Apologizing in advance for the lack of recent updates, I come back with a great excuse for a post. Remember when I told you in the post below that one of the major forces behind Françoise Hardy's La Question album being one brazilian singer and musician by the name of Tuca? Well, I was intrigued and I wanted more. And so I went searching for her.

She recorded no more than 3 albums worth of music and left an indelible mark on everyone that got to know her by dying very young due to a food disorder. A real shame because she must be one of Brazil's best kept secrets as her music still sounds strong after all these years she's been gone. The album I chose to highlight in this post is her third and last: Dracula, I Love You (an odd name choice by any standard). Her first two are very melodic incursions into the very rich world of Bossa Nova and her voice throughout those two outings is very relaxed and soothing. This one, however, finds Tuca stretching herself both as a composer and as a singer. Featuring lots of scat, demented improvisations, space-age sounds and schizophrenic thematic structures, Dracula, I Love You is proof that she was capable of reaching amazing musical heights in the course of just a few bars.

The music is very chalenging, though and it requires a few listens before it all starts to make sense. A grower, then. I leave you with O Sorvete (The Ice-Cream), one of the many centerpieces on this amazing album.