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MAIS 032CD
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Graveola's third album Camaleão Borboleta is fired with socially conscious lyrics concerning the power of the internet, native Brazilian-Indian struggles and issues around marijuana legalization. Graveola's unique brand of alt-pop sees tropicalia, samba, "rock Brasileira" and Brazilian folk rhythms cannibalize international genres to create strange hybrids they've labelled "psychedelic maracatu", "shamanic funaná", "weird salsa", "schizo-rock-fake-reggae" and "melancholic internet love ballad" - all examples of Graveola's "carnival cannibalism" approach to making music. Oddball arrangements recall Os Mutantes in their prime with naïve melodies, a hazy sensibility and Brazilian folk rhythms giving their music a distinctly Brazilian take on indie that ranks them as torchbearers of the new alt-tropical movement in South America, alongside acts such as Meridian Brothers and Juana Molina. The band has been heavily involved in recent "occupations" of government buildings against what they consider a coup in Brazil. Album opener "Maquinário" is a "psychedelic maracatu" (a rhythm from the north of Brazil) and a song about personal transformation where airplanes ask butterflies for the wind that makes them fly and vice versa. "Índio Maracanã" is a "shamanic funaná" (a Cape Verdean rhythm) inspired by the native Brazilian Indians who occupied the former native Indian museum in Rio in 2014 to try and prevent it being demolished in the lead-up to the World Cup. The group are joined by Samuel Rosa (Skank) on "Talismã", where the narrator lists various symbols that he encounters on a journey to personal freedom. "Tempero Segredo" is José Luis Braga's "tribute to all the herbs that increase levels of awareness". José also wrote "Sem Sentido" which features a mix of rhythms popular from the north of Brazil such as frevo and bolero and talks about the enabling power the internet offers people. "Aurora", "Costi" and "Back in Bahia" were written by Brina. She describes "Aurora" as "a sexy-Latin arrocha (Bahian rhythm) that's a love letter to the Spanish sea with a chorus in 12/8" and "Costi" as "a tribute to my Spanish cousin's 90 year old socialist and feminist grandmother". With a nod to the Gilberto Gil, "Back in Bahia" is, according to Luiza, a "collapsed bossa" that features polyrhythms from the Argentinian music style chacarera. Recorded in the band's hometown of Belo Horizonte under guidance from legendary Brazilian producer Chico Neves (Céu, Lenine) the six-piece have deliver their most electric, compelling work to date, a decade since their formation.
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MAIS 013CD
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Post-tropical polyphonic populists from Minas Gerais in Brazil, Graveola draw influence from kitsch pop radio and dusty classical vinyl to create a sound they call "carnival-cannibalism." On Eu Preciso de um Liquidificador, Graveola mix the canon of 20th century Brazilian music -- in particular samba, bossa, tropicalia and the folk stylings of Minas Gerais' most famous son Milton Nascimento -- with folk, jazz, funk, Latin, baroque and blues influences to create a joyfully exuberant set which brings to mind the playful psychedelic pop of the legendary Os Mutantes. Graveola combine these influences within arresting arrangements, while swooning harmonies, buzzing melodies and hooks-a-plenty ensure that this is a "pop" album of the quirkiest order. The band emerged from Belo Horizonte University in 2004, originally as a trio mixing classics of Brazilian music with pop songs and, according to founder Luiz Gabriel Lopes, finding inspiration in "lyricism, debauchery and TV jingles." At that time, their lack of instruments and musical training led them to incorporate household goods and toy instruments into their sound, hence their full name Graveola e o Lixo Polifônico ("Graveola and the Polyphonic Garbage.) Around 2005 and 2006, new members joined, their numbers swelled and their sound blossomed, and by 2008 they were ready to record their debut album. Eagerly welcomed by the Brazilian music press, the band performed many shows around Brazil and went to Europe for shows in autumn 2012. Mais Um Gringo, the head of Mais Um Discos, recalls seeing Graveola for the first time in Belo Horizonte in 2010: "Their performance blew me away -- a perfect storm of chaos and groove, with six, seven, maybe eight members on stage performing pop vignettes that morphed into baroque jazz pieces then rock freak-outs -- intoxicating stuff."
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