Sergio Mendes - MAGIC

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Works OK here too. Sounds like there could be some good stuff on the new album.

Harry
 
TulitaPepsi said:
From the samples, the only weak link for me is the one with will.i.am.
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That'd be a skip for me also; hip-hop in our area just has negative connotations and I can't stomach listening to it.
 
The samples all workED fine for me, too!

I think this will be an over-all thorough effort, in the sense that for a profitable venture to be had, it will most likely HAVE TO HAVE (Sigh!) the Will-Iam-stuff there...!

Otherwise, it sounds like there's still a LOT in it, for us old school lovers of the real thing...

And the guest appearance by John Legend, on "John Legend", sounds like what seems what could be a reasonable compromise...! That one, so far, being I like what I hear there BEST, is in the lead, is my fav' & am looking forward to getting...

But gimme more like "Hidden Waters" "When I Fall In Love", on which Grace Leoprace gives us her best Astrud!!!! (or Flora Purim!) Then again, Milton Nascimento on "Olha a Rua"--Priceless!


-- Dave
 
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A well-planned album -- love the inclusion of the sax in Sergio's newest sound. Nice collection over all -- Sergio continues to amaze and entertain.

Jon...The Brasil Nut

...proving I'm still alive and well online...
 
I finally got it to work tonight. It sounds very good! Will be a must-have for me for sure. I normally don't like to listen to samples but made an exception for this one.

The only thing I have to say I miss is the "band" sound. I wish Sergio would make a whole album with one or two vocalists (plus himself) and a band again. That's what I miss. But, I'm just glad that he rediscovered the Brazilian rhythms and the acoustic piano after some of the synth-heavy '80s material and the '00s rap.
 
I received my copy of MAGIC yesterday. Actually, it would have come a day earlier, but it seems that whenever the mailman is delivering something from Japan that requires a signature, we're never around. So I made my next-day trudge over to the post office to retrieve it. Since the post office is a good 15-20 minutes away from home, I got a chance to listen to about half of it on the way home. And then another trip out that day got me to listen to the second half.

I avoided skipped the will.i.am track until the very end, but really it wasn't so bad. At least it wasn't all rap, though the repetitious "melody" got to be a bit annoying after awhile.

All in all I'm happy with this new album. The tracks mostly seem to fit the celebratory mood that Brazil is experiencing though the FIFA World Cup matches.

One thing got me to thinking...I tend to really prefer Sergio's music with female vocals, and Gracinha's efforts always sound the best - more like what Sergio sounded like in the classic Brasil '66-77 days. So I wondered how a compilation of Gracinha-lead tracks would sound. I haven't done it yet, but it could go back as far as the '80s albums, maybe even some '70s. It might be an interesting listen. One could even throw in some of the other female vocal leads - certainly Lani Hall's couple of efforts.

Harry
 
Mike Blakesley said:
I finally got it to work tonight. It sounds very good! Will be a must-have for me for sure. I normally don't like to listen to samples but made an exception for this one.

The only thing I have to say I miss is the "band" sound. I wish Sergio would make a whole album with one or two vocalists (plus himself) and a band again. That's what I miss. But, I'm just glad that he rediscovered the Brazilian rhythms and the acoustic piano after some of the synth-heavy '80s material and the '00s rap.
Click to expand...

I agree. I miss the band/two vocalist format. Sergio has such an amazing band, and surrounds himself with amazing musicians and vocalists, a straight-forward album (like days of old) would be sensational.

I would like to see him do such an album with Gracinha and Lani on vocals. Now that would make for an amazing sound!
 
I agree about the band/female vocalist thing (two or three voices - I don't care)....after a while, with all the guest artists, it starts to feel like a film soundtrack, not an artist-driven project....imho.
 
A&Mguyfromwayback said:
I agree about the band/female vocalist thing (two or three voices - I don't care)....after a while, with all the guest artists, it starts to feel like a film soundtrack, not an artist-driven project....imho.
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Exactly! It would be great to see him record something with the band -- not every guest vocalist out there. Don't get me wrong -- he has some amazing music out there, but a "band" album would make it a little more cohesive.

Jon...the "Brasil Nut"
 
Brasil_Nut said:
I agree. I miss the band/two vocalist format. Sergio has such an amazing band, and surrounds himself with amazing musicians and vocalists, a straight-forward album (like days of old) would be sensational.

I would like to see him do such an album with Gracinha and Lani on vocals. Now that would make for an amazing sound!
Click to expand...

I would love to see Lani work with Sergio again on a full album!

And I love the tracks with Gracinha, Ana Carolina, and Seu Jorge on MAGIC!
 
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Harry said:
One thing got me to thinking...I tend to really prefer Sergio's music with female vocals, and Gracinha's efforts always sound the best - more like what Sergio sounded like in the classic Brasil '66-77 days. So I wondered how a compilation of Gracinha-lead tracks would sound. I haven't done it yet, but it could go back as far as the '80s albums, maybe even some '70s. It might be an interesting listen. One could even throw in some of the other female vocal leads - certainly Lani Hall's couple of efforts.
Click to expand...

I recently made a compilation of Gracinha's tracks for my car. Instead of going in sequential order, I mixed it up, selecting my favorites as I went along. Turned out to be a very nice compilation of Gracinha's vocals and Sergio's ever-changing sound.

Jon...the "Brasil Nut"
 
It's interesting to realize that MAGIC was just released this week in the US, while I've had the Japanese import for nearly three months now. I've got a copy of it in the car that I've been playing as I ride around, and I've come to really like the album. Even the will.i.am track, while mostly not something I'd listen too much, at least has a semblance of a melody to it. It's one of Sergio's good latter-day efforts.

Given that MAGIC is just out in the US and Herb's IN THE MOOD is due out within a couple of weeks, when was the last time that Herb and Sergio had new albums released in the same month?

Harry
 
Don't know the answer, Harry. It had to be back in the days of Brasil '66. As for Magic, it grows on me. Such a nice blending of music styles and sounds. Definitely flows -- much like Encanto. Come to think of it, that album took time (not nearly as long) to grow on me too.

Good job, Sergio!

Jon...the "Brasil Nut"
 
I have to say that, much like Encanto, Magic has grown on me. There are sounds and styles here not usually associated with Sergio -- the cello or violin being one of them. Very interesting and pleasing to the ear. Also, there's a great deal more Brazilian material, making this album somewhat of a "pop-fusion" version of Brasileiro. Just my two cents.

Jon
 
Brasil_Nut said:
Also, there's a great deal more Brazilian material, making this album somewhat of a "pop-fusion" version of Brasileiro.
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I was thinking the exact same thing. In fact, I double checked to see if there were any tracks in common between the two albums, but couldn't find any.

Harry
 
Agreed. Nothing in common, really, but it's reminiscent of what he did with Brasileiro -- with one or two "English-sung" vocals added to the mix. It grows on you!

Jon
 
I just noticed a difference in the track list of the Japanese version of MAGIC that I got seemingly ages ago and the one listed at Amazon as the current US version.

Both have 13 songs, which confused me as I tried to line them up. But the difference is in the song that's sort of repeated in each track list. On the Japanese disc, the John Legend track, "Don't Say Goodbye" gets a repeat in its single-length edit. The US version at Amazon.com takes the lead track, "One Nation" and shunts it to the end and elevates "Simbora" to the first track. So far so good.

There's no repeat of "Don't Say Goodbye" so what's the extra track? Nestled in the 7th spot is something called "Visions Of You (ft. Janelle Monae). This turns out to be a vocal version of what was the title track on the Japanese version, "Magic", which on the US version appears near the end of the track list.



So the question is, if you're a completist, do you need both the US and Japan versions of MAGIC?

Harry
 
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I know this is terrible (being such an avid fan), but in answer to your question: no.

It will come along with time. Besides, I'd already heard it. I'm happy with my current copy.

Jon...the "Brasil Nut"
 
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