After listening in early June to the “From Brazil with Love” episode of the excellent new NPR show Alt.Latino, I became hooked on the album Red Hot + Rio 2.
The three weeks’ wait for its June 28 release was well worth it. Now with thirty-three Tropicália-inspired songs loaded onto my MP3 player, I have a lot of music to enjoy and reflect upon during my daily train ride.
Red Hot + Rio 2 is the most recent compilation produced by the New York City-based nonprofit HIV/AIDS awareness and relief organization Red Hot. Here are two tracks that give just a small taste of the breadth of styles and artists on this expansive compilation.
“Um Girassol da Cor do Seu Cabelo” (“A Sunflower the Color of Your Hair”)
Inventive singer-songwriter Mia Doi Todd of Los Angeles and José González, an Argentine-Swedish folk musician, give new voice to this song by Lô Borges, a founder of the influential Clube da Esquina music collective.
“O Leãozinho” (“Little Lion”)
American indie-folk band Beirut produced this march-like rendition of a song originally by Brazilian artist Caetano Veloso, a noted Tropicálista. (This track is currently available for free download on the Red Hot website.)