Loronix

There are things in Brazil — like favelas, the horrible degree of traffic in Sao Paulo, and some of the bum sizes I’ve seen — that I don’t think will ever cease to amaze me even if I live here for the rest of my life. The other one is the rock-strong music tradition that still sees adolescent grandkids singing the same samba songs as their grandparents, word for word and beat by beat. I kid you not, to see it in real life can give you the warm, flush fuzzies. On my quest for more cozy feelings I found Loronix, one of those few MP3 blogs out there still big-upping Brazilian classics well after the resurge of tropicalia from a few years ago. It features rare Brazilian music from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s in categories spanning mandolin (yes!) to samba, an artist a day with lovingly detailed description and not just one song but often the whole shebang of the album. It’s one of the most valuable resources I’ve seen yet on the subject. Moreover, it’s actually written in English, so get to it!