DOS BENEFÍCIOS DUM VENDIDO NO REINO DOS BONIFÁCIOS

Folk-Rock ensemble hailing from the Iberian peninsula and formed by singer Antonio Pinho and pianist Luis Linhares,both former members of Filharmónica Fraude,a musical project which failed due to political reasons.The two of them met with ex-Musica Novarum guitarist Nuno Rodrigues and bassist/cellist Celso de Carvalho to establish the basic form of BANDA DO CASACO,who meant to be one of the historical bands in Portugese history.First album ''Dos benefícios dum vendido no reino dos bonifácios'' was recorded in 1974 but only released the next year ,fortunately a CD re-issue would follow about 20 years later on Phillips.

BANDA DO CASACO was always a group dealing with social and political issues and thus they became very popular in their country.Their sound is very far from the rock attitude,actually this album could easily be described as Folk music with experimental and psych elements here and there.12 short tracks with extensive lyrical content do not leave much space for adventuruous musicianship,however some of them contain quite nice passages close to the progressive rock nature:acoustic guitars and piano interplays,delicate flutes,a few grandiose horn sections and a good dose of complex violins,contra-bass and cellos offer sometimes a decent music experience.Unfortunately the shorter tracks are only dominated by Acoustic Music and vocals and a foreign listener loses such way his interest,unless you are familiar with the Portugese language.Speaking of vocals,both male and female work here is very nice,sometimes presenting decent polyphonic lines.As for the typical rock instrumentation,only ''Cocktail do Braço de Prata'' and ''Horas de Ponta e Mola'' contain a few distinctive electric moments supported by some beatiful piano and keys...and please notice the total absence of a drummer.

The final result is a big question mark in my head.Lots of stuff in here sounds really boring and leaves me rather cold,while the musicianship can get sometimes really intricate and challenging,regarding the clear folk nature of the band.The accurate rating is exactly 5/10,but I will upgrade this one to three stars,considering the album's importance and the quite original sound of the band.For pure folk fans though,this would be possibly a highly recommended album.