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There is no doubting Bruno Capinan’s Brazilian roots, even if he made this, his debut album, in Toronto with many of the city’s finest players. But while he sings in Portuguese and there’s a very clear influence from bossa nova and tropicalia, Capinan is by no means a traditionalist. And nor is he the kind of artist to simply slap coffee house electronic beats onto his indigenous music.

Instead, Capinan charts his own course, with his smooth crooning leading the way through string arrangements, jazz leanings, electronic shadings, and occasional art-rock leanings. The track Astral features a dubby Massive Attack groove, a melancholy violin evoking European cabaret, and a sci-fi theremin thrown in for good measure.

Capinan’s anything-goes approach is put to the ultimate test when he transforms Hank Williams’ Your Cheating Heart into a whispered rumba — a daring move that doesn’t sound the least bit unnatural in Capinan’s hands.

Apparently just after this album’s release, Capinan headed back to Brazil after seven years in Toronto; that’s our loss, because Gozo is sure to be one of the most inventive and rewarding albums of 2010 to be released in this rock ’n’ roll country.

Michael Barclay

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in TORONTO purchase 'GOZO' at Soundscapes (572 College)

CONTACT: CapinanMusic@gmail.com