The Portuguese Music Thread

[The Fascinating Turnip]

You'll never guess what's going to be discussed in this thread...

Traditional and modern, it's portuguese music.
Now you may not give a toss about it, but it certainly exists and I'd like to try and highlight some of the bands and artists which I enjoy and that I believe have made a decent contribution to music.

Portuguese traditional music is something that's hard to define for me. Celtic influenced music exists, but so does a lot of rubbish that isn't even worth discussing and probably a lot of good music I've never even heard of.

Fado is the most well-known traditional genre and its most renowned singer is Amália Rodrigues:

I'm not a great fan of Fado, but I can't deny it has its value and I quite like that song. I seem to, however, enjoy this version a bit more:

That said if anyone is interested in knowing more about Fado or in listening to a few other artists of the genre I can certainly try and do my best to look into it.

There's a very important period of portuguese music in which "intervention musicians" were all the rage, the likes of Zeca Afonso and Sérgio Godinho. They sung, albeit discretely, against the regime in vigor, but that's not all they did and their work can be quite remarkable:

One of the reasons these musicians aren't successful in other countries is the fact that their lyrics are a very important part of their work. The lyrics to the Sérgio Godinho song I just posted are absolutely brilliant, they're beautiful and unfortunately it's going to be a bit difficult to transmit that.

It's not very easy at all to write something beautiful in portuguese. It can be a beautiful language, but you have to be skilled or it'll just sound like cheesy drivel. This of course is only my opinion, but I think a lot of people find that a good amount of lyrics in modern portuguese music just rub them the wrong way.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know that much about portuguese music, not as much as I should. I've just always been disappointed in what I've heard, and it's quite hard to find certain gems.

Portuguese Post-Punk, anyone?:

Consider this an extended intro post. I'll try to post portuguese music that I think is decent now and again, so if you're interested, stay tuned.

[Zaqarbal]

Thank you. I was waiting for someone to start a thread on music in Portuguese. Not only from Portugal, but also from Brazil. I guess there is a huge stuff to explore.

9 months ago I mentioned Madredeus, Rodrigo Leão and Dulce Pontes here.

[Janszoon]

I'll admit I'm not familiar with any Portuguese musicians, I do like some Brazilian ones though, and I'm looking forward to this thread.

[The Fascinating Turnip]

Originally Posted by Zaqarbal

Thank you. I was waiting for someone to start a thread on music in Portuguese. Not only from Portugal, but also from Brazil. I guess there is a huge stuff to explore.

9 months ago I mentioned Madredeus, Rodrigo Leão and Dulce Pontes here.

Ah, I see you've been spreading the word, good work. I've heard some Rodrigo Leão that I quite enjoyed.
Regarding brazilian music, I think that even if it's not discussed that much it gets a lot more attention than portuguese music, so I'll be giving the latter priority in this thread.

Today I'd like to showcase a relatively new portuguese band called Linda Martini:

Those two songs are from their 2006 effort "Olhos de Mongol", an album I recommend. This band seriously impressed me and they deserve - without a shred of doubt - to have a foreign audience.

On a sunnier note, here's a Virgem Suta song:

"Traditional with an edge", I'd say, from their self-titled album.

[The Fascinating Turnip]

Right, on to some more stuff:

Fausto Bordalo Dias is a portuguese singer/songwriter whose work encompasses quite traditional popular music and other slightly more interesting efforts:

These videos represent the popular music tendencies and some beautiful oriental influenced folk, respectively.

Both songs are from an album called Por Este Rio Acima that belongs in a trilogy called Diáspora Portuguesa (Portuguese diaspora) which's last album is yet to be released. The main concept is the travels of the portuguese explorer Fernão Mendes Pinto, the first portuguese man to reach Japan in 1543.

Now, regarding newer endeavours:

Diabo Na Cruz are a rock and traditional music outfit, a bit edgier than Virgem Suta, perhaps. They released an album in 2009 called Virou!, here are a few tracks:

Enjoy.

[The Fascinating Turnip]

C'mon lads...

B Fachada, from Diabo Na Cruz has a solo project, his s/t album came out in 2009:

He has some sort of archaic view of love and life it seems, and you can hear that in his music. Here's another tune:

[dankrsta]

Originally Posted by Unchained Ballad

I must say I quite like the Portuguese post-punk you posted especially this band GNR. Also, I loved those two songs by Linda Martini, and you're right, they definitely deserve an international audience. The music reminded me of some familiar stuff, but I can't quite put my finger on what exactly. So that's good, sounds familiar but fresh. I like it.

Originally Posted by Unchained Ballad

There's a very important period of portuguese music in which "intervention musicians" were all the rage, the likes of Zeca Afonso and Sérgio Godinho. They sung, albeit discretely, against the regime in vigor, but that's not all they did and their work can be quite remarkable:

Oh, I love this song. I obviously don't understand the lyrics, but it doesn't take away much from the song, although I know it would've been even better if I did. It's just that his voice, the color of it and the simple music carry so much emotion that I can appreciate it on a more visceral level.

[The Fascinating Turnip]

Originally Posted by dankrsta

I must say I quite like the Portuguese post-punk you posted especially this band GNR. Also, I loved those two songs by Linda Martini, and you're right, they definitely deserve an international audience. The music reminded me of some familiar stuff, but I can't quite put my finger on what exactly. So that's good, sounds familiar but fresh. I like it.



Oh, I love this song. I obviously don't understand the lyrics, but it doesn't take away much from the song, although I know it would've been even better if I did. It's just that his voice, the color of it and the simple music carry so much emotion that I can appreciate it on a more visceral level.

GNR are a great band that for better or for worse are now in my eyes the best pop band we have.
That song though is from their post-punkish period, which is bloody great.
If you're interested in the album that song's from and the Linda Martini one I'd happily point you in the right direction

I agree with your take on the last tune, the emotion its transmits needs no words, although the lyrics are quite beautiful.

Thanks for the feedback and the interest!

[The Fascinating Turnip]

Let's listen to a bit more GNR then, shall we?

Both these tracks are from their 1984 effort Defeitos Especiais, just like the Absurdina track I posted before.
Even if they're from the same album you can quite distinctly feel a change in sound in I Don't Feel Funky (Anymore). The album has tunes like Absurdina and Piloto Automático, which dabble in the gloomier side of post-punk, and then some poppish quirky tunes like I Don't Feel Funky. Towards the end of the album it gets a bit more traditional, and unfortunately I haven't been able to find any videos of those tunes, which are quite good. I might upload them myself, in which case I'll post them here afterwards.

This I believe is the best representation of how odd and jaunty their songs can be:

Rui Reininho (lead singer) always seems to experiment with preposterous accents when he's singing in english and with adding other languages to the mix. In I Don't Feel Funky he sings with some sort of speech defect before changing swiftly into italian.
In this song he has something that resembles a spanish accent going on, which in all honesty is quite fitting if you listen to the lyrics.

Now, on to their poppier side.
A lot of people might not find this remotely interesting, but I think it's a decent enough song. The lyrics are briliant, but I'm hoping that's not the only appeal the song has. In any case, here you go:

You'll have to atleast agree that the video is quite pleasant to look at.

[The Fascinating Turnip]

It's about time I updated this...

Os Golpes are a portuguese band associated with quite patriotic and traditional themes, they seem to shroud themselves in some sort of monarchical mystique, an attempt at bringing out the glories of the past, and there certainly were some, whether or not boasting or being proud of it makes sense.

Here are a couple of tunes from their 2009 album Cruz Vermelha Sobre Fundo Branco

Whilst A Marcha dos Golpes sounds quite bold and glorious, Silêncio is a much more intricate piece of music, and it's that kind of song that brings them a bit closer to Linda Martini.

Embarcadiço could be considered the offspring of their traditional and more musically elaborate sides, but perhaps the lyrics are what gives off this feeling, as the band themselves say: "Isto é folclore disfarçado de rock 'n' roll" - "This is folklore disguised as rock 'n' roll".

Now, this "patriotic" side of them that I've mentioned before isn't some sort of smug superiority, and I'd like that cleared up. They're just really portuguese, and I appreciate it when bands put some effort into transmiting the portuguese identity. Unfortunately most people couldn't give a toss and it's probably why this kind of band's international success is nil.

So, what exactly does the band evoke through their nostalgia and remembrance?
Well, they remind us all of who we are and who we were, which is quite frankly fantastic, because, vapid or not, different cultures shouldn't fade away (which isn't to say horrible practices shouldn't, bearing other examples in mind), and a diverse world is a world in which we belong as well.
So, in short, these tunes really take me back to the somewhat impressive feats of our history: caravels sailing through the vast sea heading for the unknown and what not. Actually, it's quite important to point out the importance of the sea in portuguese culture. It used to be our bread and butter.

But, alas, I digress. Listen to the songs and bloody enjoy them!