Record of the Month
November  2008



Sonantes
Sonantes
Six Degrees

Would your lives be noticeably worse, if attention was not drawn to this release by a bunch of friends who gathered earlier this year in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to sing and play some new songs? The truth is, probably not. But there is still something admirable about the innocence of the project, including what may be one of the least arresting covers ever conceived , and surely the San Francisco record label  Six Degrees should be praised for honouring not only the designer’s obscure intentions, but also for encouraging the musicians to make the album in the first place. It is the latest contribution from a city less celebrated for its musical productions than Rio de Janeiro, home of Brazil’s famed Bossa Nova.

Exactly ten years ago, the promising Yugoslav producer Suba released his debut album Sao Paulo Confessions, featuring several singers based in the city including Bebel Gilberto, whose own debut album was mostly produced by Suba and released soon after his tragic death in a fire in his apartment. For everyone involved, that death was a catastrophe from which many never recovered, and all subsequent attempts to recapture or recreate Suba’s elusive magic failed to come close to his original potion. If it may be misleading to mention that classic album in the context of this new one from Sonantes, there is a comparable sense of exploration, discovery and sheer pleasure in these performances.

The first surprise is, these are live recordings, not programmed beats. Each and every sound is a physical act, an interchange between musicians who are listening to each other, making it all up as they go. On the first two songs, the voice of CeU confirms all the promise suggested in her first album, the one that has been floating all year among the best sellers at Amazon.co.uk, despite little apparent provocation (ie., no tours, no spoon-fed media interviews). But, just as it seems this is going to turn into CeU’s second album, a new voice takes over, the baritone croon of Siba, a country singer from the Recife region of north east Brazil, who usually sounds more ‘roots’ than this. Here, he wins and breaks our hearts with a lovely melody that begs to be played again and again: ‘Toque de Coito’.

The conscientious reviewer makes sure to mention as many tracks as possible, but this one yields to the temptation to stop at three and settle for as good a beginning as can reasonably be expected from any album. The first song, ‘Carimbó’, manages to evoke both Chuck Berry’s ‘You Can’t Catch Me’ and Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’, which is quite a trick to pull off. Electric guitar adds sharp stings, percussion rumbles and suddenly we are back at track 3 again as ‘Toque de Coito’ re-establishes itself.

I have to remember to take evasive actioneach time track 4 begins, due to  a lifetime aversion to songs which begin with a singer going  ‘ba, bap-bap’ – why do Brazilian singers invariably do that?  But that aberration is all over a few minutes later, and the album settles back into its bed of comfortable familiarity.  The musicians, incidentally, include members of two groups, bringing together both electronica whiz kids Instituto and the usually more rowdy Nacao Zumbi, who show few signs here of the thunderous percussion that has been their trademark (as demonstrated on Later with Jools a year or two ago).

I take back my introductory half-heartedness. This ingenious and intelligent album does belong on your CD player after all.