Customer Reviews
Sums it all up.. - By: Steph, 07 Feb 2008 
The Tropicalia Movement, was said 'not' to have truly influenced any cultural music outside of Brazil to any real degree. I disagree with this statement, although the impressions made are not overt.
As the other good reviewers here have duly noted, Tropicalia's crowning glory was to utilise different forms of music from many other cultures, creating an entire new sound & genre that was unique to itself & to the artists within the entire movement.
The result is a timeless audio landscape, where real progress was made within the music & social scene, & this album sums up the mood, energy, essence & spirit of those pioneers with grace. Subjective of course, but a must-have album if you're passionate about life & music.
It's Brazilian but not as we know it - By: David Johnson, 12 Aug 2006 This is another golden bullet from Soul Jazz & probably the best musical retrospective of this Brazilian cultural movement you're likely to find. This CD centres around the work of six artists, the most familiar being Gilberto Gil & Caetano Veloso. The extensive liner notes double up as a little history book & give you an excellent social & political backdrop to the music. The writer seems to have a great deal of diffucultyin defining what tropicalia actually is. On the evidence of the music it's a sensational amalgam of funky chugging basslines, delicate swinging string rhythms & suddens blasts of rock & roll. It's all so inventive & challenging you end up getting lostin it all. There honestly isn't a dud track on this. Love the fuzzy guitar on "A Minha Menina," & the arabic strings of,"Tuareg."
"Irene," is you floating along a riverin a dream, Veloso's voice so poised & delicate. Other moments to savour include the twanging bassline on,"Jimmy-Renda Ze," & Tom Ze's trippy,"Quero sambal Meu Bem." If you love music make sure you get your hands on this.
The only tropicalia jazzy-funk-psyche collection you need. - By: Martin Smith, 27 Feb 2006 This is an amazing collection of 6 or 7 artists who worked within the tropicalia movement of 1960s Brazil. Bucking the trend towards bossa nova at the time, the movement deliberately incoporates elements of western pop & European neo-classical music. The idea was to "cannibalise" all forms of good music, & produce something that could be exported to the rest of the world. The result is naturally eclectic, & sounds good to the modern ears.
So, to the westernised pop-raised ear we get tropical rythyms & dancey approach, but here & then you get a wiff of "Hey Joe"'s chorus, a snatch of "Strawberry Fields", a little Santana guitar or the impression of Jefferson Airplane.
I wouldn't want to single out any one track for praise, but Caetano Veloso backed by Os Mutantes on "Domingo No Parque" has funky polyrythyms & delicious choruses to spare, & Gal Costa's beautiful singing voice should also comein for some praise. The excellent booklet is a bonus for any music fan, placing the featured musicin its appropriate cultural/political setting.
