Today's very British celebration of Pancake Day has completely passed us by here at Dolores Delargo Towers.

In our ideal world, like the Latino countries across the globe, we would all be celebrating Mardi Gras instead! Every day.

In what I suppose was meant to be a nod towards this amazingly sparkling celebration, last week The Guardian featured a certain lady by the name of Gaby Amarantos, the Belle of Belem do Para, in their "New Band of the Day" column.

Hold on, say I - "new music"? "Tecnobrega"?

I don't think so - for I featured this particular Brazilian musical phenomenon, and the fabulous Senorita Amarantos, on this very blog way back in 2009!

Remarkable.

So here, for your delectation, is the lady herself:


We love her!

Gaby Amarantos official website (in Portuguese, of course)

"The secrets are the beats which drive people crazy."

Reading a fascinating article on the BBC this morning about the booming "Tecnobrega" music scene in Brazil, my attention was well and truly piqued. A whole pirate music industry, based around the fusion of techno beats and tacky 80s Latin music - sounds fabulous!

And indeed, it is an immensely catchy dance style - used to good effect by last year's Spanish Eurovision entry Baila El Chiki Chiki by Rodolfo Chikilicuatre. Here are a couple of Brazilian artists who epitomise the style - and you can see what they mean when they say tacky!

First up here's the lovely Chilli featuring Carrapicho with their version of that well-known "classic" Tic Tic Tac:


And next up, the emerging superstar of Tecnobrega Gaby Amarantos - firstly in a live performance with her band Tecno Show - as camp as a row of tents!


And here's a fantastic video to accompany the band's song Fica Loca, filmed at a Brazilian Gay Pride...


Read the BBC article