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Two of Brazil’s most original new(er) artists played over the weekend as part of the World Music Festival, and both of them proved they can make use of just about any musical approach. On Saturday Cibelle, a Sao Paulo native who now lives in London, played an intimate set at the HotHouse, meticulously assembling a bricolage of tiny electronic samples and manipulations, along with subtle guitar patterns, to create delicate pop songs that sound like they’re perpetually about to disintegrate. While her drummer conveyed the airy rhythmic sensibility that seems to course through the blood of every Brazilian, Cibelle’s whimsical songs focused on texture and juxtaposition, with her gorgeous, weightless voice holding the tunes together. She used a sampler to turn vocal phrases into rhythmic devices–and construct elaborate harmonies with herself–while her bandmates shifted from playing guitar, delivering synthetic bass tones, and crafting ambient samples.
Yet even if Catatua had been unable to perform at all, the band still would have cooked–Otto’s music is rooted in heavy beats. Bassist Rian Batista—who also plays in Cidadão Instigado—keyboardist Daniel Ganjaman (a key member of the Sao Paulo hip-hop collective Instituto), kit drummer Beto Apineia, and percussionists Andre Male and Marcos Axe created imperturbable grooves that effortlessly blended chunks of reggae, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian rhythms–a perfect platform for Otto’s declamatory singing, which mixes indelible melodies and propulsive phrasing. This weekend only made me more certain that Brazil is the most creative and exciting music center in the world.
