Brazil Connection #6 - Telerama\Banda Desenhada

Twee is the word that came to my mind when I heard Telerama's "Petite America" for the first time. Which is, of course, a good thing.

Telerama come from the Northeast region of Brazil, the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, to be more specific. It's a very sunny metropolis, full of beauty, which stems especially from its beaches and the deep history of the city. Telerama's music sounds a lot like their home city: very pretty, warm, and instantly likeable.

The band started in 2005, formed by the couple Igor Mainá and Alinne Rodrigues, along with some other musicians. They released a four-song EP and played around Ceará and Brazil for a few years, and even performed at South by Southwest in 2008. In 2009 the band ended, and the couple started a new band, Banda Desenhada, also performing at SXSW. Another four-song EP was released.

Then, in 2013, the couple moved to Montreal, where they released a new song using the name of Telerama. It was "Petite America", accompanied by a delightful video that got a lot of play on the Brazilian internet. Then, in 2014 (according to their Bandcamp page), they released a three-song EP, again as Banda Desenhada.

Whatever name they're using, Miná and Rodrigues's music is always pleasant to listen to, and could very well be described as twee or indie pop. They're open about their influences, and I think The Cardigans are the most apt comparison, though there's certainly a lot more in there. All their songs are in Portuguese, and Alinne's vocal style is decidedly influenced by other Brazilian singers, which fits very well into the indiepop sound. The melodies compliment her voice very nicely, which in turn seems to melt in your ears at certain points.

But their influences are not only musical, they come from everything, and the video for "Petite America" says it all about that.  It reveals everything they're all about: Wes Anderson, Scott Pilgrim, Ninja Turtles, Muppets, retro aesthetics, and much more, all very nicely shot, composed, and colour coordinated. If this sounds like you, go and give it a listen!

The band(s) unfortunately don't seem very active at the moment, but as they have been making music intermittently for about a decade now, there's always the chance they will release something at any moment, in one way or another.

Until then, you can listen to and download their music on the Telerama and Banda Desenhada's Bandcamp pages. Some of the music can be downloaded for free. And it's interesting to see that the song "Sem Ter Amor" was included in all of their releases, each time a different recording of it. My personal favourite is the last one, found on 2014's Minimuseu.

And finally, here's the video for Petite América:

Brazil Connection #5 - Loomer

2013 was a good year for music. Great records were released, some good new bands debuted, we got the Inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack… and My Bloody Valentine released their first record  since Loveless, 21 years later. Fans all over the world were ecstatic to hear new material from the band, and the album did not disappoint at all, managing to sound current even after all those years.

Brazil Connection #4 - The Tamborines

And we're back with another Brazil Connection after yet another Dutch holiday. There seems to be a lot of those this time of the year, and this one was a long one - Monday AND Tuesday. Alright! This week, I give you The Tamborines.

Brazil Connection #3 - Pin Ups

This week we are going to talk about a classic Brazilian indie band, instead of a current one. This is the first time I do that, and probably won't be the last. And there's no better way to start talking about the past than with the band that started it all, at least as far as I'm concerned: Pin Ups.

Pin Ups, ca. 1993(?)

The band, which started out in 1987, certainly wasn't the first Brazilian independent act, but it was arguably the first in a certain scene, one that was never named but left its mark on many people, many of which have bands today. A scene of guitar-driven bands who sang in English and sounded like they'd just come from London, Manchester, or New York. It was a scene that was ahead of its time, taking cues from influences that were known to very few at the time, trailing a path that would later be taken by many.

Brazil Connection #2 - Lê Almeida

I consider myself a fairly eclectic person. If you browse through my Last.fm profile, you will see I have played music by many different artists, each with their own distinct sound, and I can say I at least like about 95% of those. Still, some things just speak to us so directly that every time we hear something like that, we are instantly grabbed. To me, that’s good pop music played with loud guitars.

When I started liking music “for real”, I started listening to indie guitar bands from the 90’s. Nirvana probably started it all for me, and from thereon I got into Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., Guided by Voices, Yo La Tengo, and what not. It helped that at the time the Brazilian MTV had a great show dedicated to bands like that. It would go on at 2, 3 AM, but I would watch it, every chance I got. The beautiful pop melodies led by distorted, many times roughly recorded guitars fascinated me. As I started to learn English, I also fell in love with the lyrics of most of those songs. And that’s still going strong to this day.

When I first listened to Lê Almeida’s music, I could relate to it instantly, I could tell this was someone who was into that same stuff. And he was good! Immediately I thought of Guided By Voices. The melodies, the lo-fi, DIY ethos, it was all there. And indeed, I later discovered that Robert Pollard is a major influence on Almeida.

Lê Almeida started his own independent record label in 2004, Transfusão Noise Records, out of the backyard of a small house in a Rio de Janeiro suburb. He would record his own music and friends’ bands right out on the yard, under a blue canvas. They would together records that from the beginning showed how much care went into them, inside and out.

Ten years later, Transfusão Noise moved into a building in downtown Rio de Janeiro, where they continue to record lo-fi records, as well as promote shows and other activities. They have an impressive catalog of releases, all by other excellent guitar-driven acts. Almeida himself plays on many of them as well.

His latest LP, Paraleloplasmos, just came out recently, and was recorded at the new space. The change of setting did change Lê Ameida’s music: it seems to have opened the possibility for more experimentation, with more instruments and some new tricks. Underneath it all, however, the spirit is still the same: the guitar is still loud and the hooks will still get you. And although non-Portuguese speakers won’t know it, his lyrics are even better this time around; full of honesty and emotion. The last track of the record, Lindomavel, is a little masterpiece, both lyrically and musically.

But even those who don’t speak Portuguese will have a great time with Le Almeida’s music. He has a knack for creating pop melodies and dressing them up in distortion that should appeal to anyone who loves that kind of music. If you like any of the bands I’ve mentioned here, you owe it to yourself to give it a listen. Paraleloplasmos is being released in the US via Lost Sound Tapes and Jigsaw Records. You can also get his released on Bandcamp. 

Here's a couple of my favourite tracks, one from each of his LPs:

Brazil Connection #01 - Bonifrate

For the first proper edition of Brazil Connection, I bring you an artist I have been listening to a lot lately: Bonifrate.

Bonifrate is one of the many bands of one Pedro Bonifrate. I already knew and liked Supercordas, arguably one of the most successful bands of the current Brazilian indie scene. Pedro sings and plays guitar in Supercordas (who are about to release a new album, I hear). This past January I attended one of their shows while visiting São Paulo, and my friends told me that the following week his solo project would be playing at a different place.

I attended that show as well, and it ended up being a very memorable night for me. Not only because of the show, but it definitely set the tone for the rest of the night. It happened at a small club, where the  audience can get really close to the band, my favourite kind of venue. The band was sharp and exciting, delivering beautiful, mainly psychedelic songs filled with many other influences. I was already into the show, but got really hooked when they played a song called “Eu Não Vejo Teenage Fanclub Nos Teus Olhos" (I Don’t See Teenage Fanclub In Your Eyes). Not only it’s a great song, but I’m a sucker for references to my favourite things like that. And on that note, they sealed the deal at the end of the set by playing a staggering version of Spiritualized’s “Home of the Brave”. A fairly overlooked song from one of my top five favourite bands. I had become a Bonifrate fan, so I went home and listened to all his stuff.

Bonifrate’s solo project bears similarities to Supercordas, as one would expect, but it’s more idiosyncratic. That is most likely because Pedro Bonifrate records all the music himself at home, making the music a full expression of his sensibilities. He does all the writing, playing, recording, mixing and producing, and it’s a remarkable job at all of those things. The sonorities he manages to imprint on his music are at once evocative of his influences and very much his own.

The Spiritualized influence is perceptible in most of Bonifrate’s music, as well as some other key bands, such as early Pink Floyd (although more grounded). As it has been pointed out, Bonifrate’s music owes almost as much to folk as to psychedelic bands, and that contrast is part of what makes the music so interesting. There’s also some reggae influences, especially in the latest recordings, though I’m no expert in the genre.

Out of all of his releases, I have spent the most time with the 2013 album, Museu de Arte Moderna. I would recommend it to anyone interested in getting to know Bonifrate’s music better. There’s a particularly killer sequence in that album, starting with the title track, which leads into a beautiful instrumental track, “Guaianá Mainline” (very reminiscent of Spiritualized’s Eletric Mainline, mixed with Brazilian influences), and culminating into “Paralaxe", my favourite track on the record. It’s the high point of a throughly impressive effort. Other highlights to me were “Sabe da Última" and the aforementioned “Eu Não Vejo…”, which I’m embedding below for your listening pleasure.

Balaclava Records, whom we talked about last week, put out Bonifrate’s two latest releases: Museu de Arte Moderna, on vinyl, and last year’s EP Toca Do Cosmos, on cassette tape. The physical releases can be purchased on Balaclava’s website, or you can download all of Bonifrate’s records directly from his website, for free. His Balaclava releases and some of Supercordas’ work can also be heard on Spotify.

"Eu Não Vejo Teenage Fanclub Nos Teus Olhos"