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Brazilian Girls

"Brazilian Girls" is a name designed to steer you to the "wrong" sites in a Web search, and the not-so-thinly-veiled innuendo (one chorus is "Pussy pussy pussy marijuana") doesn't help either. But the music the Brazilian Girls make is more seductive than salacious. And except for one member, they aren't girls. The one who is, Italian-born Sabina Sciubba, is a former jazz singer who has the hipper-than-thou chanteuse thing going: a cigarette dangling from her lips, a beret cocked sideways on her head, black-stockinged legs crossed suggestively... at least she sure sounds that way. Sciubba sits astride basslines that insinuate themselves like a sideways glance in a smoky bar, as a sensual mix of live drumming and gritty trip-hop lounge grooves skew to the side of late-night alcohol-clouded vision. The English, French, Spanish, and German-language lyrics and Weill/Brecht-meets-Baja Marimba Band horns only add to the delirious dislocation. With a sophisticated electronic palette, Brazilian Girls exude that hip retro-future sound that propelled Deee-Lite back in 1990. Hopefully they won't also be one-hit wonders. --John Diliberto

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Customer Review:

The Under a Groove movement has begun

Brazilian girls are a cool band they have musical variety and catchy, kitchy little choruses. For example, "pussy, pussy..."

We all know the connotations of this. Pussy Galore, from Gold finger, among other things.

But, the true variety in dance music and funk grooves is now on two albums. Paris under a groove and San Francisco under a groove. These are the dance records taking us into the twenty first century. Its a new movement. And a new groove. peace.

Enter Mystery

I was looking to order some Brazilian music; and, through inadvertence I ordered The Brazilian Girls. Imagine my surprise when I heard the 1st cut. Was that the same voice that appears on the CD "Dirty Child"? I could swear that Sabina Sciubba and Rosy are one in the same. No two women could have the same sexy, sultry, intriguing voice. It is also interesting to note (even though Sabina is cleverly shrouded) the similarity between the two women's facial features: same mouth, same nose. To top it off, both women wrote most of the music on both CDs. But enough of that! I don't want my imagination to detract from the music here. This is a talented group of artists that should appeal to a universal audience. If Sabina's voice doesn't wow you or the accompaniment doesn't slay you, you aren't ready for one very sexy CD. Buy this one; you won't be disappointed.

WOW!!!!!

I only heard of the Brazilian Girls a few days ago and, am I glad I did. I'm not big on writing flowery reviews. But, all I can say is, this might be one of my favorite cds of all times. The mood this cd gives off is so much more than sexy... "Homme" draws you in from the first note. Every song after that is as good as the one before it. If you're in to a good time and good music with a lot of sensuality, go for it. I'm recommending this cd to everyone I know. Like I said "WOW"!!!!

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Keywords: Adult Alternative Pop/Rock; Club/Dance; Dance Music; Downbeat; Downtempo; Electronic; Pop;

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Mary Poppins

Winner of five Oscars (including two for Richard and Robert Sherman's memorable slate of songs), Disney's 1964 adaptation of British author P.L. Travers' beloved children's tales melded live action, animation and music more successfully than any film before or since. Containing the most complete version of the Sherman Brothers' score and a wealth of previously unavailable behind-the-scenes treasures, this double-disc, 40th anniversary soundtrack edition becomes the ultimate musical tribute to the beloved family masterpiece. The Sherman's memorable songs are showcased here in a more comprehensive musical context than ever before; indeed, a number of the expanded or previously unreleased pieces of the Irwin Kostal-arranged underscore now included were truncated in editing the film itself. The generous bonus disc contains the set's greatest historical treasure: a 40+ minute pre-production story meeting between the Shermans, gag writer Don DaGradi and author Travers herself. Also included is a lengthy 1964 audio documentary featuring the Shermans and stars Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, an audio montage of the songwriting team reminiscing and playing their original demos for the project and an illustrated 40-page companion booklet containing a history of the project as well as complete song lyrics. -- Jerry McCulley

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Futures

Enhanced;

Soundtrack;

Special Edition;

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Customer Review:

Mary is 'Top of the Pops'

My whole family loves this cd. In fact, we recently took a road trip and took it along and my 4 year-old daughter loves to sing to just about every song. She also likes to hear some songs more than once. The soundtrack cd can be listened to all the way through. One of the all time great albums. The second cd is great for people who like to have some behind the scenes. This cd is an A+ for my daughters aged 4 and 1.

A perfect compliment to the 40th anniversary DVD set!

With the release of the 40th Anniversary two-disc edition of Mary Poppins onto DVD(see my review)there is nothing that could compliment it better than this two disc special edition of the Mary Poppins soundtrack onto CD.
This soundtrack now mirrors the movie as no other release before has done.The music now plays and appears in the order that it does in the movie.Also new background and bridging music has been added to either expand existing cuts or released on its' own.It is an absolute joy to hear and is the closest thing to actually watching the movie itself.
And if this newly remastered soundtrack wasn't enough Disney has added a bonus disc.The first cut consists of approximately 41 minutes of the original six hour meeting of the author of the Mary Poppins books,Mrs. P. Travers, going through a rough version of the story with Disney staff.
The second is a 17 minute interview with the two main stars Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews,the Sherman brothers(responsible for most of the music) and the musical director Irwin Kostal.
The third and last track is the Sherman brothers reminiscing for about 16 minutes on their work on the picture.
Like the DVD extras these CD extras are very revealing,educational and generally enhance ones' viewing of and experience with the movie.
There is only one Mary Poppins soundtrack you MUST own and it is THIS one.Get yours.

Perfect !

This is the first time I'm writing a review on Amazon but I've actually been buying here for a long time now. I bought the CD because I noticed that was included the music inbetween the songs. And I gotta say Whoa!! This is like the best item I've ever seen or bought ! For such a low price (at 13.99) you've got everything you ever wished for that is included in the CD. I mean it's the first time you can ACTUALLY listen the whole soundtrack and not just the songs ! Moreover, the packaging is very really good ! Walt Disney Records did there an excellent job so I'd like to thank them for what they did and I'd like to thank the late Walt Disney for making this great movie that is Mary Poppins ! Hope you enjoy the soundtrack pals !

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Keywords: Keyboard; Miscellaneous; Miscellaneous Music; Music for Keyboard; Musicals; Orchestral; Orchestral Music; Original Score; Pop; Show Tunes; Soundtrack; Soundtracks; Soundtracks & Film Scores;

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Celtic Woman

Fueled by healthy public appetite for traditional melodies and quasi-ethnic roots, the crossover genre continues to flourish with this debut release from Ireland's Celtic Woman ensemble. The brainchild of Sharon Browne, Dave Kavanaugh (founders of Ireland's successful Celtic Collections label) and young Riverdance touring company musical director David Downes, CW's five young women musicians and vocalists offer up an ever pleasant, Eire-savvy fusion of folk, pop and classical influences. Avoiding the intrusive, club-beat/sex kitten window dressing of Bond, the ensemble tackles material that ranges from the expected (spare, lovely covers of "Danny Boy" and "Ave Maria") to more adventurous fare like "Nella Fantasia" (Ennio Morricone's vocal adaptation of his rapturous theme from The Mission) and Enya's "Orinoco Flow." Elsewhere, "The Butterfly" offers up fiddle-fueled take on their Riverdance parallels (which also get a workout on the live bonus tracks), if renditions of Downes' originals like "One World" and "Send Me a Song" and "Someday" from Disney's animated Hunchback of Notre Dame hew slavishly to the middle of the road -- which largely seems the album's easy-listening intention. --Jerry McCulley

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Customer Review:

Eire de Toilette

The most revolting piece of Irish drivel since the onslaught of the execrable Enya, this dreary, detestable piece of Irish goop inches slowly to gold status thanks in no small part to the profusion of PBS. Their animism naive, and the soft-core eroticism snares the male demographic for all its perky refrain. My grade: D

More than a fad ... delightful renaissance of musicianship and melody

You've seen these world music phenomena happen before: a sudden interest in some exotic fare such as Cuban music or teen opera or tap dancing or pretty Asian violinists, and all of the sudden, millions of suburbanites are rushing to keep up with their neighbors and the newest musical trend. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But CELTIC WOMAN is so much more than a fad and so much more than a token of the listener's trendiness.

These ladies have spine-tinglingly lovely voices and their interpretations add new life to many familiar tunes and cast a warm glow on some tunes that are not as familiar. The traditional Celtic instrumentation is rich, but restrained and played flawlessly. However, "flawless" doesn't mean "soulless." In fact, each singer and musician brings a great deal of passion and loving care to this presentation.

Standout cuts...and it's tough to choose because they are all good...would include: "Harry's Game," "May it Be," "Nella Fantasia," and the standard "She Moved Thru the Fair."

This is a Must-have CD. Not because your neighbor has it. But because you will find a great deal of comfort and inspiration each time you hear it.

One thing this release proves (as well as some of the other PBS-fueled phenomena in the past) is that American audiences are very hungry for classical melodies, stellar musicianship, and thoughful vocals.

PBS scores!

This CD is an excellent example of why some of us have stopped contributing to PBS. Why do I bother to review something I find so irrelevant? Only because the term "classical" is used by the Amazon reviewer and others. There is nothing remotely approaching classical music in this compilation of dental office Muzak; no potential buyer should be conned into thinking there's classical music here. Even Lawrence Welk would have been ashamed to put his name on drivel like this.

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Keywords: Celtic Pop; Celtic/Irish; Contemporary Celtic; Int'l & World Music; Pop; Television Soundtrack;

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The Chorus (Les Choristes)

Already a box office sensation with a million-selling soundtrack in its native France, writer/director Christopher Barratier's tale of a post-war music teacher's lasting impact on his young charges rode its formulaic Hollywood roots all the way to Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Foreign Language Film, as well as an Oscar nod for Best Song ("Look To Your Path [Vois Sur Ton Chemin]," a collaboration between the director and film composer Bruno Coulais). Taking his inspiration from the boy's chorus at the center of the film's drama, Coulais has concocted a masterful, classically rooted score that showcases the crystalline, youthful harmonies of Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc Choir. The composer bridges the baroque and modern eras in a collection of mostly Latin choruses and chants, a skillful, often haunting fusion that also netted Coulais' compelling score BAFTA and Cesar Awards in Britain and his native France, respectively. -- Jerry McCulley

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Futures

Soundtrack;

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Customer Review:

Les Choristes

I was very impressed with the service from Amazon as it was my first purchase with them. I live in Peru South American and my CD arrived within a very short time after I ordered it. It arrived safely and complete, and of course, the CD itself is magnificent. The movie was very good and the music is incredible! If you are a chorus enthusiast, you simply must have this CD!

Haunting. Ethereal. Wonderful.

I'd never heard of this composer before, but after having viewed "The Chorus", I was desperate to lay my hands on the soundtrack! The hauntingly ethereal quality of the boys' voices is remarkable. Just as with any fine Italian opera, the listener need not comprehend the language (in this case French) to appreciate this music -- although, quite thoughtfully, the English translation of each song's lyrics is found in the accompanying booklet.

Anyone who appreciates choral music, particularly as performed by a boys' choir, will find the soundtrack of "The Chorus" a highlighted piece for 2004 (or 2005, whenever it became available in the U.S.!).

Very good

I first watched this on an in-flight platform. Already, the score had appealed to me, although my french is rudimentary at best.

This soundtrack is a very lovely piece of work. I rarely come across something quite as good. Selected mentions include:

Track 4: Pepinot. This is an instrumental piece, woodwind, piano and strings. Very sensitive and slightly moving. If you have seen the movie, it really fits Pepinot's character so well.

Track 5: A reprisal of track 1. Already very well reviewed. I have nothing to add.

Track 7: Together with La Nuit, they are the highlights. Again, the melody hauntingly mirrors that of Track 4. After enchanting the first verse by the choir, the background orchestra tunes down, increasing the haunting woodwinds, and the lead singer comes in, blowing me away. He reprised the choir perfectly.

Tracks 9 and 16: Kites / paper planes. Almost mirror images. Fast paced and catchy. Childlike in innocence. This was sung during the scene where Clement Mathieu had to depart, and the boys, locked up in a tower, threw paper planes written with messages for him out of the window...

Very strong buy rating recommended.

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Keywords: Film; Film Music; France; Miscellaneous; Miscellaneous Music; Movie Themes; Original Score; Pop; Soundtrack; Soundtracks; Soundtracks & Film Scores;

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