Negro Leo

Hive Mind are excited to have worked with Rio de Janeiro based label QTV, to bring you this retrospective from the cosmic joker of contemporary Brazilian music, Negro Leo.

NEGRO LEO - White Elephant 2LP

It's hard to know where to start with Negro Leo.

I could start by saying that Negro Leo's background is in Anthropology and Sociology, and that he didn't start making music until he was 28 years old.

I could tell you that in 2020 Paula Gaitán (who has also made films about Arto Lindsay, Eliane Radigue and Agnès Varda) made a documentary film called Riverock: É Rocha e Rio, Negro Leo about him.

I could also tell you that in 2021 he became the subject of a scholarly book called Deixa Quimar (Let It Burn) written by philosophy professor and music critic, Bernardo Oliveira.

I could also tell you that during his recording career over the past nearly 20 years he has collaborated with a who's who of artists at the cutting edge of contemporary Brazilian music including producers Sergio Machado and Renato Godoy and musicians such as Fábio Sá, Lucas Pires, Kiko Dinucci, Juçara Marçal, Domenico Lancellotti, Ricardo Dias Gomes, Eduardo Manso and of course his wife, Ava Rocha. These are some of the artists who have over the years, helped Negro Leo de Pindaré-Mirim (Maranhão), or Leonardo Campelo Gonçalves as shown on his passport, realise his unorthodox, unpredictable and deeply political musical vision.

The music on this retrospective, which draws together songs from his 14 albums, EPs and singles released since 2012, ranges widely and wildly across genres and styles, from the urgent and angular no-wave inspired punk-funk of Niños Heroes or Ilhas de Calor, through the psychedelic hoedown of Noite Invertida or the beautiful and delicate Esferas and on to the maximalist hyperpop of more recent works like RELA or Desejo de Lacrar. Negro Leo consistently confounds, confuses, disturbs and provokes.

His music is explicitly and fiercely Brazilian and draws on the history of black Brazilian music for inspiration - Gilberto Gil and Tropicalism, Itamar Assumpção and the Vanguard Paulista, Funk Carioca, the Boi's rhythm from the northern carnivals, the samba of the streets and the country - it's all thrown into the mix, along with free-jazz, noise and various chunks of non-Brazilian pop. Leo's music and songs serve as an essential documentation of the country's rapidly shifting social fabric in the digital age, a time in which the country and its people feel lost in a 'jungle of pixels'.

Some of these surreal songs can feel overwhelming at times, like a wall of noise full of unfamiliar sounds and rhythms, but there's an unapologetic punk spirit behind it all, alongside a genius composer. It's worth pushing through the that sense of overwhelm to the place where the beauty and complexity of the composition and songwriting shines.


White Elephant Credits:

COMPILATION PRODUCTION: HIVE MIND RECORDS (MARC TEARE) AND QTV SELO (BRUNA LAMEGO, BERNARDO OLIVEIRA, LUAN CORREIA, MARIANA MANSUR)
TRACKS SELECTION: BERNARDO OLIVEIRA & MARC TEARE

MASTERING: JULIAN TARDO, CHURCH ROAD STUDIO

ART DIRECTION: LCUAS P

PHOTOS: RAFAEL MELIGA AT PÂNTANO

THANKS TO MAYANA REDIN, GUSTAVO TORRES AND MÔNICA COSTER FOR THE OBJECTS AND PEDRO MORAES FOR THE TYPEFACES


Credits:

The Newspeak (2012)

Tracks included on White Elephant: The Newspeak
Musicians: pedro dantas (bass), vitor barros (guitar), daniel fernandes (drums), negro leo (guitar, violão and voice)
Producer: Negro Leo


TARA (2013)
Tracks included on White Elephant: The Last Unicorn;
Musicians: Thomas Harres (drums), Marcos Campello (guitar), Pedro Dantas (bass), Negro Leo (voice)
Producers: Leo, Marcos, Thomas and Pedro


Ilhas de Calor (2014)
Tracks included on White Elephant: Ilha de Calor; O Céu dos Otários é Neutro
Musicians: Thomas Harres (drums), Felipe Zenícola (bass), Eduardo Manso (guitar), and Negro Leo (guitar, Wurlitzer, clavinet, vocals).
Producers: Negro Leo, Renato Godoy, Felipe Zenícola, Eduardo Manso & Thomas Harres


Niños Heroes (2015)
Tracks included on White Elephant: niños heroes; rincón poblano; hey steven
Musicians: Thomas Harres (drums), Felipe Zenícola (bass), Eduardo Manso (guitar), and Negro Leo, Marcos Campello (guitar), Paulo Dantas (sax alto), Arthur Lacerda (guitar), Alexander Zhemchuznikov (sax tenor)
Producers: Felipe Zenícola, Eduardo Manso, Thomas Harres, Negro Leo


Água Batizada (2016)
Tracks included on White Elephant: Marcha Para Longe; Fera Mastigada; Noite Invertida; Esferas
Musicians: Negro Leo (voices, guitar, whistles, violão, organ), Eduardo Manso (guitar, piano, organ), Pedro Dantas (bass), Bruno di Lullo (bass), Estevão Casé (synthesizer)
Domenico Lancellotti (drums, percussion), Marcelo Callado (drums, percussion), Ricardo Dias Gomes (organ), Bruno Schiavo (guitar), Roberto Pollo (organ)
Producers: Estevão Casé, Eduardo Manso & Negro Leo


Action Lekking (2017)
Tracks included on White Elephant: Lek Lover; O Pato Vai ao BRICS
Musicians: Negro Leo (violão e voz), Sergio Machado (drums, synth), Fábio Sá (bass), Bruno Schiavo (violão).
Producers: Negro Leo, Eduardo Manso, Pedro Paulo (Pepê) Monnerat, Renato Godoy.


Coisado (2017)
Tracks included on White Elephant: No Oil Enough; Coisado
Musicians: Domenico Lancellotti (drums, sampler, percussion), Felipe Zenícola (electric bass), Eduardo Manso (sampler, electric guitar), Max Jorge HC (synthesizer), and Negro Leo (piano, organ, vocals).
Producers: Eduardo Manso, Lucas Pires, and Negro Leo.


Desejo de Lacrar (2020)
Tracks included on White Elephant: desejo de lacrar; dança erradassa; makes e fakes; the big one
Musicians: Fábio Sá: bass and string arrangements, Chicão: piano, synth, organ and whistle, Sergio Machado (Plim): drums, percussion, programming, synth, samplers and string arrangements, Negro Leo: viola, whistle and voice
Producer: Sergio Machado (Plim)


CAC CAC CAC (2020)
Tracks included on White Elephant: SACRIFY, SINTONIZA, QUE LOUCURA
Musicians: Negro Leo (VITROLA, YOUTUBE PLAYER AND VOICE)
Producers: Negro Leo & Renato Godoy


INFELIZMENTE (2021)
Tracks included on White Elephant: tmf
Musicians: negro leo (programming, keyboards and voices), sergio machado (plim) (drums, programming, editing and effects)
Producers: negro leo & sergio machado (plim)


Schwarzfahren (2021)
Tracks included on White Elephant: dutch west india company
(this album is the soundtrack of the video installation 'schwarzfahren' by negro leo and ava rocha, commissioned by berliner festspiele/ jazzfest berlin in cooperation with manoela wright and juliano gentile)
Musicians: Negro Leo (piano, voice, programming, turntable), Sergio Machado (drums), Pedro Dantas (bass), and Bruno Schiavo (synths)
Producers: Negro Leo and Renato Godoy


RELA feat MAY TUTI (2022)
Musicians: Wallace Função (programming and percussion), Rodrigo Coelho (bass), Negro Leo (synths), Rodrigo Coelho (synths), Wallace Função (synths), Negro Leo (voice), May Tuti (voice), Gabriel Cyr (Voice effects)
Producer: Wallace Função

RELA (2024)
Tracks included on White Elephant: Date My Age; Me Ensina a Te Castigar; Online Agora
Musicians: Enlists avant-garde mainstays including Juçara Marçal, Mbé, and Kiko Dinucci.
Producer: Renato Godoy