Os melhores de 2020 no Brasil… pra gringa!

, por Alexandre Matias

O Lewis Robinson, do selo britânico Mais Um Discos me convidou para elencar os grandes trunfos musicais daqui no ano passado, ao lado de vários outros olheiros de música espalhados pelo mundo. Falei dos discos do Kiko, da Luedji, da Letrux, do BK, do Tantão, do Gui Held, do seu Mateus Aleluia, do Acorda Amor, do Rico Dalasam, da Larissa Conforto, do Negro Leo, do Zé Manoel, do Thiago e do Schiavo, além dos shows do Bixiga com a Luiza Lian, da Juçara cantando seu Encarnado sem energia elétrica, do Romulo revisitando o Transa, do Kiko Dinucci, das lives do Paulinho da Viola e do Caetano Veloso e do documentário do Emicida (tudo em inglês). E minha retrospectiva 2020 começa em breve…

I’ve been to 34 concerts in 2020 and in less than three months this quota of live music fulfilled me through the year (John Cale was the last one I’ve seen and got a chance to see Juçara Marçal three days in that same last week – what a thrill!). 2020’s been a weird year, full of haunting and dramatic Brazilian new milestones, classic acts streaming online and some of those concerts I’ve been able to watch (and film, yes, I’m one of those people) in those first “normal” months… Here’s twenty great moments of Brazilian music in 2020, in any particular order.

Guilherme Held – Corpo Nós
A psychedelic guitar hero and an afrossamba aficionado that axed most Brazilian music in the last decade, gather his friends to a deep turn into the black heart of the country.

Kiko Dinucci – Rastilho (live at Sesc Pompeia)
Kiko’s raw and gripping second solo album grow an extra dimension when performed live – and what is this samba choir…

Letrux – Letrux aos Prantos
The drama diva dives into the seas of deep sadness, laughing just to stay sane – if that’s possible in 2020.

BK: O Líder Em Movimento
One of the best rappers in Brazil today, BK’ is also the best audio director in Brazilian pop music, leading the listener to different regions of Rio de Janeiro and his third album is a masterclass about political racism in our country.

Romulo Froes canta Transa com Jards Macalé (live at Sesc Belenzinho)
Romulo manages to gather a gang of aces (Marcelo Cabral, Guilherme Held, Richard Ribeiro and Rodrigo Campos) to craft his own deconstructed version of Caetano’s most emotional album, inviting one of its masterminds, the ominous Jards Macalé, to stage – just to call “bora Macao” at his guru, just as Veloso did on record.

Luedji Luna – Bom Mesmo É Estar Debaixo D’água
This goddess finally made an album worth her majesty: a lavishly black blending of soul, samba and funk melted into the same pearl.

Luiza Lian + Bixiga 70 (live at Sesc Pinheiros)
The meeting between the electronic pixie and the nine-headed groovy hydra works almost as a mythological tale.

Juçara Marçal Encarnado Acústico (live at Centro da Terra)
Juçara is an entity and she revisited her bold and epic Encarnado in a really acoustic way: no mics, no amps, audience onstage in a journey she led escorted by Kiko Dinucci, Thomas Rohrer and Rodrigo Campos.

Caetano Veloso Live (Globoplay)
The old professor gathered his sons to visit his golden era (from 1968 to 1992) in a widely watched live concert.

Acorda Amor
Cultura Livre’s TV host Roberta Martinelli and Bixiga 70’s drummer Decio 7 assembled five of the most poignant contemporary Brazilian female voices (Liniker, Letrux, Maria Gadu, Xenia and Luedji) to visit a cannon of political songs from the country’s repertoire.

Mateus Aleluia – Olorum
There’s a submerged continent in between Brazil and Africa and the only stone we can see over the sea level is this old Tincoã.

Negro Leo – Desejo de Lacrar
An exercise about cancelment culture, online behavior and how it’s affecting our days.

Emicida – AmarElo – É Tudo Pra Ontem (Netflix)
The paulista rapper got into the sumptuous Theatro Municipal de São Paulo and get the chance to link it to the story of samba, the story of Brazilian hip hop culture, our black political movement and the meaning of being Black in Brazil.

Rico Dalasam – Dolores Dala Guardião do Alívio
So painfully good, Rico’s one the best new singers and composers in Brazil, reinventing R&B through his own point of view.

Tantão e os Fita – Piorou
2020’s ugly face – look at it! Look! At! It”

Zé Manoel – Do Meu Coração Nu
What happened if Tom Jobim and Dorival Caymmi were a the same pernambucano maestro? Zé Manoel is the answer.

Thiago França – KD VCS
Metá Metá’s saxman goes completely solo in studio: just one takes, no post production, no electronic effects, just the man and his instrument, using it like a lamp in it’s own cave.

Bruno Schiavo – A vida só começou
The untranslatable involuntary pun (which mixes “Life’s just begun” with “Lone life has begun”) add a layer of sweetness and is an improbable mix of songcraft and avant-garde.

ÀIYÉ – Gratitrevas
Ventre’s former drummer, Larissa Conforto metamorphosed into Àiyé, fusing electronics, percussion, ancient traditions and artivism in the same scale.

Paulinho da Viola Live (Globoplay)
The Brazilian prince of samba is a national treasure.

10 more? 10 more!
Josyara e Giovani Cidreira – Estreite
Bonifrate – Diversionismo
Cadu Tenório – Monument for Nothing
Carabobina – Carabobina
Joana Queiroz – Tempo Sem Tempo
Marcelo Cabral – Naunyn
Pelados – Sozinhos
Tatá Aeroplano – Delírios Líricos
Pipo Pegoraro – Antropocósmico
Fellini – A Melhor Coisa Que Eu Fiz (box set)

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