Tropicalia
Created By: nocebo
Last Modified: 12/21/05
Summary: Brazil's answer to the worldwide countercultural uprising of the late '60s, Tropicalia was an art movement awash in psychedelia, with one foot deep in pop culture and the other in the avant-garde. The music is what most remember about it today, as it made international superstars of Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Gal Costa among others. Through the 1990s, artists like Kurt Cobain, Beck, and David Byrne brought it back into the spotlight by publicly announcing their love for the music, and in Byrne's case, by reissuing some of it as well. Much more than just a flower power retread, Tropicalia produced some of the most beautiful pop music of the 20th century, most of it wonderfully strange and all of it unconditionally Brazilian.Link: Tropicalia
Summary: The so-called "official" site for all things Tropicalia, this is pretty neat indeed. Exclusive photos, interviews, timelines, biographies, and all sorts of other information is to be found here. A good place to go once you've gotten your feet a bit wet - since this is a Brazilian site (though it's in English), there's much that gets mentioned which might not be obvious or clear to a curious foreigner.
Link: Dusty Groove
Summary: Should you actually want to get your hands on some Tropicalia CDs or records, this is your one-stop shop for Brazilian music in the US. Their selection is overwhelming, though I'd say to beware of their descriptions - they make every record sound like the best thing you'll ever hear. Still, don't hesitate to check it out. This store is why it's so hard to find original Brazilian LPs in the States - they went and bought them all!
Link: Slipcue E-Zine: Brazilian Music Guide
Summary: This is the Brazilian music wing of Bay Area DJ Joe Sixpack's massive music review site. Mr. Sixpack writes with a contagious passion for music, whether he likes what he's heard or not. It's very easy to get lost in here, in the best of ways. This is the first spot I'd recommend to learn more about everything discussed here.
Link: allbrazilianmusic.com
Summary: The best place to hear actual Tropicalia music online, this is an extremely comprehensive site with Brazilian musicians of all kinds. The biographical information and the photos are great, but what really cinches it is the 30-second song clips available for most of the albums in their listings.
Summary: Translation: "Be a criminal -- Be a hero." An iconic image of Tropicalia, this banner, hung at one of their shows, led to Caetano and Gil's arrests and subsequent exiles.
Summary: The cover to Tropicalia: Panis et Circensis, the group's LP-as-manifesto.
Nara Leao
Summary: More an accomplice to the Tropicalistas than anything else, Leao was the princess of the Bossa Nova set which the Tropicalists purposely pushed out of the spotlight. She aligned herself with the new movement by making one Tropicalia-styled album (pictured above), which in all actuality sounded about the same as the rest of her work. She continued making quality music until her tragically early death in 1989, at only 46 years of age.
Maria Bethania
Summary: Maria Bethania was the first of all of these artists to hit big in Brazil, but her stance as a folkie led her to distance herself from the Tropicalia movement and the political ruckus they were raising in the country. She's also Caetano Veloso's little sister, and her deep husky voice paired with his high dulcet tones often make it sound like she's the brother and vice-versa! Bethania is still very active to this day.
From: 
http://neidej.fotoblog.uol.com.br/photo20040706220849.htmlTom Ze "Todos Os Olhos"
Summary: The cover for Ze's 1973 album "Todos Os Olhos" (All The Eyes), this is
an example not only of Ze's oddball humor, but also a demonstration of
how Brazilian artists would manage to sneak in provocative content
through the dictatorship's censors of the time. (If you haven't looked
closely enough, that isn't actually an eyeball, but another body part
entirely.)
From: http://www.jeteye.com/jetpak/17793025,,,1135320223,,myjeteye,,view.htmlTom Ze
Summary: The clown prince of Tropicalia, Tom Ze is probably the least known key
member of the group, yet also the most in touch with the movement's
playful, surrealistic, Dada-tinged tendencies. Though often too weird
for the top of the charts, his records have also managed to stay
consistantly inventive and adventurous in the original Tropicalia
spirit, unlike those of his comrades. In the last few years, he's won
some acclaim by playing with Chicago's post-rock pioneers Tortoise.
From: http://music.yahoo.com/ar-269325---Tom-Ze
Summary: Gal a year or two before, in her bossa nova days
From: http://www.keller.com/bass/gal/
Summary: Gal again
From: http://www.keller.com/bass/gal/Gal Costa
Summary: Gal Costa was the female face of Tropicalia, along with Rita Lee and to a lesser extent, Nara Leao and Maria Bethania. Perhaps the Tropicalista with the most consistently successful career in Brazil, her sweet and painfully sad voice pushed the song "Baby" into becoming the archetypal Tropicalia number. Her first few albums are perhaps the most wildly experimental of all the Tropicalia LPs, yet are also perhaps the most accessible.
From: http://www.keller.com/bass/gal/Gilberto Gil's first LP
http://www.dustygroove.com/
Summary: Gil and Caetano at Caetano's apartment in Sao Paulo, 1968
From: http://www.gilbertogil.com.br/Gilberto Gil
Summary: If Veloso is Brazil's John Lennon, Gilberto Gil is definitely its Paul
McCartney. A masterful musician, Gil was the first among the
Tropicalistas to wholeheartedly embrace American and British rock and
pop, though this doesn't really make itself seen in his songs. While Veloso is
often ambiguous and ironic, Gil's music is almost always carefree and
happy, even when dealing with dark or complex political and social
situations. Since January 2003, Gil has served as Brazil's Minister of
Culture.
From: http://www.gilbertogil.com.brOs Mutantes
Summary: Perhaps the best starting point for modern ears, Os Mutantes (The
Mutants) are very likely the most criminally unknown band of the 1960s,
period. The band behind many of the other Tropicalistas' solo efforts,
they also produced a number of incredible albums of their own, the
first three of which are essential to anyone who likes the Beatles, or
just pop music done right. Blending '60s psych-rock with samba, forro,
and other Brazilian styles, they pulled these off better than almost
anyone, poking fun at all of it throughout. The band was composed of
Rita Lee Jones (a Brazilian-American) and the brothers Sergio Dias and
Arnaldo Baptista, as well as a few others throughout their span.
From: http://www.phinnweb.org/retro/garage/index2.htmlCaetano Veloso
Summary: Along with Gilberto Gil, the leading force behind the movement. Many
non-Brazilians see him as sort of Brazil's Bob Dylan or John Lennon (or
both), and though this isn't quite true, it's easy to see why the
comparisons are made. More of an intellectual where Gil (and Os
Mutantes) were pure
musicians, Caetano brought together the conceptual structure of the
movement, making it more than just a group of talented friends rising
to pop
stardom together. This isn't to say that he wasn't musically inclined;
his honey-sweet vocals are instantly recognizable and immediately
unforgettable, and a large number of his songs have become standards in
Brazil, more than Gil or any other Tropicalista.
From: http://justforaday.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_justforaday_archive.html
