África Brasil

Funky afrobeat rhythms and jazzy Brazilian melodies, it's a very natural combination for high energy psychedelic dance music that goes hard. Hands down my favorite of the Brazilian albums on the list so far (no coincidence as it's as much Lagos as Rio sounding). Even though this is as good as it gets I still don't like Portugese singing - something always feels off key and off kilter about the harmonies and phrasing. But this just has so much percussive force, infectious groove, soul delivery, and sheer charisma to the performance it's undeniable. A highwater mark of global funk.

Cool mix of genres! More interesting than a lot of other music on this list.

Better than Coldplay

wow. first brazilian music and what a treat. funky, full of life and great music to vibe or work to

Pretty fun listen except for that ridiculous instrument.

A pleasant listen. Nothing jumped out as being particularly outstanding, but there was also nothing that I disliked.

Other than the song Taj Mahal, this album really didn't come off as distinct from skng to song. That straw in a cup noise was way too prevalent for me. Not the worst but kinda tedious nonetheless. 2/5

I liked that the fusion ran more towards African beats than Brazilian dance pop. This is a record I'd leave on if it was randomly playing. I think it's sort of a mood elevator musically. Can't comment on the lyricism as I don't speak the language.

Jorge Ben apparently went electric on this, tho I doubt he generated as much dissent as Dylan when he plugged in during the mid sixties. As for the music, the merging of American funk/jazz with Afro-Brazilian modes works brilliantly well. What seem to be specific allusions to the American scene, but which may be entirely native to Brazilian expression, aggrandize this album to further heights. For instance, the incorporation of cute and drunk yelps (instrument unknown) on many of the songs parallel the ones heard on Herbie's 1973 'Watermelon Man.' Unfortunately, the Spanish and Italian I have can only help me a bit in recognizing what he's talking about lyrically - but as for a sonic experience, it's all excellent.

Good vibes 👍

Está bastante bien, no tiene nada que me llegue a gustar mucho pero es un buen rato, sambita buena.

Canción destacada: Cavaleiro Do Cavalo Imaculado

This album is like Samba mixed with funk and African beats. It feels exotic and refreshing after having a week of fucking indie and britpop garbage. The only thing is that the excessive use of cuica drums becomes annoying after a while. It sounds like someone trapped a flock of morning doves in the recording studio. It's use reminds me of the Goron City theme song from Ocarina of Time.

Favourite songs: Ponta De Lanca Africano, Hermes Trismegisto Escreveu, Taj Mahal, Cavaleiro Do Cavalo Imaculado

Least favourite songs: O Filosofo

4/5

The squeaky straw sound is everything and the cherry on this beautiful work.

I liked this album. Had no idea what the lyrics say but the music is funky, well put together and fast paced. That said I am not sure I would listen to it again.

Great grooves, great variation and some great guitaring on this album.

Favourite song: Mesus Filhos, Meu Tesouro has a great sound to it. I have no idea what it is about and I love Africa Brasil, it has a real feel good vibe.
Least favourite: Nothing was horrible. the music on the album is very good.
Album artwork: Good cover. its doesn’t look like a 70s cover

Really good instrumentals. Intricate and engaging rhythm. Horn section is tight. Hard to say for lyrics not in my language. Not repetitive at least.

I don't know what to say honestly.

That’s a pretty damn good 5.

I mean, this album just has charisma in spades, language barrier be damned. It does exactly what it sets out to do – mix Brazilian standards driven by a bit of samba with influences from American pop, R&B, and a bit of Afrobeat in there too. It blends itself together beautifully, on both the slower tracks and the more upbeat ones. I think it might be impossible to listen to this whole album and not get up and move around at least once – whether it’s in the stellar guitar work, the super fun synth and production tricks, the bombastic brass sections, or even just the deeply impressive percussion, there is at least one aspect of this album that’s easy to just vibe to, and that’s not even mentioning his vocal work.

I think his vocals really are understated and perhaps underrated here; even though these instrumentals are great, it feels like there’s a distinct reason for this album to not have an instrumental track on it. Jorge Ben Jor’s vocals have a really good range to them, and the vocal tone of the track honestly makes or breaks the energy at times – I think this is best exemplified in “O Filosofo”, which was the only track that didn’t quite click for me, and it’s partially because his vocals don’t feel fully engaged with the song itself. On the flipside of that, when he gets into a deeply gritty tone on the last track, Africa Brasil, it evokes those moments of true zen and passion from a performer that feel rarely captured on albums or even on tape – Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” comes to mind, both in the album cut and that famous GRAMMYs performance.

Ultimately, this is just fun. It’s 40 minutes that zoom by, but it kept me really attentive to every little detail – what’s here is so deep and rich in its soundscape that it’s impossible to ignore, and frankly worth analyzing to really distill funk in such a pure form. It’s very rare to get international albums on the list, but they’ve usually been pretty damn good (save for that shit show “Haut de gamme”) – this sits right behind Clube Da Esquina as my second favorite international one we’ve gotten so far. It’s a super easy 5 for me.

Hell, just give us another Brazilian album. It can’t hurt at this point.

A very fun sounding album, however he really loves his sound effects.

I keep saying this any time interesting world music comes up, but this is why I signed up for this. Brazilian Samba mixed with funk I'd never normally stumbleupon. Just a chill time, solid chair boogying and it has the song "Taj Mahal" that some might recognize as the song Rod Stewart ripped off for "Do You Think I'm Sexy?"

Bin interessiert an World Music, andere haben mir gefallen. Dieses leider eher nicht so. 2,5 Sterne. In dem Fall abgerundet.