Outside the predictable spheres of North America , Europe and Japan, electronic dance music hasn't found a more dynamic and devoted home than Brazil. In the 1990s a particularly fertile scene developed in and around the northeastern town of Recife, sprouting bands like Chico Science and Naçao Zumbi who have since left an indelible mark on Brazilian music as a whole. A pioneer of that 'manguebeat' movement, as it's sometimes called, was one Helder Aragão, aka DJ Dolores, who was already an ace face on the Recife club circuit by the late 1980s.
After building an enviable reputation within Brazil as a DJ, composer and musical contributor to film, dance and theatre productions, DJ Dolores took Europe and the US by storm in the early nineties, bagging a BBC World Music nomination and touring like a man possessed with a special DJ / live music project called Orchestra Santa Massa. This year he returns with a new outfit, named after the popular Brazilian word for a sound system, 'Aparelhagem', which focuses the metal percussion instruments and melancholy melodies of the northeast.
As far as DJ Dolores is concerned, 'Electronic' is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, and a way of bringing the vibrant, fertile and broad musical culture of Brazil right up to speed with the 21st century.
Courtesy of Andy Morgan, July 2004
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