Konkret Dance 1986-89 by R. Mutt - Slum Dunk [SDM015]

Konkret Dance 1986-89

R. Mutt

A 15 track post-punk album (43m 7s) — released December 4th 2020 on Slum Dunk

#alternative #post-punk

R. Mutt - Konkret Dance 1986-89

Konkret Dance 1986-89 is the unreleased first album by Brazilian post-punk quartet R. Mutt from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The record features a collection of 15 songs recorded between 1986-89 taken from their only two cassette tapes, respectively self-titled 1 & 2.

R. Mutt was an experimental post-punk / electronic group formed in 1986 by Bruno Verner on vocals, guitar, keyboards and sampling (also on Tetine, Divergência Socialista, Ida & os Voltas), Karla Xavier, on vocals, keyboards and percussion (also on AKT), Bernardo Rennó on drums, keyboards, electronics and percussion (also on Ida & Os Voltas), Marcos Basho on bass-guitar and Frederico Pessoa, bass-player on the first line-up. Some of the band's recordings were included in the compilation Colt 45 - Underground Post Punk, Tropical Tapes, Lo-Fi Electronics and Other Sounds from Brazil 1983-1993, previously released on Slum Dunk Music in 2018.

Making use of drum machines, synths and cheap samplers, R. Mutt's dystopian echoing soundscapes combined glacial electronic instrumentation with female and male half-spoken/half-sung vocals; folk introspection, dark basslines & metal percussion, with an urgent and poetic dada-surrealistic lyricism.

Part of the same iconoclastic art-punk scene from Belo Horizonte of bands such as Divergência Socialista, Ida & Os Voltas, Sexo Explícito, O Último Número, Hosana Nas Alturas, Xiitas, Alma Ciborg, Os Contras, Sylvia Klein, Crime-Ópera amongst others, R.Mutt performed in several local underground bars, clubs, cinemas, universities and auditoriums; playing shows in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte & Juiz de Fora in venues such as Madame Satã, Espaço Retrô, Sesc Pompéia Complexo B, Crepúsculo dos Deuses, DCE da UFMG, Icbeu, PUC, Teatro Cenário among others.

Konkret Dance 1986-89 features distinct moments of the group, drawing on their electronic experiments through to their goth-punk-industrial and folk/acoustic side; revealing to the listener an unusual and overlooked Brazilian post-punk repertoire of atmospheric dub-landscapes, ambient, cosmic synth-pop and percussive experimentation, with a penchant for an icy & lyrical-melancholic expressionist post-tropicalist instrumentation. The album also includes performances of the band at the legendary São Paulo underground club Madame Satã in 1987, as well as other live registers recorded at Belo Horizonte's Rock Líquido project in 1988 held at PUC University's student union.

The group disbanded in 1989 with Bruno Verner later forming Tetine with Eliete Mejorado in the early 1990s in São Paulo, and vocalist & keyboard player Karla Xavier, forming the all-female post punk outfit AKT with Sandra Coutinho (of Mercenárias), Biba Meira (of Defalla) & Dequinha (Bruhaha Babélico), and later on, The Gilbertos with her partner Thomas Pappon (also on Fellini).

Produced and remastered by Bruno Verner at Mi Casa Es Su Casa.

Art Cover by Eliete Mejorado – from an original concert poster of R Mutt from 1987.

* In memoriam of Karla Xavier, who have tragically died in a bicycle accident in London on October 4th, 2020.

Stealing their name from one of Marcel Duchamps' alter egos, R.Mutt tracks dissolve into echoing shouts, dubbed rhythms, and offbeat effects - their blend of freeform experimentation with a little art history on the side establishing the only operational parameters for this insane, exhilarating collection. You may as well start dancing now. - Ken Hollings The Wire

Is the seemingly bottomless treasure chest that is Brazilian post-punk really as deep as it seems? Brazil in UK ambassadors of all things out-there Tetine seem to think so as this release from their label Slum Dunk shows that outside the Rio-São Paulo axis the kids were just as groovy, getting down to the Tropical-goth beat. Slam Dunk previously mined this seam with Colt 45: Underground Post-Punk, Tropical Tapes, Lo-Fi Electronics and other sounds from Brazil (1983-1993) which was a pretty deep dive into the Brazilian post-punk scene, even after the Não Wave and The Sexual Life of the Savages collections from the early noughties had cherry picked the minor classics. However, being true crusaders to the cause they continue burrowing with this slice of Mineiro (from Minas) alternative rock featuring Bruno Verner from Tetine in his bright shining rosy-cheeked youth along with Karla Xavier (who recently tragically died in a bike accident), Bernardo Rennó, and a selection of bass players. R. Mutt were a key band in the Belo Horizonte punk scene and you can see here why, we have the classic post-punk sound of upfront bass, swishing, squelchy eighties synths and rattling biscuit tin drum machines that absorb all the usual European influences but you can also hear echos of bands like Danse Society, March Violets and Xmal-Deutschland. As with the re-release of Mumia this year, if you’re a fan of dubby electronics and primitive sampling there’s much to love here. - Andy Cumming Sounds & Colours

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