Tom Ze Fabrication Defect (Com Defeito De Fabricacao) CD

Tom Ze is known as a "mad genius," a Brazilian musician with an unhinged style that verges on schizophrenic. Ze's music has always had a strong element of collage, layering sounds, rhythm and harmony in a visionary, rebellious musical architecture. Against a background ranging from guitar-string plinks to a rich carpet of samba, Ze piles on vocals, percussion, brass, guitar, bottles, and various other noises. At one point, Ze himself is credited in the liner notes with playing "rubber balloon on tooth."

FABRICATION DEFECT, Ze's third album, is true to his particular, peculiar blend of the technological and the organic, with an underlying message honoring the "defects" of human genetics which prevent us from being "androids." Within its unusual musical contexts--which ranges from traditional Brazilian rhythms to not much more than thumping noises--FABRICATION DEFECT is a celebration of the "dangerous defects" which cause common people to "think, dance, and dream."

Personnel: Tom Zé (vocals, acoustic guitar); Jarbas Mariz (vocals, 12-string guitar, mandolin, percussion); Cristina Carneiro (vocals, keyboards); Luanda, Nilza Maria (vocals); Dino Barioni (guitar); Michael Sauri (guitars); Gilberto Assis (acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle, bass guitar); Marco Prado (10-string guitar, bongos); Marcos Di Santis (trombone); Gary Negbaur (Wurlitzer piano); Lauro Lellis (drums).

Personnel: Tom Ze (vocals, acoustic guitar, bochexaxado, sound effects); Gilberto Assis (vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, rabeca, baixolao, bass); Jarbas Mariz (vocals, 12-string guitar, mandolin, percussion); Cristina Carneiro (vocals, keyboards, percussion); Luanda, Nilza Maria (vocals); Marco Prado (10-string guitar, bongo); Dino Barioni (guitar); Marcos di Santis (trombone); Lauro Lellis (drums).

Producers: Bryan Martin, Andre Abujamra, Gilberto Assis.

Spin (12/98, pp.174-175) - 7 (out of 10) - "...Ze is less interested in computer-driven DJ music than in recomputing the quantum rhythms of samba, forro, and choro. The result is a quiet storm of guitars, mandolins, and triangles that chatters like a close encounter between a music box and a cuckoo clock..."
Entertainment Weekly (9/25/98, pp.106-107) - "...This new album isn't as good a starting place as 1990's BEST OF, but Ze fans craving more music won't be disappointed, even if it is both less traditional and less overtly avant-garde than his past work." - Rating: B+
The Wire (1/99, p.56) - "...The album repays close listening because each arrangement is so inventive and kaleidoscopic, and suddenly it's all over in well under 3 minutes....a beautiful surprise..."