Records of the Month, September - Pt. 1 [Music]

The month is coming to an end and I suddenly I realized that much of the stuff I've been listening to lately, according to last.fm, I didn't use to just a few months ago... so I started wondering how much new music I listen to, say every month, and that gave me the idea of doing this little sum up of what's the new stuff I've heard to this month... let's just hope I can remember everything:

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, by Spoon
I think that in the last couple of days, from every 5 songs I listen to, one is from this amazing record. I first got to know Spoon through their previous album, Gimme Fiction and, as much as
I liked that record, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is miles ahead. First of all, I love records that you can hear without ever feeling like skipping a track. Don't Make Me a Target is a great opener, catchy but by no means representative of all that is to come. After that, you get an avalanche of perfectly handcrafted songs all very different from each other, the best sort of Indie Rock you're bound to find out there... from the tension buildup of The Ghost of You Lingers, through the funky Don't You Evah, to the catchy-pop-sing-along The Underdog, it all just shows these guys are good, very good indeed... this is a very serious candidate for best album of the year in my opinion, and certainly already has a place in my Top 5!

Samba Meu, by Maria Rita

Maria Rita is one of the best things to have happened in Brazilian music for a while now. This is her third record, and the first one to depart from the sort of jazz-band-formation that was the staple of "Maria Rita" and "Segundo". In this album she sings exclusively sambas, by mostly unknown composers and she's done an amazing job of finding really talented people to write songs for her. Her voice is sweet as always, it's a delight to hear. She's certainly amongst the most talented Brazilian singers out there, and it's specially gratifying to notice that they are all rediscovering samba in full strength (Marisa Monte also released a samba-only CD last year that, interestingly enough, had a track composed by Adriana Calcanhotto; Ana Carolina always has sambas in her CD's, and her last outing with Seu Jorge is full of them).
I actually bought this CD "by accident": I didn't know it was coming out and was, as I often do, just roaming around FNAC, drooling over all the stuff I couldn't afford (yet!!!!), as I saw the CD. Naturally, being a big fan and all, I bought it right away and wasn't disappointed. It didn't take much to win me over, I admit, as I love samba, and I'd have a hard time judging whether this album is brilliant or just "very good". I guess it's very good. I say that because the fairest comparison I could make is with Marisa Monte's Universo Ao Meu Redor, and I gotta pick Marisa's record over Maria's... I guess all the songs in Samba Meu sound too much alike, I'd have a hard time picking out more than 3 or 4 that individually caught my attention (keep in mind this is just a first evaluation, as I listen to it over and over, that might change), whereas with Universo Ao Meu Redor, I instantly fell in love with 3 or so songs, and could tell most of the other apart easily... songs just sound more distinctive than in Samba Meu and, for me, that's very important... but, on the other hand, you could actually say it's a good thing if they all sound alike because they all sound good!!! :-)
Here's her talking a little bit about the record (in Portuguese), and singing one of the songs as sambas are meant to be sung!!!




Some other interesting videos from YouTube:

• Rodrigo Bittencourt, the original composer of Samba Meu, showing off a pretty raw version of the song.
• Samba Meu, now in Maria Rita's version
  
• O Homem Falou
• Num Corpo Só
• Trajetória

I actually intended to write about quite a few more records I listened to this month, but I don't wanna make some giante post that nobody's gonna be brave enough to read, so I'm gonna stop right here and come back for more some other day.