Fachada - Mundos Secretos (Electric Cowbell)

what your ears say & the cover looks like

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what we say

I've been really enjoying this laid back funk fueled, Afro Brazilian, nu-jazz journey from long time Washington DC stalwart Fachada for Electric Cowbell the last few days. It's pleasingly unpolished, subtly fusion soaked, reassuringly familiar yet somehow fresh. Well recommended.

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what the release notes say

Fachada's debut full-length "Mundos Secretos" is an album of groove-heavy experimentalism from the diasporic streets of Washington DC. The music is a wildly hybridized meld of instrumental afro-noir, jazz-funk, and neo-psychedelia. 

Fachada is the musical persona of autodidact, visionary artist Rob Smith. Immersed in the sounds of the local 70s radio stations, Fachada was under the influence of funk, R&B, jazz, hip hop, and the city’s most recognizable trademark sound of Go-go music. By the late 70s and early 80s Fachada found himself at the center of DC’s punk scene with the norms-shattering Bad Brains and the emergence of a vibrant DIY music scene that’s now recognized internationally for its influence. Fachada is the sonic intersection of the best of DC. Going to shows, drumming in bands, and being an artist in this milieu puts Fachada’s conception at the ground zero of the city’s zeitgeist in the mid 80s. Fachada’s artistic journey is measured by literally “being there.” A chance discovery of a stack of discarded Brazilian records at the city dump one day proved to be another seminal influence, offering him a fortuitous portal to a “secret world” of rhythm and sound. Even though he did not understand Portuguese and the vast array of styles and rhythms, he began an immersive process of teaching himself to articulate the music he was growing to love. 

Through decades of articulation and emulation, “Mundos Secretos” is the culmination and collection of humble interpretations, personal innovations, and late night recording sessions with select collaborators who move and groove in the margins of the DC underground arts scene. Mundos Secretos is the DIY remnant of an obscure and exotic vision that celebrates a love affair with Brazilian music, progressive jazz, and unfiltered free expression. Mundos Secretos is infused with 70s-era MPB (Música popular brasileira), jazz and the organic sounds and rhythms of Brazil. Tastefully placed sprinkles of synthesizers, keyboards, and electric guitar weave themselves through a mosaic of grooves focused by funk and the sounds of Brazil, swung with influences from across the African diaspora, pushing them all through a mighty cool psych-styled filter.  

​Credits
Pessoal 
Fachada - bateria, congas, percussões, baixo, pára-choques, piano elétrico, sintetizador 
Ty Hussell - guitarra 
Adrian Baxter - flauta 
Swamp Guinee - conga em ‘do lixo ao luxo’

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Links to the playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Youtube & Soundcloud