ARALUME

QUINTETO ARMORIAL were a five piece band from Brazil who formed in 1970 and disbanded in 1980. They managed to release four studio albums during this time, with the first two being highly recommended by fans. They were an all acoustic band with some traditional instruments in play. I love that another reviewer referred to their music as "pure". And I like that they could pull up in a van, setup in 5 minutes and be playing to an adoring audience that would just grow. No drum kit here, but three of the guys play percussion. No vocals either.

This is their sophomore release from 1976, and we get eight tracks worth under 35 minutes. It's that third song with the long title that stands out at over 7 1/2 minutes. It feels like they pieced this one together, but it works. I don't feel like the interplay is as impressive as on their debut, and the music here is more mature, but the debut is the one to get in my opinion. I'm not into all acoustic music but that debut left me so impressed that I later came back and bumped it up from 3.5 stars to 4 stars. This one is a step down in my opinion, but I could imagine folk fans pointing to this one as their favourite from this band.

According to one Bio I read, their music consisted of combing that Brazilian renaissance style with European medieval ones. There was an actual movement in Brazil back then called the Armorial Movement which was based in northeastern Brazil. Sort of a digging into Brazil's cultural past in an artistic manner, combined with folklore. And this band really represents well that ethos, but without lyrics. The front cover certainly shows that good versus evil reality.

Such a talented band, and I kept thinking of this band doing what I suggested earlier, playing on the street and imaging the crowd growing and growing. They won a prestigious critics award in San Paulo in 1974 after the release of their debut. Folk fans need to check this band out! I gave their debut 4 stars, but I feel this is a definite step down.