Brazilian Garage Rock and More from DJ Neville Chamberlain

Steve Kiviat — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:59:12 +0000

Sao Paolo, Brazil garage rockers Garotas Suecas weren’t bad Saturday night at Comet Ping Pong—I liked their organ-enhanced covers of “Respect,” Os Mutantes “A Minha Menina” (the one in the McDonald’s commercial) and Sly Stone “I Want to Take You Higher”—but the best music of the night came from the turntables of dj Neville Chamberlain (aka Neal Becton). Who knew Brazil had so much great psychedelia? Plus Chamberlain also played nice samba and tropicalia. Chamberlain, who’s also the proprietor of SOM Records, filled me in by e-mail on some of the music he was playing:

Novos Baianos – "Samba da Minha Terra" ; Os Increveis – "Vendedor de Bananas" ; Roberto Carlos – "É Proibido Fumar" ; Wilson das Neves – "Cloud Nine" ; Bebeto – "Princesa Negra De Angola"; Rita Lee- "Agora e Moda" ; and Wanderlea – "Kriola.

While Chamberlain won’t be doing his usual third Thursday of the month “Brazilian Rhythms” party at St. Ex in April (Sean Marquand from "Brazilian Beats Brooklyn” will be filling in), or his usual last Friday of the month gig at the Science Club, he will be dj’ing in April at the following events:

Wed. 4/1 – "Fuzz" at Saint-Ex with DJ Provoke and special guest Geologist (Animal Collective) – garage, psych, krautrock, tropicalia and more.

Thurs. 4/2 -Civilian Arts Project benefit at Local 16 with five or six other DJ's. My set will be from 7-8PM.

Tues. 4/7 – "Sonora" at Saint-Ex with Rattan DJ (Bio Ritmo) a night of old-school Latin jams

Sat. 4/11 – <10PM-Close. Soul, jazz, funk, disco, Brazilian, Latin, reggae and afrobeat.

Sun, 4/12 – Marvin time tba "Motown versus" with DJ Provoke. Soul and more.

Thursday’s Brazil Night in DC

Steve Kiviat — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:47:59 +0000

This town usually only gets a handful of Brazilian acts per year, but Thursday night is a doubleheader. Rio's Marcio Local will be doing a dinnertime gig at the Kennedy Center while Sao Paolo's Garotas Suecas will be appearing later, along with local DJ Neville Chamberlain, at Comet Ping Pong.

Local's new “Marcio Local says, “Don Dree Don Day Don don”: Adventures in Samba Soul” on Luaka Bop won't be officially released until May 12th, but this 32 year-old's offerings with his band on myspace sound promising. Local says he's trying to deliver a 2009-style combination of Jorge Ben and Banda Black Rio. That means vibrant, sunny Portuguese melodies over funky keys, bass, and percussion grooves with horns booming in and out.

Garotas Suecas' version of samba is filtered through the Brazilian tropicalia movement and garage rock. Suecas feature shouted vocals with a touch of classic Brazilian lilt along with mid-sixties guitar, organ, and harmonica sounds inspired by both UK and American acts. Expect Chamberlain's pre- and post-band spinning to tie together multiple Brazilian genres both old and new.

Marcio Local performs from 6 to 7 at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, 2700 F. St. NW. Free.

Garotas Suecas and DJ Neville Chamberlain will be at Comet Ping Pong beginning at 9 p.m. at 5037 Connecticut Ave. NW, Tickets: $10. Doors: 9pm.

Arts Desk » garotas suecas

Brazilian Garage Rock and More from DJ Neville Chamberlain

Thursday’s Brazil Night in DC