The first and only time Do Amor played in London it was a small affair at Notting Hill Arts Club on a night promoted by Movimientos – and accordingly to those who survived to tell the story (a few among the JungleDrums crowd) it was a hell of a concert. Continue Reading

Former Madredeus brings her new album to an intimate venue North of town

Owner of a beautiful and mystic voice, Teresa Salgueiro is one of Portugal’s most acclaimed and respected singers. With an extraordinary career broaden over the last 25 years, she returns to the Union Chapel in London with her new album O Misterio and her amazing gift to wow the audience. Continue Reading

Funk night is back in London with a musical controversy

The title for this article could well be the name for a Mashup (and probably is already…) but actually it is about a funny feud that happened just after the Superbowl. The famous 2012 show featured Madonna with a medley of old hits and finished with the new song “Gimme All Your Loving”. For some it barred a lot of semblance to a song release not long ago by João Brasil, “L.O.V.E. Banana’, featuring Love Foxx from CSS. Have a listen here and let us know what you think… Continue Reading

It’s almost that time of the year again when La Linea brings some of the Latin world’s finest artists and musicians to London for it’s annual Latin music festival. La Linea 2012 will be the 12th edition of the festival that has become an integral part of London’s Latin music scene. It’s a scene that began in the 1940s with Don Marino Barreto, as this new storywheel tells us. Continue Reading

Gilles Peterson wants to prove he still loves Brazil with a new night at Guanabara

The last time Mr Peterson went to Brazil it was Rio not São Paulo where he spent his time. He was booked to DJ at a private party to promote Britain in Dilma’s country (and consequently, to make the ginger Prince dance while sipping caipirinhas) on the top of one of Rio de Janeiro’s postcards, the Sugar Loaf. Continue Reading

The line-up for La Linea 2012, the latest edition of London’s premier Latin music festival, has been announced. Happening between the 16th and 27th April, with an accompanying UK tour that sees the festival this year converge on five cities, there is surely something for everyone with artists coming from Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Spain and Portugal, as well as a fine array of London’s top Latin talent. Continue Reading

April will bring some of the most exciting new talent from Brazil to London’ biggest Latin music festival. A holy triumvirate of Céu, Curumin and Lucas Santana will be appearing at Koko on Thursday 19th April as part of La Linea 2012. Continue Reading

Yes, it’s a complicated name, but an unmissable show at Momo’s.

The first time I came across Samba Chula was during a freezing night in Copenhagen where I was actually looking to find out if the new music from Brazil was ready to conquer the hearts (and pockets) of music promoters of the world. The show was part of the main events at Womex, the trade show focusing on World Music. The year was 2010 and the new sound from Brazil came in the form of Karina Buhr, the energetic and colourful singer from Pernambuco. Continue Reading

Back in my little Brazilian ghetto in London, whenever we played Brazilian music at parties, everyone loved it. It didn’t really matter if it was funk, country, rock or samba. Everyone would sing along and even dance the choreographies they used to loathe – that is because doing so gave us a sense of belonging, it brought us back home for a few moments.

Here in São Paulo, I’m reminded of how my friends have such different musical tastes. Some love their samba, while others enjoy música popular brasileira (MPB) rap, new wave, or Motown. Some people I know here are particular about their music to the point of refusing to go to this or that bar because it plays the sort of music they do not enjoy.

It’s not like I don’t have my own preferences – I like a lot of British punk and post-punk stuff as well as MPB, reggae, samba… what you would call ‘eclectic’, I guess. In any case, I’m happy to listen to new music, even if it sometimes is not really my style.

That debate about music reached a new level recently, since new Brazilian sensation Michel Teló has reached international stardom with his song “Ai, se eu te pego” (something like “Oh, if I get you”), which has been watched more than 100 million times on YouTube at the time of writing. By comparison, Lady Gaga’s hit “Telephone” has had about 130 million views.

You may ask, who the hell is Michel Teló?

He is a multi-instrumentalist and dancer, a young and reasonably good looking bloke doing that you would class as a mix of forró, country and pop. His main hit is catchy. It is the kind of stuff you find yourself playing in your head over and over again for the best part of the day. It is the sort of thing people like to listen to when they are in a party mood, when they are drunk.

Everyone – especially young people – knows who Michel Teló is. And probably if you ask some party goer in Amsterdam or Ibiza, chances are they will know who he is too. “Ai se eu te pego” has become a number one iTunes hit in countries such as Portugal, Italy, Spain, Germany and Poland as well as many South American countries.

Do I like this music? If it is playing at my local boteco, it is no big deal. If I had one too many cachaças, I may sing along. But I would not buy his stuff.

Yet, a lot of Brazilians seem to think that the guy is not worthy of attention here, let alone overseas. Sure, we have plenty of other performers that deserve more airtime than Teló is getting. But sadly, it hasn’t worked out that way so far – despite their talent, Brazilian performers (and celebrities in general) very rarely become international superstars.

Even though Michel Teló’s music may not tick everyone’s boxes in terms of what qualifies as talent, the fact is that he has managed to capture people’s imaginations here in Brazil and abroad. So let’s all hope that he will pave the way for many other Brazilian artists who dream of becoming successful beyond their motherland – whatever their style.

For those who are not familiar with Teló, or need a reminder (as if!) check out “Ai, se eu te pego”: