PopNose11: We can afford to have two up at once, it turns out. The usual rules apply – if you know what it is, don’t tell. The next PN will be a selection by someone else, good news perhaps if you’ve thought they all sucked so far (I’ve not heard it yet!).

Meanwhile a quick write-up of PopNose8, “Zumbizera” by MC PELE. It will have to be quick because I know nothing at all about this track and its two or three mentions on Google are all from Brazilian weblogs. I found it when looking for baile funk tracks on a P2P – some guy had a pile of them so I downloaded a few at random. A lot of them were excellent but this really stood out, just for its oddness – not many baile tracks push the raviness so obviously, but equally very few are as rooted in traditional Brazilian rhythms. And what’s that balalaika doing there?! In fact the only ‘typical’ baile sound (I’m generalising from about 30 tracks here, I’m hardly an expert!) on the record is that stuttering buzz-drum that kicks it off. In fact my suspicion is this isn’t ‘baile funk’ at all, but a party record done by a funk MC. But then aren’t all funk tracks party records? When you have nothing to go on your conclusions are necessarily vague (and probably completely wrong). GREAT track though, well I think so, if someone were to somehow license it and release it here they might make a few quid.

You can’t buy this anywhere online meanwhile and even if you’re heading to Rio I’m guessing you couldn’t just walk into a shop and get it. It does show up on P2P, sometimes spelt Zumbeizera. There are at least two baile funk compilations in process as far as I know, and not before time, so you’ll be able to make a (more) honest MC of some of Pele’s contemporaries before too long. Meanwhile expect more of this stuff on PopNose soon.