Search - Chico Science, Nacao Zumbi :: Da Lama Ao Caos

Rhythm-driven coolness.

Paulo Padilha | 04/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This cd combines drums with more electronic sounding beats, but it never dissolves into the boring monotony of techno music (my biases are showing here). Instead this cd sounds like a fusion of more traditional Afro-Brazilian beats with a more raw, modern sound. I just wish I understood Portuguese to know what he is saying."

Groundbreaking Sound

06/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is CSNZ's first album, after years on the road defining a unique musical personality, which mixtures hip-hop, hardcore guitars and strong drumbeats. It also helped support a cultural movement, which gained ground in the 90's throughout Brazil, giving room for bands such as "Mundo Livre SA", "Cascabulho", and others. This album was independently launched in Brazil, until it became much of an alternative success to be ignored by the big record companies. CSNZ's second album - Afrociberdelia - leads to a more hardcore and electronic music. Both are great records, with amazing rhythms. The road was already paved when Chico Science died in a car accident, before they could get the international recognition they deserved. Too bad for the rest of us."

Stone cold classic

Paulo Padilha | New York City | 03/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this album is a watershed event of brazilian pop music. to put it bluntly, there's brazilian music before this album, and then there's brazilian music after it. the only other album I can think of that presents such a radical shift in the direction brazilian pop would take is the first Tropicalia record, the one with songs from Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Ze, Os Mutantes, etc. Like that music, Chico Science and Nacao Zumbi create a perfect synthesis of all the different musical influences present at the time - maracatu, funk, rock, hip-hop, heavy metal, and electronic music later on. These guys redefined what brazilian music could sound like, paving the way for everything from DJ Dolores to Bebel Gilberto, as well as inspiring Sepultura to expand their sound into what became the album "Roots". The songs are all great, percussion driven funk and metal with Chico Science's unique delivery - a mix of hip-hop and the more traditional embolada, while the lyrics capture the excitement and agony of being young and poor in a city like Recife and the discrepancies of being surrounded by cultural richness and crippling poverty, and it still sounds fresh even more than 10 years later. It's impossible to overstate how important this album is, and any fan of intelligent rock or hip-hop should do themselves the favor of owning it."