Various Artists
Red Hot + Rio
»
Various Artists
Red Hot + Rio
Verve, 1996
RiYL: Any of the artists listed below |
Red Hot + Rio is the latest in the series, and targets '60s and '70s Brazilian pop music along with the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim as its concept. Jobim died in 1994, but gave the project his blessing by donating some of his songs. A positively confounding blend of artists can be found paying tribute to Jobim and Brazilian pop on Rio, including Everything But The Girl, Sting, Mad Professor, PM Dawn, Stereolab, George Michael and David Byrne.
Musically, this record will probably only be well received by fans of the Brazilian pop genre. The presence of familiar artists, like Sting and Byrne, isn't enough to sell the record. Why? Because there just isn't a lot of room for fresh interpretations with the music here. The artists have either "Brazil-ified" their own pieces or re-hashed Brazilian standards by adding dub beats and sound effects.
PM Dawn's "Non-Fiction Burning" would fit well on an episode of "Sesame Street." Everything But the Girl's take on Jobim's "Corcovado" sounds like a Madonna out-take. And Cesaria Evora's collaboration with Caetano Veloso and Ryuichi Sakamoto on "E Preciso Perdoar" could fit on any number of today's R&B records.
Rio does have some enjoyable tracks, like Incognito's sweet, hip-hoppy turn on Jobim's "Water To Drink," Sting's cover of the standard "How Insensitive," featuring a lively Jobim on vocals on piano, and Stereolab and Herbie Mann's teaming for a medley of Jobim's "One Note Samba" and "Surfboard."
Packed with 21 songs and over 70 minutes of music, Rio might not be the most genuine tribute to Brazilian music out there, but represents well the accomplishments of Jobim to his country's music scene. It also reminds us that AIDS is not only still a salient danger, but one that is just as deadly outside of our own country.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"