Caetano Veloso Caetano Veloso 180g LP (Mono) (Vinyl)

TAS Rated 5/5 Music, 3.5/5 Sonics in the October 2019 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

180g Vinyl Mono LP!
Remastered From Original 1967 Mono Mixes!

The Tropicália art movement of the late 1960s, with flourishes in visual art, poetry, theatre and music, is one of Brazil’s most adored cultural concoctions. It was a movement which began out of necessity, shortly after a repressive military dictatorship seized power after 20 years of peaceful democracy. The term Tropicália first came from the mind of Brazilian visual artist Hélio Oiticica, whose eponymous piece consisted of a sandy maze bordered by tropical Brazilian flora and, at the end, a television set.

Through satirizing symbols of their homeland and rejecting a pre-established national culture, the Tropicalists constructed a new form of “aggressive nationalism” outside of an innately anti-imperialist Left and an unthinkingly patriotic Right. By refusing to accept underdevelopment as their identity and
excitedly “devouring” disparate culture (low and high brow, domestic and foreign, etc.), the Tropicalists carved out a unifying creative space, a universal sound, different from the older, bourgeois bossa nova movement and the newer, undiscerning rock movement.

Caetano Veloso’s self-titled debut solo album is one of the most important and influential Brazilian (and, dare we say, South American) albums of all time. With the release of this seminal album, Veloso would become the leading voice of Tropicália.

The songs on this album immediately connected with people. Alegria, Algeria was his breakout hit that gained traction as a hymn for liberty advocates, juxtaposing images of Coca Cola, guerrilla groups, bombs and Brigitte Bardot as part of the everyday experience. The album’s first song Tropicália was
an anthem for the whole movement; it’s a fragmented allegory, a structure borrowed from friends in the concrete poetry scene, touching on divergent cultural symbols, events, allusions and idioms, nimbly representing and critiquing the many contradictions in the new Brazilian dictatorship.

Superbacana (translated as “Supergroovy”) follows a hyperbolic superhero’s use of technology to fight a gang of cowboys led by the money-hungry Uncle Scrooge, serving as allusions to American imperialism and greed felt in their country, all in the rapid-fire structure of a comic book. The subtext in all these songs, which the dictatorship would not immediately catch, were that these repressed but glaring contradictions, not the bountiful sunny paradise that the military regime was pushing, were the true national identity.

Unfortunately, these cleverly veiled jabs in Veloso and his contemporaries’ bodies of work gained greater and greater exposure as the movement became more and more popular, leading to the arrest, imprisonment and forced exile of Veloso and many of his cohort. Despite these difficulties, the Tropicalists continued creating in exile, strongly influencing artists both at home and abroad.

This is the first authorized North American vinyl issue of Caetano Veloso. Whether you’re a longtime fan or first-time listener, Third Man Records could not be more proud to spread the compelling story of this album, this artist and the Tropicália movement.

Remastered from 1967 mono mixes by Warren Deferrer, Bill Skibbe (Third Man Mastering)

"At a remove of five decades, Caetano Veloso's second album, and first solo effort, sounds like light entertainment with its hip-swinging Latin rhythms and frothy performances. At the time of its release in Veloso's native Brazil, though, albums like this and the music being made by his cohorts in the Tropicalismo movement were viewed as one of the biggest threats to the military dictatorship in the country. And it wasn't just infusing the traditional sounds of the region with psychedelia and pop. Veloso's lyrics are brash and razor-sharp, delivered in a smooth tenor that only makes the medicine of lines like, 'Before the permanent night spreads through Latin America/the name of the man is the people' and 'In the faces of presidents/in big kisses of love/of teeth, legs, flags/bombs and Brigitte Bardot' sting even more. This album has never before been giving a proper vinyl release here in the States, but thanks to the good people at Third Man Records and their careful, almost artisan-like treatment of recorded music, this vital document of a cultural movement and one of the most important figures within it has not lost an iota of its artistry and urgency." - Paste Magazine

"...Remastered from original mono mixes at Third Man Mastering in Detroit, the vinyl skillfully captures an artist who seems fascinated by all the things a studio can do; seldom has mono sounded so rich and full. You feel the excitement of someone eager to explore, experiment, take chances; though the message is sometimes dead serious, the album abounds with playfulness, a reverence for pop culture, and the joy of music making." - Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound, October 2019

Features:
• 180g Vinyl
• Mono
• First ever authorized North American vinyl release
• Remastered from the original 1967 mono mixes by Warren Deferrer, Bill Skibbe (Third Man Mastering)

Selections:
Side 1:
1. Tropicalia
2. Clarice
3. No Dia Que Eu Vim-Me Embora
4. Alegria, Alegria
5. Onde Andaras
6. Anunciacao
Side 2:
1. Superbacana
2. Paisagem Util
3. Clara
4. Soy Loco Por Ti, America
5. Ave-Maria
6. Eles