Clube da Esquina

Clube Da Esquina is another album that does unique things that i do like but is kinda forgettable. The songs here could sound absolutely beautiful sometimes and are good for just relaxing down at the beach on a hot summer day or night. The Portuguese singing while not mind-blowing or anything, fit the songs pretty well. This album is a long one with quite a lot of songs which unfortunately, made some of them blend together (mostly when it comes to the shorter ones). Despite all that, This album is still a good one that is just perfect relaxation music.
Best Song: Trem De Doido
Worst Song: Dos Cruces

Enjoyed this more than I expected, having never heard of them before. Some really great songs on here, and even though I don't have the language I still found most of them enjoyable. It is a bit long however, so it seems like one that would take a few listens to really get my head around it. It feels like a 3.5 right now, but I'll round up because I think it's a grower.

I always struggle with foreign language music. Lyrics are important to me.

I found the album boring and receptive. It was a very hard listen.

I am going to need a good album tomorrow to pick me up from the last 3-4 days

Beguiling, engaging, alien and exotic, but lacking just a bit of light and shade I don't know enough about the genre(s) to fully appreciate it. It almost deserves a fourth star, but it didn't capture me enough - maybe even just a sunnier day here in Scotland would have tipped it into the next bracket! I certainly plan to listen to more music from outside of the UK and US - once I am free from the self-imposed restrictions of this project!

In general I wish there was a bit less US/British music on this list, and a bit more from other countries. But this album didn't do it for me.

This was suuuch a breath of fresh air. This thing is better than most overrated albums on this list. Seriously why dont we hear more stuff like this instead of the 9th Bowie or Dylan albums? Why do I have to listen to whole discographies instead of some actual hidden gems

We krijgen weer geluid van onder de evenaar. Dat prikkelt vooraf wel de nieuwsgierigheid. Tijdens het luisteren merk je dat het muzikaal niet zo veel uit maakt. Je voelt wel vaak een zuid-amerikaanse basis. Maar tegelijk verkent het de hele wereld. Des Cruces wordt gezongen met een lichte Aziatische trilling. Cravo E Canale heeft de eigen zuid-amerikaanse klank. Trem De Doide heeft een westerse gitaar-basis. Bij Nada Será Como Antes hoor je een engelse Beatle-achtige opzet. En Ao Que Vai Nascar wordt weer gezongen door een een Brel-light. Het is veelal niet enerverend genoeg voor mij. Maar aan de liefhebber wordt een prachtige wereldreis geboden.

Someone once told me that Portuguese is just drunken Spanish. I have no idea what they are singing on this album, but they sure seem to be enjoying themselves.

Saúde!

This is possibly the most conflicted I’ve been on rating an album so far.

The political climate of 1972 for Brazil underscores a lot of this album, and there’s a passion throughout it that’s so easy to feel, but probably very hard to understand in 2024 without an innate knowledge of the subject that I just don’t have. Let me be clear: I’d be a moron to not acknowledge that this is a good album. It does not sound like it came from 1972 at all – there’s an exploration of so many genres here that it feels like the album had an incredible vision of what music was gonna be for at least the next 20 or 30 years, if not longer, and it’s all carried by two things: guitar playing that simply feels timeless, whether it’s acoustic, electric, or bass, and absolutely passionate vocals by Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges that you can feel even through the language barrier.

My confliction is not “is this good or bad” – it’s do I give this a 4 or 5? I feel like I can’t give it a 5 because of that language barrier, and how I don’t think I can fully enjoy the album because of that, but I’d also probably be a moron to not give it a 5 out of pure trust in how cathartic this album must have felt in 1972, and how well it’s aged into modern times; so many of the other 70s albums we’ve heard have occasionally had mixing issues or choices that clearly dated them.

If we were going by 10, it’d be an easy choice to just say 9/10 and get it over with, but for a 5 point scale, I think I have no choice but to round it up, just out of respect for nailing everything it tries to do.

Wish I spoke Portuguese so I could understand what they are saying. Really good album, very chill. Favorite songs were O Trem Azul, Saidas E Bandeiras N 2, and Trem De Doido.

E lá se vai mais um dia…

This made me miss my parents.

I'll listen to anything Brazilian.

I've said it before, but an album has to be exceptionally catchy for me to enjoy it if it's not in English. That's probably on me, but it's still a thing. I didn't really enjoy anything on this one, but never really wanted to skip anything or turn it off, either.

sounds good. all in brazilian, so I have no idea what they're talking about. sounds like: the beatles, love, the zombies,etc.

So many gorgeous songs. It took me three lisitens before I realized I had heard O Trem Azul before, being covered by Elisa Regina. I loved the call back, it gave amazing context.

Overall this is a very woozy dreamy album - slow paced and meandering tipsily through different sounds and arrangements.
- Folky/classical acoustic instrumentation: nylon string guitars, pianos, flutes.
- Jazzy psych with drums electric bass and drums and a clean tone electric gutiar strumming.
- crooner strings + 12 string guitar and horns with a melodic jazzy bass lead.
- spaghetti western psychadelic with reverby chords and horns on top.
- gentle bedroom-pop with hushed chords and expressive nylon guitar melodies.
- jangly upbeat indie-pop with a warbling clean guitar chime leading.
- Beatles-eque 'eleanor rigby' strings riffs.
- piano ballads.
- Far out chaotic soundscapes
- fuzzed out guitar over minor7th harmonies and driving bass

Despite the wide variety of sounds, there's a coherent relaxed, intimate, and warm feel across the whole album. The vocals throughout are a breathy and dramatic tenor. Something about the melodic phrasing and harmony in Brazilian music really doesn't work for me - combined with the all the intricate chords and complex voicings it never seems to resolve as I'd expect and feels incomplete - tonal ambiguity. That's decades of harmonic acculturation for you, but I ended up liking this a lot more than I expected because of the chill feel and the combination of sounds and styles.

Favorites: Dos Cruces, Clube de Esquina No 2, Paisagem de Janela, TREM DE DOIDO

Holy shit, this is awesome. The singing, the influences, the gorgeous chord progressions, and how ahead of it's time it feels. This is a powerhouse of a double LP with both singers bringing their S+++ game. Perhaps it's a little long, but it's hard to notice when every song is a banger. The Beatles influences are clear, but Borges and especially Nascimento take those influences and run, making one of the best pop albums I've ever heard. You can hear influences that inspired pop and rock bands all the way up through the 90s, and the fact that there's some that won't like this because it's not in English is a crime against themselves. I don't understand a single word and it's already a five, so imagine what the lyrics bring to the table. I adore this, were it not for Kimono My House this would be my favorite album so far.

At its best, sublime, and at its worst a bit generic. Overall, love the mix of Brazilian folk & psych-rock. Have to remember this one for a midsummer road trip

I really enjoyed the second half of this album more than the first, but it's been a very pleasant listen all round

CLASSICO BR!