pagodge, forro, ache, batucada

Forro is upbeat, super-catchy dance music from the Northeast of Brazil. Forro usually features an accordion, with fast, syncopated rhythms similar to samba. In some ways, forro is analagous to mariachi in Mexico, or cumbia music in Columbia.

Um, it might not be spun by hipster djs in clubs, but I and others have danced to a New York based forro band(whose members either come from Brazil or learned forro there) that plays clubs on the East coast of the US.

The Washington Post

September 10, 2003 Wednesday

Forro in the Dark: Piping Hot Brazilian Rhythms

Forro in the Dark showed a small but energetic Monday evening crowd at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage that there's more to the Brazilian songbook than just lush bossa nova. This New York City-based, part-time outfit is composed of four Brazilians and two Americans who pay their bills touring Europe and Brazil with the likes of David Byrne and Joao Gilberto, but who have their fun jamming together on the raw Northeastern Brazilian dance genre known as forro.

Bandleader and zabumba drummer Mauro Refosco first invited accordionist Rob Curto, guitarist Smokey Hormel, a triangle player, a bassist and a vocalist to play the forro standards of Luiz Gonzaga at Refosco's birthday party a year ago, and the celebration seems to be ongoing. Minus Hormel (who was away recording with Johnny Cash) but assisted by dance instructors, the combo turned the velvet-carpeted, staid Kennedy Center into a veritable dance hall. Although vocalist Ana Fontella occasionally added pretty samba-like melodies, the emphasis was on the roadhouse-meets-Carnival-meets-circus rhythms of the instrumentalists.

Curto speedily fingered the framework of their compositions on his piano-keyed accordion, while Refosco pounded a mallet against his large bass drum marching-band style, and audience members did hip-shaking line dances and arm-twirling swing dancing. After the tears-in-your-beer interlude "Estrada de Caninde," they revved up the finale. Marching off the stage while still playing, they gloriously paraded through the Hall of Nations out the door to the front plaza, chanting, clapping and banging out their unique countryside tunes and syncopation.

-- Steve Kiviat

So I still got no clue about Batucada. Where to start?

Sorry, all I know is what Jordan said upthread and what wikipedia says. I can't give you a specific example of a great cd with a Brazilian batucada samba outfit on it. :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batucada

Quarteto Olinda, a Brazilian group that plays Forró de rabeca, that substitutes a fiddle for the accordion is bringing their dance music to NYC and DC for a bunch of show

I'm mixing a track with a full samba bateria, and made this drums-only playlist for inspiration, thought others might enjoy:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7reiuE1QPpNq3xfnjgezWI?si=5aefefdd955344d9

It's not comprehensive or anything. I still have this one record that only lives on my old iPod, and I'm pretty sure artist name is misattributed (and there are no track titles). I think it's an Italian samba group and it's some of the best recorded & played samba school records I've heard, but I've never been able to positively ID. I've heard tracks from it on DJ mixes like this one at 15:30 - https://soundcloud.com/truants/truancy-volume-289-bruce

(at least I think it's from that record - it's one of the outlier tracks that might use some loops and drumkit, other tracks are more straightforward live batucada)