Today would have marked the 48th birthday of Mitar Subotic, the talented Yugoslavian producer and musician better known as Suba.  Upon receiving a UNESCO scholarship for his musical accomplishments in Yugoslavia and arriving in Brazil in 1990, Suba began absorbing the local music scene and produced albums by such artists as Marina Lima, Edgard Scandurra, Mestre Ambrósio, perhaps best known for his production on Bebel Gilbert’s debut album Tanto Tempo.   Tragically, Suba died in an apartment fire in 1999, only days after his own first recording, São Paulo Confessions, was released.  With this article, we’re giving this visionary album a listen, and celebrating his work on his birthday.

I had discovered Bebel Gilberto about five years ago, and was intrigued at how her album combined the bossa nova style of the past with sounds of the present, including electronic instruments (drum machines and synthesizers), loops, and samples.  Fortunately it wasn’t overdone, and the end result was a well-balanced mix of both worlds.  Other modern producers would have given the entire album a heavy-handed stamp with their own sound, but Suba had just the right feel for past and present, and made Bebel’s debut more than memorable.

It took me awhile to find a copy of Suba’s own album, Sao Paulo Confessions, but I’m glad I finally located it.  In addition, I also found a copy of the Ziriguiboom label’s compilation, The Now Sound of Brazil, which is where I first heard Suba’s own recorded work, in the form of the Nicola Conte remix of “Tantos Desejos”.  That got me hooked.  The remix is very different from the original version on Confessions (and is my favorite of the two, actually).

Like many good albums in my collection, it took me several patient listens for this album to grow on me…and it has.  Not all of the tracks are to my liking, but I can appreciate what Suba was doing on all of them.  Compared to other types of music in Brazil, his mix of past and present, via acoustic instruments (his own keyboards, and guitar) and electronica, was visionary in its day, and had he lived longer, I’m sure he would have evolved even further.  His early work in Yugoslavia was also highly regarded, and it was his recording In The Mooncage, featuring folk lullabyes mixed with electronica, that won him the UNESCO grant to study Afro-Brazilian music in Brazil.

In fact, I really would have liked to have seen him work with Antonio Carlos Jobim, himself a legendary Brazilian music figure, as I feel Jobim would have been sympathetic and accepting to the new direction Suba was taking Brazilian popular music, much as Jobim had himself back during the incubation of Bossa Nova.

Anyway, Confessions has a lot to offer.  Looking at the cover art, there’s a dark street scene, which I feel sets the tone for the music inside.  The streets, with many stories to tell: the  “confessions” of the inhabitants coming forth from the dark underbelly of one of the world’s most populous cities.   The “happy sadness” that many Brazilian songs imply is present in this collection of songs, with a darker undertone.

My favorites include “Voce Gosta”, the swirling “Na Neblina”, the frantic samba workout “Samba Do Gringo Paulista” (which is mainly acoustic once the percussion starts), and the galloping rhythmic “Pecados Da Madrugada”.  Aside from a bit of percussion, “Sereia” is mainly electronica and sampling, with Cibelle’s vocals overlaid on top–perhaps one of the most modern tracks on the album.  “Felicidade” is indeed the Jobim/DeMoraes song we all know.  It is given a modern treatment here with its electronic touches, and yet still relies on a Bossa Nova beat and snippets of piano amidst the backdrop of synthesizers.

While I’m apt to listen to my favorites, the pacing of the album works well as a whole, and is a rewarding listen from end to end in its entirety.  Best approached with an open mind, this forward-facing project could arguably be considered ahead of its time.  It does indicate the direction that the music would have taken, had Suba survived, either as performer, or producer of others’ albums.  In retrospect, with Bebel’s Tanto Tempo, Suba had the right touch for her album, modernizing it with his ideas, and yet maintaining continuity with the past (dig her take on “Summer Samba”, which could have been lifted right off of a 60s Bossa Nova album).  On his own, with Confessions, he presents his own vision to us, unrestricted…the “true” Suba that we were only beginning to know before the apartment fire cut his life short.

My readers know that I’m adventurous in what I listen to, so it’s probably no surprise that I give this album 4-1/2 out of 5 stars.  While all of the tracks don’t work for me, I do understand, appreciate and recognize where Suba was taking modern Brazilian music with this project.  Inventive, visionary, unique…that sums up the album for me.

P.S.  As I mentioned above, the remixed Tantos Desejos found on The Now Sound of Brazil is worth seeking out.  It is also a good sampler of other modern Brazilian music, and includes a remixed “Tanto Tempo” by Bebel Gilberto.