Music from the mud. Satellites in the swamp.
The state of Pernambuco is grounded in tradition and modernity.
This is electronic roots music from Northeast Brazil.
In the 1980's it popped and glowed through London's fog...
In the 1990's it grew into grunge under Seattle's gray skies...
Now, in the 2000's, it is the surge of hydroelectric power coursing through Pernambuco!
More so than any other state in the Brazilian Northeast, the state of Pernambuco, is firmly planted in tradition and modernity. Stroll downtown through the capitol city of Recife on a Tuesday evening and you’ll literally have to squeeze between hundreds and thousands of youth out celebrating, dressed in their own urban style (from chained leather belts to pink daisies, from neck piercings to jungle face paint, from polyester to flannel).
For anyone familiar with Brazilian music, ‘hybrid’ is as crucial an adjective as ‘infectious.’ The tracks on this album represent the scene that is pumping straight out of the Brazilian northeast in the state of Pernambuco, spawned and nourished in the thick muck of the mangue swamp, the metaphorical epicenter of a colossal cultural movement, just over a decade old, that has changed the musical landscape of Brazil forever.
The philosophy? To use the mangue swamp for receiving satellite transmissions from across the world. To celebrate hybridity. Their music? An explosion of punk-rock-funk-rap-electronic sound, infused with the maracatu, coco,ciranda and embolada rhythmic traditions of the rural northeast. Contemporary bands, like those on this compilation, are experimenting with even more diverse genres of music like electronica, techno, and sampling of other Northeastern traditions like embolada and rhythmic poetry jams.
Take your pick from over ten genres of hybrid music. There is no dress code to follow, and feel free to partake in any and all shows. It’s a true free-for-all! What’s Happening in Pernambuco ought to be happening everywhere!
"The music of Pernambuco is strong! It is dense and curious..."- Tom Zé
"These people are recovering things that the tractor of time runs over..."-- Gilberto Gil
