BRASILIDADE

As a rule, the so-called electronic music has been incorporating Brazilian elements in artificial or simply decorative forms, regardless of the good intentions of local or foreign producers. At least, that's the impression one gets while listening to Brasilidade, the second album by the trio Bossacucanova, this time around made with songwriter, acoustic and electric guitarist Roberto Menescal. To listen to it right after listening to Bossacucanova Vol. 1 is to make the transition from lo to hi-fi, from complete low profile to total ambition. They are not about adding beats and grooves to well-bred bossa nova recordings, as they were on the first disc. The quartet decided to face a radical renovation process, of the bossa and of the elctronica, too - and the result reaches the best of both worlds. Key tracks: Rio, A Morte de um Deus de Sal, Surfboard, Água de Beber and Guanabara. Scratch, guitars and tambourines making house music very Brazilian and the samba, very English.

(Silvio Essinger)