Firstly, some thoughts on the Clube da Esquina record: glad you're taking to it. one of my favorite Brazilian albums, enough so that I bought a vinyl copy for a not-cheap amount of money. Honestly I don't know much of Lo Borges aside from his contributions here; Milton is the star of the show, and yeah, his voice is much bigger and rangier. just for recognition's sake, Lo sings on the 3rd tune, O trem azul, and has a much more ordinary voice.
for me, this is heavily Beatles-influenced, like much of tropicalia, but is not very experimental and more so just focuses on a big sprawling mix of gorgeous pop, with some interlude-type tracks mixed in there that are also highly listenable. It's definitely a double-LP that is easier to have stamina for the whole thing, though I would recommend giving side 4 a listen on its own, as some of the best tunes are on there.
Dos Cruces is indeed one of the finer tracks and is indicative of how much power Milton has in a spare setting. the track directly preceding it, a side-ender, Cravo e canela, is another of my all-time faves. Probably my top pick is on 2nd LP, Os Povos, which is in the vein of Cruces, a more spare track focused on Milton's humongous voice.
I've become a pretty big fan of Milton's work over the past couple years; his "Minas" and "Geraes" albums are both really nice, and then there's Milagre dos Peixes, which was censored by the military govt. and so morphed into a strange, often wordless soundscape, but quite beautiful.
I'll be curious to see how you fare with this Rolling Stone list, which I imagine I've heard a decent amount of, though some of the records you mentioned I'm not familiar with (personally, all these years, I just use Rate Your Music's Brazilian music charts and dig in there -- I think Pugeye is the same, mostly).
at last, my recent spins:
Dark Side of the Moon
Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play the Blues (Clapton and Dr. John play on this one -- unlike some of the other '70s-era blues records with white-rocker influence, this one hits real nice)
Zé Ramalho -- A Peleja do Diabo com o Dono do Céu (much more straight-laced than other Ramalho stuff I've heard; a cool guitar sound and awfully pleasant; as with all Brazilian records, I need more listens to fully parse it -- as usual, I wonder if Pugeye knows this one)
The Specials debut LP (some classics mixed in with some duds -- odd to say of an older British ska record, but this is a little too self-serious at times)
Parliament -- Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (can't get enough of Wizard of Finance, and this might jump Mothership Connection as my favored Parliament LP; of course, it also has Flash Light)
Natalia Lafourcade -- De todas las flores (saw this come up a lot lately on RYM, and it's nice -- long, slow-burner of an LP; Natalia is a "torch singer" type with a number of different subtle influences mixed in)
Krzysztof Komeda -- Astigmatic
Cannonball Adderley -- Somethin' Else
King Gizz and the Liz Wiz -- Quarters (I simply cannot get my fill of the track, The River, and the jams therein)
JPEGMAFIA -- LP! (trying to get hip to what the young'ins are listening to these days; "Peggy" as he is called is a talent, with some crazy sample choices, including slowing down Jay Dee's "Runnin'" sample, which threw me for a loop -- I got time for this guy!)
Death Grips -- Bottomless Pit (I am determined to become a big DG fan, and with every record I consume, I get a little bit closer)
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Also, I saw Ween a few weeks back [setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ween/2022/roadrunner-boston-ma-7bbef2bc.html] ... got COVID from the show, but it was worth it. bucket-list item for me... does anybody on this board care about them anymore? They are in good shape, look like they're having a ton of fun, and gave a really nice show. Gener looking nice and clean and in good voice... Deaner does such a good job with their setlists, too; my friend and I were stunned at how many of our favorites were hit, but they still had time for some of the weird back-catalog picks like Vallejo, Puerto Rican Power, How High Can You Fly. Their encore was Did You See Me (one of my very faves) and then Buenas Tardes Amigo, which I'm kinda sick of, but Gener crushed it, including a nice flamenco-style acoustic solo.
Opening up with Don't $hit Where You Eat was also very nice. Particularly appreciated Dean and his willingness to shred away; he really went off for Voodoo Lady. One final thought: Tender Situation is so good live; the guitar part is totally buried on Pure Guava, but live it sounds like a Crazy Horse riff. ALL HAIL THE ALMIGHTY BOOGNISH
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