Track Listing

1. Sobre o Amor e Seu Trabalho Silencioso
2. Cangote - CéU, , Gigante Brazil
3. Comadi
4. Bubuia - CéU, , Negresko Sis
5. Nascente
6. Grains de Beauté
7. Vira Lata - CéU, , Luíz Melodia
8. Papa
9. Ponteiro
10. Cordão da Insônia
11. Rosa Menina Rosa - CéU, , Sebosos Postizos,
12. Sonâmbulo
13. Espaçonave

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5219 in Music
• Brand: Dig
• Released on: 2009-07-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .17 pounds

Customer Reviews

Fresh and inviting.
"Vagarosa" is the highly anticipated new studio offering from the young, beautiful and talented singer/songwriter Céu after her acclaimed 2005 sef-titled debut album.
It's certainly worth the wait.
Céu - real name Maria do Ceu Whitaker Pocas, it means "sky" in Portuguese and is pronounced "sell" - possesses a strikingly pure voice, and her tastes are unfailingly eclectic.
Her voice is not only beautiful, it's also brilliantly flexible.
She sounds as self-assured and poised as you'd expect from an independent musician from São Paulo.
On her new lbum she mostly sticks to the style and grooves that made her famous as the most interesting singer to come out of Brazil since astrud Glberto and Bebel Gilberto.
Electro influences are discreetly scattered around, a dash of reggae (check the track "Cangote") is there also.
She takes the São Paulo sound into after-hours territory, framing and multi-tracking her fragile, silky-smooth yet punchy and sexy voice with space-warped reggae beats, DJ scratching and some beautiful, dark-toned horns.
Add some elegantly warm jazz lite and soul textures, and you have all the makings of a summer hit.
She writes all the tracks, with only one exception, the Jorge Ben's "Rosa Menina", which she covers in a brlliantly psychedelic and breezy fashion.
My favourite tracks: "Bubuia", "Grains de Beauté, and 'Ponteiro".
CéU
New Morning

A Little Night Music in the Tropics
CeU's "Vagarosa" is an electrifying follow-up to her self-titled debut two years ago. She has honed her craft considerably, experimenting with a variety of sounds. Her debut was perfect coffee shop music--this one is more dreamlike, with the Moog and the Hammond organ. Imagine Bat for Lashes' "Two Suns" if it had a samba/reggae beat. "Vagarosa" is perfect for lounging and dreaming. Enjoy it with a cup of capirinha or Brazilian coffee.

"Vagarosa" opens with the simple "Sobre O Amor E Seu Trabalho Silencioso"--it's basically a duet between CeU and her guitarist. "Cangote" has a rippling reggae beat. The mellotron is featured in "Comadi." "Nascente" has a strong horn section,with a retro sound to it. CeU has rightly been equated with Gal Costa,the diva of Brazil's psychedelic Tropicalista movement. "Grains de Beaute" has a simple,acoustic beauty. "Ponteiro" evokes carnival music. "Rosa Menina Rosa" is lilting and dreamlike. The closing, "Espaconave" samples Amazon rainforest sounds. The riffs are reminiscent of Santana's jam sessions.

"Vagarosa" is hardly a sophomore slump. It's psychedelic samba! Venture into this colorful rainforest of music.

Even better than her first release
"Vagarosa" far surpasses her self-titled first release, "CéU," which was a truly excellent CD itself. The arrangements on "Vagarosa" go well beyond what one generally associates with "Brazilian" music, giving the whole affair a fresh and universal flavor. Many of the rhythms seem more tango-influenced than samba-like, which also makes this album a bit multiculti and difficult to pigeon-hole. Moreover, it is unusual to hear so much organ playing in any Latin music, which gradually eliminated any expectation I had when I first put this CD into my player. The closest comparison I can come up with is the music of Julieta Venegas, especially her "MTV Unplugged" and one of my all-time favorite CDs, "Limon y Sal."

CéU is no dilettante or overnight wonder. Born Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças, her father is a composer and musicologist, and she studied the classic and popular music of Brazil and music theory before embarking on her own career as a musician. Her serious study of music shows in the complexity of the compositions, arrangement, and choices of instrumentation on "Vagarosa." While some would classify the music of CéU as "pop," it really deserves a bit more attention to the details than that. In fact, "Vagarosa" ranges from rock and jazz to Latin to a bit of experimentation and, in the end, offers an exciting musical journey. I generally don't go for hyperbole, but in my opinion this CD deserves more than the five stars allowed here.