ELECTRONIC MUSIC JOINS ARNALDO BAPTISTA'S MANIFEST FOR CLEAN ENERGY
15 remixes of “To Burn or Not to Burn” strengthen, renew and reverberate the message that Arnaldo Baptista has always brought in his poetry and music. A D-Edge Records release.
Video release (transcript translated at the end) >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU31QOCpDqE
Plese follow more about this release via Arnaldo’s social media.
Since writing the song “Navegar de Novo” featured in the album “Loki?” (1974), Arnaldo Baptista has been defending the use of clean energy and sustainable practices. For example, when he calls out in this excerpt: “Why not install smaller housing nuclei / for greater decentralization / for the green to exist / to have space…”.
The line “To Burn or Not to Burn” appears initially between 1993 and 1995 in Arnaldo’s visual arts, in Poèmes Dessins (Drawing Poems/Concrete Poetry) format. Over the next decade appeared his manifest for “the end of the fire era”.
The remix compilation of “To Burn or Not to Burn”, a song released on the solo album “Let It Bed” (2004), portrays the profusion of alternative Brazilian electronic artists who have emerged in recent years in a diverse and expanding music scene. The omnipresent minimalist poem – “To burn or not to burn. What is the question? What? What?” – incorporates each of the remixes in a unique way, reflects decades of electronic dance music history from the 60s to the present and proposes a reverberation of these artists to Arnaldo Baptista’s manifesto.
“I felt an experience about my work: space synthesisers entering the dance rhythm and poetic motivation. I was impressed by the development given to my music”, commented Arnaldo, after listening to the remixes.
Among those who sign the remixes are names like Zopelar, L_cio, Tetine, Magal, Tata Ogan… to name just five for now, which Arnaldo called The Petrified BeTools. (Beatles pun).
This is a D-Edge Records release. Distribution: Get Digital/Zebralution.
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Video and interview’s transcript for the launching of the album “To Burn or Not to Burn – Arnaldo Baptista Remixed by The Petrified BeTools”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU31QOCpDqE
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Narrator: Sonia Maia, Manager to Arnaldo Dias Baptista and Lucinha Barbosa
Hi People, as Arnaldo would say!
Arnaldo Baptista and our Music Non Stop partners will be talking to you soon about the release of 15 remixes for the track “To Burn or Not to Burn”, from the album “Let It Bed”, released in 2004 and produced by John Ulhoa.
This idea was born when I met Holocaos in 2010, and we thought: “Wow! It would be great to remix Arnaldo Baptista’s music!”
The song couldn’t be any other: “To Burn or Not to Burn”, which already inspires dance floors.
Coming from the already mature and vibrating electronic music scene at the time (in special São Paulo city), the remixes were produced by names such as Lúcio, Zopelar, Bmind, Glocal, Renato Poletto and Ricardo Koji, Thomas Haferlach, Magal, who had been there since the 80s, right Magal?
(laughs from Arnaldo in the background)
… among others.
From my side, I invited Marco Andreol to also be the curator in the musical interaction for this project. And Tetine… and Flu, from DeFalla… for their avant-garde, rebelliousness and importance to our music, from the 80s to today.
Since then, a lot has changed, but “To Burn or Not to Burn” still burning.
This material deserved to come back, remastered!
For 2022, Music Non Stop introduced Tata Ogan and DJ Mari Rossi. Marco Andreol invited GALIZA, and they contributed with new remixes. Renato Ratier, who signs this release through D-Edge Records, also produced his own.
….
I now invite Arnaldo Baptista, Claudia Assef and Jota Wagner, from Music Non Stop, to talk more about this project.
Claudia Assef – Hi Arnaldo! How are you?
Arnaldo Baptista – All great! I’m finding everything wonderful!
Claudia – Good! Thank you for this time for us!
Arnaldo – Nice to meet you! I’m enjoying it – so I can develop what I understand about the situation and give my opinion.
Claudia – Very good! Let’s start! There are two questions for each of us. Jota Wagner will ask the first.
Jota Wagner – Hi Arnaldo! Nice to meet you! It’s a huge honor to be talking to you, and even more about this beautiful work by the kids, the new generation’s kids, having access to your song, “To Burn or Not to Burn”, and reinventing it. How do you feel knowing that a whole new generation is taking your music, putting it in the blender and turning it into something new and different.
Arnaldo – I’m feeling that you can throw my music in the blender, a smoke will come out, leaving everyone very tuned in the sounds. Mainly because it has been done with all the programming of current music performance, with those things that we can get from the music nowadays: echo, reverb, phaser etc. So it will be delicious.
Claudia – Arnaldo, now the question is: which artists or songs would you remix, if you could?
Arnaldo – From anyone, right?
Claudia – The artist you could imagine.
Arnaldo – I would like the group West, Bruce and Laing, with Jack Bruce playing bass. The song is “Why Dontcha”. It’s pretty and I like that it’s pretty. All of them playing Gibson instruments and the musicians very connected.
The other song is an old one by Cream, “Sunshine of Your Love”…
(Arnaldo imitates a chord)…
This one is beautiful, and I like it.
Claudia – Very good! That album, “Disraeli Gears” is fantastic. Entire!
Arnaldo – Ah! The whole! (lol)
Claudia – I’m a Cream’s fan!
Arnoldo – Yeah!
…
Arnaldo – I’m going to comment on another song, which I love. It’s “Perpetual Change”, by Yes. They had an organist who left, Tony Gale, but he has the most beautiful sound that exists, from Yes.
Claudia – These three songs would be wonderful. I loved your remixes ideas.
Jota – Let’s make a remix album, with Arnaldo remixing, right?… Arnaldo, tell us now the story behind this concept of “To Burn or Not to Burn”. There’s a message behind it…
Arnaldo – It has to do with Shakespeare, who wrote “To Be or Not to Be. This is the Question”. But Shakespeare, coincidentally, died on his birthday. And “To Burn or Not to Burn” is where a person can take off or not, depending on the environmental situation and all that is happening. So, one thing I take forward is: to enjoy life to infinity.
Claudia – Our last question is the following: How does Arnaldo Baptista envision the Planet 50 years ahead from now?
Arnoldo – Wonderful! I have a feeling that everyone will know what cryogenisation means. There’s a place in California and you go there, they cryogenicise you and you wake up a thousand years from then, refreshed. You fix your diseases, everything in order.
And there will also be many cars moved by solar electricity. So, everyone will walk without polluting and without spending.
There will also be something else that I might talk about: it is vegetarianism! It would be nice if we could live without having to kill others, right? So, this will be yummy.
So, in that sense, the world will be good: with us finally exceeding the speed of light, we will have contact with the ETs and we’ll be able to cryogenicise and enjoy life. Balmy!
Claudia – I love that your vision is super positive!
Arnoldo – Cool! It’s great to think positive, right? So we help humanity and what we’re doing here on Earth. There is the question: Where did we come from? From the stars! Where are we? In the stars! Where are we going? To the stars… That’s all! (laughs)
…
Arnaldo – Ah! Something I might as well say. “To Burn or Not to Burn” has to do with something that Jimi Hendrix talked about on his album, “Axis”. He said that humanity is currently undergoing a curse, where human beings burn everything they can burn, they burn. So, there is this greenhouse effect… I think we are currently in the Age of Fire. It has to do with “To Burn or Not to Burn. What is the question?”
Claudia – Exactly! And a very ecological message too.
Arnoldo – Yeah. As well. Sure!
…
(Arnold imitates David Bowie’s classical gesture)
…
Claudia – It sure has now!
(laughts)
Claudia – Thank you so much for your time, your humor and your positivity. I feel a lot better than I was before starting this interview.
(laughts)
CREDITS
Tracks of the album “To Burn or Not To Burn – Remixes by The Petrified BeTools”
1 – To Burn or Not to Burn (original track produced by John Ulhoa)
2 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Tata Ogan Remix feat Simone Sou on percussion)
3 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Flu Remix feat Guri Brasil on guittar)
4 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Bmind Remix feat Roger Brito on trumpet)
5 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Renato Poletto & Ricardo Koji Remix)
6 – To Burn or Not to Burn (DJ Mari Rossi Remix feat Maurício Badé e Kuki
Stolarski on percussion)
7 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Holocaos Remix)
8 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Renato Ratier Remix)
9 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Glocal’s Novelas Breakdance Remix, produced by
Lennox Hortale & Dani El Souto)
10 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Zopelar Remix)
11 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Marco Andreol & Renato Patriarca Remix feat
Natalia Barros vocals and Alexandre Jonny Patriarca on guittar)
12 – To Burn or Not to Burn (L_cio Remix feat Karine Rossi backing vocals)
13 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Magal & L_cio Remix)
14 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Tetine Remix. Produced by Bruno Verner. Feat Bruno
Verner vocals, bass, organ and Eliete Mejorado on synthesizers and FX)
15 – To Burn or Not to Burn (GALIZA Remix)
16 – To Burn or Not to Burn (Thomas Haferlach Remix)
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Masters and remasters made in analog equipments: equalisers and compressors Bax, Pultec, Kush Audio, Empirical Labs and Thermionic Culture.
by Vantonio
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Artistic curator
Marco Andreol
Partners
Music Non Stop
Claudia Assef and Jota Wagner
Audiovisual recording
Alexandre Biciati
Soundtracks
Remix Magal vs L_cio
Remix Holocaos
Remix Thomas Haferlach
Original track produced by John Ulhoa
Album cover design
Wild People
Ad arts
Alexandre Scheidt
Drawings poèmes dessin
Arnaldo Dias Baptista
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Audiovisual editor
Paulo Gadioli
Distribution
Get Digital/Zebralution
A D-Edge Records launching.
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Executive project management
Sonia Maia
Executive management Arnaldo Dias Baptista
Lucinha Barbosa
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Arnaldo Baptista’s team thanks every body and souls who contributed for this project to happening: yesterday, today and always!
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YouTube support
Aluísio Ribeiro
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AVAILABLE AT THE BEST MUSIC DIGITAL STORES
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Instagram
Twitter@ArnaldoBaptista
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Solo discography: Spotify Apple Music Deezer
Arnaldo Dias Baptista Visual Works
Store Wild People
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