I’m in love.
Mallu Magalhaes, the former MySpace teen-folk sensation (how dated that already sounds..) has all grown up with her sexy 60s-inspired look in this lovely video. It is set atop a Sampa skyscraper.
While bearish electro drum’n'bass artist Otto cavorts in Rio.
The unlikely monster of Gotye and Kimbra’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” just reached a new peak – hitting number one on the US Billboard charts. It is the first Australian song to do so in ten years. How unexpected. Well done!
What I had not known until recently was that this world-slayer is based on a sample from the late, great Brazilian guitarist Luis Bonfa:
Although for me this will always be Bonfa’s masterpiece. It is from the seminal soundtrack to the 1950s movie “Black Orpheus”, a classic retelling of the Greek Orpheus legend set in the black neighborhoods of Rio :
Israeli party promoters Arisa, this blog’s Men of 2011, are following up last year’s VIP-only party in Sao Paulo with a new event coming up in Rio. If you are in town don’t miss it. Details here.
I love it. And even better when combined with khon court dancing:
Reminds me a bit of this old favourite from Brazil:
Another determinedly low-key effort in the video stakes from Marisa Monte – but with that voice of course.
Rio last week (from my friend’s Facebook) and coming home over the mountain (also last week) in Hong Kong:
Parabens União da Tijuca!
In the 1980s American celebrities flocked to Japan to make big bucks on tacky TV commercials no-one on their side of the Pacific (they hoped) would ever see. It became a much celebrated (and lampooned) phenomenon. But now that Japan’s economic fortunes have dimmed, the Hollywood A-List are jetting elsewhere for easy dollars – this time South of the border. Booming Brazil is the new market of choice for moonlighting megastars.
See: Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jessica Parker hawking upmarket shopping centres in respectively, Rio and Sao Paulo.
Megan Fox and Mike Tyson for English school CCA (they also run ads featuring Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the biggest pay-for-play yen whores back in the day).
And Jennifer Lopez, in Rio as we speak to promote beer brand Brahma at Carnaval.
Interesting the different ways they broach their stars not being able to speak the language.
Carnaval begins today in Rio de Janeiro.
Below, my favourite fashion magazine, Brazil’s ffw mag! with its annual Carnaval-themed spread in its signature tropical-modern-chic style:
…with new singer Tulipa Ruiz. This is the perfect song for lazy Ipanema days. And below, Marcelo Camelo:
And a different Marcelo:
…for whiskey.
“Red Hot + Rio” was a compilation album released in 1996. I still remember going up to JB Hi-fi to get it. It was part of the “Red Hot” series which raised money for AIDS charities and it contained some pretty impressive tracks – George Michael and Everything But the Girl singing in Portuguese and this beautiful song by Caetano Veloso among them.
I was surprised walking past a CD shop the other day to see that there is now a “Red Hot and Rio 2″ out, following on in the original’s footsteps with a mix of Brazilian stars and edgy US artists covering classic Brazilian tracks; some of the names featured include Beck, Beirut (love!), John Legend, Devendra Barnhart, Of Montreal and on the Brazilian side Fernanda Takai (love!), Ceu, Tom Ze (love!), Carlinhos Brown and more Cateno (love!)
There is also this track by Almaz (Seu Jorge’s new band) and Vanessa da Mata (when is she going to release a new album??)
Beija Flor (the “flower kisser” or humming bird) were the victors at the 2011 Carnaval in Rio but the year will probably be best remembered for the diastrous fire that swept through the “Samba City” weeks before the big event. Many of the floats and costumes stored in the complex were destroyed, knocking several of the main contenders out of the contest.
Last year’s victors Unidos da Tijuca stayed in competition, and tried to repeat their luck with the strategy that had won for them in 2010, a magic trick. Last year, the dresses on the samba school’s dancers seemed to magically change colour . It was a genuinely impressive stunt. This year, marching under a “horror” theme, the float featured an army of ghouls who appeared to pull of – and replace – their own heads while dancing.
Sadly for Tijuca though, it wasn’t quite enough.
Pictures from the “Buati” Carnival party. Buati is a Rio-based gay/hipster club. It looks like so much fun… All pics courtesy of Made In Brazil
Bruno Veiga’s photographs of the mosaic footpaths of Rio:
And Tuca Vieira’s Sao Paulo:
Some scans from ffw, my favourite Brazilian fashion magazine:
Rio de Janeiro’s hillside slums, the “favelas” have become the glamorous face of urban poverty. Helped along by films like “City of God” (and even further back, “Black Orpheus”) they have a charisma that few other such blighted areas can match. “Gringo” visitors to the city often tour Rocinha for their “Rio experience” while few visit the equivalent slums of Lima or Shanghai.
The favelas inspired two recent European artists too. French photographer JR transformed the hillsides of Providencia with huge eyes looking down over the city.
And now a Dutch artist has launched a project to improve civic pride in the Santa Marta favela, between Botofogo and Copacabana, with a radical repainting project. The area now looks like this:
Booterio is a new party in Rio de Janeiro, held at Copacabana alternative club Fosfobox. I saw it mentioned on website Madeinbrazil and followed the link to this page, featuring DJ mashups of Western and Brazilian songs. You can download the following playlist for free:
1 – House of Pain vs Amsterdam Klezmer Band vs Pa Brapad – House of Klezmer (FAROFF)
2 – Get pet – get back beatles vs. é o pet – João Brasil
3 – Missy Elliott ft. Dança do Canguru – Canguru Gossip Folks (remix mashup by Leo Justi)
4 – Daft Punk vs MC Colibri – Colibri around the world (André Paste
5 – Lady Gaga vs Chico Science – Gaga Science (Brutal Redneck)
6 – Beatles vs Amy Winehouse – Come Together good (DJ LK)
7 – Marvin Gaye vs Nirvana – I heard it through the Kurt (Brutal Redneck)
8 – Tira a camisa and clap your hands (André Paste)
9 – Seven Tapinhas (André Paste)
10 – The Beatles vs LCD Soundsystem vs The Kinks – The Brits are playing at my house (FAROFF)
11 – Los Lobos vs Radiohead – Creep Bamba (Brutal Redneck)
12 – Metaleiras da Amazônia vs Nirvana – Lambada Teen Spirit (DJ LK)
13 – Louca por humps – Calypso vs Black Eyed Peas – João Brasil
14 – Tchau toy – João Brasil – La Roux – I’m not your toy X Banda Calypso – Tchau para você – João Brasil
15 – Metallica vs Bob Marley – Sandman Jamming (DJ LK Mashup)
16 – Nirvana vs Dead or Alive – Spins Like Teen Spirit (FAROFF)
Meanwhile, I’ve been invited via the magic of Facebook to another fabulous-looking event on the distant side of the planet. Sadly I won’t be in Tokyo for next week’s installment of the FancyHim party, my favorite old stomping ground. But Korean DJ Supersluttt, from the Seoul club Locksmith Night, will be as will Tokyo “it girl” and blue-haired DJ, Mademoiselle Yulia. Northeast Asia’s two most fabulous parties are combining their forces Power Ranger style!! Hear what it will sound like at Supersluttt’s myspace
From the city that brought you Santa Claus being shot down from the skies, comes this.
I went on a Catholic forum looking for images, and the first poster to reply the article said tersely:
“Can there be any doubt now that the devil is on the loose?”
The Unidos da Tijuca samba school clinched their first victory since the 1930s at Rio’s Carnaval this week, with the help of a nifty magic trick that changed the colour of their dancers dresses – (how did they do that?????) In the space of about a minute, dancers’ dresses changed colour five times. A truly impressive trick.
The Carnaval was well-attended by celebritities (Madonna, Beyonce and Alicia Keys among them) and relatively peaceful, as the city celebrated its Olympic win of last year.
