 Otto Samba Pra Burro is an utterly fresh contemporary Brazilian CD, as exciting and invigorating as all that old school stuff you already know is great. This is Otto's debut album, and even if he quits now he's already earned a righteous place in my CD collection. I bought this purely on the strength of how cool he looks on the cover in an aquamarine turtleneck sweater … actually, now that I think of it I may have sampled this at a listening station, which is a real rarity for me. I hate using those things. I much prefer trying and possibly failing if it can result in blindly discovering something great. However I discovered it, this is a great album, perfectly fitting my recent criteria of musical greatness, which is essentially "sounds awesome after 1am." I almost never stay up that late anymore, but I like to feel like I do, and this CD has that vibe. Deep drum and bass sounds, frantic and hypnotizing percussion, low loping grooves, and infectious, subdued vocals in Portuguese. I am one of those musical snobs who invariably prefers something old to something new (and something blue to something borrowed, for that matter), and I feel lucky to have been in just the right mood to open myself up to this disc when I did. "Hm, maybe I should actually get a new Brazilian CD, eh, old chap?" I said to myself in the British accent I reserve for just these types of conversations. "Say, who's this handsome-looking fellow in the turtleneck? Why don't I listen to that one?" Twenty seconds into the first track ("Bob") I was sold. Tight, catchy, deep, infectious and ultimately something you can return to again and again and receive the same sense of ingenuity and discovery. That track features Bebel Gilberto (daughter of João but not of Astrud) on vocals as well. No other "names" per se, but the music is just thrilling and exceptional straight through. "Low" has a great samba groove and an almost Afrobeat feel to it, not unlike Tony Allen's Black Voices CD. Lots of synths and samples dance around the real percussion and vocals for a truly amazing sound, a good deal more genuinely hip than what passes for hip in the US (that means you Beck). It's a great reminder to me that as much as I explore the great Brazilian artists who are so marginalized in this country, I am in many respects still treading very traditional waters. I don't know how much stuff like this CD is out there, but it's worth checking out. As vital as Tropicalia or any of your favorite Brazilian buzz-genres, Otto's breakbeat-driven, almost-ambient style is captivating and in many places, just glorious. Samba Pra Burro bridges the gap between pure DJ music and traditional Brazilian music – it takes risks, it seizes newness and invents from its own wellspring – it's dancefloor art as rhythmic and powerful as you could want it. Anyone caught in the same old-school Brazilian rut should buy this disc immediately and brace for the excellent shock. Yeah, yeah, we all love the bossa nova, but you have to get with the times sometimes. This is forward-thinking music in every respect.
Review by The Dalai Parton |