mp3: TETINE l.i.c.k. my favela
tetine aren’t so much following in the wake of bonde do role‘s juggernaut, they are quite probably the people who put the gasolina in the monstertruck in the first place. lazy comparisons to one’s fellow countrymen are never useful, but it’s hard to envisage bonde do role rocketing off to the stars without having at least copped an eyeful and earful of tetine and borrowing some of their magic powder.
2007 finds bruno verner and eliete mejorado celebrating their twelfth year together, originally co-joining their brains in sao paulo with a manifesto that stradled music, spoken word, film & “ritualistic performances”. their debut album ‘alexanders grave’ saw the light of the day via their own imprint, high school records, and in the intervening years they’ve clocked up eight full album releases, culminating in the recent ‘bonde do tet√£o’. along the way they also found themselves signed to robin (scanner) rimbaud’s suplhur records, collaborating with sophie calle on the succinctly titled ‘tetine vs sophie calle’ album and taking their sound art and multimedia installation to galleries and spaces right around the world.
if you haven’t heard the name tetine, you might well have come across some of their curational work as compilation editors – ‘slam dunk presents funk carioca’ precedes any other baile funk compilation as the first collection of its kind to be released in the international market; and ‘the sexual life of the savages’ (available on soul jazz) was an invaluable primer to early 80s post-punk from sao paulo. both compilations are essential items for any fan of alternative brasilian music.
their most recent release, the party-packed ‘l.i.c.k. my favela’ e.p., kicks off with the title track – a riotous call to action, mixing one part electro with one part funk carioca, underpinned by an old-school kraftwerk break and a hard riff that recalls tone loc‘s ‘wild thing’. the e.p. is a ride from start to finish, claiming the scalps of both the clash and deise tigrona along the way. get the vinyl release through kute bash records.
check tetine.net for a vast library of video and photography, as well as the opportunity to purchase some of the above mentioned releases.