Fauna

by Jneiro Jarel

Jarel's been on my radar for a while, through his pseudonymous work as Dr. Who Dat and The Shape of Broad Minds, as well as through the odd production credit on some hip-hop albums.  Fauna is the first album I've bought where the credit is given to him alone, and it's a nice little album.

If I were to describe this simply, I would say that Jarel is the Brazilian Flying Lotus.  He works in the same mindscape of tripped out and abstract beats, but there is more of a South American warmth and feel to this.

The album opens with a discussion of the threat to the Brazilian rain forest, although there is not necessarily an ecological theme to the entire disk.  The second track, 'Castaju Cajunea' has a bit of a Deep Forest vibe, as indigenous singing gets a lush electronic backdrop.  The majority of these twelve tracks are instrumental, although 'Wave Trip' has vocals sung in Portuguese.  This is a lovely album.