Cafe Copacabana, Vol. 4
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Free Music Notes for Cafe Copacabana, Vol. 4
Free Music Review: Decent Compilation of Un-Mixed Cuts
Hit: 3 Stars
Odd but this one is a flat 3 stars in every sense. It is the fourth (and most recent as of today) edition of the Cafe Copacabana series, released out of Germany. It's one of the many nu-brazil/electric-brazil compilations out there on the market. It's done up by ZYX, the same folks that provided the Caipirinha Mix series and the near impossible to find "Brazilation" release. Like many of the other nu-Brazil compilations and series it's a double disc offering and it's a solid competitor with the other comps like Brazilectro, Nova Latino, Rio Lounge, Sister Bossa, etc. But in all honesty, this series resembles the Brazil 5000 series to a T and maybe some of Rambling's lesser compilations like "Copenhagen Airport", etc.
I actually thought Planet Lounge's "Brazil Chill" was alright, not particularly timeless but solid. Lemongrass's "Beach Ball" was also alright once it built up, but ultimately nothing to write home about. A great highlight was Cocorde A L'Orange's "Ailton Ligeiro". It's off of Brazilution 5.2 but here it's unmixed and they did a good job of not hacking the track up like some other comps have... I have the 12" and can tell the difference but I think they faded out the cd version a bit. A little lazy, but I've heard MUCH worse. Beatfanatic's track gives the cd some much needed energy with "Jogando Capoeira" and Espirito's "Canto De Orfeo" also has a good bounce to it. CD2 is highlighted by Audio Lotion's "The Girl from Veligandu"... tough to find track that's pretty good. It also has Janice's One Day (Brazilectro 4), and Bobby Brazil's interesting "Gool! Samba Para Ronaldo" was a solid tribute after the 2002 cup (oh, how things have changed!). By far the highlight on both cd's is "Say On Me Again" by Monodeluxe. It's cool with a sweet vibe that goes between neat flute, guitar, keys and bossa. Even the sampling there's got personality. Between the two discs there are a few other tracks that are solid and it's not a total wash throughout. In fact, I can listen relatively consistenly in some parts without hitting the "FF" button. But unfortunately there's quite a bit of really bland filler in this... and the series as a whole... that I'll get into next.
I give the cd credit for featuring loads of exclusive tracks. I like that and that's one of the reasons why I pick em' up. But the problem is that, just like the Brazil 5000 series, the majority of the exclusive tracks are DULL. I mean, just flat out boring. Loads of people like Mr. Hermano, but I never really got into their sound. Ive Mendes is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen too but I just didn't get into her cd either (both are on the Mr. Bongo label). Some of the songs don't go anywhere and are repetitive, empty electronica. You get the sense that some people believe that just because a song has some woman saying the same thing over and over again in Portuguese, that makes the song "Brazilian" or "seductive". Final words - if you love the Brazil 5000 series (there are 4 of them), this is a definitive step up and the tracks are un-mixed - good news! But I HARDLY think this would be worth spending the import price featured here, since it's a German import. Check Brazilution 5.2 instead... if you can find it now.