Os Gameboys are a band from Brazil who play only music from classic videogames. They are really, really good. (via waxy: "the best live Mario cover I've ever seen")
posted by joshwa on Oct 27, 2009 - 26 comments

On September 10th, to celebrate their initiation week, 172 communications students at the University of Quebec at Montreal decided to put on a show. After weeks of preparation, the costumed and prop-wielding crowd enacted an exuberant, complex, and flawlessly-choreographed performance of the Black Eyed Peas song "I Gotta Feeling" that sprawled through the campus's multi-story Judith Jasmin Pavilion... and they did it all in one continuous take (on their second try). The feat is just the most recent example of "lipdubbing" -- a video phenomenon where a single camera moves through a crowd of highly coordinated lip-syncers in a single seamless take, with the original recording dubbed over the finished product. [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Oct 1, 2009 - 83 comments

Brazil's Gilberto Gil, now 66 years of age, is stepping down from his position as Minister of Culture to concentrate, once again, on his music career. That's good news for his fans, and here's some more good news: a huge chunk of his recorded work is available as streaming audio for your listening pleasure. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 31, 2008 - 19 comments

There was a time when it seemed that groups like Frederic Galliano presents Kuduro Sound System and Buraka Som Sistema would do for kuduro what groups like Diplo and Bonde do Role did for Funk Carioca: make it popular with hipsters in the United States. But it hasn't happened yet. Why?
posted by billtron on Feb 16, 2008 - 19 comments

After growing up with opera and samba, having lived in Rio and Rome, her first album went double platinum, producing some modern classics. She didn't stop there, as has gone on to make many other great albums. Not to long ago, a one shot collaboration, with two other modern greats, turned out to be a success despite limited publicity (maybe because the songs were actually quite good). This is Marisa Monte, one of the great talents of MPB. Have a listen (thus the YouTube and Last.fm links).
posted by TheyCallItPeace on Aug 11, 2007 - 9 comments

He wasn't the greatest technician on earth (he only studied a short time with a teacher, as states his biography), he wasn't really famous outside Brazil, in spite of the many recordings available under his name, of his various talents (drawing, designing a new string instrument), but his playing is really endearing, and whatever the material, originals, bach or chico buarque, he made his point across easily.
posted by nicolin on Aug 11, 2007 - 9 comments

Badi Assad has some incredible technique goin' on (YouTube) and charisma to burn. The 41-year-old Brazilian singer and guitarist comes from a musical family and has been signed to a pretty prestigious North-American record label. Of course these days there is the obligatory Wikipedia entry and her MySpace page. Here's an interview (from ten years ago) wherein she discusses her music. So far as I can see those hips and those lips and those fingertips don't lie. [Much more Badi Assad on YouTube]
posted by St Urbain's Horseman on Aug 10, 2007 - 24 comments

You folks out there in MeFi Town been keeping up with the water themed MeFi Music Challenge? There's been some mighty fine uploads for you to check out! But if there was ever a piece of music deserving the water tag, it's this drenching wet masterpiece by Brazil's brilliant, eccentric musical genius Hermeto Pascual, in which Hermeto and his band play bottles full of water, and flutes full of water, and, well, the lake. Música da Lagoa: water music at its very best. And its very wettest. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 6, 2007 - 8 comments

Braziliian music rediscovers its roots: Early in 1938, Mário de Andrade dispatched a Folklore Research Mission to the northeastern hinterlands of Brazil to record as much music as possible as quickly as possible, before encroaching influences like radio and film began transforming the region's distinctive culture.
posted by dhruva on Jan 29, 2007 - 13 comments

Composer and arranger Rogério Duprat passed away on Thursday. Duprat had a substantial career in music for films and commercials, but he is best known for shaping the sound of Tropicalia, the revolutionary stew of Brazilian folk styles, bossa nova, MPB, rock, jazz, blues and psychedelica. Some youtube clips: Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil , Os Mutantes, and Gal Costa.
posted by hydrophonic on Oct 31, 2006 - 8 comments

Os Mutantes have reunited and will be playing the Pitchfork Media Festival this summer. Archival footage of the band discussed here.
posted by hydrophonic on Apr 14, 2006 - 12 comments

Songs of Brazilian Birds A fantastically diverse collection of .au files, including the beautifully evocative Organ Wren or Uirapuru, the mooing of the Capuchinbird, the sci-fi minimalism of the Short-tailed Antthrush and a duet of Laughing Falcons (they'll make you laugh at the end).
posted by mediareport on Jan 23, 2006 - 14 comments

Os Mutantes on Brazilian TV. Os Mutantes, Brazilian counterculturalists and one of the greatest psychedelic bands of all time, perform on the Brazilian television show Som Pop- TV Cultura in 1969. Torrent file here.
posted by Sidthecat on Oct 17, 2005 - 21 comments

Coke. Guns. Booty. Beats. In the slums of Rio De Janeiro, drug lords armed with submachine guns have joined forces with DJs armed with massive sound systems and rude, raunchy singles. Welcome to the most exciting—and dangerous—underground club scene in the world.
posted by Count Ziggurat on Jul 30, 2005 - 23 comments

There Is Only One Carnival... but a lot of sambas to go with it. Get Rio de Janeiro's 2003 songs here and, at least spiritually, join the escola (school) of your choice. It's the real stuff, guaranteed to put a spring in your step. If you get the French Fashion TV channel, you can watch the desfiles (parades) live! Oba! Oba![Some Real, WM or something required - forgive the indefinition, I'm just back from the first Carnival party and a bit drubk. Last year's songs were featured in this post.]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Mar 1, 2003 - 8 comments

Life imitates "art" as the singer for Brazilian rockers ACC storms the studio, so to speak, and forces a DJ to play his band's record over and over for an hour. Are things really this desperate?
posted by mikrophon on Sep 19, 2002 - 12 comments

The Boss of the Bossa Nova. A very thorough tribute site to Antonio Carlos Jobim, with scores of scores, english lyrics, and rare recordings. The music's greatest interpreter is the enigmatic genius Joao Gilberto. For more on brazilian music in general, there's Slipcue, AllBrazilianMusic, and The Brazilian Sound. (For Portuguese speakers only, there's an excellent encyclopedia on the subject.)
posted by liam on Feb 15, 2002 - 10 comments

Not Flying Down To Rio For The Carnival? Never mind! Beat the crowds but catch the beat by listening to this year's terrific sambas before the rest of the world can. This is the real shanty-town stuff, not the watered-down touristy rubbish[WindowsMedia required]that passes for Samba. This year my favourite for first prize is Mangueira. What's yours? The Brazilian Carnival[learn all about it here] starts Saturday and goes on straight through to Tuesday. For the latest inside information - including the Bin Laden Mask controversy - O Globo's special web site[In Portuguese]is unbeatable. Enjoy!
posted by MiguelCardoso on Feb 6, 2002 - 13 comments

Environmentally Correct Dance Party Set for Amazon. "Brazil's lush Amazon rain forest may be best known for its isolated Indian tribes and abundant wildlife, but local officials hope it will soon be a hotbed of techno music ... [the] four-day 'rave' that is expected to lure tens of thousands of clubbers from around the world to all-night 'environmentally correct' dance parties." Can any one give me a ride?
posted by madreblu on Aug 3, 2001 - 7 comments

Top Brazilian performers refuse to sing it. A big-city mayor begged radio stations not to play it. Women say it is degrading and dangerous. It's the Face Slap, an uptempo ditty about a woman who asks her lover to hit her.
posted by crushed on Feb 28, 2001 - 22 comments

I don't know why, but I can't get enough of Brazillian music (realvideo stream). Not that I can understand a word of it, but damn that's smooth. Note to self: buy more Gilberto Gil records. This person thinks this disc is one of his best, and you can even download digital versions of it from cdnow, although I wonder why each cut is $2.49. Why on earth should digital music cost more? There's no shipping, no customer service hassles, no media to stock in a warehouse. Make the entire disc $5 in digital format, and I'll buy his entire collection (and save from adding to my already loaded down cd rack at home).
posted by mathowie on Mar 22, 2000 - 2 comments