ENCANTO comments + reviews thread*

[TulitaPepsi]

Good news and bad news about ENCANTO.

Good news: It arrived from Japan today!
Bad news: My roommate is home sick all this weekend so I can't BLAST it all over the apartment the way I want to.

So, I gotta use my headphones. For now.

Let's take this track by track:

(IMHO, the weakest tracks are the first three. But the remainder is damn near flawless for these ears starved for classic 'new' Sergio for over a decade)

1 - The Look Of Love: Yeah, this is really bad with moronic new rap lyrics. Janis can rest easy. For all Fergie's heavings, Ms. Hanson sounds far sexier. If I had not heard the other track clips I'd be REALLY depressed.

2 - Funky Bahia: Cute Bahian bubblegum. Not great but inoffensive. It sounds like something Menudo would have recorded.

3 - Waters of March : Good. Nice funky arrangement not dissimilar to the one on BRASIL 88. It's almost too similar - Ledisi sounds like she's studied Carol and Marietta's vocals so intently that she sounds just like them. I'm dissapointed that, once again, the lyrics are sung entirely in English (except a snatch of Portugese at the very end).

4 - Odo-ya: ENCANTO's kickass tracks start here. Pulsating, Hot, fierce and funky, featuring Carlinos Brown with Gracinha prominently in the backup vocals.

5 - Somewhere in The Hills: Just gorgeous! Natalie sounds luscious, and the arrangement is classic A&M Sergio, highlighted by Till Bronner's flugelhorn.

6 - Lugar Comum: Here's a challenge. Listen to this, and try your damndest not to bop up and down and groove in your seat (that's all I can do this weekend!). You will fail, as this jam is irresistable and delightful. I'll need Jovanotti's version too.

7 - Dreamer: The years fall away like frost in spring, and you're hearing classic A&M. "Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66" indeed. You'll swoon. You'll be wearing the biggest widest grin you've had on your face since you can't remember. Your fingertips will tingle with pleasure. Herb, Lani and Sergio (adding Portugese lyrics). How about an entire album of this stuff, guys?

8 - Morning in Rio: Same challenge as track 6. You'll fail here too. Joyful samba - Pure musical sunshine, spiced by a great trombone solo by Steve Baxter.

(By now, you're thinking: "Holy Sh*t! This album KICKS ASS! This is Sergio's best in years!" And you're right. But wait, there's MORE!)

9 - E Vamos La: So, lush, smooth and hot. Gracinha and Sergio sing. And you've got that sh*t eating grin on your face again...

10 - Catavento: Gorgeous. And Gracinha is perfection. Aint it funny that the sexiest, hottest female vocals here belong to those old broads Lani & Gracinha? Listen and learn, Fergie & Ledisi!

11 - Acode: Vanessa da Matta really sounds like classic Gal Costa here, and the song - even to the arrangement -sounds like it could have come right off the 'Baby Gal" album. Great stuff!

12 - Agua de Beber : Will.I.Am. kicks back and offers a nice rap intro for more Sergio/Gracinha magic, Will offers another rap telling how he's been grooving to Brasil '66 since he was 16, then more Sergio/Gracinha. Perfection!

13 - Les Eaux des Mars: Proof anything sounds hotter in French. Or Italian. Or Spanish. And especially Portugese!

14 - Y Vamos Ya: Is Juane's version the one on the American ENCANTO release? I hope so - I can see this becoming a huge hit in the Latin market here.

Yeah. I do think this is Sergio's best since HORIZONTE ABERTO.

And I gotta salute Will.I.Am. If it weren't for his enthusiasm for all things Mendes, Sergio wouldn't have made this album. I'll even forgive him for Fergie's "Look of Love". Maybe.

[*Edited title to become the official thread, and added poll. - Moderator]

 

[Harry]

Alas, as of 7:44AM this morning, my copy of ENCANTO was in JFK airport in New York. I hope the customs guys don't like it *too* much...

Harry

 

[Mike]

I was a little disappointed with Fergie’s spin on “The look Of Love”. I thought she would step up to the plate and lay down some vocals on par with Jane Monheit. Actually, I think Sergio would have been better off going with Monheit on this song instead of Fergie.

Encanto reminds me of a new & improved version of “Oceano”.

Mike

 

[TulitaPepsi]

Mike, I think if you have W.I.A., you're gonna get Fergie whether you want to or not.

Her "Look of Love" is the one track that seems out of place on ENCANTO.

I like your assesment that ENCANTO is a better version of OCEANO! It's such a strong, jazzy album - I hope it SELLS!

(And after a few listens, I'm liking Ledisi's WATERS OF MARCH a lot more than I originally did. But I still wish we had some Portugese lyrics in there)

 

[Harry]

As of 6:11 AM this morning (Monday), my copy of ENCANTO had been delivered to my post office. Now I just have to get Mr. Postman to deliver it to my house.

Harry
...last of the first, online...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I got mine today too. I haven't listened yet but I have been savoring the tasty packaging! I still like the STILLNESS cover the best, but this is easily the best Sergio Mendes CD booklet ever.

 

[Harry]

So I'm officially the last of the first then. I got a notice posted in my mailbox that I wasn't around to sign for the package, so it went back to the Post Office, where I'll now have to pick it up tomorrow morning.

How I love beaurocracy...

Harry

 

[Stephen Vakil]

I think you are Harry. Mine arrived yesterday!!

Stephen

 

[SakuraSYayoi]

This is off topic. I saw Sergio Mendes for a second in a trailer of NHK.
He will appear on NHK next Monday, probably interview for several minutes.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/night/images/nex-20080310-2.jpg
( http://www.nhk.or.jp/night/nextpgm.htm )

Sakura

 

[TulitaPepsi]

OK, shoot me.

I'm now really enjoying Fergie's "Look of Love".

It isn't "Dreamer" (the lyrics of which mirror something I'm going through right now) or "Morning in Rio" or "Odo-Ya", (my favorite three cuts) but it's a goofy, fun jam.

 

[JMK]

In a week marred by tech mishaps (our new HDTV failed 3 days past its warranty, someone cut the main underground phone line in our neighborhood, leaving thousands without phone and [THE HORROR] internet for days), and health issues (I have the worst cold/laryngitis I've probably had in my life), a little ray of sunshine appeared yesterday when Encanto arrived from Japan. I haven't made it all the way through yet, due to hacking coughing fits which leave me exhausted , but it's certainly an earful so far. I have to say I don't mind Fergie's "Look of Love" too much, though having heard her live I must say this has to be a product of ProTools expertise. And why in Heaven's name did they change the lyric from "what my heart has heard"? And in my particular "shoot me" comment, I'm a little underwhelmed with Lani on "Dreamer," but I did have a little laugh hearing Sergio solo rings around Herb's minimalist trumpet. So far my favorite (and most classic B66-worthy) is Natalie's "Somewhere in the Hills."

 

[Harry]

I finally got the album this morning from the clutches of the evil Post Office, who informed me that if I'd been a few minutes later, the package would've been out on rounds again, where once again they would have found no-one home!

But I got it, and listened to almost the whole thing (all but the bonus tracks) on the way in to work. Great stuff! This'll be in my player for quite awhile.

I think I'm with JMK on "Somewhere In The Hills", that we all know as "O Morro" from Tamba 4's WE AND THE SEA. It's a great track, producing goosebumps on the first listen. I've already recommended it to our smooth jazz station!

"Dreamer" is a superb track, Lani sounds great, as anticipated in the sample section on the Concord site, and Herb is reliable as always with his parts. Sergio is the surprise on the track with a pretty nice turn as a vocalist, both alone and with Lani.

I'm listening again to the album as I sit here at work, and I still haven't gotten to the "bonus tracks".

Harry

 

[JMK]

Third AKA for the Jobim tune: "Favela."

 

[Harry]

Third AKA for the Jobim tune: "Favela."

Good point.

Harry

 

[TulitaPepsi]

I just had a classic 'misheard lyrics' moment. Towards he end of "Lugar Comum", one of the Japanese vocalists sings something that sounds like "She's on the toilet".

I apologize if this has ruined anyones listening pleasure.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

So I'm officially the last of the first then.

Harry - you might have been the last of the first to GET the album, but I'll be the last to actually hear it. Last night we had some unpleasantness at work (details unimportant here) and I didn't have any time to listen to music. I want to play this album uninterrupted, so will probably listen after work today. I've skimmed over these reviews (don't want TOO much information!) and am really looking forward to it.

 

[JMK]

I just had a classic 'misheard lyrics' moment. Towards he end of "Lugar Comum", one of the Japanese vocalists sings something that sounds like "She's on the toilet".

I apologize if this has ruined anyones listening pleasure.

That's hilarious--I heard the same thing yesterday but decided not to comment.

 

[Harry]

So I'm officially the last of the first then.

Harry - you might have been the last of the first to GET the album, but I'll be the last to actually hear it. Last night we had some unpleasantness at work (details unimportant here) and I didn't have any time to listen to music. I want to play this album uninterrupted, so will probably listen after work today. I've skimmed over these reviews (don't want TOO much information!) and am really looking forward to it.

You'll like it, I'm sure.

I agree with the assessment that is comes across more as a sequel to OCEANO than it does TIMELESS. There's a lot less of Will.I.Am's influence here, making it much more of a Sergio Mendes album.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I wonder if Sergio and will had some kind of a conversation where Sergio expressed that he wanted to put more of his own stamp on the new one.

We need Jon, the Brasil Nut to chime in here!

 

[Trevor]

Has anyone heard about them releasing a single off of it?

 

[Harry]

Word awhile back was that the Fergie song "The Look Of Love" was to be the first single off of the album. I don't know if that was in Japan, here, the UK, whatever, but since it's the lead track with a hot pop vocalist, it seems a likely choice.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

...not to mention that it's about the only song on the album that would fit on today's pop radio.

 

[TulitaPepsi]

Though it's not one of my favorite songs on ENCANTO, I think "Funky Bahia" could be a likely single. It would work well as a video.

"Y Vamos Ya" could well be the selection with the biggest commercial potential - it could be a huge hit in the Latin-American and Spanish markets. And I can see how the Italian and French 'charts' would be most receptive to the Jovanotti & Zap Mama cuts.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Just finished my first listen tonight and I agree with others above that the first couple of songs are the weakest. The album seems to get better the farther it goes.

I like this record even more than OCEANO, and it's head and shoulders over TIMELESS as well. The former is such a grab-bag of styles, and the latter was too much into the hip-hop mode.

I think this version of "Waters of March" is the best one Sergio's done yet. I think "Catavento" is my favorite track so far...it's
one of Gracinha's best vocals ever.

I need to listen again in order to be able to comment on more of the specific songs, but as of right now it gets an enthusiastic thumbs-up from me! THIS is the album we've been wanting Sergio to make.

 

[Harry]

Tonight, the repetitive rhythm part of "Acode" is running through my head.

Harry
...wondering why Captain B. is nowhere to be found in any of the ENCANTO threads, online...