Various Artists

Black Rio 2: Original Samba Soul 1971–1979

Compiled by DJ Cliffy

Strut Records

As improbable as it may seem, especially given the Tropicalia movement's well-documented 1960s struggles with the Brazilian power elites, Black Rio soul and funk musicians were given just as hard a time of it by the authorities. Considered "too black" and not Brazilian enough by the public at large, and given Brazil's dictatorial rule at the time, it was difficult for most any street-level art or music to flourish—which is a shame, because the music collected from long-lost artists for the upcoming compilation Black Rio 2, a follow-up to the 2002 album Black Rio, are vibrant, moving, and incindieary in equal measures.

What jumps out to me most as a listener is the sense of bratty, spontaneous, out-of-control fun that pervades the best tracks. Whereas American soul and funk often oozes machismo, performers like Renata Lu and Os Diagonis are just as influenced by the wide-eyed acid pranks of Os Mutantes or the Slits as they are the J.B.s or Parliament (to my ears). This hybrid of "native" Samba sounds and hard-driving Phily soul is as fabulous in conception as it is in execution.

Soundworlds collide harmoniously. This album is a music obsessive's dream come true.

Download a sample track (mp3/7.82MB; Guimaraes E O Grupo Som Sagrado—“Our Sound”)—via Zshare.