Fumaca Preta on Music with Soul records

I stopped in over at Tropicalia in Furs a while back to pick up some singles from Music with Soul Records they had contacted me about. Little did I know then that Joel behind the counter was the vocalist for Fumaca Preta on this single...last time found these guys playing somewhere between classic funk and scuzzy garage. This 7" continues to combine those two not so different different styles into this no-brainer, peaking-out funky chaos.

A-Side's "Vou-me Libertar" screeches scary straight off - from the horror house organ sound just blasting, peaking out in the red to the huge stabs, cutting swaths of that treble filled harshness into the opening grooves. Then Joel is just screaming slightly distorted lyrics that sound like a mix between languages, probably curse words work in any country, but it's also working in that Cramps distort vocal style that has everything to do with the passion here. He's really upset about something under the conga solo, this huge percussion working on all levels, but that b-movie organ is pure Halloween. Paul's blues yelps help spread the creep vibe. This organ goes completely mental in a solo moment, totally devolving into a real accidental broken output but I think they actually are trying to make these noises. It's on edge, jittery and a little bit out there while staying fun and lighthearted but I still wouldn't really have them over to meet the parents, you know what I mean?

"Eu Era um Cão" on the B-Side makes room for an out of control electric dirty-as-hell sound, with some serious synth lasers. This electric sound is incredible… an angry, compressed, super fuzz, soloing all over the middle east. The percussion is muffled and gradually starts to slow down right into the heavy funk. Really great transition and Paul is like the spanish John Spencer. Dirty, in the gutter growl and bravado but in a late '70's almost metal style. I'm liking where these guys going…taking this kind of sleazy sound and making it truly weird. There's no mistaking this for that classic funk your dad used to dust off in the closets, this is a real maniac desperate sound. These synths are blasting away in their own Afrika Bambaataa style. It always amazed me that Parliament so easily combined that future fantasy idea with the funk...that wasn't supposed to be cool at all. Fumaca Preta is equally pulling it off. A crazy track that raises the level of funk and manages to work in that garage rock laid back feel because they are a bunch of weirdos putting this stuff all out there at once. Impressive…and adds a new dimension to that record store, seriously this guy is deep in it, all records all the time. I get it.

Pick this up from the Music with Soul site or I'd bet there are copies in the racks at Tropicalia in Furs, he might even be able to sign one for you, super nice guy, great store.

Fumaça Preta on Music with Soul records

Music with Soul Records isn't just tons of tiny 45's, Alex in Amsterdam runs the recording studio side of things (where they actually captured this piece of funk from Fumaça Preta), while Andre in Portugal deals with the promotion, booking side...they are monopolizing the funk further with this one featuring Joel from Tropicalia in Furs down on 5th St. teaming up with The Grits in the Music with Soul studio to cut this single. I wouldn't put it past these guys to pick up a lathe cutter sooner or later and just cut out the middle man. Vertical seven inch integration.

The A-Side, "A Bruxa" (which I just found out is a Sonic's cover of "The Witch") has a lot of grimy textured patina all over this, scuzzy and peaking out, fuzzy as hell before you even get to the instrumentation. It's a funk, organ driven garage blues, with heavy echo and distortion on the vocals... one hell of a speed tempo super percussion groove. A damaged guitar throws in it's solo elements at the end of a verse, and whoever is on vocals is positively howling, from another planet, transmitting across light years and picked up on an old AM radio. Congas and all kinds of improvised banging starts in and the organ lines alternate in this back and forth rhythm that slowly climbs their scale, in some kind of hyper salsa soul, JSBX style, totally loose, clambering over itself with the lead yelling "A BRUXA!" Fuzzy bassline, rocking this groove, a kind of electric blues with this howling energy. A James Brown sort of soul sound, but under a layer of time and hiss...this thing comes pre worn, scuffed up from sitting in all those record boxes for years until you finally threw it on the terrible tiny fisher price record player at the end of the stacks. It doesn't matter, it sounds great, and always will. Heavy garage reverb trailing off right behind his panic'd scream. Fun as hell.

B-Side " Loco" starts with a ringing phone tone and a recorded message, "You have called the Psychiatric Juqueri Hospital (very dreaded place in Brazil), Dial 1 for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Dial 2 for Psychotic Neurosis and Dementia, Dial 3 for Delirious Psychosis, Dial 4 for Paranoia and Schizophrenia, Dial 5 for Body Mutilation and Suicide Attempt". (Translated by music with soul, thanks guys). Paranoia describes this monsterous thick groove alright. The distorted vocals are back, truly coming from outer space this time with the bleeps and bloops of moogs and satellites, but this bassline and the huge room sounding drumming is just perfect, they can do whatever they want over this. In fact they aren't doing anything resembling vocals I think, a lot of cackling, indecipherable vocal (well it isn't English to begin with - ed) under a mess of effects, all warping around, pitching out, bursts of screams...and that bass drops out, and it is missed, damn... it was channeling this deep. The phone message comes back, "Hey hey, are you still on the line? I think I know someone who can help you. Dial number 9 and you will talk to him, the legend, Dr Fritz. Dial 9, damned!!" Thanks to Alex's translation this just got a lot weirder, it's already leaning sci-fi funk, a Portuguese Parliment? Ufo's, make those aliens get down, they appreciate the experimnetal noise that gets groovy. An endless tone from a ringing phone...locked groove, leaving you hanging on your end, a speakerphone ringing at some diner on another planet. Weird, like B-movie, tiki-lounge sort of weird. Esquivel weird... and funky.

This one is import only from Music With Soul Records, or Joel at Tropicalia in Furs probably has a copy or two. Ask for it:

What would happen if one put together a Brazilian legend in the same room along with members of the funkiest band in the UK and a Portuguese-Venezuelan producer? The outcome is here. It is real. Tangible. Joel Stone, the boss of Tropicalia in Furs, joined Stuart Carter & James Porch from The Grits at our Barracão Studio for a recording session hosted by our own and yours truly Alex Figueira. Without ever having played together under the same roof, these four possessed-beings embarked on a journey of psychosis, macumba and boundary-pushing. The result is the grooviest, wildest, fuzziest sound you’ll ever hear. Paying tribute to Tropicalia in Furs’ latest release Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas (with a movie debut to come), Fumaça Preta is the ultimate effort in trying to recover that almost-lost-but-still-out-there Brazilian Psychedelic ambience from the 70s.

The A side is a depraved, mentally-sick and deranged version of the old Sonic’s classic “The Witch”. Tape echo, saturated drums, fuzz guitars and Brazilian lyrics scream at you to the grooviest beat around. B side is an original track that was written, rehearsed and recorded in the same afternoon. “Loco” is an ode to insanity where elements of Dub, Funk, Samba,and Analog Electronics are solidly blended under an aura of improvisation that only courageous and unhinged musicians would attempt. A limited edition of only 600 copies is available on Music With Soul Records. Buy one now or regret forever: the witch will haunt you down!