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artist.....: Fumaca Preta
album......: Fumaca Preta
year.......: 2014
label......: Soundway
SNDWCD067P
source.....: CDDA
moodswing..: Psychedelic Rock
releasesize: 72.06 MB
tracks.....: 11
length.....: 42:59
encoder....: VBR LAME 3.98.4 -v0
quality....: avg. 233kbps
scenealized: 03.19.2015
Fumaca Preta is an unruly international
ensemble based in Amsterdam and led by
Portuguese/Venezuelan producer and
drummer Alex Figueira. At a gig by the
visiting British band the Grits, he
made the acquaintance of Stuart Carter
(guitars, Moog, organ) and bassist
James Porch. Before long the trio was
burning down stages in clubs and at
after-hours parties. After two wild,
wooly singles, their self-titled full-
length arrives equally twisted and
unhinged. Pronounced "Foomassa Pretta,"
which translates as "Black Smoke," this
11-song date burns through shambolic
garage rock, trashy Latin psych, post-
Tropicalia samba, boisterous punk, and
more. While it might be tempting to
automatically think Os Mutantes, Tom Ze
and the Sonics (whose "The Witch" they
covered on their first single) might be
a better referent -- but those are only
starting points. "Pupilas Dilatadas"
commences with a minute of studio
madness before a Farfisa kicks in above
the snare. A cuica creates a trancey
yet martial groove to warp it further.
Fuzzed-out guitars poured through
echoplexes create a simmer. "Toda
Pessoa" has a dirty bassline atop the
distorted guitars and funky drums; this
cooker is a loopy, surf-drenched samba.
"Eu Era Um Cao" employs a faux North
African melody before bubbling congas,
timbal, tam tam, a rubbery bassline,
and a fuzzed-out, six-string solo
(which owes both Jimi Hendrix and
Arthur Lee) precede Latin funk, which
pushes it into the red. "Recitando a
Toa" is where Latin boogaloo meets
Bollywood sitar music and breakbeats.
The late-night, tripped-out "Espelhos
Fundidos" is fueled by acid-drenched
effects, with Caribbean and Brazilian
rhythms sifted through a cheesecloth of
loopy Bahian grooves and Zappa-esque
chamber music. The two cuts from the
band's second single are here: the
rumbling title number (with the
nastiest, skankiest guitar roar on the
set), and the jungly "Vou Me Libertar,"
where ranting lyrics meet a pulsing
bassline, clattering breaks, and a
Farfisa laying out the riff from "I'm
Not Your Stepping Stone." Wah-wah
guitars are run through a truckload of
reverb and percussion before the insane
sound of a harpsichord solo, accented
by a female backing chorus (in European
spy flick mode), carries it out. And
nothing here prepares for the complete
madness on "Tire Sua Mascara," where
batacuda meets electro and funk on the
post 2 A.M. dancefloor. You may have
heard all of the sounds before, but not
assembled in this way. The grimy sounds
and multivalent styles here are
refracted through an auditory prism of
intense musicality and primal noise.
What comes out of this mix is far more
extreme than what went in. The primal
sounds on Fumaca Preta are gritty,
freaky, steamy, and a hell of a lot of
fun. The tunes on this record demand
participation: if you can't dance to
it, you're already dead.
psst, more info at soundwayrecords.com
01 Pupilas Dilatadas 04:37
02 Toda Pessoa 02:40
03 Eu Era Um Cao 04:12
04 Voce Enlouqueceu 03:04
05 Recitando A Toa 03:52
06 Espelhos Fundidos 02:03
07 Fumaca Preta 03:45
08 Amor Tece Dor 04:23
09 Vou Me Libertar 04:44
10 Tire Sua Mascara 04:32
11 Perdidos 05:07