Product ReviewsZiriguiboom: The Now Sound of Brazil, Vol. 2 by Various Artists (CD, Dec-2006, Six Degrees)

kind of a half-indie half-"professionally produced" CD

Actually I decided to buy it because I was watching world cup soccer with the Brazilian team, and I watched a feature about Ronaldinho with an interview with him, and I thought, "the Brazilian way of life must be pretty cool". So I wanted to get just some cool Brazilian type music to check it out. The title sounded cool and plus it didn't cost an arm and a leg.

What I got was something that sounds quite a bit different than music a person gets here. There is quite a bit of "Brazilian feeling" on some of the tracks. Probably the people who chose the songs (it's various songs from various artists) chose them with a bit of an eye towards their idea of what foreigners would like to hear in the music of these Brazilian artists.

What's different about it - "different" meaning "good" to some ears, "not so good" to others - is that some of the tracks sound like they are really indie and kind of low-budget produced. Others sound extremely professionally produced and mixed - I mean that in a good way rather than bad. There is also quite a bit of difference - again just in my opinion - between the talent level of the artists on the CD. To make a soccer analogy, some sound like they could play for the Selecao, others sound like they're in the 3rd division trying to get into the 2nd.

So it's really kind of a mixed bag. But maybe, if you're somebody who just wants to get an introductory CD that like gives you something of the Brazilian feeling, the mixed bag might be exactly what you're looking for.Read full review...