Too Slow to Disco Brasil

‘Um, dois, um-dois-três…’ and then a horn section blasts us straight to the land of Earth Wind & Fire. This is the fifth in a series of smooth post-disco – and dare I use the almost pejorative term – adult-oriented rock music released by the German DJ Supermarkt. Compiled by singer, songwriter and producer Ed Motta, it's a collection of Brazilian obscurities (to Western ears) from the 1970s and 80s. The 19 artists in question range from the million-selling Roupa Nova to the virtually unknown Gelson Oliveira & Luiz Ewerling. They mainly share a feel for a soaring melody allied to a love of a punchy horn riff and a seductive hook.

What's remarkable is how closely this parallels what was happening at the time in LA and other chilled-out zones. Altay Veloso's ‘Débora’, for example, includes synchronised guitar and scatting just like prime-time George Benson, while Junior Mendes’ ‘Copacabana Sadia’ could be Odyssey's follow-up to ‘Native New Yorker’. In toto (pun intended), it's all redolent of Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brothers and, less surprisingly, 80s-style Jorge Ben. Slickly produced AOR Too Slow to Disco Brasil might be, but it's also curiously good.