Songs From the Tin

1	Binti 5:53
2	Cores 3:26
3	Rain Song 4:25
4	Borboleta 4:11
5	Prá Manha 6:13
6	Tregua 1:48
7	Inae 3:55
8	Indo 4:10
9	Rio Vida 4:43
10	The Tin Within 2:36

Barnes & Noble

Fans of Nuyorican Soul, the Spanish Harlem-flavored side project of house music producers Little Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, will cotton instantly to Da Lata, a dreamy vision of Brazilian groove filtered through the Northern Soul sensibilities of UK DJ Patrick Forge. Where Vega and Gonzalez drew upon the feverishly funky amalgam of R&B, salsa, boogaloo, and smooth jazz that defined a late-'70s New York house party, Forge and his partner Chris Franck seize the atmospheric sounds of Airto, Flora Purim, and Brazil's jazzy vanguard. But the results have plenty in common: impeccably produced, weighty tracks that unroll like an evening at a great dance club, where the segue is just as important as the track itself, and the transportive aspects of the music -- swelling strings, whistling synths, cool solos,and incessant percussion -- aim for ecstasy. Brazilian rhythm has become a kind of underground Euro -- currency on dancefloors from London and Paris to Berlin and Tokyo -- and Da Lata laid the foundation over a decade ago with club singles crafted by Forge and Franck before the latter's successful run with the bossa nova trip-hoppers Smoke City. But as with Nuyorican Soul, Da Lata is that rare case when the trendspotters and critics can agree -- the beautiful, enchanting beats of these Songs from the Tin, rippling with live instrumentation and gloriously understated vocals by Liliana Chachian, will hold up when clubland moves on. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

Songs From the Tin is the first full-length album from the London-based group Da Lata. A group that synthesizes elements of traditional Brazilian music with European dancehall sensibilities, Da Lata's sound is a slickly produced amalgam of floating vocals, live percussion, electronic samples, string section arrangements, and gentle acoustic guitar lines. Rather than relying on the lifeless repetition of an electronically sampled and sequenced drum loop -- a practice that has been embraced by too many -- Da Lata anchors their songs in acoustic samba percussion patterns. Oli Savill and Christian Franck, along with contributors Carl Smith and Tristian Banks, are responsible for providing these Brazilian-inspired syncopations. Singer Liliana Chachian, who originally emigrated from Brazil in order to play with the London School of Samba, projects a slightly plaintive vocal style that, in turn, contrasts interestingly with the overall buoyant and optimistic feel of the album. (Oddly enough, the first song on the album, "Binti," does not feature Chachian. Instead, the song presents a one-time contribution by Parisian vocalist Deidre Dubois.) The string section -- which consists of a double bass, a viola, a cello, and two violins -- lends a lush and sentimental tonality to the mix. Producers Patrick Forge and Christian Franck adeptly weave together all the various elements on Songs From the Tin, though the level of the strings on such songs as "Cores" is too loud. Overall, Da Lata's Songs From the Tin is a very worthwhile CD that respectfully puts forward a contemporary Western European interpretation of Brazilian music. John Vallier