Electronico

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One of several bands who are well-known throughout continental Europe and more or less ignored in the UK, Madredeus (perhaps best known for their soundtrack to and appearance in Wim Wenders’ film "Lisbon Story") have always trodden the fine line between making haunting, atmospheric and radical new interpretations of traditional Portuguese music and being merely pretty.
"Electronico" sees an international crew of remixers set to work on the band’s back catalogue and come up with a record which consists of haunting, atmospheric and radical new interpretations of Madredeus’ work, and is sometimes merely pretty.

There is much here that falls into the category of top end car ad music, ready made for mass market chillout compilations: atmospheric whooshing noises, tastefully picked Balearic-style acoustic guitars and dashes of Teresa Salguiero’s distinctive, mournful voice. There’s enough substance in the original material and the remixers’ work, however, to make sure that it would end up being the token interesting track on such a compilation.
Alpha do their usual hazy, underwater, snooze-distorted thing with "Vem (Alem de Toda a Solidao)", while Craig Armstrong does his usual melodramatic, filmic jabbing and sweeping lush strings thing with "Anseio". Dusted pick up on the guitar and glockenspiel textures and make what is almost a deep house waltz from "A Andorinha da Primavera", a dive into a cool blue swimming pool, while Telepopmusik introduce just a tiny bit of glitch to the vocals of "Oxala", a welcome speck of grit in all the tastefulness.

Given the Portuguese connection, it’s a shame that there isn’t more Latin, and specifically Brazilian, inspired stuff here, especially as Buscemi’s stomping Afrohouse reworking of "O Paraiso" is one of the record’s standouts. Crunchiest bite of the record, and its most unexpected and interesting moment, is the Leaf label’s mighty Manitoba who takes on the mellifluous "Guitarra". Manitoba is brave enough to leave out Salguiero’s voice (especially as the original is one of her finest performances) and deconstructs the original into its constituent elements: a minute of barracking drums followed by a beautiful solo cello whose tones eventually rub up the guitarra of the title before all the parts slowly come together again. Apparently mixed using mathematical formula, this is the kind of remix that makes you listen intently then go back to the original to compare.

While more of this thing might have been better, overall "Electronico" is great comfort music for a rainy summer. Collapse onto your sofa with a long drink and dream about Iberian sunsets and Lusitanian seascapes, stare out at the drizzle with some genuinely postmodern, melancholy, nostalgic suadade.