Alpha & Omega

Lei Di Dai – Alpha & Omega
Reviewed by Sadie O., 9/14/09
Female Roots Dancehall from Sao Paolo. Lei di Dai is one of the biggest artists of the burgeoning dancehall scene in Brazil, but it’s a very underground scene, so it’s nice and raw. That said, the outfit she works with, QG Imperial, are very talented and hard-working, so it’s musically solid.
FCCs? I dunno – all in Brazilian Portuguese. I love track 3, track 10 is also gnarly.
1. 3:58 **mellow and relaxed midtempo roots bubble.
2. 2:40 ***a bit uptempo, energetic skank.
3. 3:33 ****great midtempo dancehall groove with poits and shuffle feel, fun samples and dancehall vocals.
4. 3:12 **mellow midtempo skank, with elements that remind me of old Hong Kong movie soundtracks, but maybe that’s just me.
5. 3:56 **mellow midtempo bubble, nice hint of bass.
6. 2:41 ***drum beats and shouted exhortations, then very minimalist but emphatic electronic dancehall, energetic vocals.
7. 2:38 downtempo “modern soul” with sung rather than rapped vocals. It’s actually saved by the fact that Dai’s voice is completely untutored.
8. 2:46 ***emphatic but minimalist midtempo skank – tune largely borrowed from “Wah-Do-Dem”. Ends with male exhortation that carries on to next track.
9. 3:51 ***cool midtempo dancehall shuffle, lyrics a bit in English, feat. Truly odd guest vocals.
10. 2:52 ****cute little dancehall shuffle percussion, completely aggressive vocals. Raw and unusual.
11. 3:29 ***downtempo dancehall skank with electronic whoobles, strong bass. Her first major hit in Brazil.
12. 4:04 ***preaching intro, swingy dancehall riddim starts after about 30 seconds. Solid male guest vocals.
13. 2:21 *very quiet and sparse acoustic guitar and sung vocals. Extremely relaxed and quite pretty.