'Ikarus On the Stairs' - Ed Motta
I've been following Brazilian singer Ed Motta since I got into his 2001 album "Dwitza". He had a substantial pop career before that, but that's the album where he began to reach back to some classic 70s textures and sounds, at the same time pushing the edges of harmonic language in the way that only writers from Brazil can. "Aystelum" from 2005 is another great album.
There's something about the intimacy of the closing track "Ikarus On the Stairs" on his new album "Chapter Nine" that grabs me. Have a listen on headphones, that voice can get right inside your head ...
6 comments:
Very nice, Simon, cheers.
Nice! I remember an Ed Motta track from the first Chill Brazil compilation with Marcos Valle, but he is otherwise unknown to me. Great Stuff!
Hey Art, check out the "Dwitza" and "Aystelum" links in the post, great stuff ... also I've got a preview track from the Dwitza album in the Rhodes Compilation 3 - "in Brazil" post, so you can pre-listen.
Yes, this is also my favorite track from the album... Would love to have the chords and see what I could do with my guitar :)
I heard the story that he first didn't intend to play all the instruments in the record by himself, and only did it to better expose his ideas to the the other studio musicians. It was his editor that when hearing the demo convinced Ed that the album was perfect like that and that there was no need for anyone else to play in it!
Also two more interesting facts:
Did you know that Ed Motta is nephew of Tim Maia? And that he is a great record collector and wine critic?
True true gentleman!
P.S. Check his record lists here
http://www2.uol.com.br/edmotta/html/fra/listas_musica_jazz.html
Thanks Simon for the recommendations, and Makuma, that is interesting! Actually, he looks like a wine critic. From his picture, it's more surprising that he is such a great soul singer.
Nice post. "Dwitza" was also my introduction to Ed Motta a few years back. He makes marvelous music and his voice is reminiscent of his uncle's (Tim Maia). What really impressed me about this track (other than the music itself) is that he sung it in English. As far as I knew, he didn't really know any English and would sing in falso inglês (like on "Lindúria" from Dwitza). And I really dig the lyrics.
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