CD Report

Cibelle THE SHINE OF ELECTRIC DRIED LEAVES
Six Degrees
The Brazilian influence, in the context of American and British music, has often been about creating an impression: of endless sunny days and acoustic guitars strummed on Copacabana beach, of waifish chanteuses singing in beachfront cafes. Cibelle , Brazilian-born but living in London, combines this now-traditional bossa-nova sound with a more experimental, I'll-try-anything-twice approach to making music and an electronic-music sheen . Working with an impressive cast of musicians that includes fellow Brazilian Seu Jorge and French MC Spleen, Cibelle weaves an enchanting brand of chill-out music for dance and indie fans . Cibelle, who plays the Institute of Contemporary Art Sept. 21, has a taste for intellectual bossa nova, an impression only intensified by her cover of Caetano Veloso's ``London London," with freak-folk icon Devendra Banhart doing his best Caetano impression -- which is pretty good. The album's everything-and-the-kitchen-sink aesthetic includes off-key whistling on ``Esplendor," clattering spoons on ``Mad Man Song," and acoustic picking and synthesizer waves, drum patterns, and scat-singing all melded into a symphony for ``the people walking down the street" in ``City People." Brazil and boho beat-mining make for a curious combo, with some efforts in mixology going down more smoothly than others. Cibelle may sing like Astrud Gilberto , but her songs often sound more like emanations from the messed-up mind of fellow Brazilian Tom Ze , and the unusual combination of sounds from Sampa is surprisingly felicitous. ESSENTIAL TRACK: ``Arrete la, Menina."
SAUL AUSTERLITZ
SAMPLE CIBELLE Check out audio clips at www.boston.com/clips.