Clube Da Esquina

Muito bom. Está no meu acervo.

Clube da Esquina is one of those albums that has a lot going for it (good vocals, solid compositions, some unique ideas peppered in), but unfortunately doesn't know when to stop. I remember being about 10 tracks deep and thinking "oh, this one is definitely going to be a four." Less than 15 minutes later, I couldn't wait for it to be over. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad album – it's just not quite good enough to warrant its 64-minute runtime. Highlights: Tudo O Que Você Podia Ser, O Trem Azul, Dos Cruces, Um Girassol da Cor do Seu Cabelo, Me Deixa Em Paz, Um Gosto de Sol, Nada Será como Antes

Not bad but I struggle to enjoy songs when I don’t understand the language.

Hard not to get emotional now that I know this well. I’ve a friend, another sentimental sort, also in the know, who has “Clube Da Esquina” set to autoplay for the first real day of summer, baking in season’s end, as the record delivers the full spectrum: ecstasy, daze, trepidation and regret as the hot sun goes down. Technically, this bursts with baroque bangers, psychedelic stunners, campfire ballads, drama, flow and voices that you understand beneath the words. Definitely a hangout album, maybe to as great an extent as any made outside of the jazz scene, evoking a group of friendly rivals, camaraderie and one-upmanship, the sense of everyone trying to cram in their best for one big push after years of playing together, the right mix of loose and tight, returning to a couple of tunes because the evening demands it. Wish I had a weekend for this.

Not what I was expecting, sounds quite modern and perhaps inspired some indie singer songwriters like Phosphorescent and Kings of Convenience that aren't obviously "world music" adjacent. Pretty good!

These are the types of albums I love to hear on this forum. I would have never looked for this one and, having no concept, would have overlooked if given it. However, if I would have heard this in a restaurant I would have stopped eating to listen. Dos Cruces, man, his voice with just a guitar, and then the build up 3:30 in. Some of this felt like a James Bond film, like Clive da Esquina No2 or Saidas E Bandeiras No1. A few of them like Nuvem Cigana, were a little too dated for my personal listening tastes. But overall I could come back to this album again. I just wish that I spot Portuguese.

Random thoughts: * I have no clue what I just listened to. I went in totally blind. * This sounded Brazilian and reminded me of Seu Jorge and the City of God soundtrack. * It was maybe a little less upbeat than those other but had a similar feel. * It was chill and interesting. I'll put on again when I'm in the mood for some Brazilian music. Hope to visit Brazil someday.

Very smooth listening

This album is super light and breathy, it’s definitely not short, in fact I’d say it’s way too long. But sincerely the album is just kinda pleasant to put on. It’s not gunna stick with me and I’m gunna forget most if not all the songs on this album. And I obviously won’t remember the lyrics cause I don’t speak the language, but what I will remember that if I need something chill and soft to listen to I’ll remember that this exists. But it’s just alright honestly, it had orchestral moments but I wasn’t really won over.

Lovely and sort of genre bending. A tiny bit forced. Which is not what you want from your Brazilian music. Poppy in places and very much of its time. Makes me wish for more Latin music on he list.

Notables: - Cais Definitely gotta give the whole thing a listen again, reminded me a little of Beau Dommage

BRAZIL MENTIONED!! Milton is a national treasure. The best this country has to offer. I once heard someone say that "if God had a voice, it would be like Milton Nascimento's."

Modern songs in a brazilian way, very interesting finding.

Pretty bangin, 4 stars

I was hopeful this would be a wonderful 1001 find for me. It is outrageous in this day and age for me to be oblivious to an artist I have now heard described as Brazil’s greatest musician. I have broad tastes and an adventurous attitude to music, yet cultural and language barriers have kept me and Nascimento unconnected until now. There are elements of MPB (Música popular Brasileira) that give it a high propensity to fit right in with my tastes, but unfortunately, song after song, I found this album unappealing. I was either expecting the wrong thing, or Milton is just not my guy. I wanted irresistible grooves and I got flaccid rhythms. I wanted vibrant guitar but got unconvincing strumming. Where should have been unforgettable melodicism was meandering tuneage; I didn’t need wall to hooks, but I had imagined at least some undeniable beauty. A damp squib for me. Best Brazilian musician? Not even the best Brazilian with the surname Nascimento (but that was always gonna be a big ask tbh)

Album #61: Clube Da Esquina - Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges Genre (W): MPB, baroque pop, folk, jazz pop No singles. I have listened to this album once before. Thoughts?: I enjoyed some of the music. I’m not going to review it based on me not understanding what they were saying, however, I felt the music and tones couldn’t save the album enough to give this anything at or above three stars. Favorite songs: Tudo Que Você Podia Ser, Cais, O Trem Azul, Nuvem Cigana, Dos Cruces, Paisagem Da Janela, Saídas e Bandeiras Nº 2, Um Gosto De Sol,

I only made it through half but I liked it.

I found myself being generally underwhelmed but whenever I was enjoying myself it was a Lô Borges track - so I don’t think this is a must listen album but I reckon they’re a must listen artist. So I will exploring more of their back catalogue and who knows, more of their stuff might pop up here along the way!

2/5

Decent album. A nice change from all of the rap I’ve been listening to. Not really my jam, but it was fine.

Gaat echt alle kanten op

There were some really interesting songs on this album, interspersed with some that didn't interest me so much. That's life, I guess.

Unlike most of the racket I like to listen to, I could put this on and my mom in her 70s would like it. It has a very nice & gentle sound, and some definite standout tunes among the bunch.

It's good, a little all over the place, but it's a compilation so that's to be expected. Not what I would expect from a Brazilian album from the 1970s, but a really enjoyable listen.

This is the third or fourth album from Brazilian artists that I've had over the last couple of weeks. It's really hard for me to rate these or have any thoughts about how good they are. I'm not familiar with the music at all and because I don't understand the lyrics, it's hard to judge anything. I can say that the music on this album was not what I would consider to be typical Brazilian music. It definitely had a jazzy and pop feel to it.

Good but bland

Dette var en positiv overraskelse.

lush

Good listen but probably wouldn’t come back to listen to any songs again besides a couple

Brazilian folk - I guess. It's quite poppy at times, but in a complex sort of way that rewards attention. Great chill atmospheres and melodies. The energy levels get high enough at times that I'm not bored yet. I feel like we are transported from the forest to the beach and then to the streets of Rio. At points I feel like it could be part of a videogame soundtrack. I like the vocals and the Portuguese (presumably) singing doesn't detract at all. Bizarre stereo mix at times, I thought we'd left this behind by 1972, but for the most part it sounds good and the production is the way I like it. It's all quite varied, sometimes jarringly so with short interludes. At 64 minutes, this is a lot to process, and it might end up in the category of: "glad I listened to this, but it won't be a regular addition to the rotation".

Finally, something interesting! I have been in a drought of uninteresting albums for at least a week now and I have been craving an album that's worth my time. Fortunately, Clube da Esquina is very worthy of my time! I sound like an egotistical asshole right now. What am I saying? What I'm trying to say is that this is the best album that I've listened to for this album project in weeks. This is the newest entry in the list of non-English albums I've listened to, and I've got to say, it's also one of the best entries on that list. Clube da Esquina by Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges really is a work of art. Everything here works wonderfully to create a fascinating album that I have the utmost respect for. The album was made during a rough time for Brazil politically, so the artists behind this album really wanted to give it their all and make an album full of all sorts of emotions. It kinda reminds me of another non-English album I listened to earlier this year, that being Fela Kuti's Zombie. I think I slightly prefer Zombie over this, but it is a very close call. Back to Clube da Esquina, the writing of the album (from what I can gather) is very thoughtful and, quite frankly, excellent. While there is somewhat of a political core to some songs, much of the album is positive in nature, focusing on things like childhood memories and friendship. I may have had to do quite a bit of research to understand what the album was saying, but it was worth it for me to have the respect that I now have for the album. But do you want to know what I didn't have to put research into to get? The music. You can say anything you want in a song, but if the music doesn't engage me, then I'm not going to have too many reasons to come back to the album. Fortunately, Clube da Esquina's music is just as sensational as the songwriting. The album clearly takes inspiration from traditional Brazilian music, but there are enough influences from things like psychedelia and folk music to give the album worldwide appeal. It helps that the songs are pretty varied in tone. You've got some tender songs like "Cais" and "Ao Que Vai Nascer" balanced out with some more exciting moments like the awesome guitar parts on "Trem De Doido." I think the fact that Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges split their song duties on the album allows for the album to have the variety that it has. Rather surprisingly, there isn't much of a disconnect when it comes to the artist split. You'd expect to feel a major difference between Nascimento's songs and Borges's songs, but no. Clube da Esquina is remarkably consistent for a double album like this. Hell, I'd say it's more consistent than something like the Beatles' White Album! I don't think the highs are as high as that album's, but the lows aren't nearly as low either, so I think Clube da Esquina actually ends up being just a smidge better. I know right? Clube da Esquina is a wonderful album. It's one of those albums that makes you realize that stepping outside of your culture's music can be absolutely worth it in every single way. It has so many ideas that are executed flawlessly, yet the album experience manages to be incredibly consistent and it doesn't get old at all. Not a moment is wasted. There's a reason why this is one of the most beloved albums in Brazilian history, okay? It really is that good. Low 5/5.

too many tracks. got way too repetitive.

YUMMY first song! There's certain albums that feel like spring to me and this is one of them. It's packed full of springtime joy. I wish that this list had more music from other countries rather than just a majority of UK and US. I guess that's just the nature of the list and the person who made the list. Maybe I will be able to find one from someone who is not from the US or UK. It's just annoying that the album will be labeled "Other country" rather than Brasil. My favorite songs were probably "Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser", "Cais", "Saidas e Bandeiras N 1", and"Um Girassol Da Cor Do Seu Cabelo".

joyful, but I can’t recall anything after listening

2 just not my kind of music

that was so beautiful. GOD i love imperfect production

For 40 minutes or so, I loved this. About that time, I found my mind wandering. In all likelihood, this has more to do with my attention span than the quality of the music. I will go back and listen to the second half of the album to test this theory.

Perfectly pleasant listening experience if maybe a bit long.

Very enjoyable, had never come across this before. Mid 3s.

Surprisingly interesting, if a little long, would listen again.

5/5. Easiest 5 on the list for me so far, this is one of the best folk albums of all time in my opinion. The name translates to “Corner Club” which is in reference to the fact that the collective who is responsible for this album began by playing on a street corner in Belo Horizonte. As for the two vocalists, the story goes that a 10 year old Lo Borges met Milton Nascimeto while walking to buy eggs for his mother, and over the next decade Milton would take Lo under his wing and teach him to play guitar. The album itself blends together folk, psychedelia, MBP, jazz and other influences together into a beautiful storm of music. This album is bursting at the seams with ideas and great small moments like the dramatic build of “Dos Cruces” or the beautiful guitar line of “Clube De Esquina No2.” This is one of those double albums that just flies by, an absolute joy to listen to. Also as a fun fact, the two children on the cover are not Lo Borges and Milton Nascimento. For a long time it was not known who they were, though I believe it was discovered who it was in the past 20 years or so.

Finally something I haven’t before heard from the 1001 album generator; jazzy Brazilian Popular Music . Some pretty hard-hitting tracks on here like “Dos Cruces.” on first impression , four stars

Something else I've never heard but really like! Saving this album too.

Another one of these albums that sits in a genre I just wouldn’t listen to, feels like background mood music for a bar to me. It’s perfectly fine but doesn’t hold my attention and once it had finished I didn’t retain any memory of specific tracks. 2.2

Never found Portuguese the most lyrical of languages. I listened to two songs then went "nope, I'm sorry, I just can't today." My fault, probably no fault of this album.

This guy clearly is talented and the music is not unpleasant. But there's nothing to appeal to me here to make me bother listening again. It's probably kind of hard to get into this unless you understand Portuguese.

i feel medium about this album.

I usually like Brazilian music, but this one was a little slow for me. Not really my thing. 2/5

Love me some

A nice discovery.

New to me. Really glad to be introduced to it.

I’ll never get tired of this

This is brilliant. Loads of variety and inventiveness. Sunny, psychedelic... I will put it on again in the summer. Fav track: Um Girassol...

I have not heard this before. Some songs sound familiar from when I got into Brazilian psych a few years ago, I’m pretty certain Trem De Doido is on a comp I have and several others must have come up in a tropicalia mix, although I wouldn’t consider any of these tropicalia. There’s interesting instrumentation on a lot of these that I like, but a lot of the songs seem listless and unfocused, where they pick up and then drop off to nothing. The slower acoustic only songs seem passionless, they have that quiet vocal that lots of bossa nova singers do but something seems missing. Also it could be me that’s missing something. apparently this is considered the best Brazilian album ever, but there’s only a few songs that I really like and the rest are either just decent or almost unfinished. I think this album could be helped by cutting some songs down to where it’s not a double album. Or maybe this particular album is not for me.

Clube de Esquina is brilliant. I downloaded it from a sharethread on a music message board and never looked back. Chilled out jazzy, psych, folk rock? Whatever Nascimento is doing, it's working. It's music that transports you. Exactly what I would hope to find on this list. Essential.

Pleasant acoustic album. Some nice Brazilian flourishes. Unfortunately I don’t speak Portuguese, sadly, I feel these songs need that skill set. Without following the lyrics this doesn’t cross over in the way Jorge Ben or Gal Costa does.

Interesting stuff. Not for me, respect it highly though.

Magnificent.

so eclectic, vibrant, and dare I say life-affirming

what's really wonderful about this is how it is all rooted in really well structured, well-written songs and then often veers into ideas that i can't believe i'm hearing. the shit that happens 45 seconds into Pelo Amor de Deus my god!

had some definite highlights but not my kind of thing overall, a bit too art poppy

Wish I knew what they were singing about

These are the kinds of albums i want to listen to. Amazing vocals and intresting sounds. Something fresh and new. Brazilian music that isnt phonk arent exacly known to me. Joy to experience.

Really good and refreshing. The mixing can sometimes be really shit though, which is a real shame. I dont appreciate hearing the piano directly inside my right earlobe.

A great album which was an amazing introduction into Latin Music for me. A genre I'd heard basically nothing off before this album.

dance. :) Que notícias me dão dos amigos? Que notícias me dão de voce? + Eu vivo en qualquer parte de seu coração Mi favoritos: Nuvem Cigana Caida e Banderinas n1 Tudo o que você podia ser

Very cute, didnt quite finish

I tried, I really did. But this album was pretty annoying. The first song was decent but the rest I couldn’t handle. His voice was really grating. At least it varied musically from song to song, and that kept it somewhat interesting. For that I’ll give it a (2)

I'm all in favor of non-English albums, but this one bored me to death.

latin singer/songwriter, 1972 -> 2

Refreshing and different. Easy listening.

No idea what he’s singing, but some bangers

this is pretty. I really liked this album. the voice is so soft and gentle, the vibe was happy and nostalgic in some way. 4 stars.

Hmm, this wasn't what I was expecting. And I didn't really like the mix of straight pop and Brazilian influenced tinges. Not upset I had to listen to it, but I won't be going back a second time.

Pretty innocuous album. It slipped into the background pretty quick for me.

This is very pretty. I don't have the cultural touchstones that really let it speak to me, and don't understand the lyrics, but it's a pleasant listen. Nice 70's production, I like the levels of all the different parts, everything is easy to pick out, jazzy. Reads a tiny bit elevator music in parts, just a little dated. Can't really pick out any songs as more memorable than the others. 3 stars, would be open to listening to in the right setting.

some nice latin jazz, I love when we get World Music on this list because it gives me the opportunity to infer the feelings behind the sounds despite not understanding a single word. I did find it ran a bit long, and it did seem to be all over the place at times, but overall it was enjoyable.

Oh hell yeah this is my jam. I love albums that aren’t in English and this one has some very enjoyable jams on it!

What an album, Brazil keeps winning on this list. It's truly great, with some awesome standouts like O Trem Azul and my favorite, Pelo Amor de Dues, which has a dreamy, psychadelic, but beachy vibe. I also liked Os Povos, Nada Será Como Antes, and Tudo o Que Você Podia Ser. I wanted to listen to this all day, it just is so unique to what I normally listen to and musically is very deep. I will be coming back when I'm on a hammock later this summer.

The depth and breadth of instrumentation on this album is pretty fantastic. It's got everything. Particularly full of bright strings and upbeat percussion, Clube Da Esquina feels vibrant and alive. You can hear so many influences, Latin, Mexican, African, European, jazz, even classical; it's really far reaching. I thought I was listening to The Beatles a few times in there. I'd not head of Milton Nascimento (or Lo Borges) before this, but the man is prolific. He's got a great, haunting voice. This album is a fun listen. I dont know Portuguese so without knowing the meaning of most of the lyrics the vocals are essentially another instrument for me, but they feel really good in every song. It was fun reading about each track on Wikipedia while listening along (and Spotify's lyrics translation feature was actually really clutch here). Songs are all pretty short but they all just work. Standout tracks are "O Trem Azul," "Dos Cruces," "San Vicente," and "Os Povos." This is one of those really cool gems you find hidden in this project. It's a bit lengthy as a double album, but it honestly moves and flows so well you almost don't notice. It's not the kind of thing I usually listen to, but this is undeniably at least a 4 getting really really close to a 5. Would love to go listen to more from these two.

So good it almost makes you forget that throughout the latter half of the 20th century the United States backed and funded coups in Brazil and other South American countries to overthrow democratically elected governments and install right wing dictatorships who were more favorable to their corporate interests which resulted in the deaths and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of people

Real pretty, for way too long. Greatly impressed by the recording quality, would never have guessed it was recorded in 72.

Sublime na esquina

Nicht mein Stil.

Despite there being a nice moment or two, this album is doing absolutely nothing for me. While I am not taking away its influence and obvious quality, I was not taken even for a moment. I think this has to do with my general dislike of Latin music, or rather, lack of appreciation. Still, all on me, doubt I'll ever find Latin music I enjoy, but that won't stop me from trying. Love the Latin culture though!

I appreciated the instrumentation and vocals on this record, but between the length and the genre, I can't give it more than three stars. 6/10

That was beautiful.

Interesting. Really soulful music, and beautiful at times. I found it super hard to get into though.

Crazy 70s retro sound!

You know those random stores you pop into when on holiday and wonder how they stay in business. It reminds of the music those stores play. Not bad, but easily forgettable.

Overall great album. Song I like: Tudo O Que Voce podia ser, Nueve cigana, Cravo E Canela,

Rather pleasant listening

if lo borges are there, im there

I enjoy!

Rest in peace to Lo Borges, he passed away recently. I love this album. It's such a rewarding listen and it's one of those albums where the melodies get stuck in your head long after you finish listening to it. It takes me back to my childhood summers; maybe it's the album cover but it transports me to an entirely different time and place. It's albums like this that make me go "oh ok so this is why i'm obsessed with music". It would be so easy to overlook a masterpiece like this, but I find myself wanting to further explore the sounds of this genre in the future.

Nice tunes and nice singing. Not really made for me though. I appreciate world music, but I don't really want to listen to it more than once.

This album feels like its at the intersection of so many bands I like and listen to. I hear a little My Morning Jacket, Khruangbin, and a good bit of Boogarins.

It's not bad, I really liked the first song but the rest de álbum is yest nice enough music to have on the background.

Not really for me to be honest

Such a treat to revisit this album! Brazilian music is forever goated. Favorite track: Tudo O Que Voce Podia Ser 4.5/5

I don’t mind something I’ve never heard of and don’t understand. And instrumentally, there’s lots here to pique the interest and some nice vibes. But I’m finding the voice a bit nothing and lots of production choices odd. Songs that appear to be in full flow just… fade out. Or pan entirely to one channel. I don’t quite feel able to get immersed into the music as it feels like an incoherent, rushed-together compilation.

4.0/10

Nothing special here. Found myself tuning out. Just not for me.

Good vibes and strings Listening with headphones can be a bit off putting with the vocals and instruments choosing to be at different sides but it does create an interesting immersive experience A very fun joyous album in its sound

Would listen again, enjoyable

Smooth and cool. But won’t be overly memorable to me in the long term I don’t think. The language sound so nice although I did wonder what the lyric meant it was kind of nice just to enjoy it sonically without knowing too.

This was mildly interesting, quite pretty, and entirely forgettable.

The wikipedia page talks about the "mixture of genres and influences" and this sounds like it has *all* the genres and influences, thrown into a bag and pulled out at random on every bar. Occasionally, this works. More often, it's a mess, with amateurish recording and an unfortunate fondness for dull balladry, and one that goes on far too long.

Back to back obscure Brazilian albums!? The agony continues, what an 0-fer week this has been with the Top1001, not a single album should have been on this list and today's is the cherry on top. Absolutely not my jam but I listened to it all. This one at least has the listener counts that yesterday's didn't even come close to, and this guy can actually sing, there's guitar at least. 36M people have listened to "Tudo O Que Voce Podia Ser" for what I don't know. "O Trem Azul" has 16M listens and was a tone deaf meandering song. Overall, maybe it's the language barrier and not understanding anything he's singing about, but it was boring with no hooks, never made me want to get up and dance, no kick ass musical moments. I guess I could have this playing in the background if I were in another room. I just don't understand how this could be considered an album I must hear before I die. 2 stars cause I gave the even worse one 1 star yesterday.

Very good album although I didnt understand most, the music is fluid and more relaxing than most american music. Excelent for chilling and just background peace

Im familiar with this, and it would be a 5 if I spoke Portuguese, but I will have to look up more of the lyrics to understand more of the songs. Paisagem De Janela will always be on the list of my favorite songs.

This is a perfect example of music being a universal language. I have no idea what Milton Nascimento or Lô Borges are singing about, but I loved this. While I didn't understand exactly what they were singing about I could get an idea based solely on the emotion in their voices. The instrumentation and Milton Nascimento's voice is just a chef's kiss. Lô Borges's solo songs on the album were also good, but I didn't enjoy them quite as much as Nascimento's.

cool but not for me

I gave this a 3.5 on rateyourmusic, as I do think there are great aspects to this album and great songs, but I feel it doesn't justify the length, and there is a lot that just feels like filler or makes the entire album feel like it is too much the same from song to song. Overall, though, it is quality music.

Well done music, but not really my style.

La segunda parte es fascinante. Aunque son todas buenas canciones, no hay canciones que destaquen.

Groovy and unique, this one made for a good listen

For the listeners it is made for, I’m sure this is a top notch album. It’s melodic and groovy and moves from song to song with purpose. Just not my thing. It’s still just kinda dull. I don’t like dull. But for his genre? I’m sure it works

Je m’attendais à rien mais j’ai été agréablement surpris. Après j’ai pas compris un traître mot de ce qu’il se disait…

Good album all the way through. Experimental songs, more traditional Hispanic flamenco and more. 8/10

Surprisingly interesting. Does not really have a genre, though lyrics are Spanish.

This album was a bit of a surprise. I didn't know what to expect going in, but ended up enjoying quite a few of the songs. There was a rock sound to some of it that I liked a lot. Unfortunately, the album length (64+ minutes) was a bit too much for me. It was hard to keep my attention on the album the longer it went, especially since I couldn't understand the vocals (not the album's fault, so just saying). I would say that I liked a few songs, didn't like some others, and am not sure about the rest-- either I didn't absorb them, or they didn't stick with me. There wasn't anything that I really found bad. Putting it all together, I've got this one as solidly OK. Overall: 2.7/5

Rather original and ahead of its time 3.6

I just kept saying "wow" I think I would never have listened to this album if not for this project, this experience is just what I am chasing. Part of it anyway

This is #day541 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… this turned out to be better than I expected. Actually, pretty interesting stuff: warm, melodic, and all over the place stylistically. Very long, though. Loving that album cover. Given the versatility of moods and music, let it be a 3 out of 5. Looking forward to #day542.

Absolutely loved this album. Interestingly enough, I thought it sounded like a precursor to some of Fleet Foxes’ later albums like Crack-Up. Really creative, diverse, progressive music in multiple genres, played and sung with feeling. Must-listen #290

Whoa the Brazilians are back Definitely not as crazy about this one as Africa Brasil but it’s a good sounding album. This is one where I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy it more if I understood Portuguese, definitely more lyrical sounding and less dance vibes. Still can’t knock it too much for that, it’s a fun one. Definitely want to listen to more Brazilian stuff, if we got another one tomorrow I would have 0 complaints

Our second Brazilian album! This one was a lot more moody than the other one, much less dance music, but you can tell the strength of the album based on how it could evoke feeling and emotion even without the need to understand the language. Um Gosto De Sol was a standout for me. The added instrumentation for the tracks kept it from being stale despite the track count.

Good not great. Probably good music to read a book by, as the lyrics wouldn't distract me. Again, my Portuguese failed me here... Probably closer to 2 1/2 but there ya go.

I would totally love this album, it sounds good, I just can’t truly vibe with it because I don’t understand what the song is about or what is being said. I can understand that a song is sad, but I don’t understand why it’s sad. That’s why this album is just fine.

don't speak Portuguese. My knowledge of Brazilian music is restricted to the Brazilian albums I've heard on this list. You can definitely find more insightful people discussing this album than me. But any hesitancy I have over it may be due to my ignorance. From what I have gathered, Clube da Esquina is one of the standout works of música popular brasileira, a mid-60s amalgam of standard Brazilian genres with the recently imported jazz and rock. This album embodies the eclecticism of MPB, an eclecticism which accounts for this being a double album. They had so much to include. This makes the listener worry that Clube Da Esquina may have the basic double album faults of becoming sluggish, but I would say it largely avoids such failings, proving itself a dense yet soulful piece of music. I can't guarantee that every song will appeal, but for new listeners it’s a near perfect introduction. I pause over giving it five stars, solely because of the language barrier. This may deserve a firm five, but right now I am not the one to gauge that accurately. Did I need to hear this before I die? 100%

Good, but had a hard time getting into it

Loved this

The absolute best part of this project is finding stuff like this - the first song in particular absolutely FLOORED me. The vocal melody, the guitar part, all of it is just incredible. The second song is so different but also stunning. I was like "holy crap this is going to be an easy 5 album that I had no idea even existed" - at the end of the day I don't think the greatness of the opening tracks is quite sustained over the whole thing though. Um Girassol is a nice sort of laid back song with cool orchestration, and Clube da Esquina No 2 is also great. I love the laid-back Brazilian vibe without it sounding like bossa nova. Maybe not quite a 5 on this but pretty darn close.

This is what this project is all about. Really enjoyed exploring something new. Felt like enjoyable time travel but with still a high quality of recording. A couple songs got a little droning on with the vocals, but on the balance, loved the instrumentation, percussion, chord progressions were often interesting and unexpected.

かなり自分好みの曲(3曲目)と出会えたけど、アルバム自体の長さやバリエーションなどで自分の好みからは少し外れている。ミックスも変な曲があったりしたけど必聴ではあると思った。

Grateful that this album was brought to my attention, great mix and sound with a blending of genres. Maybe the lyrics being portugeuse and not understanding them focused my atttention on the music.

avtobusshi daydreamingistvis gaaswora

É pura emoção encontrar essa obra prima na lista dos melhores do mundo!

-the one and only Brazilian classic!! waow!! i can definitely understand why this album is as popular as it is, i think it’s very easy to enjoy -still not my absolute favorite, not even to come out of Brazil, mainly just cuz it feels a little bit samey. some really pretty songs on here tho! rip Lo Borges -Favorites: Tudo O Que Você Podia Ser, Nuvem Cigana, Paisagem Da Janela

Solid grooves though Frans

- This was a pleasant listen. Instrumentation was atmospheric and/or textural most of the time. - A blend of musical styles on here, so it's hard to pin down, but it was interesting and felt fresh, especially for 1972! - It's different than what I'm used to listening to, but I liked the musicality in the chord choices and the overall lack of pretension. It felt on the uplifting and hopeful side most of the time. - The singing was nice - the singer's voice was clear and melodic. I wouldn't say the tone of his voice was incredibly memorable, and I didn't understand the lyrics, but to me, the emotions his voice evoked were sentimental, sweet, and frustrated (in the more strained/shouty higher registers, mainly). The vocals were a little too loud and in front - I wanted the mix to be a little more balanced. - The album could have used a bit of editing in terms of there being too many songs - it definitely felt too long and more than I wanted to listen to in one sitting. Also, the songs were pretty busy, so even the short ones felt on the long side.

Never heard this before despite knowing what I thought was a good amount of Brazilian music. Didn’t really catch my ear the same way as other Brazilian music has and I don’t know the context for why this is important and possibly beloved.

cool

I actually listened to this one separate from the challenge a few months back, not knowing it was on the list. So i went into this relisten already knowing what rating I was gonna give it. This album is absolutely gorgeous, all of the singers are ethereal, the mix of physcadelic rock, folk, and traditional Brazilian music give this album a unique feel that I’ve never seen elsewhere. I should really do a deep dive into Brazilian music, because everything that I have heard I’ve loved.

Quite lovely

Couldn’t really hear any english

I like the instrumentation but obviously cang appreciate the lyrics, although listenable the sound isn't enough to make me want to listen again.

Not my favourite album but definitely found it interesting. There is nothing objectively bad about it, maybe just not my style. I didn’t particularly enjoy that the vocals sounded harsh at some points and after a while the whole thing just sounded like noise to me and I found myself constantly pausing for breaks. Maybe I’m just being harsh though, jazz isn’t really for me.

I really love the vocals on this one. Very pretty. I don't speak the language, but these songs feel very meaningful. This album was a very refreshing listen. My only issue was that I did have to break this listen into two chunks as it drug on just a tad too long. It's just simple, pretty music that I enjoyed a decent amount. Definitely nice to get a fairly good Brazilian album off the heels of one I didn't really like the day prior.

Its alright. Not a genre I'll probably return too, but it was a relaxing listen.

Ok, fair, this feels rich. It's not quite for me, but I could be somewhere where it's being played

Lovely Brazilian trad music / pop / jazz. I can see how the eclectic moods and arrangements make it a seminal world music “fusion” record.

I don't know what they're saying at all, but it sounds very pretty. Faves: Tudo O Que Você Podia Ser, Dos Cruces, Um Girassol Da Cor Do Seu Cabelo Paisagem Da Janela

Enjoyable little album, no idea what they were saying tho

Super enjoyable, right up my alley, will never know the name of a song but can see myself coming back to this.

Lots of sketches of cool, sort of rhythmic, hypnotic songs that span genres. Good stuff

Cool, rockier than I expected

dreamy

Nothing bad here, generally pleasant, but not super interesting to me. Possibly I’m not familiar enough with Brazilian music to appreaciate it.

Thr acoustic guitar was nice to listen to but that voice... yikes. Horribly out of tune

Milton Nascimento was tipped to play upfront for Brazil in the 1973 World Cup. The year before he was discovered singing on the training pitch by non other than Len Houmous. The ball boy that day? Fat Ronaldo! As they say, the rest is history. 3.0 11/21 Club Da Eaquina no 2

Starts off strong then loses some momentum for me.

3.6/5 nice vibe change good stuff

back to something groovy, fun, and colourful!

Je sais pas si je réécouterai ça un jour, mais c'était LOIN d'être nul.

A nice discovery! It sounds good, lots of influences (it's quite jazzy). An album to take time for, with excellent musicianship and interesting songs.

This is another one of those albums that not only have I never heard of, but would have never listened to if it wasn't for this journey. It wasn't incredible, but it did have an array of instruments, singing styles, beats, and genres. Favorite Track: "Trem De Doido".

Very interesting, clearly Brazilian but a sort of jazzier, psychedelic take on other stuff I've heard. Some cool bits here and there but it was slightly too much of a genre/language leap for me to really grab on to anything. Enjoyed it and wouldn't mind hearing more but not an instant connection.

Quite vibrant but not my vibe. A long listen.

Not generally a fan of the south American jazzy samba thing. This didn't really grab me at all. Was nice enough in the background but nothing stood out as special. 2

Having now heard this, I can say with confidence that this album is likely better than every Country and Jazz album on the list.

Odd 0 just odd Latin music.

Not the most inspiring. Some of these tracks are ok, but I'm not catching the through-line. It appears to mostly be singing with a bit of strumming on the guitar? Another one of those pulled up by context rather than intrinsic quality (for me). Ultimately a 3.

Surprisingly pleasant.

Beautiful instrumental

This was super tight. Outtasite.

Decent for something from 1972, although I was tired of it by the end. 2.8

Real pleasant, well produced. It must be a convergent evolution sort of thing because everything sounds familiar, despite the various brazilian subgenres that come together to make it being literally and very foreign to me.

My album long. My spanish portuguese.

Very good album, this is what I’m here for! 4/5

Bright and sort of novel but it was too long. The tunes were good and the deliver excellent. A definite feel of the time it was recorded. Probably worthy of being in the list for awareness.

Nie všetky albumy si musím vypočuť až do konca. Asi by som ho nahradil niečím iným...

I remember how the first time I listened to this I did not think much of it. It was alright, it was fun, but I felt there was too much happening and that it was too quick at times. There were many ideas and in my opinion not everything worked out well. Returning to it now, my perspective has changed. The strength of this album is that there is so much happening. It keeps the 1 hour+ runtime interesting and shows the diversity of the musicians. A lot of songs are catchy while others are more introspective. Reading up on the context, it is inspiring to read about these musicians making an album about friendship, liberty, and youth in a time of authoritarian ditatorship in Brazil. Great move. Great album.

Coldplay left me well, cold

The occasional drop out of stereo to being hard panned to the right, at least on the Spotify version, was really unpleasant. I'm not gonna dock any points for that because I can entirely believe someone donked up digitising it rather than it being a deliberate choice, but worth mentioning it. This was pretty enjoyable! Dos Cruces fucks hard. I'm glad stuff like this is on the list, a deep pull (as far as an anglo-centric view goes) which I'd never listen to otherwise.

Very lovely music, though I'm kinda curious if my rating would chnage if I actually understood the language.

Perfectly pleasant, but nothing really stood out to me

It's a shame I don't speak Portugese, as I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot that this album has to offer by not being able to understand the lyrics. Even so, this was a delight to listen to. Both Milton and Borges have captivating voices; I feel like I could just sit and listen to them sing over a simple guitar track for hours on end (If only I knew what they were actually saying). As for the music itself, honestly this album is so long and dense with variety that it's hard to really summarize my thoughts with the amount of time I'm willing to spend on these silly little reviews, but to generalize as best I can, the record is packed full of some really beautiful soundscapes that it's easy to find yourself getting lost in, with lots of little flourishes and interesting progressions to keep your attention. It's very impressive to make an album this long that so rarely loses your interest. My only real complaint is that the production and mixing seems a bit off in places. Sometimes the vocals seem a little drowned out by the instruments. I'm not sure what's going on near the end of Cais either when all the sound suddenly cuts out in one ear. I suppose they might not have been working with top of the line production techniques in Brazil in the early 70s, so it's understandable. Favourite tracks: Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser, Um Girassol Da Cor De Seu Cabelo, Os Povos, Trem De Doido

Nice and chill- hard to get into or revisit when it’s all in Portuguese

Well done to Duran Duran on working with Milton Nascimento on their brilliant track Breath After Breath, in the 90s, as it's now allowed me to feel smug that I've heard of him. However *doh* I'd feel even more smug if I'd had the sense to listen to more of his output before. My loss! I thought this was an unusual and beautiful album. Another reviewer put it well: "Every track manages to twist and turn through several variations within 2-3 minutes while maintaining a core sound throughout the LP". I agree with that, and found it oddly timeless. Really interesting and enjoyable.

'# Playlist Track - Um Girassol da Cor do Seu Cabelo # Notes - Far from being a perfect album. The ebb and flow is sometimes interrupted abruptly and tracks like 'Dos Cruces' feel out of place. - Still, the opening is monumental, and moments like the closing of "Um Girassol da Cor do Seu Cabelo" are just wonderful. - Creative, beautifully written and executed. Definitely recommend listening to it at least once in a lifetime.

Good vibe

Cool but not my thing

Soft and beautiful!

You could get lost in this quite easily, it had a lot going for it. I enjoyed it.

Honestly,, I was kind of dreading listening to this, so it was all the more surprising to actually enjoy it. It was really pleasant background music. I wish I understood the lyrics.

Album #1,002 Spanish language lyrics with some interesting sounds and also some boring stuff. It was OK.

6.5/10

A good album, enjoyable mix of high and bobbing songs with just the right amount of low and slow. I really enjoyed it

A lot of this plays only in my right headphone which is kind of strange. Not sure if this was done intentionally or if just a glitch. Overall it's nice and chill listening. Wouldn't listen again.

It's a vibe

Love this album. Sounds so expressive. I'm a big fan of Milton Nascimento.

Deilig

Pretty good, the first half I enjoyed especially but it started to get old towards the end.

This is the kind of thing I like this list for. I would have never heard of this otherwise, but it's a mix I'd never heard before. I can feel some jazz, bossa nova, rock, and romance in there. Lyrically, well, I don't know Portuguese. It was musically interesting, but not enough to overcome the language barrier. At the end of the day, these aren't just compositions or pieces, they're songs, and I know I'm not getting the complete experience.

Sigh. It was fine.

2.5 stars. Smooth, goes down easy. Chill vibes, pretty harmonies. A bit long and the overall feeling isn't something I'm likely to come back to, but it's interesting and I'm glad I've heard it.

Love this

D side is weak considering A/B/C . If it wasnt D side it would have been easily 5. 4.57

Not something I would normally listen to.

A lot better than anticipated, it has a Brazilian flavor but recorded through the lens of folk, baroque pop and even elements of psychedelic music. It’s certainly a vibe and might go down well in the summer evenings but it didn’t grab me enough to want to return to it.

Competentl with a unique Brazilian roots perspective.

Listens: 2 Standout Tracks: Um Girassol Da Cor Do Seu Cabelo Pleasant music. No idea what they are singing about, but flavorful all the same. Not as good as Jorge Ben's Africa Brasil.

Maso

Warm, lightly sun-dazed arrangements built from soft electric pianos, chiming guitars, airy percussion, and mellow horn and string flourishes carry this Música popular brasileira album like a leave falling slowly to the ground in a summer breeze. Interesting to look at for a short Moment in time and intensely boring listening for Long periods of time.

Mid.

A bit like the Brazilian football team, not as exciting as it was back in the seventies!

Really good background music that failed to really grab the attention.

All a bit disappointing really. I was hoping for something a bit lively, there’s been some good Brazilian stuff on the list, however this never really got above tepid. It has a dream like quality even through the subtlety different styles which has a certain appeal, and a couple of brief places it started to get a bit psychy with appropriate guitars attached, but alas, it was not to be in any lasting form.

I get excited when a “world music” album appears on the list. Unfortunately this one, for me is a little mediocre. It’s ok and I liked listening to it but it didn’t excite me and make me want to listen again.

The music of my people. First time hearing this album. It was an easy listen. 3/5

Interesting, soothing a lovely listen. What I like about this project is that it exposes me to music I have never encountered before. So happy this was included...Please NO MORE DYLAN..

Never heard of these fellows. This album cover/decade of release is throwing me. Nascimento is a vaguely hispanic name. Could this be a bossa nova album? MPB. Baroque pop. Jazz pop. I guess I wasn't completely off in my prediction - the ghost of bossa nova haunts this album pretty heavily. This runtime is complete overkill if I've ever seen it. With these kinds of atmospheric albums I want something which is easygoing, soothing and, above all else, CONCISE. It should be illegal for these albums to run for longer than 35 minutes. Anything above that length causes me to shift my gaze, claw at my skin and convulse in pure angst as the songs roll by without me noticin. I had to take a break from this album when I got to side 2 of LP2. I just wasn't following anything being served to me. All that being said, there are some moments of undeniable quality in here - they're just undercut by the sheer volume which is on here. I quite like the dreamier, more cosmic aspects of the songs. The influences and general sound of this album are very specific to the part of the world that they came from, which caused me to look at Latin America through a completely different lens. I imagined myself walking through a seaside village on a cold summer's morning as the dim morning light peeked over the rooftops while I listened to this. "Tudo O Que Você Podia Ser" is pretty good. That acoustic guitar is lively, and the vocals are matched nicely with it. "O trem azul" is another good cut. The spacey atmosphere is pretty fantastic, and not a pivot I was expecting. The warm guitars heavily carry the song, though the harmony between the lead and backing vocals is also very nice. "Club de esquina no.2" has, once again, a very nice acoustic guitar performance. The muted, mellow backing vocals are the strongest aspect of the song, however. Book time. Launched the careers of all involved. Many South American influences. This was an okay listen and I'm favourable to the few world music picks that are on this list, so I guess I don't need much more than that. I cosign this inclusion.

Couldn't relate but sounded pleasant

Really solid and pleasant listen. My attention did start to wane at the halfway point but it came back strong.

Great

Loved the simplicity and beauty of this album. Was a lovely surprise on my commute to work in the dark on a cold winter morning!

I'm sure this is objectively good, it juat really doesn't appeal to me.

Little mid at points but refreshing - Trem De Doido is a banger

Enjoyable, good background music.

Fun background music

This was a juicy little album 🕺

Not for me. Compare vs Santana latinesque genius and it’s weak. Could be background music in the right mood - so 2 not 1.

While my browsing of rateyourmusic.com has made me exceedingly aware of this album, I can still count this as one of too few albums on this list I know too little about.

This album is not in a genre I’m at all familiar with, but I’m so glad I got to hear it. In fact, it’s not really one genre at all, there’s a lot off variety in the songs, both musically and emotionally. The sound is often intensely atmospheric and the musicianship is exceptional. The other thing I love is the variety in the arrangements and the structure of the songs. The songs often take unexpected harmonic and rhythmic directions. All in all a real gem.

I really enjoyed this, partly due to the language difference, and having a little Spanish but no Portuguese. I listened ‘blind’, without any research but I did know it was Brazilian and from 1972. Artists that came to mind as I listened were Roddy Frame and Paul Simon. I found myself hoping that these lyrics would be as considered and witty as those two always produce. Given the subtleties of the sounds, my guess is they probably are. For example the song Dos Cruces looks (from its Portuguese lyrics) and sounds like a murder ballad! Or at least a very dark lament. Musically - production-wise - it’s really interesting and beautifully done. Much more than just ballads over strummed guitar, which is what I initially guessed we’d be in for. It’s a hotchpotch of genres. Some is folky, but other bits are Beach Boys or Beatles-ish for example. One of them (Nada Sera Como Antes) is basically a Gilbert O’Sullivan song! I’m going to guess GOS borrowed from here rather than the other way round. “If you know you know” probably applied in the early 1970s like it still does. But who knows? There seem to be two voices/artists. Who is Lo Borges?! In the end, I totally bought the idea of this being a loved/revered album. I downloaded it and I will be listening again.

This is said to be influential to Brazilian music. If so then I guess I won't like Brazilian music.

I was surprised with how much I liked this, and definitely feel like I'll revisit in the future. An expansive range of sounds and styles, while kind of long it overflows with interesting sounds and shifts.

Some of the weirdest Brazilian music I've heard, mostly because it doesn't sound like what I expect from Brazilian music. The album runs a bit long but it's beautiful and surprising.

En portugues molt be, so diferent.

Pretty good

This was good. I started out thinking it was kind of middling, but then I realized that I was kinda picking up what it was putting down. I'll admit my Portuguese, never very good in the first place, does not translate SUPER well to Brazilian so it was kind of an in-and-out listening experience, but really this one is solid. Nothing groundbreaking, especially in 2025, but solid. I'll also admit that I found the tracks Spotify credited to Lo Borges a good deal more accessible, which means I should probably revisit. Anyway, a discovery to return to here.

Brazilian music isn’t only bossa nova, who would’ve thought? This was interesting, instead of visualising beaches and sunshine, I ended up I ended up visualising a mid century modern mansion, sitting on a leather armchair wearing a turtleneck and sipping caipirinha. Sophistication.

Never really listened to him before. Some beautiful things on here.

Meh. This didn’t feel like an essential album to me. Nice enough. 3 stars.

Meh. 3 *

Good vocals and overall sound, but not my favorite

I had never heard this but loved it!

This is exactly why I wanted to do this. Never, ever heard of this group before and I felt myself looking forward to the next song. Retro but also modern? I kept hearing other bands that came way after this in each song. 5/5

Loved this. Like the Brazilian Beatles, some great short and sharp, ambient and pretty songwriting. Production was cool and the whole thing had a great vibe. Will come back again

I’m not really a bossanova person, it’s not bad it just doesn’t really do anything for me

That's new to me and pretty wonderful.

idk man

I don't know what they were singing about lol, but I loved all the arrangements/the musical compositions themselves. Interesting choices with the chord progressions and beautiful acoustic guitars, piano, and strings. The range of both voices was also impressive.

It was OK, albeit a bit repetitive. I suppose it doesn't help that I don't speak Portuguese (though there was one Spanish song in there, too).

Cool 😎

The perfect album for when you bring a girl over to your house for the first time to cook for her.

This is what I enjoy about this project. I don’t speak Portuguese and probably would have never discovered this album on my own. I really enjoyed it.

Not my sort of thing

peak. um dos melhores albuns do brasil. tem gosto de infancia.

1001 Albums Vol. 0008: Clube Da Esquina ============================================================ Introduction: This is an album that I've literally never heard of before. I've not seen anyone talk about it online, no critical reviews of it, and so on up until this moment. Hell, I still don't even know that much about it. I get most of my information from the small Wikipedia snippet that the website decides to take, yet that doesn't even tell me all that much besides the story of the cover. I generally don't like to look all that deep into albums before I listen to them as I want to go in forming my own opinion and being genuinely surprised by what I hear, and I'm going to stick to that this time. I would absolutely never check a critical review or critic website pertaining to the album I'm supposed to be listening to. If I've heard a review in the past, however, then I obviously can't do anything about that. I do still like to have some context going into an album, yet I like that context to be vague and preferably only include details as to why the album was made and what events lead up to its creation. Anyway, with that said, this is actually my first album which is not going to be in English. I use Spotify, so I'll be able to translate the lyrics on the fly, however. This album was released way back in 1972. It was actually a collaborative effort between two Brazilian artists. Now, Spotify does credit some songs to one specific artist at times, so I'm not entirely sure if each song was collaboratively written or if these two artists wrote songs solo. I don't know. Either way, I have heard that this album was extremely influential for Brazilian music at the time of its release and even now. Now, apparently the genre it helped push forward in known as MPB. I have literally never heard of this genre of music before, so I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I think that should just sum up my feelings about this album perfectly. I just have no idea what I'm getting into. This album was apparently influential, and I tend to automatically associate influential albums with being so unbelievably good, yet there are plenty of artists that have had influential releases which absolutely sucked. Nevertheless, I can do nothing but get into this album. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Track 1: Tudo O Você Podia Ser Score: 11/10 Track 2: Cais Score: 9/10 Track 3: O Trem Azul Score: 10/10 Track 4: Saídas E Bandeiras Nº 1 Score: 8/10 Track 5: Nuvem Cigana Score: 9/10 Track 6: Cravo E Canela Score: 9/10 Track 7: Dos Cruces Score: 9/10 Track 8: Um Girassol Da Cor Do Seu Cabelo Score: 11/10 Track 9: San Vicente Score: 9/10 Track 10: Estrelas Score: 8/10 Track 11: Clube Da Esquina Nº 2 Score: 10/10 Track 12: Paisagem Da Janela Score: 10/10 Track 13: Me Deixa Em Paz Score: 9/10 Track 14: Os Povos Score: 9/10 Track 15: Saídas E Bandeiras Nº 2 Score: 8/10 Track 16: Um Gosto De Sol Score: 9/10 Track 17: Pelo Amor De Dues Score: 8/10 Track 18: Lilla Score: 9/10 Track 19: Trem De Doido Score: 10/10 Track 20: Nada Será Como Antes Score: 9/10 Track 21: Ao Que Vai Nascer Score: 8/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Conclusion: I came in having absolutely no idea what to expect, and I came out feeling absolutely moved, surprised, and shocked at what I had just heard. This album is a gem. It's a masterpiece. It's honestly a shame that this album is so vaguely know about nowadays. I did some additional research after listening to the album, and I discovered that it apparently sold pretty well back in the day. Hell, it even made its way all the way to U.S. record stores. That should honestly say something. I don't even know where to begin with this album. I mean, I guess I'll start by talking about just how varied every single track off this album is. There is so, so, so much genre-blending across this album that I honestly couldn't even name every genre I heard during my listen. Most of the time, this much variety would be a bad thing as it would make the album feel a bit disorganized, yet it honestly couldn't be a better thing here. It's a bit weird to describe, yet every song off this album, despite having different genres, all feel as they belong in the same album. This may be due to the fact that most songs use similar core instrumentation, it may be because of the amazing vocals, or it may be because of something that I don't even really notice. I don't know. Now, like I just said, this album has a crap-ton of variety spread throughout it. You may be listening to a traditional folk song one minute and then be thrown into a psychedelic rock song the next with a kick-as guitar. Point is, this album is very musically varied. I would honestly have to do a track-by-track analysis of every song to describe fully the musical tone of this album. I've done that a few times in the past and really don't feel like doing it anymore, so I'm not. Now, I will say, all of these tracks do feel musically united by a weird tropical sense spread throughout most songs. It's really not all that tropical, yet it's the best way I can describe it. I'm sure someone more familiar with MPB could do a better job at describing what I'm trying to. Nevertheless, this album's music is masterfully written. The arrangements are perfect for each song, the amount of uniqueness never leaves me bored, the instrumentation for each genre fits perfectly, the production of the instrumentation is wonderful, and many more things that I just can't say because of how long it would take. Like I just mentioned, the production off of this album is absolutely amazing as well, especially for the early 70's. I mean, this is the same year Ziggy Stardust released and this album sounds miles better than it production wise. I mean, the amount of variety here lets you have practically every great aspect of production you can think of. Subdued and heavy guitars in a psychedelic rock track, an echoing voice in a plain psychedelic track, vibrant sounds in a sunshine pop track, and so on. There was so much that went into producing every track, and the same tricks for a singular track couldn't be applied to the next because of how different every song is. Again, this album is freaking amazing. Now, the vocals are simply sublime. Despite what I said in the intro, people who add the lyrics to Spotify have to manually edit the translations in, so I actually had no idea what the singer was saying most of the album; however, that honestly didn't matter in a way. I mean, his voice is so freaking good that it alone manages to carry an emotional weight with it just by sound alone. The best way I can describe his voice is almost like something you would hear out of a church or from certain tribes. Of course, the variety of genres on here forces the singer to mildly adapt his voice for certain situations as well, yet they sound flawless in every one. Like I said, I am barely able to understand anything off of this album, yet I was able to translate some songs. I did look up some translations of songs as well, and I can say that this album has some lyrical genius in it as well. While the lyrics definitely sound better in the language they were intended to be heard in, they're still very poetic and artistic even in a different language. That's all I'm really going to touch on with the album's lyrics since I feel as if I can't truly grasp the nature of them. I can still say they're great nonetheless. In fact, I can say that about this album as a whole. It's perfect and so, so beyond its time. I mean, there were points where I felt I was genuinely listening to something from another world. There were moments where I forgot I was listening to an album made in the 70's as well. Honestly, one of the main reasons I even started this extremely lengthy challenge was to find an album exactly like this. I wanted to find a truly hidden masterpiece which many had not heard before. I think I've found exactly that. It's albums like this that motivate me to continue through this journey. It's perfect. There are no better words to describe this album other than that. I will definitely be re-listening to many songs off of this album. ============================================================ Clube Da Esquina Score: 10/10 Song Average: 9.1/10

#772. Fun enough, east to listen to poppy kind of music. 3/5: not bad

Excellent vibes, some cool Latin parts, jazzy bits, and love the fuzz guitar on Trem De Doido.

Was ok, but not something I would listen to now

Well, that wasn't enjoyable for me. I found it incredibly irritating and a bit all over the place. I do appreciate that it's been composed and performed by very competent musicians, but I just didn't like it.

This album is bursting with musical ideas and it’s interesting to read about the making of it, with a unique collaborative structure. I wish I knew Portuguese, as the vocals are so forward in some tracks that it feels like I’m listening to a story but I have to rely on the instruments to carry the narrative. But I can still appreciate how this album weaves together so many contemporary genres in a way that doesn’t sound forced or erratic, it just melds together into their own compelling sound.

This was a difficult rate for me. It was quite a long album and I don’t understand the language. Sometimes the message of a double LP can be lost on this listener if he isn’t familiar with what is being sung… However the musicianship broke the language barrier. Music, the universal language understood by all, allowed me to feel and understand a bit of what these two artists were trying to convey. I think their musical style was varied and mixed quite well. Between spanish ballads, poppy songs to clap along with and songs filled with deep bass and heavy guitar, this album has something for just about everyone with an open ear. I look forward to one day adding this album to my collection.

No idea what the words are but this is pretty cool. This is what I am looking for doing this, something I never would have listened to in my day to day.

This is definitely out of my wheelhouse, but I really dug it.

Not for me

What’s not to like? Fun grooves, interesting harmonies and chord choices, well recorded. Lots of unique and cool instrumentation. I don’t know much about this genre but this seems like a good representation of it.

Yeah, this is pretty good. I hope they aren't singing about naughty things...

pretty interesting throughout

Bah

Ab heute nur noch Portugiesisch zum Frühstück :)

Technisch richtig stark, sehr angenehmes Flair und echt schöner Stilmix. Geht gekonnt den schmalen Grad, dass es im Hintergrund laufen kann und es eine Unmenge an Details preis gibt, wenn man ganz genau hinhört. Wie zu vieles hier für mich aber: zu lang. Sogar viel zu lang.

Good

not for meee

Ein Werk brasilianischer Musik, das mit seiner Mischung aus psychedelischem Folk, Barock-Pop und MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) viele musikalische Ideen vereint. Die Produktion ist dicht und komplex, oft überladen, was den Zugang erschwert. Einzelne Stücke wie „Cais“ oder „O Trem Azul“ stechen hervor, doch insgesamt fehlt es dem Album aus dieser Perspektive an emotionaler Klarheit und struktureller Kohärenz.

I enjoyed how different this was from other albums but not really by cup of tea. The last song was my favorite-um Gosto de SOL.

Soft Tejano ish music

Smooth latin jazz

A really interesting and varied listen, folk/blues/prog/psychedelia and the occasional tough groove. A lot of the string arrangements sound like Sgt Pepper. Don’t feel a great urge to come back to it but an enjoyable ride all the same.

im sure this is great. too bad I can't appreciate it to its true worth

Atmospheric, good for the background kinda music

Strong 4,5

Great listen!

As expected, a Brazilian album is full of beguiling rhythms and the irresistible sound of Portuguese. Try as I might, it kept fading into the background for me though. It’s great for swingy background music.

*I never would have listened to this if I wasn't doing this project *It was cool to hear Brazilian music, but nothing blew me away....solid musicianship though

———————————— My non-musician scoring system. I’m gonna give it a 3 because I don’t think 2 is fair, but I didn’t listen to most of it. Maybe on vacation in Brazil in the 70s I could. ———————- 5 - Love it. Would play anytime, buy, see live… 4 - Good music. 3 - Average playlist. Depends on time and setting. 2 - I can’t listen to entire songs…skipped ahead on all of them 1 - No.

- Niet kunnen afluisteren - 0 nummers toegevoegd aan MMMM - 0 nummer al toegevoegd aan MMMM

Slightly long but overall good.

Tudo o Que Voĉe Podia Ser Cravo e Canela

Fun and chill, once more in a language I don’t speak but the vibes were there and varied enough that the entire hour of this album didn’t melt together in some sort of amorphous blob. So there’s that ! :)

These two were absolutely cooking with this album; it feels so nostalgic even though I've never been to Brazil. Favourite Songs: Tudo Que Você Podia Ser, O Trem Azul, Um Girassol da Cor do Seu Cabelo, Trem de Doido, Nada Será Como Antes. Least Favourite Songs: Cais.

It's okay.

Great, expansive yet meandering music from Clube da Esquina / Milton Nascimento / Lô Borges that runs a bit long these days. Maybe it works better as background music, an atmosphere to sink into, when I'm focused elsewhere...it's filled with charms even if the Portuguese lyrics are a barrier to understanding for me.

Wow! Just wow! What a truly cool album! I had never even heard of this guy. I know I've complained about some albums not belonging on this list, but I wouldn't have even known about this one without it. It has the melancholy of modern alt rock with the melodiousness of The Beatles...all with a Brazilian twist. A truly beautiful album.

Maybe it's a grower, but I didn't enjoy myself :(