s varied musical scenes in the ’80s. Marcelo had lived like many do on the margins of society when options are limited ..read more

Born March 3, 1943 in Rio de Janeiro, Jards Anet da Silva grew up surrounded and enchanted by music. After a move to the famed Ipanema area he picked up the nickname “Macalé” (the name of a bad football player), from which he derived his stage name and career prospects. One of Brazil’s “maldito” artists—respected, but commercially marginalized—he became a musician’s musician working alongside the ‘greats’, but never gaining significant notice for his own career. Legal troubles with the dictatorship (he was temporarily banned from performing/recording because of obscenity charges) and personal ..read more