VARIOUS ARTISTS
Brazil Remixed (Groove Gravy)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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This record reminds me so much of college. The elite university I got a writing scholarship to was also home to a huge collection of Brazilian diplomats' kids, and boy, did those beautiful boys and girls know how to party! Any night of the week, you could hear them blasting bossa nova and trip-hop from their dorms until the sun came up, and see the silhouettes of girls dancing through the dusty windowpanes. At least once a month, they would hold these bizarre dance-a-thons where one guy would drive his car up onto the sidewalk in the middle of the night and park in the courtyard in the middle of campus and turn his radio on full volume. Girls would pour out of his car and start dancing wildly in front of the car highlights, and they would just dance. It was the weirdest thing. Apparently, these were the people to get in touch with if you wanted to buy ecstasy.

Anyway, this album is a very danceable and beautiful collection of salsa and trip-hop music that would have worked so well in the above situation. There's an amazing reworking of Harry Nilsson's "One (Is the Loneliest Number)" by The Tao of Groove, a very hip and bouncy Portuguese version of Percy Mayfield's "Hit the Road Jack" by Mo' Horizons, some bubbly, lively instrumentals that are hard to sit stock still through, by Maya F.S., a wonderfully hip and jazzy cover of Antonio C. Jobim's "Felicidade" by RioListic, and a whole lot more. This is a really exciting collection of music that manages to sound both classic Brazilian bossa nova and cool, urban hipsterish at the same time.

© 2004 - Holly Day