Episode 113: Nordestino Rock

My general theme over the past few weeks has been moody music for the changing of the season; last week I defied the standard expectation of happy and sunny music from Brazil by playing a set of moody bossa nova tracks; today I will be playing a different vein of moody music from Brazil, rock music from Brazil’s northeast region. Rock music from this region has a few key characteristics: first, it draws influence from forro. Forro is Brazil’s version of country western music, and there are deep roots of forro in the northeast part of the country. Second, this music was born as an act of political defiance as musicians from the region led the nation in protest against Brazil's military dictatorship in the late 60s. Fighting against Brazil’s central government came naturally to artists from the northeast; this is a poor region where many people feel they have been left behind by a government focused on the prosperous cities of Rio and Sao Paulo. Nordestinos, as people from this region are known, inherit a culture of resistance against the government. So what we have on the show today is Brazilian protest country rock songs. This is the gritty country cousin to the psychedelic Tropicalia movement in Brazil… this is Nordestino Rock.