VOLUME 17 - WENDY McNEILL

Wendy McNeill is a canadian singer and composer that came to São Paulo to participate in the project called "Solitude: Feminine Voices", that brought solo women artists of the independent scenery with a richness of sound. We didn't know a lot about her music. Her show was delicate but at the same time strong, full of pedals and loopings, besides her accordion that reigns with her compositions. She was a band, alone.

SIDE A - HOLY O'
october 2007 - são paulo (sp) - in the open air market

With a help from our friends of the Coquetel Molotov, we met Wendy in the day after her show, with a hot sun above our heads. Now, living in Sweden, Wendy could taste a little bit of the friendly and warmth of the brazilians that passed by an open air market while she was playing "Holy O' " (Wendy McNeill), a great and fun experience that can be seen in our side A.

SIDE B - SUCH A COMMON BIRD
october 2007 - são paulo (sp) - on the balcony

On the side B, we did the opposite of the side A, with a lot more intimacy and quietness, Wendy took us to her hotel room's balcany and played the beautiful" Such Common Bird" (Wendy McNeill), with a urban "weird, but beautiful" (her words) background.

With great sympathy, Wendy took a ride with us late that night to go to Niobe and Juana Molina's show. That all happened after we bought strawberrys and she drank coconut water to refresh herself on that sunny day in São Paulo.

EXTRAS

• Wendy McNeill's official website
• Wendy McNeill's myspace
• to buy her records
  

VOLUME 16 - VANGUART

Vanguart is a band from Cuiabá, that, now, lives in São Paulo, they sang in english and spanish, besides portuguese and they've been having a lot of sucess all over Brazil. They are one of the new independent bands that rise in the brazilian musical scene today and, this year, they just released theirs first album "Vanguart".

Helio Flanders (voice/guitar), David Dafre (voice/guitar), Reginaldo Lincoln (voice/bass), Luiz Lazarotto (keyboards) and Douglas Godoy (drums) make a really fun and intelligent kind of music, that goes to all the different "kinds" of rock 'n roll, they say that they're influenced by names like Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Beach Boys and others.

SIDE A - HEY YO SILVER
october 2007 - são paulo (sp) - in a bagage compatment

For Pocketmusic, the extremely nice and outgoing boys presented two great surprises. The first one, registered, as our side A, was to got into a bagage compartment of Rafael's car and play "Hey Yo Silver" (Hélio Flanders) against curves, holes and the ups and downs of the streets of São Paulo.

SIDE B - ENQUANTO UNS DORMEM
(while some people sleep)
october 2007 - são paulo (sp) - on the street

And on the side B, the difference lies on a musical matter. Dialoguing with artists of their time and going even further on the music that is being done in other parts of Brazil, Vanguart present us "Enquanto uns dormem" (Los Porongas) from the band Los Porongas, from Acre, a place that is a mistery for all of us.

EXTRAS

• Vanguart's myspace
• Vanguart's blog
• to download Vanguart' song on "trama virtual"

VOLUME 15 - LUCINA

Like Zélia Duncan, fan and partner of Lucina, says: Lucina has the voice of a forest. But we could add in there other elements that also bring a nice and cosy quality to her voice: rain, wind, lake... There's a reason for this amount of nature in her songs, she started making songs in the hippie era, she lived in a community for years, she built and played all her instruments.

With the singer/composer Luli, she formed in the 70's the duo "Luli & Lucina" and she made this kind of music that we could call "rural rock". Together, they fought for the music done independetly and since then they recorded memorable independent records. All this lack of harmony with the rules of the records label was responsable for the greater sucess of almost 800 songs of the duo in other's artists voice, such as Ney Matogrosso and Elis Regina. (A little observation that may be good to say is that "Casa de campo", a hit sang by Elis Regina, was written by Zé Rodrix in Luli & Lucina's country house.) But in 2000, the duo separated and from there to here, Lucina recorded 3 solo albums, the most recent one is "Música em mim" (Music in me), from last year.

SIDE A - EU NÃO SOU EU
(i'm not me)
august 2007 - são paulo (sp) - on the patio

For her participation in Pocketmusic, Lucina reserved two never heard before moments. For the side A, she sang "Eu não sou eu", a sweet balad sang only by Zélia Duncan in her latest album.

SIDE B - TRISTEZAS
(some sadness)
august 2007 - são paulo (sp) - around the toys

And for the side B, a song that was just made by 4 hands, with Sonia Prazeres, one week before the day of shooting: Tristezas.

EXTRAS

• Lucina's official website
• to buy Lucina's albums

VOLUME 14 - NINA BECKER

One of the stars of the "Orquestra Imperial", Nina Becker has two passions that lead her life: music and fashion. But this two passions don't walk separatly, she mixed them up in everything she does. So, in every fashion show of hers, she produces a special soundtrack, usually, sang live on the runway; in the Orquestra Imperial, she's the header of the clothes - mainly women's. And here, this two passions gets as clear as anything else.

SIDE A - JANELA
(window)
september 2007 - são paulo (sp) - on the flower' stand

Between the softness and fun, Nina got them all. Her side A was recorded in a really crowd street in São Paulo called Dr. Arnaldo, near a flower' stand. As flowered as her dress and even better: it was the first day of spring. Everybody was worried about the sound, 'cause it was a saturday night and the cars and bus were going really fast through the street, but Nina said that when she first recorded the demo of this song, she wanted this kind of enviroment for this song. So, there're the engines doing all the instrumentation for the sweet voice of Nina to sing "Janela" (Nina Becker/Domenico Lancelotti), the first song that she wrote.

SIDE B - VOSSA AUTORIA
(your authorship)
september 2007 - são paulo (sp) - in a karaoke bar

For the side B, she brought a pre-recorded base for a song called "Vossa Autoria" (Nervoso), that was played in a empty karaoke room. Wearing a silver long dress and doing the best she could do with the sound of the place (far from the ideal), Nina made a (in a good way) weird and atractive video, making a small concert for nobody.

EXTRAS

• Nina Becker's official website
• Nina Becker's myspace
• Orquestra Imperial's official website
  

VOLUME 13 - ALZIRA E

Nothing is obvious in Alzira E's music. Hidden clues in the game of words and sounds always blosoms whenever you put on her records. For those who are listening to her songs carefully, the message is revelead and the missing pieces of a great puzzle gets completed. And that's the fun of the thing.
It was always like that, when the "sul-mato-grossense" (a person who comes from the south of Mato Grosso, a brazilian state) singer/composer met the genious Itamar Assumpção. Or when, in 2005, she got together in a album, 15 years of songs with her partner Alice Ruiz. And, that's how she still does things, in this new period of her career, when she develops songs with her new partner Arruda. And from this partnership came two beautiful songs that Alzira sang specially for us, in a sunny day in a park.

SIDE A - CHEGA DISSO
(enough of this)
july 2007 - são paulo (sp) - on a square

"Chega disso" , our side A, was recorded and released this year in a DVD that registers Zélia Duncan' show "Pré Pós Tudo Bossa Band" (Pre Post Everything Bossa Band) and it was never heard in Alzira's voice, until now.

SIDE B - DIZ
(tell me)
july 2007 - são paulo (sp) - under a tree

"Diz", the side B, is one of the 11 tracks from the recently released "Alzira E", the new album of the singer, that all the songs was inspired by Arruda's poems.

EXTRAS

• Alzira E's official website
• Alzira & Arruda's website
• to buy the new CD "Alzira E"
  

VOLUME 12 - MAIA HIRASAWA

Since last year in the first "Swedish Invasion", promoted by Coquetel Molotov from Recife, we were at the first row in Jens Lekman, El Perro del Mar, Hell on Wheels and José González' shows. And now, after tons of e-mails and phone calls, we accomplished to mix up Pocket Music with a different musical project, which promotes the reunion of brazilian fans with the independent musical scene in Sweden.

And it was the spirit of this reunion that we tried to capture from, putting the artists in public places in São Paulo in a fun and spontaneous way. It couldn't be different, because with bands with names like Suburban Kids With Biblical NamesHello Saferide, the criativity and originality are visible instantly. And as the most fun and gentle people they are, we, as fans, couldn't get more satisfied with the results.

SIDE A - CRACKERS
september 2007 - são paulo (sp) - at the news-stand

Maia is part of the band Hello Saferide but, here, she shows her solo project. She has this rare quality in her voice, which can be sweet and tender and, at the same time, strong in a way that hipnotizes everybody around her. For this reason, "Crackers" (Maia Hirasawa), our side A, called the attention of lots of people that got lucky in a wednesday night, near a news-stand. Taxis stopped right in the middle of the street to hear her, cars went backwards to understand what was happening and even the microphone couldn't get far away from her.

SIDE B - ROSELIN
september 2007 - são paulo (sp) - at night

To end up the Swedish Invasion special in Pocket music, Maia Hirasawa closes with her side B "Roselin". We didn't know exactly what to ask her, so we said to her to sing a song that was more comfortable and suitable for her. When she sat down next to the hotel's swimming pool, Maia started playing the first notes of "Roselin", and with a melancholic and sentimental mood of the song she captivated all of us in this trully magical night.

EXTRAS

Maia Hirasawa's official website

Maia Hirasawa's myspace

VOLUME 11 - HELLO SAFERIDE

Since last year in the first "Swedish Invasion", promoted by Coquetel Molotov from Recife, we were at the first row in Jens Lekman, El Perro del Mar, Hell on Wheels and José González' shows. And now, after tons of e-mails and phone calls, we accomplished to mix up Pocket Music with a different musical project, which promotes the reunion of brazilian fans with the independent musical scene in Sweden.

And it was the spirit of this reunion that we tried to capture from, putting the artists in public places in São Paulo in a fun and spontaneous way. It couldn't be different, because with bands with names like Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and Hello Saferide, the criativity and originality are visible instantly. And as the most fun and gentle people they are, we, as fans, couldn't get more satisfied with the results.

SIDE A - I WONDER WHO IS LIKE THIS ONE
september 2007 - são paulo (sp) - at the elevator

Our shooting day with Annika happened two days after her last concert in Brazil, in Sesc Vila Mariana, with the band Hello Saferide, which Annika is the heart and soul (she has also a solo project, sung in swedish, called Säkert!). In a intimate concert, she captured us with her humor and sweetness from her lyrics and with her amazing stage presence.

In a small elevator, singing the side A "I Wonder Who Is Like This One" (Annika Norlin), Annika showed her perfect timing, making a elevator trip a perfect size to a song and changing the concept of "elevator song" for two passangers that got a ride in this unique, special and safe show.

SIDE B - VI KOMMER ATT DÖ SAMTIDIGT
september 2007 - são paulo (sp) - in a gallery

It was our first time with international artists, so, we wanted some "authenticity" this time, therefore, we asked Annika to sing a song in swedish, from her solo project, "Säkert!". In a really sunny day, she started singing and walking through a small gallery in Augusta St. Slowly she started to invite the people who worked there to get out of their stores and enjoy this small pocket show of a song that is called "Vi kommer att dö samtidigt", that means "We are going to die at the same time". Annika says that this is one of her happy songs, which idea came from a friend's couple of dogs that one die some time after the other.

EXTRAS

Hello Saferide's official website

Hello Saferide's myspace

VOLUME 10 - SUBURBAN KIDS WIITH BIBLICAL NAMES

Since last year in the first "Swedish Invasion", promoted by Coquetel Molotov from Recife, we were at the first row in Jens Lekman, El Perro del Mar, Hell on Wheels and José González' shows. And now, after tons of e-mails and phone calls, we accomplished to mix up Pocket Music with a different musical project, which promotes the reunion of brazilian fans with the independent musical scene in Sweden.

And it was the spirit of this reunion that we tried to capture from, putting the artists in public places in São Paulo in a fun and spontaneous way. It couldn't be different, because with bands with names like Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and Hello Saferide, the criativity and originality are visible instantly. And as the most fun and gentle people they are, we, as fans, couldn't get more satisfied with the results.

SIDE A - MIDDLECLASS LIFE
september 2007 - são paulo (sp) - on the sidewalk

The boys from SKWBN with few and messy explanation from us, understood imediatly the spirit of the project and with a lot of breath and energy they accepted to go walking in the sideways of a middleclass neighbourhood of São Paulo, singing a new song. "Middleclass Life" (Suburban Kids With Biblical Names), our side A, had the exactly duration of one block of Lorena Street, where people were walking their dogs and cars with money had just arrived in the bank, all this, served as backup singers to this quick, dancing and fun urban serenade.

SIDE B - TREES AND SQUIRRELS
september 2007 - são paulo (sp) - in the middle of small trees

For the side B "Trees and Squirrels", the boys from SKWBN, without any hesitation got into a small garden and in the middle of some plants, just like the squirrels in the song, they made a fun and unexpected performance for those who passed by Consolação St. that night.

EXTRAS

• SKWBN's official website
• SKWBN's myspace