Search - Various Artists :: Sister Bossa, Vol. 7

More hits than Misses

bordersj2 | Boston | 12/12/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've long been a fan of the Irma label and their Sister Bossa series. Based out of Italy, Irma produces loads of bossa, nu-jazz and experimental tracks from all over the world. But highlighted is 'Bossa', because Sister Bossa isn't their only Bossa based series. It's just their most popular one internationally. The first five volumes were single disc affairs, the sixth a double and their 7th reverts to the style of the original 5 - one disc of tracks.



I liked this one. While the first few IMO had some cheesy tracks, this one is a little more polished than most of it's predecessors - just a bit more class. Though it starts out with Kaleidoscopio & I-Dep's "Luz Do So", an overly optimistic and cheery track (almost annoyingly poppy), you've got some pretty classy tracks on this. The funny thing is that with some songs, I had to check and make sure it was still a "Sister Bossa" album. Karen Aoki's song is nice, jazzed up with very clear vocals and a VERY distinct Brazilian influence - sort of reminds me of the "Bossa Nova" soundtrack. I don't think Soulstance will ever capture the magic that led them to a breathtaking remix of S-Tone Inc's "Arejar", but they've got a beaty and sampled up version of Nu Braz's "Roda". Nope, it's not the old MPB classic... at least not that i can tell. Another good take was "Reis & Pirates" by Fingers. It reminds me a bit of "Koutu Rete" off of Trip Do Brasil 2. Loads of key-works, latin samples, some intricate percussion. Good stuff, real night vibes... even if they are Kings and Pirates! I've grown to like Ithamara Koorax's work because you can literally feel the effert, ambiance and emotion in her music. Amazing start to "Coco Penereu"... I mean it's so REAL. I think one of my favorites off of this album will also be, without question, Cris Delanno's renditoin of "Outra Vez". It was given a remix by S-Tone Inc. here but almost all of the singles I've heard form her have been quality, including when she worked with BossaCucaNova about 8-9 years ago.



I liked this album and recommend it. I hope that Irma keeps releasing these too as it's good to get some quality original tracks and cuts that some of the other big names don't think to include (Brazilectro, etc.). I also think this one was better than volume 6, where-as that one had two discs, it was loaded with house and beats that could hardly be timeless. Rather, this is more reminiscent to volume 5 or volume 4. If you like this then you might like some of Irma's other bossa series as well. You might also like series like "Bossa A La Mode" or "Bossa & Go", with the A La Mode series being a cut above the "& Go" series."