We're Goin Global - Brazil's Cool Sorcery
Episode 511 - Marcos Assis of Cool Sorcery
Q: What do you get when you raise a kid on Nirvana, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and a Ronald McDonald dance cd?
A few weeks ago, Geoff sent me a text “What do you think of DEVO?” I prattled about watching them on Saturday Night Live performing “Satisfaction,” and that I liked it, but was perplexed more than anything.
And when “Whip It!” hit, I had the same feelings. Although to be honest, as a young teenager, the video for “Whip It!” added a whole other layer of indeterminate bewilderment - a story for another time.
I concluded my text by saying that while I hold DEVO in high regard, and love the film and television work that Mark Mothersbaugh has done, I confessed that I’ve never listened to an entire album.
Geoff didn’t reply to any of that (who could blame him), but sent me a link to a song called “Detonation” by a band called Cool Sorcery saying: “Trying to lock this down.”
Now, to do a podcast like Abandoned Albums, you have to look at music as objectively as possible. If we only booked artists whose music we liked, that would be boring af and wouldn’t bring any newcomers to our party or the artist’s work.
Our goal is to broaden everyone’s sonic palate, even our own… one way or another.
I listened to “Detonation” and liked it. I liked it very much, and then poked around on the Cool Sorcery Bandcamp page and listened to a few more things. And I found myself liking everything that I heard. And I soon discovered what Geoff already knew, Cool Sorcery is ONE DUDE!
Cool Sorcery is Marcos Assis and Marcos Assis IS Cool Sorcery.
In such a short career, he’s released a robust body of work that sounds so good, I would put it against… anything. But it’s not just that it sounds good, it IS good.
Cool Sorcery isn’t the typical guitar, vocals, bass, and drums rock and roll I lean towards. And while those are all present, Cool Sorcery is a lot more than those four elements.
Now, I’m of the school of thought that says you can (and should be able to) recognize music/art as being good, even if it isn’t in your wheelhouse.
And despite Cool Sorcery not being in my audio wheelhouse, the tunes are amazing and refreshingly unique.
You can hear a ton of influences in Cool Sorcery - it’s a bouillabaisse of delicious genres - even one that Geoff and I had never heard of. And despite all the influences I heard, or because of them, Cool Sorcery is very distinctly its own thing.
The way that Marcos produces his songs and puts them into these short, tight blasts of pure power and emotion, they’ll hit you like a Mike Tyson punch.
Full Disclosure: I’ve never been hit by Mike Tyson… and strive not to be.
Marcos Assis is a young multi-hyphenate (producer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and singer) who strongly reminds me of another young multi-hyphenate from Minneapolis who had a love of the color purple. A man who would go on to shatter all kinds of sonic boundaries, artistic and racial glass ceilings, and business doors… truthfully, anything that got in his way.
Oh, did I forget to mention Marcos is a young guy?
Picture some grizzled 60-year-old man behind a big oak desk, leaning back aggressively in a leather chair, dressed in a suit, and chomping on a cigar. He takes out the cigar, leans forward, and jabs it toward you: “Lemme tell ya, this kid’s going places.”
Sadly, that kind of music impresario has been replaced by an Ivy League MBA bean counter, wearing overpriced denim and a t-shirt from a band they couldn’t name three songs from, talking with earbuds, and vaping.
The type of person whose passion and love for music is about as deep as a kiddie pool. But I digress…
Marcos told us that the band name, the song titles, and even some of the lyrics are just nonsense. I, for one, am not being it. I think he’s being a little coy - another similarity with the purple one.
With song titles like “Qubit Wormhole,” “ROCKET STOMP!!, and “The Cult Waltz”… sure, they could be jibberish… they could not be gibberish. And sure, they’re fun to read, but, they’re much better to listen to.
And speaking of fun, Cool Sorcery closed out 2022 with what, IMHO, is one of the best album/ep titles I’ve seen in a long time:
The Definitive Step-by-Step Dance Guide for Warlord Necromancers and Enthusiasts
On this episode of Abandoned Albums, Cool Sorcery mastermind Marcos Assis dialed in from Brazil to talk to Geoff and me about his amazing music, his work ethic, and his prodigious output.
What a damn delight Marcos was to chat with.
Q: What do you get when you raise a kid on Nirvana, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and a Ronald McDonald dance cd?
A: You get an artist like Marcos Assis and sounds like Cool Sorcery.
LISTEN TO OUR INTERVIEW HERE:
When we booked Dungeon of Skeletons, Geoff awarded my music house, Higgondor, 10 points.
Well, I award Geoff’s music house, Hufflehoun, 10 points for Cool Sorcery.
Our musical Quidditch match is tied up:
Higgondor - 10
Hufflehoun - 10