Fernando Falcão - Barracas Barrocas (2019/1987)

Selva Discos return with a reissue of this rare 2nd LP by “water maestro” Fernando Falçao following acclaimed salvages of music by Maria Stumpf and Barbatuques, and a reshuffle at label HQ.

‘Barracas Barrocas’ sees Falçao in pursuit of natural and supernatural Brazilian jazz spirits into experimental ambient interzones, using judiciously applied FX and layered synths to eke out lush, heady space between the acoustic and synthetic realms that sounds like an echo Tribo Massahi filtered thru Alice Coltrane, or at times, a precursor to the electronic 4th world fusions coined by Mitar Subotić aka Rex Ilusivii. Original 1987 vinyl copies now trade for nearly £300 on the 2nd hand market.

The “water maestro” moniker clearly comes into play on the intro to album opener ‘As 7 Filhas da Rainha Sumaia’, which soon enough blossoms into a strange, playful piece of spaced out Brazilian jazz peppered with naif choral parts that beautifully crop up throughout the album, electronically manipulated on the haunting but sweet ‘Disse Álguem’ alongside the brooding electronics and astral jazz of ‘Cançao Do Exilo’ starring a mix of plush and primitive vocal styles by Alceu Valença, and the stark transition from flighty solo keys and operatic vocals to avant-garde strings and a fluid rush of rhythm and flutes in the remarkable 6 minutes of ‘Elas (À Girges Ristum)’.

A real strange beauty of an album, this.