Mood

From Gardens Where We Feel Secure - 4

After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house

Walking in a spiral towards the house: Side C

@0 EP1

Morning Spring

Lula Pena - Não + Amar   from "Phados" 1998

The popularity of Brazilian music from the 60s, 70s and 80s has experienced quite the renaissance; artists such as Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Arthur Verocai, Joyce et al, have become household names to an international audience passionate about global sounds. However, even for die-hard fans and collectors of Brazilian music of the past, discovering contemporary Brazilian artists is not always easy, nor accessible. But, if you know where to look, you will see that there is a resurgence well underway that can be epitomised by an exciting new wave of Brazilian artists beginning to break through and gather momentum overseas. It’s with thanks to Sound and Colours, a website devoted to promoting Latin American music and culture, that we can help shine a light on one particular collective, bursting with creativity and camaraderie.

‘Hidden Waters: Strange and Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro’ is compiled by Joe Osborne (founder of specialist Brazilian music platform Brazilian Wax) and Russ Slater (editor at large of Sounds and Colours). Focusing solely on the 'Rio Scene', rather than taking on the mammoth task of tackling Brazil as a whole, this collection presents 20-plus ground-breaking artists selected from Rio’s resurgent music scene. By presenting a snapshot into the pulse of the city and the vibrant musicians that live in it, ‘Hidden Waters’ collates tracks from a wide spectrum of musical genres from the avant-garde edge to bossa nova, samba, Candomblé, lo-fi rock, jazz and funk.

‘Hidden Waters’ showcases musicians such as iconic Rio mainstays Negro Leo & Ava Rocha, Brazilian jazz upstart Antônio Neves, critically lauded Avant-pop trailblazer Thiago Nassif, breakthrough artists Ana Frango Elétrico and Letrux, lo-fi psych rocker Lê Almeida, plus the Latin Grammy-winning Bala Desejo who are set to explode onto the world stage. 

The music featured on ‘Hidden Waters’ is unequivocally Brazilian, swelling with samba, bossa nova, funk, and jazz. But it’s within the album's blend; from sunny psychedelia to dusky synth-pop via experimental electronics, that marks the compilation as the sound of modern, multicultural Rio. Fans of Brazil’s fertile 60s and 70s will spot the antecedents in Tropicália. Not only in the experimentation but also through the similar political context: back in the late 60s there was Brazil’s military dictatorship, and up until the end of 2022 it was Bolsonaro’s censorious premiership. Here are a group of musicians writing and reflecting on another colourful chapter within Brazil’s musical history.

This comprehensive compilation comes with album artwork designed by Rio music’s leading album artwork designer, Caio Paiva. It features essays by professor and music critic Bernardo Oliveira and music journalist Leonardo Lichote, plus extensive notes on each track by the artists themselves.

Joana Queiroz - Dois Litorais

Antoine Hubineau: Dissolvè / Scillions
01 / A: Dissolvè

arbitrary15, 2023
https://arbitraryproject.com/Dissolve-Scillions

7" / DL

7" vinyl

Antoine Hubineau: Dissolvè (arbitrary15)

07. Lula Pena - [Troubadour] - Acto VII

Solas

Ceò

Joana Queiroz Noite Na Rede

Ukrainian duo Heinali (aka Kyiv-based composer / sound-artist Oleg Shpudeiko) and pioneering experimental jazz saxophonist Michael Balog combine for a special one-off EP of improvised melody and exploratory sonics.

Brimming with the characteristic confidence of two acutely skilled musicians, A Mechanical Bird in an Electric Garden represents a meeting of two disparate approaches and a departure from Shpudeiko and Balog’s usual work. The record reveals Heinali’s love for generative polyphony and polyrhythms, his strange sci-fi sonics creating a spacious, futurist architecture that houses Michael Balog’s (relatively) recogniseable sounding - a snaking melodic binding that wraps through the machinery like coloured ribbon.

"The name A Mechanical Bird in an Electric Garden reflects the nature of our interaction,” Heinali tells us. “Machine based generative polyrhythms and generative polyphony vs human improvisation. The name came from my own mythology that kind of developed on its own during the past year. I started to refer to my music as "electric gardens of polyphony". Partly because gardens are usually inhabited by many independent voices of various birds that usually sound at the same time. And polyphonic compositions of pre-Baroque era are very similar to gardens: they have a very stable horizontal quality that is not so much about expression as it is about exploration of certain states (similar to some of the contemporary music practices like drone that deal with musical sculptures instead of musical compositions). Partly because of Brian Eno's idea of composer as a gardener. And the mechanical bird is, of course, Michael's saxophone.”

Over almost twenty years of beautiful, mercurial, creative expression, Heinali has become a much sought-after creator of electroacoustic soundscapes. His 2017 and 2018 releases on London / Istanbul electronic label Injazero Records garnered huge acclaim from press and radio worldwide, marking his arrival as a singular and significant voice in the experimental-electronic music landscape. He has also composed original music for video games, contemporary dance production and installation. His recorded works have been released on Injazero, Sony Interactive Entertainment, The Flenser, Fluttery, NEN, Paradigms and other labels. His history of live performances includes appearances at venues and festivals such as the Zorlu Performing Arts Center in Istanbul; Plivka, Art Arsenal, and Mystetskyi Arsenal in Kyiv; Ukraine’s Next Sound festival and Museum of Modern Art of Odessa; and Berlin’s Akademie der Künste.

Michael Balog is Ukrainian jazz saxophonist and musician. He is an author of educational methods and the founder of Lviv’s Vedel School of Contemporary Music. Domestically celebrated for his multidisciplinary art projects, Balog is an ongoing experimenter, connecting spiritual chorals, improvisational music, theatre and film works, jazz and electronic music.

A Mechanical Bird in an Electric Garden

Diurnal Song

Chain Reaction at Dusk

Hymn

Label / imprint
Denseland – Code & Melody (arb.20, April 2024)
arbitrary21 (10" / DL) 06 Sept. 2024
https://www.arbitraryproject.com

Updated: https://arbitrary.bandcamp.com

info@arbitraryproject.com