Xang | ja

Xang: A new young quartet playing an instrumental prog close to PENDRAGON coming from the north of France. The French guys are offering here all that the heart desires: Mysterious chords envelop strong guitar riffs, melodies on which we can dream and all kinds of varieties, that results in the listening of demo there is no boring. The guitar playing recalls very strongly Steve HACKETT and bass and keyboard players let themselves be inspired by MARILLION. It's complex, sometimes quiet, sometimes loud and always very intriguing, like a mix between ARENA, DREAM THEATER, FLAMBOROUGH HEAD, GENESIS, IQ, LANDS END, RUSH...

Xangai, also known by his real name Eugênio Avelino, is a artist from Brazil who write and sings traditional northeastern songs, many of them related to "sertão", an interior countryside part of Brasil, known for its dryness and harsh conditions of living. He is a native from the Bahia state in Brazil. Xangai is gifted with a great voice and often teams with Elomar in song-writing and performance as in the Xangai Canta Cantigas, Incelenças, Puluxias e Tiranas de Elomar album. Many Xangai records have been released by the Kuarup label (in Brazil). .

Xangadix began as an ambient-trance outfit, with a line-up of Pino Shamlou and Benjamin Wild (Pino and Wildjamin), but as their sophomore record was released it was evident that they had evolved into something more. Their ethereal and often quite complicated music was unusual for the early Fax label - even Namlook, the label's chief composer, wasn't working at this echelon yet. The music could broadly be referred to as downtempo, but it's got the mandatory electro beats and quite a strong groove throughout. The first record isn't inferior, though - it has virtues of its own, always managing to...

A talented improviser, Xangô da Mangueira's uncanny ability of composing in the heat of the moment earned him the nickname O Rei do Partido Alto ("The King of Partido Alto"). Deserving much more recognition, having made a comparable contribution to world music as Cartola and Nelson Cavaquinho, da Mangueira wrote about 150 compositions, some of which were recorded by Clara Nunes, Martinho Da Vila, and himself, as a single and four LPs released during the '70s and in the early '80s. The first came in 1972, called O Rei do Partido Alto -- titled after his nickname. Not mentioning compilations...