Clube da Esquina

A beautiful album

At once, incredibly pleasant and perhaps just as impactful. Trust me, I do not know Portuguese and it does not matter. This album contains some of the prettier songs to be released in 1972, and some of the more important moments in the history of recorded Brazilian music.

The best songs here are as follows: "O Trem Azul" with its whimsical and evocative lyrics (I translated), its bright instrumentation, its beautiful vocals. The greatest song here by far is "Um girassol da cor de seu cabelo," the best written song here too, with its wistful, poetic, and nostalgic essence. I adore it with my whole heart. A song I was surprised to love was the 28-second long "Estrelas," a perfectly ephemeral piece of pure breathtaking beauty.

Though it's a bit tiring at times for me, I enjoy this album greatly. Perhaps I will revisit it. Perhaps not. It should be listened to for sure though, that I can say definitively.
8.6/10
DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: YES
REASON: SIGNIFICANCE AND QUALITY

Tudo Que Você Podia Ser - 76
Cais - 73
O Trem Azul - 73
Saídas E Bandeiras N° 1 - 54
Nuvem Cigana - 67
Cravo E Canela - 70
Dos Cruces - 56
Um Girassol Da Cor Do Seu Cabelo - 77
San Vicente - 62
Estrelas - 53
Clube Da Esquina N° 2 - 75
Paisagem Da Janela - 71
Me Deixa Em Paz - 51
Os Povos - 62
Saídas E Bandeiras N° 2 - 57
Um Gosto De Sol - 67
Pelo Amor De Deus - 62
Lilia - 53
Trem De Doido - 78
Nada Será Como Antes - 73
Ao Que Vai Nascer - 68

Clube Da Esquina - 65

Decent singing voice, not my cuppa tea

It's a fine album. It runs a little long.

I liked this, and I think I want to give it another spin soon. With my middling Spanish, it's hard to not try interpreting Brazilian Portuguese. It's also not very fruitful

⭐⭐⭐.75

Yeah

some really interesting stuff here! not gonna say everything was entirely my vibe but some really cool things nonetheless. I really enjoyed the variety of styles and genres present in this album. if i didnt like what was playing, all i had to do was to wait till the next song and it would be a completely different thing.

This was nice to hear in the background, but I didn’t feel personally called to it.

Not really a genre I'm familiar with...but it's pretty good.

I enjoyed some of the songs like: "Um Girasol Da Cor Do Seu Cabelo", "Tudo O Que Vocè Podia Ser", "O Trem Azul", "Me Deixa Em Paz", "Clube Da Esquina N 2 (probably my favourite), "Um Gusto De Sol" (very nice instrumentation in the second half of the song) or "Trem Do Doido".

I did not like some other tracks: "Dos Cruces", "Cravo E Canela", "San Vicente".

In any case, it is interesting and pretty varied. I think it deserves, at least, 3 stars (actually, it is in the 3,5 star range for me, so this may grow on me to reach 4 stars).

I am completing the 1001 project for albums like this. There is next to no reason for me to have stumbled across a Brazilian psychedelic folk and baroque pop album from the 1970s. I don't speak Portuguese or Spanish, so I have no idea what they're singing about, but their emotions are still conveyed well through their singing. Both the music and production on this are superb aside from a few odd choices here and there (like incredibly quick fade outs or panning entire sections of a track hard right; I literally thought my headphones stopped working for a minute). Overall, this was a very pleasant and enjoyable listen and I can see myself coming back to this album on a warm, lazy summer day.

I could hear the soul in it, but at the same time ir didn’t really move me. One I could see coming back to in a different mood and reassessing.

I’m kind of a weeaboo for brazil

Wow. I loved this. It’s wild that this album was negatively received when it first came out. It’s clearly incredible. So much variety, so imaginative, such a brilliant mix of styles while staying so firmly Brazilian. It’s not always easy to connect with albums in a language I don’t speak, but this was far and away my favorite from the list so far.

Pre Listen:
More Latin music? Cool. I've enjoyed most of the sort on here so far. Slightly higher expectations than usual as a result?

Notable Tracks:
Dos Cruces - First highlight of the album for me, it has an almost arabic sound to it? I love the guitar mostly.
Clube Da Esquina N.2 - Another highlight of the album, lets the instrumental work really shine here.
Lilia - Least favorite track. It's too experimental with the vocals for me, and the melody is rather repetitive.
Trem De Doido - Favorite track on the album. Man, the guitar and drums are going absolutely crazy on this song, they're at their best here by far. The vocals too go well with the melody, and the experimentation is kept at a minimal, resulting a really great song. May be adding to my playlist.

Post Listen:
It was a Portuguese album, not Spanish. That said, of the Portuguese albums I've heard so far, this one's the absolute best at this point.

This album was insanely, frustratingly close to being a 5 from me. The instrumental work is the best part, the guitar, drums, bass, and every little instrument in-between is so well done. The melodies they play too are almost hypnotic, with the odd discordant bit here and there, and each song having a unique identity. Where it fell a point from me was the vocals, as with many, many such cases. Perhaps it was the mix I was listening to, but they were always coming out of the right-channel mainly which was very distracting. They also took an experimental turn too often than not for my tastes, or were rather flat, which also distracted from the instrumentation.

Still, I'll likely be adding a few of these songs to my playlist and may come back to bump this to a 5. Thanks Milton! 4/5

An agreeable, pretty record with interesting production and orchestral arrangements as well as a creative approach to vocals. It passed the time nicely but despite its ambition did not have a huge impact on me beyond that pleasant scene setting.

Sounds like if Nick Drake and The Beach Boys had a Brazillian baby.

Honestly prefer the more folky, Nick Drake stuff, but still a great record. Think only my second Latin record to get a 4*. Everything else pretty much gets a 3* because its vibe music for me and not listening music. But this one is great.

Some enjoyable latin music. I could see myself coming back to this one even if nothing really stood out to me in the end.

Wouldn't sell it out again, but wouldn't change the station if it was on the radio.

Here is something you don't hear everyday. I enjoyed it, as it is different from many of the other records on this list. Apparently this is very important in the Brazilian music history, so it's cool. Very interesting musical choices. I don't really know what to say cause I am not used to this genre, but it was pretty good and enjoyable.