First impressions

This album is ten years old but brand spankin’ new to me. I’m a person that buys an album because of the album cover—it matters…and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s a great way to discover, so I really don’t care if it’s wrong or right.

The other day, I came across this one:

Big Sun

by Chassol

Hard not to be curious about this one—what an incredible cover! Not the mask (well, yes the mask), but the backpack straps; and the typography. Avant-garde, nice and tight with an all caps serif below.

Sonic landscapes

The introduction is a nice-n-pretty robot talking a lot of shit about atomic bombs, alongside harmonic piano key-work. It sounds like the beginning of the end of the world, then it yields to the simple and sweet sounds of birdsong. Birdsong with keyboard callbacks blending into a mid-morning piano exercise. I mean, it’s a genre-agnostic soundscape of harmonizing natural sounds, a really nice vibe.

A third of the way through, it’s flute-heavy—Andre 3000 definitely getting off on this part, heh. Then he transitions nicely to some thick bass lines and evens out on the low end.

Metamorphasis

I mean, honestly, the album “changes clothes” a few times during the whole session. Some might consider it a party trick, but I think it feels original and lovable how he harmonizes field recordings with his piano. It did remind me of T-Pain’s autotune schtick for a hot minute, but I do think he spaced it out and used it appropriately—and it’s not autotune. 

Anyhow, on my first listen, I recall “getting it” up until “Sissido,” the 13th track. The next one, “Samak,” is a cool transitional song to finish out the rest of the album. The end of the track is such a dope call-back response.  This leads to a batucada do caralho, I mean homeboy captures the feel of samba schools and somehow integrates piano keys and at some point sounds drums-an’-bassy. But for my money, he REALLY captures the Carioca vibe—not the “readily-available” one many gringos tap into, but the ones who live it and feel it…feel. No pandering, but a reference of adoration and love.

“The Big Sun (Outroïde)” is another hard cut…we’re not in Rio de Janeiro anymore. At this point, we’re heavy into quick and minimal piano, a la Steve Reich.

The final track is stripped down and bare, a man and his piano starting something beautiful right at the tail end of a beautiful, whirlwind of a journey.