Finally, after seven albums beginning with 1998's
Juggernaut, Flemish avant-world funksters and rhythm-aholics
Think of One have an album distributed in the United States (thanks to Crammed and Rykodisc): 2006's
Tráfico. For those unfamiliar with the band's wanderings,
Think of One are apt to turn up recording with indigenous musicians practically anywhere on Earth, from the Equator to the Arctic.
Chuva em Pó, released in 2004, was the first fruit of the band's sojourns to Recife, capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco and home to Afro-Brazilian musical and performance forms like maracatu and forro. The Belgians, led by guitarist/vocalist
David Bovée and including saxophonist
Eric Morel, bassist
Tomas de Smet, trombonist/tubaist
Tobe Wouters, and drummer
Roel Poriau, were joined by vocalists and percussionists from the region, notably singers
Dona Cila do Côco and
Cris Nolasco, and the result was one of the band's finest records to date, combining the influences of Antwerp and Recife in a successful blend of rhythm, atmosphere, and sonic adventurousness. For
Tráfico,
Think of One returned to Recife and continued their collaboration with area musicians, including
Cila do Côco and
Nolasco. The disc is a worthy follow-up to
Chuva em Pó, perhaps a bit more pop-influenced as
Bovée -- balancing nonchalance and edginess rather like
Kevin Ayers in the age of caffeine -- and the other vocalists sing of such topics as an uncomfortable barroom atmosphere, waiting on a terrace for a girlfriend who will never arrive, a sea goddess, selling items in a marketplace, and a man who falls into a shellfish tank (it helps if you can understand Portuguese, French, or the Flemish Dutch dialect).