Recife Style Wars

It feels wrong writing about the carnival as a musical event. It’s much more than that. For me it was more important to see the city itself and the north-eastern Brazilian culture. The people were as friendly as could be and the level of violence and general fucked-upness was at an admirable low. If you’re not too into maracatu, coco, frevo or ciranda then Recife perhaps is not the best place in Brazil for music. Not for clubs and shows. Not for bastard forms of modern dance music anyway. And not if you’re content with hitting up random spots in the tourist areas. The important musical activity always seem to take place outside of the center of the city, in spaces where you need to know people to get there. Adventurous hybrid scenes must have continued in Recife since the days of Chico Science. Somewhere. Perhaps I can get back to this in the future.

The musical highlight of the Carnaval was Nação Zumbi. A free show in the outskirts of Recife was a very different experience from the two times I saw them in São Paulo. People screaming every word to the songs and jumping up and down, about a meter up in the air. Sweating like in a sauna. The air turning into uncut electricity.

They have improved as musicians. Still, the start comes off stiff – perhaps because they play mostly post-Chico material. His intensity and idiosyncratic lyrics has left a hole in the group. But you can do nothing but admire and respect the way that the group have carried on after his death. Each album gives us new takes on the same musical problem: how to bring the fertility of the mangue-swamps into the information Society. When I go through old live videos at the Chico Science Memorial the day after I realize that in a way their sound was weaker in the beginning. The live recording of the title track of their first album is missing that weight that bulldozered right through me the night before. Just like with Kraftwerk their old material is not something to rush through live. They understand that they’re dealing with holy material that must be perfected and updated as much as new technology and improved skills will allow. And Jorge du Peixe’s deeper voice fits the message better. “From the mud to chaos, from chaos to the mud / A robbed man is never fooled again”.

Nação Zumbi can go on forever. Like Rolling Stones. Like Kraftwerk. I just hope that they tour and record more frequently than their German predecessors.

The longing for an intensified Style Wars. Also here, in the worlds of blogs. A problem, somewhat Scandinavian-centric (I’d like to imagine that the internet is used a at least a little bit different in other parts of the planet): exaggerated politeness, insufficient drive to make contact. Shyness and inwardness disguised as good manners. I thirst for a community beyond the screens and a day when techno party-organizers kick over each others speakers. Taliban Style Wars.

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