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Let’s be honest: the acoustic guitar in Brazilian popular music can become a little overbearing. It’s always there like an unwelcome gatecrasher at a party, stubbornly sitting in the corner, gamely plucking away with tropical abandon, and refusing to take the hint and bugger off home. Along with the sweet, swaying melodies that so many singers adopt, the effect of romantic MPB can be a bit of a bland attack. It’s like a bad misto quente, the lanchonete ham sandwich staple – not much flavour and a gloopy layer of flavourless cheese. At this point, Minas Gerais singer Raquel Coutinho enters, tells the gatecrasher with the guitar to tone it down, peels the greasy cheese off the sandwich and, if you can handle a third metaphor crammed into one review, strips it all naked and starts again. HER DEBUT DISC IS BEGUILING BECAUSE IT DOES SOMETHING DIFFERENT: MIXES MPB WITH SPOOKY ELETRONICS AND INVENTIVE, AFRICAN PERCUSSION, MUCH OF WHICH SHE PLAYS HERSELF. THERE IS AN ELECTRIC GUITAR BUZZ AND SAX REFRAIN OVER THE SHUFFLING, ROBOTIC WEB OF BEATS ON "PARAÍSO", AND SHE CHANTS HER LILTING, LOW-KEY VOCALS OVER PULSING RYTHMS WHILE A ROCK GUITAR GROWLS SULKILY ON "PARA PARAR". BUT OLHO D'ÁGUA ISN'T JUST EXPERIMENTAL; IT'S ALSO AFFECTING, MELODIC, HAUNTING AND PASSIONATE, AN ALBUM THAT REVEALS AND ENDEARS THE MORE TIME YOU SPEND WITH IT - unlike the gatecrasher with the bossa nova guitar, whose taxi has just arrived and whose misto quenteis wrapped and ready to go. Dom Phillips
- Time Out - São Paulo
Brasilianskt - Raquel Coutinho passar bra in i den nya linjen av brasilianska sångerskor, en självständig egen kreatör.
Slagverket ligger i förgrunden med mycket nya klanger, det är spännande bara att lyssna på ljudbilden, inte en tapet utan ett helt landskap – öronöppnande musik.
Här finns också den spännande blandningen av konventionellt slagverk med digitala ljud.
Helt följdriktigt är Raquel inte bara sångerska utan också slagverkare och kompositör. Melodin och harmonin är inte så viktiga, men det är helt i sin ordning. Sättet att sjunga vetter åt rap, vilket är helt inom konceptet. Det känns som den nya typ av musik som kommer fram: inte producerad av ett storbolag utan hemma på landet. Det är mycket mer spännande, låt musiken sprida sig över nätet.
Svenske slagverkaren Sebastian Notini dyker också upp som gubben ur lådan på några spår. Han har hörts på flera intressanta brasilianska skivor på sistone.” Lennart Kjörling
Do Brasil- Raquel Coutinho cabe muito bem na nova linha de cantoras brasileiras, uma criadora independente.
Em sua música, a percussão está em primeiro plano, com muitos timbres novos.
É muito interessante só ficar escutando a sonoridade, que não é uma “tapeçaria”, mas uma paisagem inteira – música que abre os ouvidos. Aqui também tem uma mistura interessante de percussão convencional com sons digitais. É evidente que Raquel não é só cantora, mas também percussionista e compositora.
Melodia e harmonia não estão tão acentuadas, a maneira de cantar está inclinada ao Rap, tudo dentro do contexto.
Parece um novo tipo de música que está surgindo: não foi produzido por uma gravadora grande, mas sim em uma casa no campo. Assim é muito mais interessante, deixar a música se espalhar na web.
O percussionista sueco Sebastian Notini tem participação em algumas faixas do disco, ele, que tem participado de vários discos interessantes no Brasil ultimamente. Lennart Kjörling
- LIRA MAGAZINE - Lennart Kjörling
Discography
Olho D´Água - 2010 - Satelitte Label
Photos
Bio
RAQUEL COUTINHO
TOUR 2010 OLHO DÁGUA
Olho DÁgua - by Raquel Coutinho
Directly from one of the hypest scenes in Brazil, Raquel Coutinho from Minas Gerais, releases her first cd Olho DÁgua, described as breath taken, speaking directly to your body, makes you want to dance as well as listen to the lyrics, melody and the percussive groves from the band - A sweet combination of organic and technology, aggressive and soft, Brasility and sounds of the world.
The first cd, was produced by Jongui, who have produced some of greatest artists in Brazil such as Lobão and Lucas Santana. The journey took them into a research of drums and rhythms from the Brazillian state Minas Gerais. The cd was recorded in a farmhouse, in the region of Serra do Cipó and it took three years to be finished due to all the research and experiments.
Brazilian sonorities and sounds, Raquel Coutinho is influenced by percussive grooves and rhythms such as Congado and Candomblé. The result is the purest world music sound, down to its core, with lots of voice textures, deep drum grooves, rock guitars, a pinch of digital avant-garde sound, and an unquestionable traditional and unique cultural identity.
According to Lennart Kjörling, critic at the music magazine LIRA MUSIKMAGAZIN - Raquel Coutinho fits extremely well at the new generation of Brazilian artists. Using percussion as a first impression and lots os new sounds the music becomes and interesting fusion of conventional percussion and digital technology music to open your ears.
Considered an artist of an original, contemporaneous and intriguing sound, Raquel Coutinho released in 2010 her first album Olho DÁgua through the French label Satelitte, and performed at Montreux Jazz Festival 2010 for an audience of over three thousand people, presenting a different kind of Brazilian music.
The song PARAÍSO was included in the OI NOVO SOM program, she won UIRAPURU prize with the song TOCA PREU RODAR and has been on important local scene projects such as OI NOITES CARIOCAS 2009 in Rio de Janeiro; Projeto Cedo e Sentado in São Paulo; and in the US has played on the World Music Festival Chicago 2009 as a guest artist of Kiko Klaus, sharing the stage on such venues as The Empty Bottle (Chicago) e Joes Pub (NY). And Air France has chosen the song O VEJO to figure at the airplanes playlists in 2011.
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THE WORKSHOP - Corporeal Rhythmic Workshops
Raquel Coutinho is a singer, composer, percussionist and Master in Fonoaudiology. She´s been studying corporeal rhythmic since 2005 and had teachers like Fernando Barba (Barbatuques), Santiago Reither (teacher at Cuba University of Music) and Lucas Ciavata (teacher at UNIRIO and creator of the passo method).
The Corporeal Rhythmic workshop is about development of a body conscience, motor coordination and musical perception using music as a main motivator through the Passo method (developed by Lucas Ciavata). It improves attention, memory, logical thinking, auditive discrimination and balance, stimulating brain functions bilaterally.
The workshop consists basically on rhythmic, sound and musical exercises, using feet, hands, claps, mouth etc. Research and exploration of corporeal sounds as well as the organization of these sounds, either corporally as well as a graphic representation. Stretching, voice warm up and respiratory techniques are also given in the class. The development of corporeal rhythmic, allows the understanding of music using the body as a unique instrument, preparing the individual to understand the principals of music as well as dialogue professionally with a musical universe.
Ministrant: Raquel Coutinho
Duration: 6 hours
Capacity: 20 people
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