BAH SAMBA - "AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL" (NEW RELEASE 18/11/02) (ESTEREO RECORDS ESTEREO 043)
"And it's Beautiful" is already sporting the hallmarks of a critic-divider, with BAH SAMBA'S detractors busy bitching that their breezy, Latin-American-infleunced sound MUST be crap as they hail from Brighton rather than Brazil.
In all fairness, it ain't your reviewer's usual cup of belladonna juice, either, but it's easy groove, Fender Rhodes-enhanced melody and Alice Russell's undeniably lovely vocals do start pushing seductive buttons after a few spins, so undue carping is ultimately redundant.
Having said that, despite his obvious dancefloor credentials, hiring Jon Cutler to present two stylish, but rather wearing remixes actually detracts, as the two variations add up to fifteen irritaing minutes in all. The press release suggests Bah Samba nearly didn't receive the mixes due to a fire next door to Cutler's NYC studio. The reality is that they may have been better off - aesthetically AND financially - without.
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Ironically, the "Na Brasa" mix that brings up the rear is far more effective, with a busy Latino percussion groove and langorous marimba swooning drowsily out of the ether. By comparison, this probably cost a fraction of the price and is far more atmospheric. Let this be a lesson to us all.
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