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The Big Boys from BrazilJuly 29, 2007... If you've ever wondered why Afterbirth isn't focused on any one genre or era of music, it's because Spin gets bored easily. Spin likes to mix things up a bit, to put a little cream in his coffee, if you know what he means. Apparently, Spin also likes to refer to himself in the third person... Anyhoo, you'd be hard pressed to find a band that mixed things up more than Austin's mighty, mighty Big Boys. Consider side one of their crushing 1982 EP, Fun, Fun, Fun, which starts with a scratchy post-punk number, follows that up with a blazing fifty-second thrasher, and closes with a faithful cover of Kool and the Gang's funk classic "Hollywood Swinging," complete with horns. But this post ain't about the Big Boys. It's about Chico Science and Nação Zumbi, who kinda remind me of the Big Boys in a vague sorta way.
Chico Science and Nação Zumbi, or CSNZ for short, hailed from the city of Recife in northeastern Brazil. Along with mundo livre s/a and others, CSNZ were the originators and primary exponents of a style of music they called mangue bit. In practice, mangue bit (pronounced "MAN-ghee beat") was a varied thing, but its essence was an attempt to make music with modern technology--the "bit" referred to is a computing term--all the while acknowledging local traditions: "mangue" is the Portuguese word for mangrove (swamp), Recife's natural environment. Chico Science and Nação Zumbi - ManguetownThough their music was modern, drawing heavily from American funk, psychedelic rock (Jimi Hendrix), heavy metal (Metallica), and hip-hop, CSNZ incorporated the local musical traditions of northeastern Brazil into their music, as well. It could be as superficial as sampling forró master Jackson do Pandeiro at the start of one song, or as tightly integrated as writing another song entirely in the baião style, but performing it with a distorted bass guitar and mixing it with studio trickery. Chico Science and Nação Zumbi - Baião AmbientalBut the local musical tradition most acknowledged by CSNZ was Carnaval, nordestino style... You see, in Rio de Janeiro samba schools play samba for Carnaval, but in Recife, in Recife nações (nations) play maracatú. It's a distinct style of music. So CSNZ featured five (!) percussionists, each playing an instrument typical of the local Carnaval music of the northeast: alfaias (i.e. primitive-ass bass drums), agogôs (i.e. fancy-ass cowbells), and caixas (i.e. snare-ass snare drums). Chico Science and Nação Zumbi - Rios, Pontes e OverdrivesThe peculiar history of northeastern Brazil made its way in to CSNZ's message, as well. The band's name is a reference not only to the nações of the Recife Carnaval, but to the short-lived, independent nation of Palmares, founded by runaway slaves in northeastern Brazil, and led by the runaway slave, Zumbi, during the 17th century. It is of Zumbi and other populist revolutionaries--Lampião from Brazil, Zapata from Mexico, Sandino from Nicaragua, and the Black Panthers--that Chico Science sings the praises in the song "Monólogo ao Pé do Ouvido." In the poorest region of a poor country, where one third of the homes do not have regular access to potable water or sewerage, it's a message that has a lot of resonance. Not surprisingly, in a country where one half the population insists that it is "white," while the other half acknowledges that it "may not be exactly 100% white," and where the relationship between economic status and skin colour is fairly close, the issues of race and racial equality, made their way into the band's lyrics, as well. Chico Science and Nação Zumbi - EtniaIn the end, it's really of Sly and the Family Stone that CSNZ remind me most: a bi- or non- racial band, blurring the line between "white music" and "black music," with a leader rocking shades and some serious-ass sideburns.
Chico Science died in a car crash in 1997. Nação Zumbi soldier on still. I haven't heard anything they've released since Chico Science's death, but I understand that some people quite like it. Permadink | | |
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