Brazil — All Formats  

One of the most exciting new Brazilian albums we've stocked in a long time! This great new album by Lenine is a mad mix of soulful vocals, flanged-out guitars, rootsy percussion, and modern production with some slight amount of the kinds of sample influences being used by other modern Brazilians (like Carlinhos Brown or Arnaldo Antunes). The real difference, though, is Lenine's great guitar work – which strikes out through the mix in a haunting Beck-ish way. His voice is pretty darn great, too – with a deep richness that we haven't heard since Milton Nascimento or Djavan. The whole package is pretty darn nice – and tracks include "Arede", "Tubi Tupy", "Alzirae Torre", "Relampiano", "Eu Sou Meu Guia", and "Nao Pressao".

An amazing record – one that stands as one of Chico Buarque's greatest from the 70s! The set was recorded in Italy in 1970 – and features Chico singing lead vocals over backings handled by Ennio Morricone – all in a style that's a perfect blend of MPB with the best elements of the Italian scene of the time! The songs are all originals written by Chico – and have a light and dreamy samba/bossa feel, one that's inflected by the off-beat orchestral style of Morricone, and supported by vocals from I Cantori Moderni. The feel is halfway between Chico's work on RGE and some of the dreamier Morricone soundtracks of the time – and it's a wonderful thing to have a strong male lead vocal over backings from Morricone – a really rare thing for the time, with results that are tremendous. Titles include "Rotativa", "Samba E Amore", "Nicanor", "Tu Sei Una Di Noi", "In Te", "Ed Ora Dico Sul Serio", and "Quete E Quelle".