Portlandia's stars and co-creators Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein mark the start of the show's 7th season by sitting down together for a 40 minute chat on The Talkhouse podcast. Over the course of their wide-ranging conversation, the two friends and longtime collaborators discuss their cooking habits, bizarre medicinal uses for garlic, Fred's trip to Japan to find his roots, This is Spinal Tap, the difference between live comedy and live music, erroneous details on their Wikipedia pages, and much more. Listen below.
Contrary to what their misleading group name might suggest, Brazil's Garotas Suecas – who've unfortunately had to cancel their Silver Dollar show Monday (September 13) – has no female members of Swedish origin. Sorry. It's just the new Tropicalia threat's wiseass way of commemorating the numerous Scandinavian hook-ups enjoyed by their soccer-playing countrymen during their World Cup winning trip to Sweden in 1958.
In any case, judging by the jubilant sound of the group's long overdue debut album Escaldante Banda issued by American Dust last week, fans of early Os Mutantes and those who've been wowed by recently recirculated recordings by Loyce e Os Gnomes and The Youngsters will be thrilled to find a like-minded group from São Paolo with not only an uncommon familiarity with their musical heritage but the capacity to build on it in an exciting new way.
So despite the fact that Garotas Suecas happen to be Carrie Brownstein's favourite band of the moment, they're still well worth checking out. The enjoyably unhinged jams on their excellent Escaldante Banda recording very nearly live up to the super dope sleeve art.
