LICK MY FAVELA & LET YOUR X's B Y's

LICK MY FAVELA - 12" version taken from the LP L.I.C.K MY FAVELA  (Kute Bash, 2006). 
BRUTALLY INDEPENEDENT SINCE 1995.

LET YOUR X'S BE Y'S (Soul Jazz Records, 2008)

" After wearing out the shine on my copy of their ‘Lick My Favela’ CD, it’s good to have Tetine back with a new release. The Brazilian duo are dropping a full length for choice UK label Soul Jazz Records on April 29th, preceded right at this moment by the Deize Tigrona voiced-single ‘I Go To The Doctor’ (featuring a tidy electro remix from local neighbours CSS).

Unless my thick fingers are deceiving me, ‘Let Your Xs Be Ys’ is Tetine’s eighth album, rollercoasting on a journey that began with 1996’s ‘Alexander’s Grave’, a release which drew musical comparisons with Philip Glass and theatrical similarities to Antonin Artaud - quite a combination. Yet this experimental hyrbid of music and performance has come to define Bruno Verner and Eliete Mejorado over the last 12 years - taking them from their Brazilian home to a long-standing residence in the UK and creative partnerships with Robin Rimbaud (Scanner), Sophie Calle and Igloo, and appearances at Sao Paulo’s Sonar, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Barbican Centre, Miami Music Conference and London’s South Bank.

Trying to pin down Tetine’s sound is almost an artform in itself - veering from the Clash’n'Kraftwerk beds that make up their largely funk-focussed aforementioned Favela EP, to the electronic rumble of last year’s single ‘A Historia Da Garca’, to the mix of electro, baile funk, minimal, new wave and sparse post punk on this latest release.

It’s perhaps no surprise that Tetine played curatorial duties on two important Brazilian compilations a few years back - ‘Slam Dunk Presents Funk Carioca’ (the first funk compilation released outside of Brazil) and ‘The Sexual Life Of Savages’ (also on Soul Jazz) - a near-defintive history of early 80s Brazilian post punk.

Ingested with their history in mind, ‘Let Your Xs Be Ys’ feels as playful as it is relaxed - soundtracking an artistic project that wears its authenticity, confidence and continuing need for experimentation proudly on its sleeve. Less ‘we do not give a fuck’, more ‘we do not need to give a fuck’ - a crucial difference in a music market riddled with attitude, desperately seeking substance." FAT PLANET (AUSTRALIA)

"Tetine are Feminists, un-followers and inventors of their own scene; an uncut diamond. If Art is really dead, then Tetine belong to a "nameless" genre - the makers of something wild, something alive."  Chicks On Speed

What makes Tetine so good is that their off-beat, messy quality makes them natural, seemingly effortless, and therefore beautiful.'  Vanessa Labi, The URB - 4,5/5

"The off-kilter, mutated funk, electro and sound manipulation that comprises this inventive and gravely album is an absolute treat" Joe Shooman, PLAN B, June 2008

"Il's se sont mis a la musique, avec une fixation sur l'electro au premier sens du term, soit le hip hop new yorkais sous influence Kraftwerk pratique par Afrika Bambaaata et consorts au debut des 80's ...  Meilleur morceau LET THE X BE X" Technicart France 4/5

"The gleeful merging of 80's synths, baile funk beats and Bruno Verner's  non-singing voice allow them to push over an hour mark." Tim Jonze, UNCUT 4/5

‘Soul Jazz have snapped them up and the results are hottt’ 
Tim Noakes Dazed & Confused. (recommended albums)

'The album is a breath of fresh air; at times evocative of early Pet Shop Boys, on tracks like What A Gift To Get, and at others conjuring up the template for the joyful sound of new Brazil on Ai Amor/Me So Horny. As a piece it holds together with wit and charm. Kinder than their full-on live shows it pulls you in and holds you with its ever changing flow and colour, never boring, always inventive’.  Nick Tesco / Music Week 

"Brazilian duo prone to rithualistic performances headline with a sound that ranges across electro punk, atonal orchestral pieces, baile funk and Miami bass..." Time Out London, Critics Choice.

'Trying to pin down Tetine’s sound is almost an artform in itself . Ingested with their history in mind, ‘Let Your Xs Be Ys’ feels as playful as it is relaxed - soundtracking an artistic project that wears its authenticity, confidence and continuing need for experimentation proudly on its sleeve. Less ‘we do not give a fuck’, more ‘we do not need to give a fuck’ - a crucial difference in a music market riddled with attitude, desperately seeking substance.  Stuart Buchanan, FAT PLANET BLOG

"A Historia Da Garca sounds like a soundtrack for a dystopian flick: acid sounds; cool Portuguese raps, and spooky new wave synths. It's one of the freshest sounds I've heard in ages. I'm dropping the recommended here on originality.' Turntablelab, US 

"Proof that brazil's the place for some of the hardest-hitting and most genre-crossing grooves today -- thanks to the sound of groups like tetine and some of their contemporaries! the album's got a wicked blend of familiar favela grooves and artier new wave moments -- almost a sao paulo equivalent to the kind of street/club/art crossover sets coming out of new york in the early 80s! most numbers are heavy on beats and basslines, but also carry complicated elements on keyboards and sound samples -- used somewhat sparely and coldly, but warmed up from the bottom with a good dose of booty-shaking elements. although contemporary, tetine's music sits surprisingly well next to the soul jazz label's explorations of older new wave scenes from the us, uk, and brazil -- making the imprint a great place to launch a set like this! titles include "eu to aberta", "i go to the doctor", "you're the one", "everything must die", "men in uniform", "entertainment no 249", "what a gift to get", and russian roulette". Mojoknights, USA

 'Art duo Tetine’s pumped-up punk-meets-funk sound and frenzied on-stage antics make them a creative force to be reckoned with. Having released a prolific eight albums and performed everywhere from Sonar to the Whitechapel Gallery, Eliete Mejorado and Bruno Verner are beacons of their native Sao Paulo avant-garde electronic underground.(...) This is the radical duo who have brought Funk Carioca within London’s cultural radar'. Their lyrics may still talk of real-life sex and domesticity but this album is set to be worlds away from the sample-laden funk of their earlier tracks like ‘L.I.C.K. My Favela.' Aimee Farrell, FACT mag

‘Some of the tunes have brilliant 80’s sounding riffs like Let The X be X and Everything Must Die’ Album of The Week, TNT Magazine

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