WOEBOT

I'm a big fan of Edu Lobo's. He's one of the artists who I've suddenly discovered I have a lot of records by. He's sort of snuck up on me. There's a good bit about him at the always excellent Slipcue site. Chronologically then.

Edu Lobo/Tamba Trio "Arrastao/Reza" (Philips, 1965)

Sort of flies in one ear and out the other. Sophomore effort. My friend Flashos bought me this single.

Edu Lobo "Edu" (Philips, 1967)

This on the other hand is fucking fantastic. Edu really hits his stride. What I like about Edu is the tenor of voice. He's not wallowing in himself like Jobim. He shares the same sophisticate inclinations, not for nothing did I describe him once as "the Brazilian Bryan Ferry" (who incidentally has just released an LP called "Dylanesque"- what do you make of that Mark?). There's a very self-assured masculine gentility to his voice that I really respond to. Hell, I wish I was that person: cool, tough, sophisticated and kind all at once. Rather than being a slightly hysterical nut-case I guess! Still we've a way to go before his classic records.

Edu Lobo "Sergio Mendes Presents Edu Lobo" (A&M, 1970)

OK, a bit of a step backward. Sergio tries to sell him to Hollywood. I guess it only happened because Edu had so much talent. Sad when he starts to sing in English on "Crystal Illusions" and "To Say Goodbye". Still there are some lovely tunes here, some exquisitely shaded melodies and the playing is typically wonderful, breezy and light-of-touch. Perhaps unsurprisingly there are quite a few tracks here which are duplicated on the Brazilian records, but on the other hand there are touches of the experimentation that characterises his next three sublime classics.

Edu Lobo "Cantigua De Longe" (Elenco/Polygram, 1970)

Shivers. Lobo on the flight home sitting in Business Class with his shades on. This is his black and blue riposte to the barbecue and cocktail lilt of LA bullshit. It's back to basics baby, let's-get-down-with-the-fucking-programme time. Strictly speaking there's no such thing as a depressing Brazilian record, but this is as over-caste as it gets. Lobo as Dark Magus, it's even arguable that by getting fellow countrymen Hermeto and Airto on-board, fresh from Miles's "Live Evil" sessions, he's consciously reflecting back that spooked third-world voodoo.

Edu Lobo "Misse Breve" (EMI/Odeon, 1973)

You need this LP, the former and latter but "Misse Breva" is certainly my favorite. I hope I'm conveying the centrality and importance of Lobo's work. Occasionally I fret that people might think WOEBOT is deliberately obscurantist. Actually I have no truck whatsoever with that instinct. I see these mp3 blogs dedicated to chasing down these narrow blind alleys (deep into the recesses of that ruddy Nurse With Wound list) and I sigh. It's amazing how the obscurantists have managed to overtake the mainstream! Votel and Finders Keepers, the daring Mr Trunk, The Wire magazine, the Vinyl Vultures family- they all do amazing work, but sometimes I fear that the opposition has grown too strong, perhaps at the expense of a balanced perspective of the field of music.

With the slow discrediting of Post-Modernism we've lost one of the great qualities of music journalism, that (for instance) David Toop was able to close "Ocean of Sound" by discussing Kate Bush and the then commercially-orientated David Sylvian (scoffs). Part of the fun was rubbing the mass-market icons against the unknown soldiers, in highlighting their shared agendas.

Pop-ism makes a cruel joke of this in the manner of cultural studies, by decontextualising the popular and subjecting it to dissection against its will. I'm sure Marcello will forgive me for bringing up the, admittedly highly-amusing, incident of the aghast Girl's Aloud being read one of his reviews of them. Still it's robbery isn't it? I recall with genuine fondness a Wire magazine which would run, straight-faced, with Michael Jackson on the cover.

Here at WOEBOT I've always tried to look at what I thing is *significant* music. I'll grant that may be a huge flaw, for instance it can mean I slide into a barometer of "what's-hot", but I'd rather that than any other criteria. Anyway, Edu because he's an all-conquering genius. "Misse Breva" effortlessly manages that almost off-hand trick of the greatest Brazilian music, to be at once experimental and accessible. Perhaps experimental is the wrong word for the just plain inventive palates of elaborate orchestration. Never obtrusive, the meshes of baubled rhodes, berimbeau and arabesques of acoustic guitar often form improbable patterns even as they pulse forward. Perhaps most remarkable are the Catholic devotional tracks which have the splendid feel of horror film out-takes. Is it actually possibly to talk about Christ with any true sincerity in pop music? The best stuff, Al Green and Prince, always imparts a spectral, occasionally perverse tone to the standard message. However, you don't need to be a card-holding Current 93 fan to appreciate the bizarreness of the transubstantiation, especially within the Catholic context when, yes siree, that wine actually turns into blood.

Edu Lobo "Limite Des Aguas" (Continental, 1976)

I'd always wanted this but it was often very expensive but just recently picked it up at the Reckless records liquidation for half-price. I suppose it's the third-part of Edu's triumvirate of superb LPs. Don't let the disappointing cover put you off. Slightly fuller and more burnished than the last two, the eighties are coming, with a distinct Jazz-Funk inflection it's still chock full of undeniably catchy songs.

Edu Lobo "Tempo Presente" (Philips, 1980)

I always liked the cover to this, but it's a bit disappointing really. From here on in, and you can just tell by their sleeves, Edu's record's get slicker and emptier. Edu and Tom is supposed to be a return to form, but I wouldn't risk it myself.