Tantra

There is more than one artist with this name.

1) TANTRA is a Portuguese rock band. The first album "Mistérios & Maravilhas" (1978) brought them to the public as an inovative and unique portuguese rock group .With their Sinfonic Progressive Rock show they played very successfully all over Portugal , their home country , for about one year , before they recorded their second album "Holocausto " . It was acclaimed both by the media and the public and again they toured successfully for over one year and half . " TANTRA " ended shortly after they toured their third album " Humanoid Flesh ".

Two Lisbon musicians , Manuel Cardoso and Armando Gama decided to invest in their love for Sinfonic Rock . Together , in 1975 , they established what would be the basic foundations of" TANTRA " .The name of the group was chosen by Manuel Cardoso after his Raja Yoga meditation experiences and contact with Indian culture .
They assembled a first group of musicians with whom they recorded their first and only Single .
From this formation only the following musicians continued to the second phase ;
Manuel Cardoso ( electric guitar ) , Armando Gama ( keyboards ) and Américo Luis ( bass ).
It´s when Tó Zé Almeida joins the band , as fulltime drummer , that the real original formation of " TANTRA " comes toghether .
In 1977 ´s winter the band gives it´s first concert in CineTeatro da Encarnação in what was to be a memorable night for the band and the public .Everyone in the audience , including the media , was ecstatic with the bands music .
From that concert´s two track tape , remastered , the cd " Live Ritual " was edited .
Soon the band was established as the main rock group in Portugal .
The band then recorded " Mistérios e Maravilhas " (1978) , the band´s first album , that did bring them to public as the only Portuguese Sinfonic Rock group to be able to put out records and back them up with live concerts all over the country with original music and portuguese lyrics .
After a while Armando Gama left the band and was replaced , temporarely , by Pedro Mestre .The reason for this was that the soon to be " TANTRA "´s keyboard player Pedro Luis still had some concerts to do with his own jazz group and so the band needed a keyboardist for their live gigs. Before he left the band Pedro Mestre composed a music for the band , " JI " , that was most welcome due to it´s quality and empaty with the bands spirit .
After around one year of packed live gigs all over Portugal and hard weekly rehearsals dedicated to composing new musics , the band went into studio , already with Pedro Luis on keyboards , and the colaboration of Pedro Mestre and Tony Moura , to finally record their second album " Holocausto " which was an instant success both with the press and the public . It even received a best record of the year award .
Again , about one year of live concerts , now with the colaboration of Tony Moura , an experienced guitar player , that helped with the guitars that Manuel Cardoso could not play when involved with the stage teatrical scenes that ocasionally came up during the show .
After these two records , with portuguese lyrics , the band decided to make a return to the roots and do an album sung in english with a Rock Sinfonic / New Wave feeling :
" Humanoid Flesh "
This album really worked out great live , throughout the 1980/1981´s Tour , with the public responding well to the music, but was not played on the radio and had bad critics on behalf of it´s lyrics being in english and on moving away from the Sinfonic Progressive musical line .
This reaction to a natural creative mood and evolution , as the band saw it , created an unconfortable feeling in the band towards this state of things .
After all , it was " TANTRA " , the group that had started ( in it´s generation ) the Portuguese Rock revolution , the first to be successfull playing their own original , portuguese sung , Portuguese Rock ! The group that , for years , had defended Portuguese language live and in studio was being pointed out for singing in english .
The year was 1981, and the band decided to suspend it´s existence !
Today the band , reestructured by Manuel Cardoso , has just released a new independent CD album named " TERRA " with ten ( 10 ) new musics and a new version of " Á Beira do Fim " (2001) , that you can find in the Discography and Music for Your Ears sections .

2) An Italo disco group, most famous for their 1979 hit "Hills of Katmandu".

3) "Tantra" is also an Argentinean experimental/ alternative/psychedelic band.

4) They are a Belgian folk band.

5) The Brazilian Tantra Band - release (in Portuguese)

Eles ainda se chamam Tantra

Trechos da resenha de Arthur Dapieve em 20.04.2005

A história começa há mais dez anos. Primeiro, em meados de 1996, vieram um single e um clip para uma música extraordinária chamada Corvos Sobre o Campo. Talvez você se lembre de um ou de outro, um rock aguerrido com um refrão autocolante ou imagens inspiradas em Van Gogh, ou melhor, na visão de Sonhos, de Akira Kurosawa, sobre Van Gogh.

Antes do final daquele ano, chegou às lojas um álbum inteiro, Eles Não Eram Nada, produzido por Liminha e com a capa feita por Luiz Stein. Uma conjugação de talentos que indicava, mesmo a quem tivesse perdido Corvos Sobre o Campo, que os autores das músicas gozavam de algum prestígio e confiança.

Ah, o nome da banda era Tantra.

Fred Nascimento (voz e guitarra), Gian Fabra (baixo) e Marcelo Wig (bateria) se recolheram por quase dez anos. Cinco deles gastos na produção de um novo álbum, A Febre dos Sonhos. O disco foi gestado sem pressão, sem prazo. Tanto tempo depois da estréia, livre do seu peso, seus membros amadureceram ainda mais do que na primeira encarnação. Nela, Nascimento e Fabra já haviam sido músicos de apoio da Legião Urbana, o que, convenhamos, não é pouca coisa.

Além de Nascimento e Fabra, o Tantra é formado pelo tecladista Carlos Trilha, produtor dos discos solo de Renato Russo, e pelo baterista Lourenço Monteiro que, no momento, responde pela bateria de Marcelo D2 e ocupa agora o lugar deixado por Wig. Uma pergunta válida pode estar ocorrendo ao leitor: o acúmulo de referências legionárias em três quartos do Tantra significa que ele é um grupo tributário? Sim e não. Assim como experiências não se apagam, o quarteto carioca acalenta a seriedade e a melancolia que fizeram a glória da Legião. Contudo, se Eles não eram nada refletia o fascínio pelo britpop e pelo grunge, A Febre dos Sonhos tem referências mais clássicas dentro do rock, coisa de Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd e tal.

A viagem de A Febre dos Sonhos é das boas, maduras e bem pensadas. Inclui músicas longamente buriladas, como O Mundo Perfeito e Quando Você Ouvir a Minha Canção, e produções mais recentes, como a delicada instrumental Piano Painting, que funciona de vinheta entre os hipotéticos lados A e B.

Se uma das músicas é candidata a Corvos Sobre o Campo dos anos 00, na minha opinião esta música é O Zepelim, um baladão zen sobre o fluxo da vida. A faixa tem duas belas participações especiais: a poderosa Lilian Valeska (ex-Sublimes), fazendo vocalises à moda do Pink Floyd de The dark side of the moon, e a doce Fernanda Takai (do Pato Fu), substituindo Fred Nascimento num dos refrães. Além das duas cantoras, Dado Villa-Lobos, o guitarrista da Legião, é a única outra canja: ele toca bandolim em Assim Parece Ser. O que leva a notar que o Tantra faz um bocado de som para um quarteto quase solitário.