What I have to share now, Is for me, the most important movement since Tropicalia (actually, nothing really happened in Brasil since them). I’m talking about Mangue Beat, which people wrongly associate to a genre of music. Mangue Beat is a movement of people interested in pop culture in general and tired of been “raped” by everything coming throughout TVs and radios in a metropolitan area where 50% of the inhabitants live in slums. The biggest characteristic of the movement, was the interest of involving local cultures like Ciranda, Samba de Coco, Maracatu, all mixed with hip hop, rock, punk or anything you like, not only in the music department, but also fashion, poetry, graphic arts, theater, etc. Chico Science was the main articulator for the movement and the Chico Science & Nacao Zumbi’s front man. Chico died at the age of 30 in a car accident and he left two albums. Rolling Stones Magazine included Chico Science in the list of the 100 Most Important Artist in the Brazilian Music in 16ª, and his 2 albums included in the TOP 100 Best Albums of Brazilian Music, Da Lama ao Caos in 13ª place and Afrociberdelia in 18°. The track I’m gonna choose is “Da Lama ao Caos” from their debut album.Chico Science & Nação Zumbi – Banditismo Por Uma Questa [audio:http://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/02-Banditismo-Por-Uma-Questa.mp3]
Chico Science & Nação Zumbi – Cidade [audio:http://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/04-Cidade.mp3]Chico Science & Nação Zumbi – Da Lama Ao Caos [audio:http://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/07-Da-Lama-Ao-Caos.mp3]
The mangue bit or mangue beat movement is a cultural movement created circa 1991 in the city of Recife in Northeast Brazil in reaction to the cultural and economical stagnation of the city. The movement largely focuses on music.
The movement has its own manifesto, Caranguejos com Cérebro (or “Crabs with Brains” in English), written in 1992 by singer Fred 04and DJ Renato L. Its title refers to Recife’s inhabitants as crabs living in Recife’s swamp and mangrove environment. A major symbol associated with mangue bit is that of an antenna stuck in the mud receiving signals from all over the world.
Mangue bit can be divided into two distinct waves: the first in the early 1990s led by the music groups Chico Science & Nação Zumbi(Zumbi’s Nation) and Mundo Livre S/A (Free World Inc.), and the second in the early 2000s led by Re:Combo (a copyleft movement that uploads half-sampled music for download) and Cordel do Fogo Encantado (a music group that started as a roving theatre troupe with roots in a form of literature known as literatura de cordel (“twine literature”)).
The original movement named itself mangue bit, mangue referring to Recife’s mangroves and bit to the computer bit central to the movement’s electronic music influences. Since then, mangue bit has far more commonly, albeit mistakenly, been referred as mangue beat.
Nowadays there are some bands that include this references, like Autoplágio.
This is my chance to shine here…It’s gonna be hard, but I’m up for the challenge. I’ve chosen Mathieu Chedid to go against Chico Science & Nação Zumbi solely because he’s the only one in my books to have the same-ish kind of approach to music. Mixing different genres into a whole new one… and has this image around a fictional guitar player (see pictures). Mathieu Chedid is not only one great guitar player, he also writes beautiful lyrics for his songs. He is very well known here in France, acclaimed singer-songwriter and has worked with many other influencial acts around France including but not limited to Vanessa Paradis (or Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, depends how you see it), Johnny Halliday etc… His tracks are very guitar heavy and full of groove. The tracks I’m sharing today are all taken from a live album so you get the full scope of his stage presence…. You can singalong to his tracks too, the lyrics aren’t too hard to memorize… Here are the 3 tracks I promised, I highly recommend you listen to this 11 minute “Machistador” masterpiece (remember this is all live recorded) :
Matthieu Chedid – Machistador [audio:http://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2-08-Machistador.mp3]
Matthieu Chedid – Mama Sam [audio:http://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2-06-Mama-Sam.mp3]
Matthieu Chedid – Le Complexe Du Corn Flakes [audio:http://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2-02-Le-Complexe-Du-Corn-Flakes.mp3]
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