Trafico

Think of One – Trafico (Crammed Disk)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 7/13/06
Brazilian/Belgian band doing upbeat and fun samba (parade, not Ipanema style) with a fair amoung of psychedelia. Great percussion throughout, vocalists are distinctive. Really enjoyable sound.
No FCCs as far as I know – everything is in Belgian or Brazilian Portuguese.
I really really like 4, 7 and 9, but everything is killer.
1. 4:55 ***uptempo and upbeat with great percussion, spoken (not really rapped) vocals in Belgian. Horns and marimba.
2. 4:47 ***odd intro of mixed noises, then somewhat uptempo samba march with bits of sounds and some electric guitar, horns. A little psychedelic, Tropicalia-infused. Vocals just “la la la.”
3. 3:35 ***uptempo percussion and horns, husky Brazilian female vocals. Carnival flavor, but just a bit relaxed – like watching the parade from under an umbrella at the beach…
4. 4:08 ****fun bouncy midtempo reggae, male vocals in French. Great sound!
5. 4:39 **drumming intro, electronic noises and female Brazilian vocals. Odd menacing groove, not really a beat, but lots of drum roll, psychedelia. Breaks into electric guitar gallop – wheeee!
6. 4:59 **sweet, groovy midtempo with keyboards and male vocals in Belgian, female chorus in Brazilian. Mellow saxophone.
7. 4:39 ****great midtempo funk with lots of percussion, keyboards, funky guitar, Brazilian female chorus, and a touch of hip hop. Odd random noises and guitar for last 30 seconds.
8. 4:13 **mellow midtempo funky groove, strong Brazilian female vocalist. Sweet percussion and chimes. Long rather psychedelic fade.
9. 4:17 ****terrific carnival percussion, nice horns, cool husky Brazilian female vocals. Great bit of honking electric guitar – fun! Wow!
10. 6:10 **uptempo samba march percussion, a few indistinct spoken male vocals and horns; bass seems to be the “misterioso” element. Adds electric guitar, Donald duck noises… Gets pretty psychedelic…
11. 4:16 **odd uptempo beat, growling guitar and husky Brazilian female vocals. Hard to get a handle on the beat, and the vocals sound like a Yoruba ritual…
12. 3:14 **sweet samba with cuica and Brazilian female vocals. Classic sound.