VIOLETA DE OUTONO

I've been digging around a lot lately in the Latin America progressive rock scene. I started listening to The Mars Volta about a year and a half ago. It was that bad that made me take a look into this whole "prog rock" area. And now that I've got pretty good knowledge of what prog rock is, I've been searching various internet archives for progressive rock with heavy latin influences and this is what I came across. I am surprised to see I am the first to give this album a rating so I'll just safely give it a 4 out of 5. It wasn't the best, but it was still very good for how under the radar this band has been. A lot of the tracks incorporate what Omar Rodriguez-Lopez from The Mars Volta would call "guitar perversion", which is just basically meddling around with the guitar and experimenting with different pads and sound effects. This doesn't necessarily mean the guitar player lacks the talent to play a guitar without the effects. Omar is an outstanding guitarist. The best thats playing right now, in my opinion. This is just a way of expressing the guitar differently. Violeta de Outono does this well. There's a simple yet catchy bass line. The percussion is good. And then there's the strange whispering of the guitar in an ambience that reminds me of U2's The Joshua Tree. Out of Violeta de Outono's albums that I have listened to so far, I have to give the gold star to this one. I'm a big fan of those Mars Volta-ish guitar perversion bands. And from the bands I've listened to with the guitar perversion, Akineton Retard, Trili, Tempano, Mar de Robles uses a little too, I have to say that the Latin's have nailed down the guitar perverting. Anyways if anyone has any underground Latin gems they wanna show me, just message me or something.

My sleeping pills are taking into effect so for those of you who didn't read my crappy off-topic review: ****/5 Is that your final answer? Damn right that's my final answer! 4/5

But, no, no, no no nonononono no.... seriously.... give these guys a look at. They're called Violeta De Outono

And I'm done 4/5, 8/10, 16/20, 32/40, 64/80, 128/160, 256/320,

« Violeta De Outono » is a Brazilian band who played vintage psyche rock in?the late eighties.

I have to say that the music featured is quite acceptable, well performed and quite upbeat like "Luz" which sounds a bit like COTAE (especially during the intro). But it was released some twenty years behind the mood. Still, as an old nostalgic of those days, I can cope very well with this album, but be warned: there is little originality to grab here.

This is also a very confidential band with extremely little exposure on PA (and probably even in Brazil). If ever you're looking for the sound of the late middle sixties (Floyd, Airplane), why don't you give a chance to these "Violeta"? You shouldn't be disappointed with the good guitar and strong rhythm of "Dia Eterno" which is my fave.

A fine ASOS feeling is felt during the longest track (even if it doesn't reach the seven minutes mark) of this offering: "Sombras Flutuantes" is another highlight. The album closes on a good cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" from the Fab Four.

In all, this is quite a good album for old freaks. Three stars.

This was VIOLETA DE OUTONO's debut from 1987 and it's easy to hear the transformation of this band from this charming psychedelic album to some 20 years later when they released their master work(in my opinion) called "Volume 7" in 2007. This is like the blueprint of what was to come and I really dig this even if it doesn't have the same emotional attachment that "Volume 7" has for me. Love the cover art as well. These Brazilians were a three piece at this point playing a fairly straight forward style of music with vocals, guitar, bass and drums. Fabio the vocalist/ guitarist is also involved with THE INVISIBLE OPERA COMPANY OF TIBET and is known for his Glissando guitar playing. Yes I'd say GONG, PINK FLOYD and the THE BEATLES certainly are reference points.

"Outono" features a main melody that reminds me a little of HAWKWIND's "Hurry On Sundown" song. The bass throughout this album is so in your face and I love it. The vocals and music are so uplifting and relaxing. "Declinio De Maio" is led by the guitar and drums early as the vocals join in. Such a feel good vibe here. Those massive bass lines join in as well and I really like the guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. Hey it's Fabio! "Faces" is one of my favourites. Strummed guitar and drugged out vocals to start. It's quite spacey a minute in as the vocals stop. Love this stuff. This mood lasts until the vocals return after 2 1/2 minutes then it turns spacey again 3 minutes in to the end. "Luz" is spacey as the guitar, bass and drums join in. Vocals are right behind and the rhythm section is urgent sounding but the rest is relaxed. The guitar starts to solo after 2 minutes. Nice.

"Retorno" is a short instrumental that's somewhat experimental. "Dia Eterno" has this frantic drum intro as the bass and guitar join in quickly. Vocals follow in this catchy number. "Noturno Deserto" opens with what sounds like vibes as the guitar joins in. Drums and a full sound arrive around a minute in. Vocals follow. I like the guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. "Sombras Flutauntes" is my favourite song on here. Ominous bass to start as cymbals then drums join in. Some guitar expressions follow and I like the way this is building. It then settles back into a groove at 4 1/2 minutes and I love the guitar tone here. A spacey calm ends it. "Tomorrow Never Knows" is a cover of THE BEATLES tune from "Revolver". Huge bass lines kick in followed by vocals as we get this spacey haze throughout.

A really solid debut from these Brazilians that will put you in a good mood guaranteed.