Brazzaville

BUST MAGAZINE

Just who the hell are Brazzaville? More importantly, how can this
awesome record contain the best of the past seven years of a band nobody
I know has ever heard of? It turns out they're a Barcelona-based group
with international appeal led by L.A. native David Brown. While critics
have compared them to Tom Waits and Morphine, to me they are most
reminiscent of the "Golden Brown"-era Stranglers. Deliciously melodic
and lushly produced, it's somehow both sad and sexy, and sounds like the
way getting drunk on wine feels. In fact, drugs and alcohol show up in
the lyrics of just about every one of these velvety tunes that are a
little bit bossa nova, a little bit rock 'n' roll. Despite that,
everyone who hears the record--from Bust's tattooed interns to my
mother--asks who it is. Perhaps the best thing about Welcome to
Brazzaville--besides the pleasure of playing it repeatedly--is knowing
that the band has four other albums out there, just waiting to be
snatched up.

-debbie stoller
- Bust Magazine

Decoy Magazine

Rating: 4.5

REVIEW:

As one of the latest additions to the Web of Mimicry family, it seems
almost intuitive to expect Brazzaville to be a clusterfuck of genres
smashed together to create one wild ride. After all, that’s what Mimicry
bands do.

But it seems that, in their effort to be an actual label, Mimicry has
reached out to bands that are just plain talented, instead of crazy and
talented. Although, who knows, the men of Brazzaville might also be
unstable.

In stark contrast to the rest of the family, Brazzaville is surprisingly
minimal. Sounding more akin to dreamy 60s rock and pop than to anything
that’s been made in the last twenty years, the band somehow remains
shockingly relevant and new-sounding. Vocalist and mastermind David
Brown’s dreamy, wistful voice soaks through your soul like few can. It’s
so soft and seemingly unincredible. But mix it with the music that he
writes and it just fits.

Surf-rock guitars, acoustic janglings, pained piano tinkling, accordion,
keys, brass, touches of world music, and upright bass all make prevalent
appearances throughout the album, but don’t necessarily infuse
themselves within every track. For such a simple-sounding record, there
sure is a lot going on. It’s a beautiful piece of work. This fact is all
the more shocking, because it’s basically a collection of works from
Brazzaville’s previous albums, yet it somehow is a perfectly coherent
album, flowing from one track to the next with ease. Nothing seems out
of place. It seems perfectly natural at all times, as if this were the
way the album had been planned and recorded in the first place.

Enter Brazzaville, my friends. It truly is a wonderous place and you may
never want to leave.

RIYL: Elysian Fields, The Beach Boys, Tom Waits, Morphine, Los Hermanos,
Santana

-- Ben Rice
- Decoy Magazine

SF WEEKLY by Silke Tudor


Brazzaville, the river-port capital of the Republic of the Congo, was
founded in 1883 by Pierre Paul François Savorgnan de Brazza, a
Brazilian-born adventurer of Italian nobility who became a French
citizen so that he could explore and colonize Africa. The result of a
similarly Byzantine array of influences, Brazzaville, the Los
Angeles-based nightclub septet, was founded in 1998 by David Brown, a one-time runaway from L.A.'s Koreatown who tramped through India, Brazil, Venezuela, Spain, Japan, Nepal, and Thailand before becoming Beck Hansen's saxophone player. With bossa nova rhythms lapping softly against a fading accordion, a delicate piano melody wafting through a golden haze of saxophone, and Brown's smooth, unhurried tenor supplying an offhand sort of Parisian cool, Brazzaville is the band you might expect to find at the end of the line in The Night of the Iguana. While the group's peculiar amalgamation of wandering souls -- among them, a Miami-born guitar player raised in Zaire, a Californian sax playercurrently leading a Cambodian pop band, and a Caribbean-born percussionplayer raised in Paris -- can cite working relationships with NinaHagen, Lisa Marie Presley, the Lemonheads, Tom Waits, Ozomatli, LosSuper Elegantes, Natalie Merchant, Joan Baez, and Sandra Bernhard, one gets the feeling the band would feel just as comfortable smoldering in dark bar where ruined women and remorseful felons shed their names and soak their memories in grain alcohol and tropical rain.

The 11 songs found on last year's Rouge on Pockmarked Cheeks are, like the album's title, soft and sad, and tinged with a weary sort of sex appeal. As on Brazzaville's previous two discs, Brown explores the worlds of dereliction and exile -- war zones, ghettos, welfare hotels, shooting galleries, train cars, the World Wide Web, and his old neighborhood --
in a poetic shorthand that is bandied, buoyed, and embellished by the
band's elegant musicianship. The combination, reminiscent of late-'60s Tropicalia, is at once trendy and touching, but unlike some of the great artists of Brazil's movement, Brown does not stop at the threshold of introspection: On songs like the dusky "Motel Room," in which he sings, "Night is here in my veins/ I'm losing again/ And not much remains/ Come/ Lay down next to me/ And I'll tell you a bit/ Of who I used to be," his languid sympathy takes on the guise of memory. Throughout the album, he imbues loneliness with more shadow-weight than gunships and class riots combined.

- SF WEEKLY

Othermusic

This is Brazzaville's second record, and while they've made a dent
in L.A., no one even knows they exist around here. Brazzaville are
the smoke rising from Tropicalia's blaze, they curl their music
around tropical and Latin rhythms (Cuban, samba, and dub in
particular), while gulping in sultry air like a cloudy Young
Marble Giants or an equatorial Prefab Sprout. Imagine if the
Aluminum Group had to flee the country, growing beards to hide
their identity -- they'd sound like this. Brazzaville are 5
musicians with ridiculous pedigrees (bands played with? far too
many to mention but five of them are in Beck's backing band,
including ex-Blaster Smokey Hormel), anchored by musician and
songwriter David Brown. Brown sings in Portuguese and English,
setting up with hand percussion, a bit of soaring backup vox,
old organs and record crackles, palm bar piano, even a little
turntable scratch. Their music, for me, evokes grit, fluorescent
lights, and linoleum floors of food stands and back rooms around
the world in the middle of the night (and I keep thinking of Wong
Kar Wai movies). It's weird, I listened to this CD once and
dismissed it, then realized one song had wormed its way into my
head and stayed there for two weeks straight. It grows like kudzu
and bamboo all at once and now I love the whole damn thing. [RE]
- Othermusic

Un tesoro oculto

RAMON SÚRIO - 19/03/2005


Tras Brazzaville se esconde David Brown, un sensible, concienciado y viajero músico estadounidense que lleva más de un año afincado en Barcelona. Su grupo se acaba de estrenar en nuestro mercado con Welcome to... Brazzaville (Discmedi), un compendio de sus tres primeros discos. Brown empezó a destacar como saxofonista de la banda de Beck antes de debutar con 2002 (1998).

La actual versión de Brazzaville incluye a cuatro músicos locales, entre los que destacan dos miembros de Holland Park a la guitarra y los teclados, esforzándose en reproducir unas primorosas canciones pop llenas de sutiles arreglos. Un tesoro oculto con joyas de orfebrería melódica del calibre de Queenie,en una onda que recuerda a los mejores Prefab Sprout, Genoa y Motel room,cuya gran carga emocional parece beber en la fuente de Edwyn Collins. También hay ligeras pinceladas étnicas, aunque siempre supeditadas a la mecánica pop de los temas, como ese Voce perfumado de bossa o esa maravilla con leve tumbao que responde por Casa Batlló.Gaudí es un buen referente para hablar de la detallada arquitectura de los arreglos de la espléndida Foreing disaster days.que retrotrae a los jubilosos The Monochrome Set.

Cierto que el repertorio también incluye alguna airada salida de tono en forma de rock, caso de Sewers of Bangkok,pero esos pequeños excesos quedaron difuminados ante un todo sólido que les hace merecedores de una mayor atención.
- Ramon Surio

Télérama n° 2878

Disques*Rock/ Critique

Brazzaville Welcome to Brazzaville
Pas trop vite le matin, doucement l'après-midi. Partisans du rythme bossa et du chant à mi-voix, Brazzaville égrène une pop aux saveurs exotiques, compagne idéale des après-midi de flemme. On pense aux albums solo de Marc Ribot et plus encore aux premiers opus de Cake. Même accent californien, nasal et traînant, même goût pour les cuivres rétro, les cordes en nylon et les ambiances un brin déglinguées. Même mal de vivre nonchalant aussi, avec une différence cependant : une irrésistible bougeotte. Emmené et porté à bouts de bras par son leader, chanteur, auteur, compositeur et multi-instrumentiste, David Brown, Brazzaville mène une existence errante autour de la planète. D'Osaka à Barcelone, de Bangkok à Paris, cet Américain écrit sur la route et perpétue ainsi l'héritage de Kerouac et de la Beat generation. Amours malheureuses, bouts de journal de bord, alcool et pilules diverses, instantanés glanés sur fond d'orage tropical ou dans un motel de troisième catégorie : les chansons réunies sur cette compilation sont autant d'invitations au voyage. Ou plutôt à la fuite sous les tropiques, « là où la misère serait moins pénible au soleil »... Etonnant d'ailleurs comme à trente-cinq ans d'intervalle un titre comme Boeing fait parfaitement écho au célébrissime Emmenez-moi, de Charles Aznavour.

Stéphane Jarno
- Télérama n° 2878

Narco-Pop aus Los Angeles
Coole und dezente Sounds von Brazzaville

Brazzaville ist für einmal nicht Kongo, sondern ein Septett aus Los Angeles, auf dessen narkotisierende Lounge-Pop-Mixtur wir hier gerne hinweisen. Die «New York Times» hat ihre Musik mit Morphine, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen und Tindersticks verglichen. Anders gesagt: Das Eigenwillige schliesst das Eingängige nicht aus, das Handfeste nicht das Träumerische - und so wirkt die Musik von Brazzaville. Sie schleicht sich in höchster Entspanntheit in deinen Wachzustand, verzaubert durch ein sanftes Bossa-Nova-Feeling und einigen atmosphärisch vibrierenden Gitarrenlicks. Dazu gesellt sich eine Pop-Sensibilität, die einem nicht gleich mit euphorischen Refrains erschlägt, sondern cool und dezent im Hintergrund schlummert. Das aktuelle Album ist eine Zusammenstellung ihrer ersten drei CDs. Produziert haben Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck, Travis) und Tony Hoffer (Air, Supergrass).

Brazzaville: Welcome to Brazzaville (Mimicry/Karbon Distribution)
- Narco-Pop

MUSIQUES


Tirant son nom d'une capitale africaine, Brazzaville est un groupe pop aux accents brésiliens et parfois asiatiques. On pourrait au premier abord se dire qu'on a affaire à un clone de Calexico : on retrouve en effet un sens ce la pop, une mélancolie, et un mal-être qui sont la marque de fabrique du groupe de l'Arizona. Impossible de les confondre néanmoins, car Brazzaville développe un style propre, entre pop, bossa nova, et ballade mélancolique qui se démarque bien de ce qui se fait par ailleurs.

Les morceaux choisis dans cette compilation permettent de faire le tour de la carrière du groupe (déjà trois albums) et de se faire une idée de la cohérence de l'ensemble. Le résultat ne fait pas trop "bric à brac" comme on pourrait le craindre, et jamais un morceau ne vient rompre le charme tissé par les précédents. L'ensemble est d'excellente facture, entre musique d'ambiance et pop endiablée : le son d'une guitare saturée vient parfois souligner une mélodie légère, et le morceau d'ambiance au style presque "bossa" prend alors des allures de rock alternatif. Welcome to Brazzaville est une excellente manière de découvrir ce très bon groupe de pop.
- MUSIQUES

Indiepop.it

Ci sono dischi che insegui come il volo di una farfalla, ti aggrappi a ogni indizio per recuperare il tempo perduto senza averli esplorati e conosciuti. Ci sono dischi di cui senti parlare e che snobbi, tuo malgrado, fino a che la segnalazione di un lucido sodale -grazie Nicola- te li riporta in quota, maledicendo te stesso e rimettendoti sulle piste a mo' dei cani da ferma.
Benvenuti nel mondo Brazzaville, dove il cosmopolitismo è più che uno stile: il moniker è la capitale del Congo, ma oggi le capitali non le domandano più neanche alle elementari, forse a trivial pursuit; incidono per l'etichetta russa Soyuz, nutrono forte considerazione per la Cina, buona parte del gruppo ha importanti esperienze a Barcelona, il tour si fa in nave, e passioni e valori finiscono in un manifesto.
Una Weltanschauung, praticamente.
Unendo i puntini dei likes and dislikes (fra i primi, 'le persone anziane, le prime ore del mattino, i compagni di lavanderia'; fra i secondi, Mtv, il liberismo, il culto della 'non morte'… le cose che piacciono sono il doppio di quelle che dispiacciono, e questo è un segno) si arriva al risultato di un progetto che sotto la pulita scorza pop rivela intenti sociali che nell'Italia che abbiamo alle spalle sarebbero stati monopolio dei cantautori: proprio nel recente 'Hastings Streets' (primo lavoro dopo il greatest hits pubblicato sempre quest'anno), intitolato alla strada più malfamata di Vancouver, i protagonisti sono i personaggi di De André, la donna di strada come l'ubriacone, la fan del britpop di famiglia povera che sogna la fuga nei luoghi del suo mito ("Londres") e la globalizzazione vista con gli occhi di un immigrato africano ("Lagos slums"). Canzoni d'amore per questa umanità, di redenzione e testimonianza, come solo il pop più cristallino e meno forzato può sciorinare.
Se la voce di David Brown -passato da homeless- ricorda le sfumature delicate di Mantler e l'incanto sofisticato di David Kitt, il paesaggio oscilla tra i Divine Comedy meno sfavillanti, una sorta di Cousteau in minore e quel mood dimesso del riflusso che anche noi abbiamo conosciuto sul finire dei Settanta. Pomeriggi con l'autoreverse, che non finiscono mai, soffici intermezzi di penombra nella quale riverire anche l'unico raggio che affiora.
Ad Hastings Streets, una tromba sommessa può dare la scossa, e la batteria spazzolata suonare più forte dei tamburi del ghetto. E arriva, a chi deve arrivare. Chi l'ha detto che bisogna inevitabilmente urlare il disappunto, per farsi sentire?

Enrico Veronese
- Indiepop.it

"The disc is an absolute delight. Imagine a grainy, low thrum somewhere between the late Morphine and post-Asylum Tom Waits, with an aggressively po-mo dispassion for tossing in various world musics: a little samba here, some Far East exotica, a fado feel- whatever Brown's muse dictates."
--Jackson Griffith, PULSE

"cinematic mood music with seamless layering - an album of quiet and precise details"
--Steve Klinge, CMJ

"The seven-piece outfit creates a musty noir Tropicalia with mysterious rhythms and shadings, like a humid back alley café in some faraway land where the ceiling fan moves too slowly, perspiration drips down the walls and one false move can be your last."
--Erik Himmelsbach, LA WEEKLY

"Their music evokes grit, fluorescent lights, and linoleum floors.food stands and back rooms around the world in the middle of the night (I keep thinking of Wong Kar Wai movies). It's weird, I listened to the CD once and dismissed it, then realized one song had wormed it's way into my head and stayed there for two weeks straight. It grows like kudzu and bamboo all at once, and now I love the whole damn thing."
--Robin E., OTHERMUSIC

"Brazzaville boasts slinky, spy at the beach sounds that suggest exotic, tropical vacations courtesy of the Federal Witness Protection Program and an invitation into dangerously cool, Yakuza hangouts where nobody knows your name until all the doors are locked. one of those rare albums that more than fulfills its promise." (4.5 out of 5 stars)
--Tom "Tearaway" Schulte, Carbon 14

"This is a great CD.unique and unusual."
--JB, HECKLER


4 1/2 stars
--Melody Maker

"The music sounds old, as if it's spitting out of a transistor in an empty third-world airport in 1967."
--Nicole Darling, GLUE
- various