Solid, Experimental Brazilution
bordersj2 | Boston | 12/07/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Brazilution line has history. It started back in 2001 with Brazilectro vol 3. Geared towards the established 'chillout' market, Brazilectro 3 was a hit. So in 2003, the label split the series, triggering Brazilectro and Brazilution to move on in their own paths. In 2003, there was Brazilution Edition 5, noting that it was after Brazilectro 4 from 2002. The problem was that there would also be a Brazilectro volume 5, so you had both Brazilectro/Brazilution volume 5's. For 2003-today, the Brazilution series adopted another suffix, continuing from that fifth volume that signified the split of the series. The number 5.5 represents that this is the fifth Brazilution. As for the label - it started out on Ministry of Sound before being taken in under Stereo Deluxe (Mo Horizons, etc.) But don't be fooled - I believe Stereo-Deluxe is owned by Ministry...
Enough of the history lesson, on to the music! This one's pretty solid. It follows the mold of the Brazilutions from 5.2 onward with disc one being more laid back and easy-going while disc two has more up-beat and clubbed up sounds. And of course there are some killer original tracks. CD 1 does well with Celia Vaz & Ape's "Espada de Prata", nice guitar and a sweet sort of melody. A new group called Road had a pretty neat song, full of samples called "Saudades Do Brasil" that I liked. And then Bebel Gilberto kicked in with a song from her then soon to be released self-titled album, called "Azul". It was actually one of the highlights from her album, IMO. Another disc 1 highlight was from Brazilectro/Brazilution staple Janice Andrade. "Samba Sol" had her classic soul and great rhythm on full display. A shame she hasn't released a feature album, the arrangements in her songs are always top notch. Other highlights were Marco Di Marco's "Brazilian Waltz".
Disc 2 was the mixed one and it's a hefty improvement mixing wise over the mixed disc on the last Brazilution, which was subpar. It opens up with one from Koop's newest album - light, breezy and perfect for summer cruising along the coast. You've also got some neat jazz-club like sounds from A Bossa Eletrica. Their feature album really was amazing - songs still hold up very well off of it. You've also got a new original one from Ian Pooley with "Zona Sul". It's a very sweet house track with gentle samples and class keys. Good work! Other disc one highlights were Clara Hill/Vikter Duplaix, Big Bang's "Yo Yo Jazz" remixed by Nicola Conte and The Bugz in the Attic (BITA) with one from their newest album called "Once Twice". It's actually one of the highlights of disc two - it's got a sweet broken beat and soaring soul vibe to it. Nice! A song made for the turntables a breath of life to any dj set.
This one lives up to the name. Great original songs and a nice vibe. It took me quite a while to review this one but make no mistake, it was a good one after-all. But I am finding something a little odd; if the Brazilution of the summer is good, the Brazilectro's been lagging, and vice-versa. Also, I couldn't give this one 5 stars because of the track carry-over from the two series, and then some of the songs were misses to me like Moodorama's "Esta Quente", which was pretty redundant and I didn't care much for "The Times", which seems like a 'hey, let's speak Portuguese for the heck of it thus making this Brazilian' sort of thing, thus making the song 'Brazilian'. But I still can't recommend against it. Good double disc set. Oh - and technically, this is the 6th Brazilution since there is an online Brazilution available too although that one has some carry-over from the CD formats."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1