I have written so many “its freezing out” intro paragraphs this winter that I don’t have any left in me. That is how much over the cold I am. Well, thankfully, and with just a teeeeeny tiny leap of sonic imagination, today we can spend some serious time pretending that we live in Brazil, where it is summer now and surrounded by people in swimsuits too small exposing their coconut oil smelling bottoms for all to see and enjoy (this is coming of all wrong, I know)

Anyway, you get the idea.
2 Events today, both free, both great:
-6PM: Marcio Local is @ Millenium Stage
-9PM: Garotas Suecas (+ DC Nevill Chamberlain of Brazilian night @ St.Ex) at COMET.

SONIC SAMPLES FOLLOW BELOW:

What to expect from Marcio Local: a playful style of soul samba, bolstered by a fat horn section, often involving risqué double entendre and flirtatious boasting in songs like “Ela não tá nem aí,” “She pays no mind,” and one of his local hits, “Happy Endings.”.
+
even though the album is not out till May (on Luaka Bop, when you should get it because I’ve been pretty much listening to it on repeat since Monday) super exclusively (and bilingually) Marcio sampled a few tidbits of pure aural sunshine for you from it:

Samba sem nenhum problema -
This song is about all the things that characterise the Carioca spirit and way of life. The word ’salve’ is a praise or greeting and the song celebrates the sun, football, the sea and carnival. The samba defines Rio; there are Samba circles, dancing and live music on every street corner, where everyone can join in and share in the game. Between the beach and the cold beer the song praises a Rio de Janeiro where the Christ Redeemer welcomes with open arms everyone who floods into the city to discover its secrets. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, if you are ‘Carioca da gema’ (Carioca at heart) you will samba without a problem.

(Essa musica é sobre tudo que characterise o espirito e jeito de viver Carioca. A palavra ’salve’ é um louvaçao ou comprimento, e a musica celebra o sol, futebol, mar e carnival. O samba defina Rio; tem samba de roda, dança, e musica ao vivo em cada esquina, aonde tudo mundo pode compartilhar e entrar no jogo. Entre a praia e o choppe gelado a musica louva um Rio de Jan aonde o Christo Redentor reçebe de braços abertos quem vem para a cidade para discubrir os seus segredos. Nao importa de onde voce vem, quem é carioca da gema samba sem nenhum problema.)

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Happy End -
I wrote this about an actress I was having an relationship with. The Happy End was the dream of having the perfect ending and being someone forever, like in a film. It’s not always possible though…

(Eu escrevi isso sobre uma atriz com quem eu tava tendo um relaçionamento. O ‘Happy End’ era o sonho de ter o final perfeito, de estar com alguem para sempre. É só que isso nem sempre é possivel…)

Preta Luxo -
This song celebrates beautiful women with attitude and Preta Luxo is about one woman I met. She taught Capoeira and studied philosophy at university. At night she would go up to the favela and to go to the funk raves (funk – music that was borne out of the favelas in Rio and is a very strong Rio sound) but she also loved to samba. Samba flowed through her veins and came to life through her feet and dance. In Brazil ‘preta’ (black woman) is a term of endearment that can be used for anyone, black, white, dark or blonde.

Preta luxo – essa musica celebra mulheres lindas com attitude e ‘preta luxo’ é sobre uma mulher que eu conheçi. ela dava aula de capoeira, e fazia faculdade de filosofia e a noite subia o murro para curtir os baile funks (funk – musica que nasceu das favelas no rio que tem um som characteristicamente carioca) mas ela tambem amava sambar. Ela teve samba na veia que se representava nos pés. No Brasil a palavra ‘preta’ é uma palavra carinhosa que pode ser usada para qualquer uma, preta, branca, morena ou loira.

THEN

after you’re done with that (and obviously starving for more), grab some dinner, hop on the redline and head to Comet where Sao Paulo’s Garotas Suecas will be. 5 boys, 1 girl, all the enthusiasm in the world and percussion that won’t stop even when your feet are ready to give out.

Listen and download their EP in entirety here:

1. Bugalu :: we feel like this song shows that our influences don’t fit in a 3 min track something like stone-age-soul-freak-shake-uga-buga-monkey-music.

2. Eu :: hell of a shankin’ going on. we didn’t listen to your advice! freakbeat madness. again.

3. Senhor sabe Tudo :: this track is about a highly mystical guy, some of us have seen him but some of us haven’t.

4. Ghostwriter :: crissing the ‘t’s, dotting the ‘i’s.

5. Codinome Dinamite :: too many good ideas driven into massive musical caos.

GET INTO IT.