B Fachada

Bernardo Fachada, teamed up with producer Tiago Pereira, recently released a documentary over oral tradition in Portugal, and its sense in the 21st century. "Tradição Oral Contemporânea" (Contemporary Oral Tradition) shows him absorbing ageless folkloric tunes and analysing their change over time. The 'lisboeta' Fachada has visited villages in Portugal and orally exchanged songs with the people, trying to prove the natural aspects of traditional music and giving life to it outside rural boundaries. In both Viola Braguesa and in the documentary,the sense of transmission and change can be understood as aspects of tradition itself - opposed to the idea of crystalization of popular (mostly rural) culture. Similar results can be seen in the work of the mythical António Variações in the early eighties, but with massive repercussion and lacking Fachada's conceptual and intellectual approach.

Musically, the album's broody atmosphere and slow paced tempos, its lovely lo-fi aesthetics composed of organ and viola braguesa (portuguese sort of guitar) and great vocals sung in portuguese, make this album not only conceptually, but sentimentally, a great achievement.

(2008) Viola Braguesa / V0
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Milton Nascimento

The recognition of Milton Nascimento's work has been built in ambiguous ways, specially in his homeland Brazil. While kept as a cult marvel to foreign ears, his superstar status in Brazil as a lead singer paradoxically coexists with his more avantgarde approach as a musician - at least until the seventies - thus establising himself as the most prominent and inaccessible artist in the country.

His 1967 self-titled debut album - years later re-released as Travessia - is a roots samba / jazz crossover album, fully orchestrated by Luiz Eça (who also plays the Piano throughout the record), which propelled Nascimeno to worldwide recognition. In 1969, most of these songs were re-recorded under CTI's Creed Taylor guidance, resulting in Courage. Songs like "Três Pontas" and "Catavento" were emulated, new songs added ("Courage", "Vera Cruz", "October") and an english spoken version of "Travessia" (Bridges) - backed up by great names such as Herbie Hancock and Airto Moreira.

(1967) Travessia / V0
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(1969) Courage / 320k
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Some years later, Nascimento would veer towards what would become one the the most notorious records in decades of brazilian music - Clube da Esquina. While credited to Milton Nascimento (for obvious reasons) and Lô Borges (who earned compositional credits for several songs), the Clube da Esquina ensemble ("Corner Club", childishly named after what would their respective mothers call the gang) is also formed by Márcio Borges, Toninho Horta, Wagner Tiso, among others. The Clube da Esquina record, ranging from psychedelia, to Beatle-esque pop, samba and folk, thrusted all members to prolific solo carreers - except for the already established (and now bulked up) Nascimento's acclaim. "Os Povos" is unearthly.

(1972) Milton Nascimento e Lô Borges - Clube da Esquina / V2
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The following year, Milagre dos Peixes finds the musician still in the psychedelic field, but more british sounding and more progressive oriented, merging different root brazilian music influences with reverbful prog-like timbres. This sound orientation is due to the Som Imaginário backup band (formed originally to backup Nascimento, but continued to perform afterwards), also featuring Clube da Esquina's Toninho Horta and Wagner Tiso.

(1973) Milagre dos Peixes / 320 VBR
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In 1975 and 1976, Milton Nascimento released Minas and Geraes, respectively. Minas is the last breath of artsiness in his work, while Geraes may be seen as the bridge to his 80's carreer. The first still gathers jazz, samba and prog rock elements, consolidating one of his most gloomy and haunting releases (attention to "Beijo Partido" and "Ponta de Areia"). Geraes tends to baroque pop with strong brazilian elements, recreating the baroque aura typical of the Minas Gerais state.

(1975) Minas / V0
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(1976) Geraes / V0
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extra:
(1972) Lô Borges - Lô Borges / V0
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(repost) Erik Satie: Socrate; John Cage: Cheap Imitation

There are two great articles in Wikipedia about both works:
Socrate
Cheap Imitation

(1991) Erik Satie: Socrate; John Cage: Cheap Imitation / 192k
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Will Oldham

	Will Oldham + Bill Callahan (1993) The Sundowners - Goat Songs / 192k download Sea Note Records
	Will Oldham + Mick Turner (2000) Marquis de Tren & Bonny Billy - Get on Jolly / 192k download Palace Records

Will Oldham + Mick Turner (2001) Marquis de Tren & Bonny Billy - Get the Fuck on Jolly Live / 192k download Palace Records

Brian Eno & Gavin Bryars

Conceptually inspired by Satie, Stockhausen, Cage and others, Brian Eno has reached the touchstone of what would become a pillar in experimental music with Discreet Music. The idea of ambience preceding music per se has been intensely explored by Satie, and taken to extreme with Cage: the concept of form has been perverted throughout his work in aspects such as length, source, harmony and reproductivity.
Eno, allied to Gavin Bryars (and spiritually assisted by Robert Fripp), released Discreet Music in 1975. The process of tapelooping was heavily explored by both Fripp and Eno in previous collaborations. This technique analogically scrutinized the possibilities of pitch and length variations in overdub, with discrete (separate) groups of patterns discreetly (restrainedly) intertwined. Eventually, the announced intention of achieving pictorical sensations was later baptized of Ambient Music.
Albeit being endlessly remembered by the thirty minute plus self-titled track, which effectively landmarked Eno's goals by the use of the referred techniques and concepts, the undervalued ageless second half of the album reached the acme of minimal placidity. 3 variations of Pachelbel's Canon performed by Gavin Bryars' ensemble, remains undeniably influential as observed in several ambient and contemporary classical acts.
Bryars' first solo attempt was recorded in 75 and released the year after by Eno's Obscure label. It gathers much of what he's performed in Discreet Music, in an excellent debut release, disconsidered the exaggerated use of sampled voice in the closing track.



(1975) Brian Eno - Discreet Music / V0
EG Records
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(1976) Gavin Bryars - Sinking of the Titanic/Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet / 320k
Obscure Records
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(part 1 / part 2)