A Chat with Rossano Snel, and a Gift From Damin Suarez of GWYM

Hello readers!  2009 has been a fun and eventful year, but it is soon coming to a close.  As our gift to you, we’re going to grant you a little holiday present for being such loyal fans.  You’ll find it at the end of the blog – but first we need to check in with Rossano Snel, who took the time out to answer a few questions for us.

OC:    What’s your favorite song on “Landscape”?

RS:    My favorite song is Her Dance. The inspiration came from my girlfriend, with whom I discuss many aspects of my creative process.

OC:    Tell us about “Tumpah”.  It’s quite distinctive compared to your other songs.

RS:    It really has a special meaning to me. In certain ways, it represents the point where I have turned the ideas created with the piano into a composing and production process driven through machines.

OC:    Do you utilize social networking sites like Twitter?

RS:    I do use Twitter a lot. I try to [use it mostly to share] music and news about my work and career. This way I give the people interested in my music and my fans a connection with me, and with themselves too.

We know you’re dying for even more new songs from Rossi, so we’ve asked Santa to bring a new EP.  If you’ve been a good boy or girl, he might just grant your wish in 2010.  In the meantime, follow him listen to the stream of Rossano’s “Gallery” EP here and follow him on Twitter!

Speaking of Santa, he’s brought a gift early, this time from Go West Young Man.  FYI to those of you in the California area, GWYM will be playing January 12th at the Bootleg Theatre in LA’s Echo Park with Seven Saturdays and the Parson Redheads…for only 8 bucks!  Anthony Cava of Pollyn will be on bass.  If you’re in the area, don’t miss it.

Also, Go West’s song “Hard Times” was recently placed on FX’s “The League” and you’ll hear “The Covinas” on the January 8th episode of the Ghost Whisperer.  Nice!

So what else?  Oh yeah – your gift!  Damin recorded a new song called "Sailboat" on his iphone!  Check it out here.  It sounds a bit like Sean Lennon and James Mercer of the Shins sat down in a coffee house and taped an acoustic ballad.  It’s great stuff, so go listen…right now!

Happy Holidays from the One Cell staff to all of you!

New Year’s Resolution? Buy “Baptista Virou Máquina”

Hello once again, One Cell fans! Last time we felt bad giving you only a tiny taste of the new Burro Morto album, “Baptista Virou Máquina” – we promise to aptly quench your thirst for the grooviest Dead Donkeys in the world in January 2010 – when you’ll be able to purchase this fine album for your very own self. We think you’re really going to enjoy the new record – which is actually considered a concept album (more on that later).

By the time BVM comes around, it will have been only a scant year since their first full-length release entitled “Varadouro”. In that short period of time, Burro Morto has grown more focused and refined their musical vision, creating a polished sound to their jams. We spoke to Burro’s guitarist Leo Marinho who had this to say about how the band has grown in the past year.

"The process of producing this album was totally different than Varadouro’s. Our first work was basically the result of jam sessions – the only conception was to mix afro-funk grooves with our psychedelic-rock influences. Also, at that time, the band was made up of eight musicians, and along the past year the group was reduced to the fixed formation of a quintet. We did almost all of our gigs that way, and playing together brought us a lot of experience and confidence.

“So, at the recording of this new album the band was more mature, and we went further than that conception of ‘afro-funk-rock’. This time we have created a storyline, a kind of ‘novel’ about this character ‘Baptista’, and the music is all related to that theme. We explored new sounds, different kinds of percussion – vintage organs and synthesizers – and there are more rock elements than before.”

Need some more up-close-and-personal time with the group? We’ve got good news for you. Burro Morto is going to be dedicating 2010 to touring and promoting the new album, and they’ll be playing shows all across Brazil. And don’t forget, they’ll be making more of their distinctive music videos for each song on the album – which is awesome news for those who can’t get enough Burro.

Want to get up close with Burro, World Wide Web-style? They’re quite active on Twitter, so follow them there!

While you wait for the album, head over the One Cell Records site to listen to the live stream of Varadouro - or re-watch this great Soma interview with the guys from last year.



Burro Morto’s gone all out for you. So why don’t you get into “Baptista Virou Máquina”?

Need to traduzir esta página? Click here for google’s translation of this blog in Portuguese.