Wax Poetic
Brasil
(NuBlu)
Turkish-born and New York-based arranger/producer Ilhan Ersahin, working under the name Wax Poetic, presents a scattershot of styles on Brasil. The only consistency throughout: the big-ass kick drum that dominates every track and ends up distracting the listener. (Wax Poetic’s roots are in trip-hop, a low-end, heavy-footed genre, after all.) The beats don’t vary enough to hold one’s attention. And must Bebel Gilberto appear on virtually every Brazilian-themed recording? She sings and writes a song for this album and frankly, it’s boring. While contributions by Otto (a vocalist who can join the ranks of Seu Jorge) and Forro in the Dark work well, the album falters overall.
Sean Flinn
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.