need some knowledge on tropicalia (that fire-R)

Guantanamo_JonesGuantanamo_Jones 177 Posts
edited February 2008 in Strut Central
All i have heard is stuff from a few compilations and what I downloaded from pcmr here. anyone got any information on what i need to know? (cover pictures maybe) schooling is appreciated!
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  • Uhm, well, what type of music interests you? Which comps? etc.

  • All i have heard is stuff from a few compilations and what I downloaded from pcmr here. anyone got any information on what i need to know? (cover pictures maybe) schooling is appreciated!


    Gilberto Gil
    Caetano Veloso
    Nara Leo
    Tom Ze
    Rogerio Duprat
    Os Mutantes
    Gal Costa

    Go from there...

  • The first stop on your Tropicalia journey should be the albums of Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso (including Album Branco), especially the album which has a red background and a psychedelic painting of a woman framing a portrait of Gil...also, try the eponymous debut of Os Mutantes from 1968 (they're all wearing black in the cover photo as I recall)....there was a compilation album called Tropicalia: ou Panis et Circenses which features some of the major players...with regard to the Tropicalia movement, if you are interested in the visual arts component, check out the ouevre of Helio Oiticica...btw, the correct spelling on Nara's last name is Leao...

    some other Brazilian musicians/singers worth checking who are not necessarily Tropicalia artists but may have some sounds that complement this movement are:

    Papete - a great percussionist
    Elis Regina
    Jorge Ben

    Jello Biafra mentioned Modern Sound Six in Incredibly Strange Music Vol II, and I am unsure if this group was influenced by tropicalia but apparently they favored an eclectic mix, which many artists in the Tropicalia movement seem to also favor...

    one more note: Ultimate Beats and Breaks had a Brazilian edition, and I'm not sure if this had any Tropicalia songs but it might also be good to pick up

  • Rogerio Duprat is the producer you should be checking for when it comes to Tropicalia...also there is a ton of great Brazilian psychedelic music, but since that's not what you mentioned, I decided not to go down that road...so, anyways, per your original inquiry, here are some Tropicalia album-related images:


    Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


    Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


    Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


    Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


    Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting



  • Start here:


  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    Start here:


    This is a good place to start if you're investigating this stuff from scratch, as I was when I copped it. The vinyl is nice and loud too, if you can still find it on vinyl, because if you DJ, you'll want to play Alfomega out at the very least.

  • roistoroisto 879 Posts


    is a good read on the subject.

  • one of my favorite records and yet another wonderful purchase at GoodRecordsNYC:




  • is a good read on the subject.

    Gotta say...I hated this book.

    Go with the SoulJazz comp.

  • MoogManMoogMan Sao Paulo, Brazil 1,173 Posts
    I'm reading this book and totally recommend it for those who are interested
    in Brazilian music and culture.
    Caetano does a precise analysis and a very good description on Brazilian culture & politics from the 60's on.







    Peace

  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts


    is a good read on the subject.

    Gotta say...I hated this book.

    Go with the SoulJazz comp.

    I struggled with it as well. It's not an easy read, although I think the fault there may lie with the translation - lots of incredibly convoluted and over-wordy passages, including quite a few that make Veloso come across as a bit of a dick. I mean, he might well be/have been a bit of a dick, but even so, the way the story's told in this book makes it seem kinda boring at times, which it really oughtn't to.



  • is a good read on the subject.

    Gotta say...I hated this book.

    Go with the SoulJazz comp.

    I struggled with it as well. It's not an easy read, although I think the fault there may lie with the translation - lots of incredibly convoluted and over-wordy passages, including quite a few that make Veloso come across as a bit of a dick. I mean, he might well be/have been a bit of a dick, but even so, the way the story's told in this book makes it seem kinda boring, which it really oughtn't to.

    Agree with that statement %1000. I understand that avant-garde film was important to Tropicalia and this movement, but these Frickin' passages that just drag on and on about going to the movies do NOT make for a good read.

    Total snooze, put it down after 100 pages, and actually (and rarely, for me) sold it back to a store.

  • MoogManMoogMan Sao Paulo, Brazil 1,173 Posts
    I think that the main problem in this book is that Caetano sometimes writes in an academic way that he's not proficient, and that makes the reading a bit boring in some places. Probably, the translation makes it even more boring.
    But I still think it's an essential reading for Brazilian music aficionados.


    Peace

  • high_chigh_c 1,384 Posts


    Go with the SoulJazz comp.


    Heya can somebody take that shit to the ?

    Please? This is an official REQ:

  • nessness 249 Posts


    A MONSTER!!!!!

    That version on Volkswagon Blue. Ooof.

    Even tho the version on Cerebro Electronico is way trippy too. Volkswagen Blue

    Anything w Rogerio Duprat or Arthur Verocai involvement are worth checking out.

    Don't fuck with the Caetano Veloso record in english it pales in comparison so much that you probably wont be too interested in this other work. Even though dudes Beatles covers are craze. But theyre not on that record. So don't worry about it.

    The Gilberto Gil in English totally the opposite. Get that!

  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    cosignage on most mentioned so far... Duprat is def a name to check for.

    Prime-period

    Ronnie Von
    Erasmo Carlos
    O Bando

    and most of the Brazilian reissues on the Discos Mariposa label are also well worth your time.


  • Don't fuck with the Caetano Veloso record in english it pales in comparison so much that you probably wont be too interested in this other work. Even though dudes Beatles covers are craze. But theyre not on that record. So don't worry about it.

    You're referring to the one with Caetano in the fur/sheepskin thing on the cover?

    I think that is actually a really good record. Maybe not the first thing to check if your interest is in the Tropicalia sound, but an essential record in Veloso's overall catalog

  • nessness 249 Posts

    Don't fuck with the Caetano Veloso record in english it pales in comparison so much that you probably wont be too interested in this other work. Even though dudes Beatles covers are craze. But theyre not on that record. So don't worry about it.

    You're referring to the one with Caetano in the fur/sheepskin thing on the cover?

    I think that is actually a really good record. Maybe not the first thing to check if your interest is in the Tropicalia sound, but an essential record in Veloso's overall catalog

    yeah thats the one. just doesnt punch you in the face like his other work. its a little more i dont know. its good but im not sure that id agree with it being essential.

    joia
    qualiqiuer coisa
    the white album
    bicho
    cinema trancendental

    to me are the essential ones.

    dont sleep on gal costa le gal.

    is ronnie von tropiicalia? i thought that's more of a jovem guarda thing. im not super clear on the disctinctions between the two movements. i read he came up with the name tropicalia either way dude's got some killer shit. a maquina voadora. wooo.

    do the golden boys count as tropicalia?

    wheres the brasil scholars at?

  • nessness 249 Posts
    O Bando

    MONSTER!!!

  • Anyone heard the Os Lobos record? Is that considered Tropicalia? I heard the "Miragem" track and its pretty dope, but how's the rest of the album?

  • DJFerrariDJFerrari 2,411 Posts
    one of my favorite records and yet another wonderful purchase at GoodRecordsNYC:




    I love this record... one of my faves too.

  • AserAser 2,351 Posts
    a grip of things on this thread are not considered tropicalia. It's one of the more maligned genres, it didn't last much longer than 2 yrs to be honest.

    The leaders of tropicalia are definitely Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, that's unmistakeable. The rest include Rogerio Duprat, Gal Costa, Tom Ze, Os Mutantes, Nara Leao, Torquato Neto & Jos?? Carlos Capinan. Anybody else listed that wasn't on this post wasn't really involved in the "movement".

    http://tropicalia.uol.com.br/site_english/internas/movimento.php.

    The reason it didn't last long was because both Veloso and Gil were arrested and exiled by the military dictatorship.

    Jorge Ben doesn't really fit, he was a man of his own style. At best you would say his only tropicalia album is the 1969 s/t one.

  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    a grip of things on this thread are not considered tropicalia. It's one of the more maligned genres, it didn't last much longer than 2 yrs to be honest.

    The leaders of tropicalia are definitely Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, that's unmistakeable. The rest include Rogerio Duprat, Gal Costa, Tom Ze, Os Mutantes, Nara Leao, Torquato Neto & Jos?? Carlos Capinan. Anybody else listed that wasn't on this post wasn't really involved in the "movement".

    http://tropicalia.uol.com.br/site_english/internas/movimento.php.

    The reason it didn't last long was because both Veloso and Gil were arrested and exiled by the military dictatorship.

    Jorge Ben doesn't really fit, he was a man of his own style. At best you would say his only tropicalia album is the 1969 s/t one.

    I agree with all that, but assume that the person who started w/ the thread was, as with most people when they first get into Tropicalia, is looking for more things that sound like Os Mutantes (rather that artists who were directly connected w/ the Tropicalia movement)... much of the stuff in this thread fits, although I agree Jorge Ben generally doesn't.

  • DJFerrariDJFerrari 2,411 Posts
    a grip of things on this thread are not considered tropicalia. It's one of the more maligned genres, it didn't last much longer than 2 yrs to be honest.

    The leaders of tropicalia are definitely Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, that's unmistakeable. The rest include Rogerio Duprat, Gal Costa, Tom Ze, Os Mutantes, Nara Leao, Torquato Neto & Jos?? Carlos Capinan. Anybody else listed that wasn't on this post wasn't really involved in the "movement".

    http://tropicalia.uol.com.br/site_english/internas/movimento.php.

    The reason it didn't last long was because both Veloso and Gil were arrested and exiled by the military dictatorship.

    Jorge Ben doesn't really fit, he was a man of his own style. At best you would say his only tropicalia album is the 1969 s/t one.

    I agree with all that, but assume that the person who started w/ the thread was, as with most people when they first get into Tropicalia, is looking for more things that sound like Os Mutantes (rather that artists who were directly connected w/ the Tropicalia movement)... much of the stuff in this thread fits, although I agree Jorge Ben generally doesn't.

    Yup... this always happens when the topic comes up, but like you said inquiring minds are generally more interested in the sound than the movement and although the movement itself was brief, the sound carried on into various Brazilian subgenres for many years.

  • AserAser 2,351 Posts
    right, I was just trying to get a definitive breakdown of the genre. It seems to cause a lot of confusion as people tend to group anything late 60's to early 70's into Tropicalia.

    Everything listed on this thread has been great as musical recommendations.

  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    right, I was just trying to get a definitive breakdown of the genre. It seems to cause a lot of confusion as people tend to group anything late 60's to early 70's into Tropicalia.

    Everything listed on this thread has been great as musical recommendations.

    for sure.

    As for Tropical Truth, I didn't love it, but thought it was worth a read. The writing about being a political prisoner was pretty evocative and might as an excerpt be of more general interest than just people into Caetano/Tropicalia/etc.

    Anyone read Brutality Garden? That's the only other full-length English-language book on the movement I know of. Definitely academic -- reads like someone's thesis, which I believe it was -- and get far too much into Brazilian poetry and visual art for my taste. Still glad I read it, but someone needs to fill the void with a readable history book and/or doc.

  • I here what your saying, Thanks for all the knowledge folks . I am interested in the psyche music that came out of Brazil as well. I don't know much about particular artists and it has been particularly hard for me to pin down exactly what tropicalia was but this information has been vitally useful... anyone know any good stores that sell these records online? I am impartial to whether they only have reissues or og's I just want that wax.

    peace.

  • MoogManMoogMan Sao Paulo, Brazil 1,173 Posts
    I here what your saying, Thanks for all the knowledge folks . I am interested in the psyche music that came out of Brazil as well. I don't know much about particular artists and it has been particularly hard for me to pin down exactly what tropicalia was but this information has been vitally useful... anyone know any good stores that sell these records online? I am impartial to whether they only have reissues or og's I just want that wax.

    peace.

    One of the best places for finding brazilian records online is Superfly Records.
    They are very reliable and some Struters can vouch for them.
    Their records are a bit pricey, but you'll receive what you buy, i.e., if they say record is VG+ you can expect it being in this condition or even better.

    www.superflyrecords.com/



    Peace

  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
    BBC did a great three-part series on the history of Brazilian music, it might be a good start:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/brasilbrasil/

  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    I think Tropicalia is a great jump off point for brazillian music, but it is good to recognize it was a SMALL entity. Os Mutantes, Duprat, Gilberto, Caetano, Gal, and Tom Ze are to me the true tropicalistas. They broke away from MPB, and became the wannabe Beatles of there time which definitely influenced many artists, in South America.

    That's not to say though that there wasn't alot of interesting MPB, Samba and Bossa before and during this era as well.. It also goes without saying that I'm sure there was plenty of psychedelic, and wonderful brazillian music that could've been entirely not influenced by them.

    A little credit to Jorge Ben.

    - spidey
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