Rebeca Matta presents an alternative to axé music
Singer and songwriter from Bahia puts out her second CD and says that the musical movement in Salvador is fading away
Tom Cardoso
07/12/2000
Last carnival in Bahia, Daniela Mercury went up the trio elétrico announcing a (for her) novelty: she was going to mix electronic music with samba-reggae. The queen of axé music intended to be also the queen of boldness, but that title better fits another artist from Bahia, Rebeca Matta, now releasing her second disc, Garotas Boas Vão Pro Céu, Garotas Más Vão Pra Qualquer Lugar (Good Girls Go to Heaven, Bad Girls Go Everywhere, on Lua Discos), produced by andré t.
She already has a name in the alternative circuits of Salvador, Rio and São Paulo, and has gotten rave reviews for her debut album, Tantas Coisas (1998). In spite of the electronic experiments, Rebeca does not feel like a foreigner in Bahia. "I still live in Salvador, and I figure the local music is slowly being modified. Like any other product, axé music had its beginning, middle and end, and the end is now", states the composer, who wouldn't like to be labeled as Bahia music's number one enemy . "People get me wrong, sometimes. I am strongly influenced by the music of my home town, only, I do not accept that the industry will take over artistic movements."
Avoiding the dazzle that blinds a few national artists, Rebeca works with electronic resources very properly, making them soft and powerful at the same time in songs like Xique Xique (Parabelo), by Tom Zé and José Miguel Wisnik, A Cidade, by Chico Science and the version of Manu Chao's A Mentira. Besides her musical sense, she has proven to be a good lyricist, writing half of the songs. "I can only sing what I think and believe in", she claims, while admitting to be influenced by Tom Zé's composition skills. "He's over 60 years old and has always been faithful to his repertoire. He died a few times because of that, as he says, but now he is firmly established."
Tracks like Garotas Boas Vão Pro Céu, Garotas Más Vão Pra Qualquer Lugar, É Que A Vida É, O Olho Nu, Um Beijo no Escuro, are centered in the feminine universe, which makes Rebeca worry, a bit: "I'm not into labeling. I would hate to be called a feminist, because that's the utmost machismo statement", she says. The singer will be performing in São Paulo, with guest appearance by the pioneering electronic music producer Loop B.
She already has a name in the alternative circuits of Salvador, Rio and São Paulo, and has gotten rave reviews for her debut album, Tantas Coisas (1998). In spite of the electronic experiments, Rebeca does not feel like a foreigner in Bahia. "I still live in Salvador, and I figure the local music is slowly being modified. Like any other product, axé music had its beginning, middle and end, and the end is now", states the composer, who wouldn't like to be labeled as Bahia music's number one enemy . "People get me wrong, sometimes. I am strongly influenced by the music of my home town, only, I do not accept that the industry will take over artistic movements."
Avoiding the dazzle that blinds a few national artists, Rebeca works with electronic resources very properly, making them soft and powerful at the same time in songs like Xique Xique (Parabelo), by Tom Zé and José Miguel Wisnik, A Cidade, by Chico Science and the version of Manu Chao's A Mentira. Besides her musical sense, she has proven to be a good lyricist, writing half of the songs. "I can only sing what I think and believe in", she claims, while admitting to be influenced by Tom Zé's composition skills. "He's over 60 years old and has always been faithful to his repertoire. He died a few times because of that, as he says, but now he is firmly established."
Tracks like Garotas Boas Vão Pro Céu, Garotas Más Vão Pra Qualquer Lugar, É Que A Vida É, O Olho Nu, Um Beijo no Escuro, are centered in the feminine universe, which makes Rebeca worry, a bit: "I'm not into labeling. I would hate to be called a feminist, because that's the utmost machismo statement", she says. The singer will be performing in São Paulo, with guest appearance by the pioneering electronic music producer Loop B.