Black$ea Não Maya - "Tropas de Aldeia"

Time is neither a straight line nor a circle. Try as it might, time does not possesses the ability to fly either.

If time - shapeless formless, and oh so intangible - were to take any form, though, it would most likely be a sixteen foot tall golden figure. An eighteen feet foot alternative is also possible.

Replete with three heads and eight elbows, this image of Father Time is...atypical. Rarely will any timepiece possess more than two limbs. A third appears on occasion, nut hardly is it present for long enough to merit discussion The siamese nature is much more surprising. Time may heal all wounds, wound all heels, but it typically it maintains only one face. All in all, the passage of time is difficult to grasp, and even more troubling to come to terms with. If for no other reason, then, the Zen master Dōgen Zenji wrote, "'Being time' means that time is being."

Time is arbitrary and artificial; the challenge is to become it.

Or, at the very lesast come up with a clever way to mark it. It this reason, then, that the author observes the approximate passage of 60 days with a familiar label: BlNM season.

Hackiness aside, he Setubal/Margem Sul crew does not release new songs on definite time-table. Schedules be damned. Still, ever very other month is a pretty good estimate for when a Black$ea Não Maya track will appear. The group's last sound of 2014, "MacoBayou," was released  near the end of December. Needless to say a new song has been in order; a void filled by "Tropas de Aldeia." After all BNM has been quiet, but silent. An individual account credited to beat-maker Noronha appeared late last year. And while only one original sound was released - promptly hidden from public view - some careful reposting has kept the name fresh.

What follows is different, but not altogether surprising, Very similar to the Noronha track mentioned above,  "Tropas de Aldeia," moves away from the group's butaco wave.  A hard right turns takes BNM ttoward afro-house. This is a heavy synth track with a mid to fast-tempo. The song below is percussive nonetheless, and driven primarily by a tambourine and a hand drum. Vocals are heard throughout, but not call and response. At this point the similarities end. In addition to the EDM melody, "Tropas de Aldeia" is structured A-B-C-bridge-A-D; the last section coincidentally showcasing little more than a drum loop. Which is to say The song is well-mixed and polished. An electric guitar, with a semba tinge, is heard as well. The initial inclination is to enjoy the track from a distance. Any objection, though, seems reactionary do to its being different; a poor reason to oppose any new apparition.

Until the next BNM season...

- John Noggle