The man, João Gilberto, and first lady, Astrud Gilberto
It all started with a hunt on BandCamp, a site that lets bands can sell their own music via download or CD. As you might guess, this lets all sorts of hack amateurs in, so a hunt for good stuff is random at best. Thankfully, Maylee Todd had an interesting album cover. That prompted a sample listen, and it was some good stuff; bossa nova, as if Stereolab had crashed the recording session. Before I knew it, I was pulling the first Nouvelle Vague CD for my daily drive. As I listened to it, it occurred to me that bossa nova always has a calming effect, it makes it seem like you're on a sunny beach. I figured some of you may be freezing your ass off right about now, so here's some a little sumpin' sumpin' to warm you up.
Maylee Todd, the kid
First, about the instigator, Ms Maylee Todd. As much as I dug her "Summer Sounds," the imaginative video for the song is really good clean fun; switching gears mid-song before ascending into an intergalactic dance party. Then there's Nouvelle Vague, whom some of you may be familiar with. Their first album was bossa nova themed, and, like their subsequent releases, all covers; specifically new wave, post-punk and punk covers. It featured singers from France, Brazil and New York, all selected for their unfamiliarity with the original versions. Nowhere is the juxtaposition more intriguing than their take on the Dead Kennedy's "Too Drunk to Fuck." Next up is the Mosquitos, a band consisting of two New Yorkers and, literally, a girl from Ipanema. (Not sure if they're still at it, their site seems to be dormant.) Following them is Smokey & Miho, an unlikely collaboration between a guitarist for Beck, and a singer from Japan's Cibo Matto. And after them, three cuts from bossa nova royalty, the Gilberto clan. João Gilberto is of course, the Chuck Berry of bossa nova; the dude created it. That's huge; like inventing reggae or something. Astrud, his wife, had never sung professionally before being coaxed by Stan Getz, into trying the vocals for "The Girl From Ipanema." And then there's daughter Bebel, holder of the Gilberto torch.
The Mosquitos
Just a couple more. There's Quincy Jones' take on the sound in "Soul Bossa Nova," if only to illustrate that when the band gets too big, you lose the necessary simplicity. The most ill-informed of the bunch is a cover from a hokey concept project, Bossa n' Ramones. It's rather tacky, even when compared to Nouvelle Vague, but it's a curiosity nonetheless. The last link is to the top eleven bossa nova songs, past and present, as selected by Caipirinha Lounge. This is a no-brainer. I will humbly defer to their picks, as they know eleven bona fide bossa nova artists and I had to pad my picks with a bunch of newer artists. Plus they've got a very cool site, and must know what the hell they're talking about.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Maylee Todd - Summer Sounds mp3 at I Love T.O.Nouvelle Vague - Too Drunk to Fuck mp3 at Town Full of Losers
Mosquitos - Boom Box mp3 at Kick Kick Snare
Smokey & Miho - Consolacao mp3 at Salon.com
Astrud Gilberto - Berimbau mp3 at Too Much Happiness
Bebel Gilberto - Chica Chica Boom Chic mp3 at Panic Manual
João & Astrud Gilberto w/Stan Getz - The Girl From Ipanema mp3 at Caipirinha Lounge
Bossa n' Ramones - Blitzkreig Bop mp3 at Music For Maniacs
ESSENTIAL: Top 11 Bossa Nova Songs, Past & Present at Caipirinha Lounge
2 comments:
I love Bossa Nova and while I believe this musical style is somewhat classic and untouchable, certain musicians CAN get away with interpreting old standards or creating their own versions of Bossa Nova, such as the ones appearing in your blog.
Are you familiar with the "Red, Hot & Rio" compilation? There's some bad and questionable material on there (Astrud Gilberto + George Michael?!). However, a lot of the other tracks are pretty cool.
On this compilation, all of these artists have contributed to the Bossa Nova vibe: Everything But The Girl, PM Dawn, Cesaria Evora, Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne. Even Stereolab with Herbie Mann!
And, some cool tracks on another Red/Hot compilation "Nova Bossa."
I have that Nova Bossa compilation and you're right, it is pretty cool. I'm a little leery of newer bands doing it, and was really surprised that I could think of the ones that I posted. For me, it all begins with the Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto LP. I know Gilberto was doing it before, but that seems to be the template.
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