WALTER FRANCO - REVOLVER

I just killed a fly.

Well it wasn't strictly a fly but it was a small winged bug type creature non the less. I went to the bathroom, there was something wrong with my eye so I gave it a bit of a poke in the mirror then when I was done I washed my hands. I saw what I thought was a bit of hair, a blip or something so I motioned it toward the spiraling water. It smeared and limped, it was not a blip, it was a flying creature. Now that creature is dead and I feel bad... And I still have no idea what is wrong with my eye. Looks like a swollen tear duct or something. Still as the fly-thing will testify things could be so, so much worse.

Walter Franco is Brazilian, I don't know much about him other than he has a penchant for the white suite and long hair combination currently sported by France's favorite son Sebastien Tellier. 

The album 'Revolver' starts off with some late Seventies sounding John Lennon business, actually that's being unfair to Walter. It is what Lennon might have done were he not busy disappearing up his own ass. (If he hadn't had Yoko to ground him, my bet is it would have happened a lot sooner. It's quiet probable that he would have completely vanished before they had finished filming 'Magical Mystery Tour')

Talking of Sebastien Tellier, the second song 'Eternamente' isn't a million miles off his awesome Eurovision entry from last year... The backing's the same at least. If Walter had thought to sing in a language that the first world might understand this would no doubt be a genre classic. 

Anyway, 'Revolver' moves on, stranger and stranger each track its own entity. 'Mamae D'agua' comes and goes and I feel better about being a fly killer. I imagine the fly shrugging it's shoulders in a 'them's the breaks' look on his face to the sitar and piano of said track before going to insect heaven. Goodbye fly that I did not know...

Stand out on side 1 is the closer 'Toque Fragil', was not expecting that - Guitar loop, phazed chanting and repetitive keyboard stabs.... oooh! and some reverse tape loop action... 

This album just keeps getting better and better.  Now he's singing in English! Oh, it's gone, we're back to Portuguese. This record is huge! The adventure continues on Side 2. It's like swimming into a magical underwater cave full of music, but only you have a torch on your head and you can see all of these amazing corals and other cool cave stuff like say stalactites or pirate treasure or something? Anyway, 'Revolver' is surprising, exciting and the kind of thing that puts many a supposed musical sacred cow to shame, I could list them but I wont, needless to day 'Sgt. Poopers' is in there right along side 'The Wall'. Walter Franco destroys both of them with his little finger... kind of like I did with that fly.

I paid 16 Euros for this from the newly opened Copacobana records in Nuremberg, listening to it has been the highlight of my weekend which says more about me that I am comfortable letting on...