Last week, when writing about forró, I mentioned that the 1990s witnessed a return to traditional Brazilian music styles and rhythms in Brazilian pop music. This week I thought of presenting another example of this rekindling, again related to musical traditions from the Northeast of Brazil: the Mangue Beat (Mangue Bit) movement, which emerged in the city of Recife (state of Pernambuco) in the early 1990s. As the Tropicália movement in the 1960s, the Mangue Beat movement was, among other things, about mixing typical Brazilian folk rhythms with foreign music styles, in particular electronic music. The state of Pernambuco has a very strong folk tradition: their carnival is as lively as in Rio or Bahia, while having its special character and flavor, and this was the rich source the Mangue Beat movement was taking inspiration from.
Some of the main figures in this movement were Chico Science and his band Nação Zumbi, and the song of today is taken from their second album Afrociberdelia (1996): ‘Maracatu Atômico’. The song is actually an ‘old’ song, composed in 1972 and first recorded by Gilberto Gil in 1973 (also a very cool version, but completely different). Maracatu is an elaborate cultural tradition of Pernambuco, involving sophisticated popular dance and music performances. It has a strong musical component, featuring a special style of drumming in particular (see here for a sample). (Unlike forró, though, Maracatu is not widely present in other parts of Brazil.) It provides the background inspiration for this version of the song, which also has a great guitar riff and electronic components. It is definitely the most ‘energetic’ song I’ve posted so far, so for those who found my selection so far a bit too much on the ‘tame’ side, you are likely to enjoy this one!
On a sadder note, Chico Science died at age 30 shortly after the release of this album, in a car accident. He was without a doubt one of the most talented musicians to have emerged in the Brazilian musical scene of the early 1990s, and his sudden demise was a big shock for everybody. But the Mangue Beat movement continued to flourish well into the 2000s, and Nação Zumbi remained active as a band after Chico Science’s death (check here for a cool song).
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