Discover Music From Brazil

There's plenty of music on this 18-track compilation, but surely only the entirely uninitiated could regard much of it as a discovery. From the generic cover art and perfunctory trawls through samba, forró and berimbau-plucking to the rent-a-cliché liner notes, it too often feels every bit the bargain basement compilation. Odilara's ‘Aquela Beleza’ is a Huey Lewis-meets-MPB trial, while Denis Porto cheesily mangles ‘Marinheiro’. Thank God then, for Mariana Volker and the intermittent inclusion of Ceumar, whose subtle, delicate arrangements and elegant voice, in the context of this album, sounds beamed in from another planet. We’re also treated to a rare sighting of the brilliant and still underrated jazz legend Paulo Moura on ‘Amazon Journey, Part 1’. Special mention should also go to the excellently named Conjunto Explosăo do Samba, whose ‘Poxa’ is samba as it should be – rich and bittersweet.