where no tear is inconceivably mediocre

June 9, 2010 4:12 PM

16 year old Yonlu made music that ranged from bossa nova to 8-bit music from the sounds of desktop printers, never knowing that he would someday make the pages of Paste, eMusic, and Rolling Stone Brasil. He posted It's Not Another King Kong (later titled A Boy and the Tiger) to a gaming forum, where it was met with praise. More songs soon followed, which included English songs (I Know What It's Like, Humiliation), and also Portuguese songs (Estrela, Luana). Perhaps suffering from depression, Yonlu took his own life via carbon monoxide poisoning in 2006, just a few weeks before his 17th birthday. His parents only learnt of his songwriting from a CD he left behind for them, with a note telling them to listen to the CD "whenever they felt sad".
posted by Xere (16 comments total)

This is floor-rumblingly awesome. I wonder what the neighbors think.
posted by randomyahoo at 4:20 PM on June 9, 2010

Beautiful stuff.
posted by iamck at 4:44 PM on June 9, 2010

Wow. This is incredible.
posted by clcapps at 5:01 PM on June 9, 2010

wow :)
posted by puny human at 5:03 PM on June 9, 2010

These are really tragic. His music and story are reminiscent of Nick Drake and I wish both were still around to record.
posted by Corduroy at 5:09 PM on June 9, 2010

Broken link to Paste, due to a rogue space. fixed Paste link.
posted by Xere at 5:20 PM on June 9, 2010

That's heartbreaking.
posted by chococat at 5:29 PM on June 9, 2010

If this kid went to the same school in Porto Alegre that I went to, I can totally with the unhappiness.

This kid sounds pretty good. Too bad he could not get help in time. It is great that the parents found the strength to share it with the world.
posted by TheyCallItPeace at 5:54 PM on June 9, 2010

sympathize! ... I can totally sympathize! That is what I meant to say ...
posted by TheyCallItPeace at 5:55 PM on June 9, 2010

So far this is . . . amazing!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:18 PM on June 9, 2010

Wonderful music. Thanks for posting, Xere.
posted by carter at 6:42 PM on June 9, 2010

Wow. How depressing. Reminds me of that story (posted on MeFi, I think) a while back about the kid who made music and was dying and recorded a CD with a bunch of famous musicians.

And of course there is the question: How many kids have committed suicide that would have gone on to become great musicians, or painters, or photographers?

I'm glad we're able to enjoy Yonlu's work, even if he isn't here to see our reactions.
posted by DMan at 10:37 PM on June 9, 2010

That's really sad. I can barely listen to his (really good) music, it makes me too sad.

What is it about Brazil that generates such great musicians?
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 10:51 PM on June 9, 2010

This is available on iTunes for those who'd rather not go through the website's store to get the album digitally.
posted by djgh at 3:38 AM on June 10, 2010

How sad. Sounds like something for To Write Love on Her Arms.
posted by twintone at 10:01 AM on June 10, 2010

From the It's Not Another King Kong link :

Yonlu 'Thanks for the compliments, guys. Today I came home thinking about suicide, but reading all these nice words made me postpone that.'

djondjayvadas 'Yeah definitely put off suicide till you've given us a few more tracks. ;) '

Damn.
posted by numberstation at 5:09 AM on June 11, 2010