Get Away with Ruspo’s Sublime Tropicalia [stream]

Brazilian singer-songwriter and producer, Ruspo, wrote Esses Patifes (These Crooks) over a period of two years while traveling as a journalist across four states and eight cities, recording his experiences in the form of songs. The result is an inspired 14-track travelogue incorporating instruments and effects from all edges of the spectrum, especially those native to areas in which he was staying. Textured, melodic, and clever, Esses Patifes is a fascinating mixture of Sufjan sensitivity, Vampire Weekend friskiness, and very prismatic Brazilian charisma.

Latin American traditional percussion and instrumentation is prominent throughout, but several tracks find Ruspo adding hip hop beats and classical compositions to the mix, making it clear to anyone who listens that he let the music cross boundaries just as he did. Ruspo’s Tropicalia creation is beautifully arresting and possibly one of the most spell-binding records I’ve heard in a long while.