2am interview: ‘If they like it, they’ll attend our gigs’

Posted on by
3

 

2am2

Two São Paulo songwriters with a diverse background in music and poetry, Rodrigo Antao and Pedro McCardell are 2am. 

Since forming the group in 2006, the London-based duo have been busy, busy boys. For a start, they’ve been photographed by famed fashion snapper Robert Astley Sparke and appeared in RG Vogue . They were featured by the NME, who picked up on a film of them re-stocking the shelves of London’s now-defunct Virgin Megastore with more than 300 copies of their album, CRISIS.

They’ve set up a website where anybody can download their album, for free, in exchange for uploading their own remixes, artwork or videos. They’ve been compared to some of the greatest song-writing duos in history. Oh, and did I mention that they’ve made an album of warm, classic-sounding, lyrics-driven pop music? 

This week I got a chance to speak with Antao about this, that and the other. Check the music here and read the full interview after the jump.

Continue reading →

Questão de Gosto

Posted on by
Reply

the bad taste special

If you’re anything like me, you might have to look twice at this to see what’s going on. What you’re looking at is a mocked-up poster pitched by the Brazilian ad agency DDB Brasil to the wildlife charity WWF. The slogan? The Tsunami Killed 100 Times More People Than 9/11. Pretty tastless, eh?

The charity have been quick to distance themselves from the ad, saying that “WWF strongly condemns this offensive and tasteless ad and did not authorize its production or publication. It is our understanding that it was a concept offered by an outside advertising agency seeking our business in Brazil. The concept was summarily rejected by WWF and should never have seen the light of day.”

But there seems to be some disagreement over whether the ad was actually approved by the WWF or not, and it appears the concept has even won an award. It’s starting to look like this could develop into a bit of a big deal, something which probably could have been avoided with a few sincere apologies and a generous contribution from the agency to the charity.

By the way, this isn’t the first time a Brazilian ad agency has gotten in trouble for seriously bad taste.

[via AdFreak]

Bellow Boys

Posted on by
Reply

O Milagre de Santa Luzia is a beautiful-looking documentary directed by Sérgio Roizenblit which traces the path of accordion music around Brazil. The film follows Dominguinhos, whose work with everyone from Luiz Gonzaga to Gilberto Gil has left him with a reuptation as the country’s finest living accordionist. It’s due to be released in Brazil this week, so will probably show up at film festivals around the world some time in 2015.

It seems like you either hate the accordion (British people, North Americans) or you love it (everyone else). If you happen to be one of the few who’s sitting on the fence, I can only recommend Radioclit’s accordion-heavy, bass-heavy mix of new Cape Verdean Funaná music. Check it out here and pick your side.

Old Gold

Posted on by
1

cartaz

Matéria de Capa is an absolute goldmine of old Brazilian magazine covers from the sixties and seventies. It’s mostly TV mags like amiga and inTerValo, but there’s a bunch of others mixed in there, too. The site describes itself as ’Uma homenagem aos artistas, jornalistas e fotógrafos que registraram a história da telenovela e da cultura brasileira’ – an homage to the artists, journalists and photographers who recorded the history of the telenovela and of Brazilian culture.

Nostalgia for some, a cultural curiosity for others. Maybe even a bit of design inspiration. After all, it can’t be too long before giant hair and huge medallions are back in fashion, can it?

contigo

amiga

setimo ceu

Lets Get Stupid

Posted on by
2

Remember these guys? Good old Bonde do Rolê, running around the place like a bunch of hyperactive toddlers making a load of noise and babbling on about releasing the chickens? What ever happened to them, eh?

Since she left the band, ex-lead singer Marina seems to have been releasing a record about once a month with a lengthy list of collaborators including Architecture in Helsinki, Radioclit, Metronomy aand Soko. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew have disappeared from view.

Until…

wait for it…

NOW!

The Bonde are very definitely back,  but their self-described ‘DJ-Marlboro-on-acid’ sound is no more. Oddly enough, new single Sarita kicks off as a laid-back samba groove before going…well, just weird, really. It’s hard to describe, so have a listen for yourself: 

What all this has to do with a forthcoming film about transexual sambistas in the Tavares Bastos favela is beyond me, but be sure to head on over to IM//UR for the full skinny. Whatever’s going on, all that matters is that the Bonde are back, and music’s about to get wonderfully stupid once again.

Beyond Ipanema

Posted on by
10

Beyond Ipanema is a new documentary by Guto Barra and Béco Dranoff which premiered in July at the MoMA in New York. It tells the story of the USA’s decades-long love affair with Brazilian music, and features interviews with internationally successful Brazilian artists like Bebel Gilberto and Seu Jorge as well as a handful of living legends, including Caetano Veloso and David Byrne.

No sign of a UK release date or even any festival appearances on this side of the pond as yet, but keep an eye out for this one – it looks superb.

Thanks to Daniela, from the lovely Don’t Touch My Moleskine blog, for the heads-up. It’s mostly in Portuguese, but there’s plenty of visual inspiration there for everyone.

An interesting wee idea

Posted on by
Reply

I’d heard a bit about this new plan in Brazil to save a bit of water by peeing in the shower. Hadn’t spotted this great little video by Fernando Sanches though. Thanks Maria.

It’s all part of a new campaign by the Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica which focuses on the fact that each flush wastes up to 12 litres of drinkable water. Whatever you think of the idea itself – I can’t see it going down too well in the USA, for example – it’s a good-looking video and the accompanying website is a wee bit special too.