2004-03-14 - 10:14 a.m. Band name: Spontiac...or the Spontiacs. My tentative new love for Brazilian music (more specifically Afro-Brazilian, heavy on drums and chanting and intensity, rather than that wimpy tropicalia stuff that sounds like Muzak to me) blossomed a little this week on discovering a band called Olodum. Now, this is akin to saying, "My love for punk rock blossomed upon my discovery of Blink 182," because Olodum is widely considered the sell-out band of Bahia. They were first tempted by fame when Paul Simon hired them to play drums on "The Obvious Child", which catapulted them into the Western spotlight. They also did session work with Michael Jackson. Then they started tweaking their own sound. According to legend they went from being a traditional samba act, singing about the Orisha, to a fancy-pants pop act, replete with synthesizers and all kinds of rock instrumentation. Their album O Movimento was their "screw you, we do what we want" album. The opening song "Alegria Geral" proudly proclaims their allegiance to no one, and it is the most stirring thing I've heard in some time. thoughts? (2 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact