Artist: Caetano Veloso
Album: Caetano Veloso (Tropicalia)
Year: 1968
Man, this book really loves its Brazilian music. This one's at least the fifth foray into the sounds of Brazil, which out of 129 albums represents a somewhat significant percentage. Luckily, I thought four of the previous five were quite good, with efforts from Stan Getz and Os Mutantes being particularly solid.
I've actually heard Caetano Veloso a little bit in the past. David Byrne of the Talking Heads put out a little Brazilian pop compilation called Beleze Tropical a few years ago to high acclaim, and it's one I've listened to a few times. Not terribly often, but enough to have a basic sense of the key players in the advent of tropicalia.
Apparently this was Veloso's attempt to make a Brazilian Sgt. Pepper's. Can't say it quite gets there, but there are some really good songs here, like "Superbacana" and "Alegria, Alegria." Mostly, the album treads the line between the standard bossa nova beat and more experimental tones. I have to say that I much prefer Os Mutantes to Caetano Veloso. I like the more bizarre stuff of this style. Veloso doesn't have anything as deliciously weird as "Panis Et Circenses" or "Bat Macumba." But he was a fun listen anyway.
Rating: Worth a listen
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