Transa

Performer: Caetano Veloso
Distributor: MSI Music Distribution

Notes: Argentinean release. Evocative, eclectic, intimate, and rhythmically complex, TRANSA contains everything that has made Caetano Veloso the most distinctive and, arguably, most important voice in modern Brazilian music. The record was cut in 1972, shortly after Veloso's return from political exile in England. Though the songs are not overtly political, they seem allegorical, celebratory, and plaintive at once, and point to a tension between the artist's expressive impulse and the strictures of his native country. This tension is further heightened by the presence of lyrics in both English and Portuguese. The beautiful, desperate "You Don't Know Me" may be the world's first bilingual bossa nova/folk-punk anthem of identity. The jazzy "Nine Out of Ten" gives way to the gear-shifting "Triste Bahia," which features webs of accelerating Brazilian percussion. A spare treatment of the classic samba "Mora Na Filosofia," the cosmic ditty "Neolithic Man," and the 12-bar "Nostalgia," (ending with the wise line "That's what rock & roll is all about") close out the set. TRANSA is a jewel in Veloso's discography and a must for anyone interested in Brazilian pop--or brilliant, original pop in general.

Caetano Veloso is a giant of Brazilian pop, often compared to figures such as Bob Dylan and John Lennon--even if the comparison doesn't quite translate. Veloso began in the late 1960s as one of the primary instigators of the "tropicalia" movement--an intentionally provocative collision of musical and cultural influences--for which he rapidly ascended to fame and notoriety. For years he was hardly known outside Brazil, but in time he became an international star renowned for his musical creativity and poetic soul.

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