I've been lucky enough to get a steady stream of new Brazilian music over the past few months. Without a doubt, this one is my favorite so far. Arthur de Faria has been making music for the past three decades, scoring film and TV projects and recording with bands as well. This is the second Orkestra do Kaos album--I think. I'm getting most of my information from the Portugeuse Wikipedia site. My Portuguese is not quite as good as my Spanish (which isn't much). And the online translation is not quite as good as my own.

Arthur de Faria & Orkestra do Kaos A Vida Agitaga da Superficie (YB)

Doesn't matter. The music needs no translation. De Faria blends Brazilian and rock sounds into a mesmerizing swirl. He likes to get psychedelic, but his version often comes with a samba lilt. There are excursions into punk deconstruction, folk and more. Imagine Firewater playing Mekons songs. And that only explains half of what's here.

There are no apologies for the adventurousness of the music, and there should be none. A previous de Faria effort was a band that had the phrase "Impossible Orchestra" (in Portuguese, of course) in it. This is simply the Orchestra of Chaos. I think he's quite apt in his naming conventions.

Each succeeding song shatters the expectations that preceded it. The sounds are lovely, and the music is densely challenging. One could easily simply enjoy this album for its surface pleasures. A deep dive is almost incomprehensively rewarding. Breathtaking.

Jon Worley