****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I am writing this review as a public service! I have owned this collection for a long time and it has been an incredible source of information, wonder, and joy. But don't pay the ridiculous prices being charged here. This boxset is produced by the SESC located in São Paulo, an incredible arts-council type foundation which sponsors all kinds of great stuff. One of the great things about them is when they produce records, books, boxsets - underwritten in no small part by public funds allocated through Brazil's rather progressive cultural policies - they are CHEAP. As in, I doubt I paid more than $20 USD for this 5-CD box. If you need this for research, the ENTIRE THING is available for streaming from the SESC website (search for it, if I put a link here it might get my post deleted), as well as photos that actually look better on my hi-res monitor than they do in the (nicely-done) mini-book that comes with the boxset. There might even be some photos there that didn't make it into the box. I am an audio obsessive, so I would have wanted the original CDs no matter what, but let's be blunt: these are field recordings from the 30s and while fidelity is actually quite good, this is one case where internet streaming is probably just as adequate for most peoples' needs. If you really need to hold the box, book, and CDs in your hands (like I do, because I am crazy), find a way to get it from Brazil. Either get a friend to bring one back for you (they are still in print, by the way, and don't let anyone tell you different), or heck you could just PAY for shipping from Brazil and still end up paying much much less in the end than what people are charging here. I guess with every passing year, I get more and more irritated by people getting scammed by others taking advantage of gringo Brazil fetishes. I am talking both about gringos selling Brazilian music to other gringos for 10x the price, as well as Brazilians charging insane prices for rarities that only foreigners can afford, and helping to evacuate their own `cultural patrimony' into the hands of others in the process. Just don't, you can find this yourself, and SESC deserves your more than these people. If SESC won't ship to you, there are several other retailers who probably will and they don't mark up these releases all that much. Good luck!
