We have copies of both ‘Oi!’ and ‘Sem Nostalgia’ available from our store – Lucas’s CD comes with a bonus ‘voices and guitars’ DJ mix and copies of ‘Oi!’ come with one of the promo posters we printed in Sao Paulo from Brazilian artist Derlon Almeida (see above).

And just wait till you see what we’ve got planned for 2012! More news in the new year. Abracao forte para todos!

Rio’s carnaval is however just one of hundreds that happen across Brasil and here I’ve pulled together links to pictures, video and music from those that happened across the country – in Recife, Belo Horizonte, Bahia and Macapa.

We’ll start in Rio – yet this is no glitzy bloco – in fact these guys would probably draw more fans in the UK than anywhere else. Let me to introduce you to the sensational Bloco do Sargento Pimenta - the Bloco of Sergeant Pepper. They only perform songs by the Fab Four and here are two killer clips from them. The first is them in a practise session performing ‘Sgt Pepper’s Maracatu’ and then a great video shot by a fan who was right in amongst them as they perform ‘Twist and Shout’ during the carnaval – pure goosebumps! I’m with them next year!

Next we head over to Belo Horizonte to check out Carnavaliza BH! – a collective of local musicians who recorded new carnaval-inspired compositions in tribute to their carnaval. The video for their track ‘Marchinha da Alcova’ below has some nice carnaval after-party vibes…

Get your own carnival started by buying the entire album on download here for only $5. It features ‘Marchinha da Alcova’ above plus the perky ‘Filhos de Chachá’ from ‘Oi!’ Contributors Graveola & many other future carnaval classics.

Recife-Olinda is one of Brasil’s biggest carnavals and here’s some footage of local hero DJ Dolores tearing it up with his newly-reformed Orquestra Santa Massa proving that they’ve lost none of their original fire:

Click here for some great street-shots of Recife’s carnaval taken by Beto Figueiroa (his photo is at the top of this piece) and here for photos from Recbeat – the music festival that runs alongside Recife’s carnaval – taken by their official photographer Caroline Bittencourt, including this rather fetching one of Ceu…

From Recife we head back down south to Paraty for this video of revellers getting in the spirit of the Bloco do Lama – the Mud bloco!

Here’s a nice selection of images from the carnaval in Macapa in the far north of the country – a more low key affair than the others but as you can see from the photo below still plenty to see…

Brazil’s biggest pop star Ivete Sangolo was in Bahia – here she is performing a surprisingly catchy slice of synth-axe that’s something to do with Superman:

And then finally we head back to Rio for some spooky goings-on courtesy of the Comissão de Frente da Unidos da Tijuca – many people considered them robbed of the first prize in the carnaval procession for their expertly synchronised performance:

Till next year, or if you’re in London, Notting Hill in August!

(Thanks to Vanessa Gabriel, Mariana Robles & Luiz Gabriel Lopes for sending over links and Caroline Bittencourt, Beto Figueiroa and Gavin Andrews for letting us use their photos)

When I was in Brasil late last year DJ Dolores told me that this was the song of the summer in Recife and it now looks set to be the tune of the Carnival right across Brasil. With catchy lyrics and it’s own easy-to-follow dance I reckon it could even be a hit this summer in Europe. All together now “Vou não, quero não, posso não, minha mulher, não deixa não…”

It’s a start-studded global line-up with something for everyone – check it out:

Mestre Ambrósio were the originators of manguefolk. Between 1995 and 2001 they recorded three acclaimed albums showcasing their ‘mangue’ take on regional northeastern folk music such as forró, maracatu, coco and baião. They were led by Siba, who has since released a string of critically acclaimed albums to establish himself as the king of manguefolk – but every king needs a queen – and this title belongs to Alessandra Leão.

Alessandra performs with three percussionists and three guitarists to create a jubilant sound where sinuous guitars weave in and out of driving percussion. The percussion owes much to folk-roots styles such as samba de roda or coco whilst the echoing guitars recall both the northeastern guitarrada style as well as the jingle of classic indie bands such as The Smiths.

Alessandra performs with full band in Netherlands and Belgium later this week – a righteous sound guaranteed to bring some of the scorching Recife sunshine to a frozen northern Europe – dates are below.

If you can’t make it to the shows then the videos below will go some way to alleviating winter blues – firstly Alessandra performs with full band on ‘Varanda’ and then secondly a stripped down version of ‘Boa Hora’ with guitarist Caçapa. The full version of this track, along with a sublime duet from Siba & northeastern folk guitarist Roberto Correa, feature on my compilation ‘Oi” which you can get here.

Alessandra Leão tour dates: February 2011
24 – De Doelen – Roterdam (Netherlands) – www.dedoelen.nl
25 – Zuiderpershuis – Antwerp (Belgium) – www.zuiderpershuis.be
26 – RASA – Utrech (Netherlands) – www.rasa.nl
27 – Tropentheater – Amsterdam (Netherlands) – www.tropentheater.nl

Alessandra Leão “Varanda”

Alessandra Leão & Caçapa “Boa Hora”

Veering from the Afro-American freestyling of Bobby Mcferrin & Richard Bona to a bittersweet piece from jazz-trio The Bad Plus via stadium axe from Margareth Menezes and an epic nine minute orchestral-roots tour-de-force from the Orquestra Popular de Câmara (featuring Nana Vasconchelos and Benjamin Taubkin amongst others), it’s a fascinating dip into the collective psyche of one of Brazili’s most interesting ‘new’ bands.

I’ve taken the liberty of including their choices from two Brazilian acts new to me: the delightful ‘Além Mar’ from qUEbRApEdRA plus a riotous piece of jazz-electro-punk from Madame Rrose Sélavy.

qUEbRApEdRA – Além Mar

Madame Rrose Sélavy – Moça da Novela

Check the full playlist here.

Graveola describe their sound as a mix of “mpb, brasil, rock, samba, barrocobeat, protopunk, polifonia, alternativa, popular…” and their latest self-titled album (from which I took ‘Outro Modo’) manages to swoop, rush and glide between the aforementioned influences to keep the listener intrigued whilst creating a mature and coherent whole you’ll want to turn to again and again. You can download their self-titled debut album for free from their website.

A friend of mine tipped me off about Karina Buhr late last year having seen her perform at the world music trade fair Womex.

My mate’s not a fan of the typical nu-bossa artists that trade fairs like Womex seem to choose so when I got the text “…just seen karina buhr from brasil fkg great!!” i knew I had to check her latest album ‘Eu Menti pra Você’.

Once you get past the album’s uninspiring cover and bland first two tracks you’re rewarded with a quirky mix of punky-electro-jazz-tinged-rock-pop that takes risks and hangs together surprisingly well. Highlights for me are the post-punk tinged ‘Avião Aeroporto’, ‘Ciranda do Incentivo’ with it’s electro-breaks-groove, the doom-acid of ‘Esperança Cansa’ and punk-jazz of ‘Soldat’.

Hats off to her for including ‘Telekphonen’ – a low-fi-doom-jazz-tainted piece over which she delivers a monologue in German – let’s be honest now, could you imagine Céu pulling that off? Don’t just take my word for it either, respected Latin music website Sounds and Colours deemed her album the second best of 2010.

Karina’s band has some heavyweight players including Fernando Catatau from Cidadao Instigado – you can see them all give it some in this spirited performance of ‘Nassiria e Najaf‘ below. She’s due to tour Europe this summer – more details TBC

Cidadão Instigado‘s album from 2009 ‘Uhhh’ is a joyous affair – 80s influenced Brazilian-rock-pop full of drums machines, wavy guitar solos, buoyant synths and Fernando Catatau’s bonkers vocals. In the video for “Contando Estrelas” below Fernando walks along a beach interspersed with shots of clouds and waves, then a guitar drops from the sky enabling him to perform the track’s fabulous guitar solo.

Alongside Rodrigo Brandao, Lurdez Da Luz is the other half of acclaimed Brazilian hip-hoppers Mamelo Sound System, yet here she’s flying solo with “Andei” – a double-bass led summer-vibes good-times hip-hop roller. It was shot around one of my favourite landmarks in São Paulo, the Niemeyer-designed Copan building. Bowling around the building Lurdez is joined by an ever-increasing group of friends till there’s enough of them for a block-party jam at the end.

Two necessary reminders that somewhere out there sun, fluffy clouds, happy people and blue skies still exist. I’ll be back with more summer vibes soon but for those of you reading this in Europe I advise you to wrap-up-warm as I heard it might snow this weekend…

(TramaVirtual is a portal that enables new Brazilian bands to offer their music for free. The videos were featured in various best-of 2010 lists posted by contributors – you can check the full lists here)

I am proud to present the Mais Um Gringo ‘Tropicalia to Tecnobrega’ 30 minute mega-mix, featuring 20 tracks from the most exciting artists in Brazil now! Jumping from novo-tropicalia to brega-dancehall, tropical-rock to punk-forro and electro-carimbo to eletro-melody, it’s the aural equivalent of a hurricane blasting its way through Brazil’s overwhelming music scene. Full length versions of all the tracks feature on my recent compilation ‘Oi! A Nova Musica Brasileria!’.

Featured artists (in this order) are: Diego De Moraes – Mini Box Lunar – Catarina Dee Jah – Do Amor – Porcas Borboletas – Orquestra Contemporanea De Olinda – Caldo De Piaba – 3namassa feat Ceu – Flora Matos – Curumin – China – La Pupuna – Naurea – Mestre Curica & Lucio K – Pio Lobato – Gaby Amarantos – Maderito & Joe – Baiana System – Otto.