Customer Reviews

Best of Tom Ze, vol. 4

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Tom ze, the brilliant Brazilian Tropicalia member, has always marched to the beat of his own drummer, and in doing so has created some of the most amazing music to ever come from Brazil. (or anywhere else)

Ze's music always is a wonderful mixture of traditional bossa nova and samba, but that's where the traditional aspect of it ends. From there, he will likely fuse musique concrete, avant garde, traditional classical, even techno, hip hop, etc. It doesn't matter to Ze. I liken him to a musical bandit, musically taking what he wants and needs, then re-distributing the music to the masses. Lyrically, his songs are at once caustic, poignant, ironic. He has an amazing clairvoyance that allows him to see the suffering and humanity of the world. A true gift.

This cd is a wonderful introduction to the man and his music. It has a wonderful timelessness that will endear listeners to him for an eternity. While at times quite idiosyncratic, the music nevertheless is surprisingly accessable. Another reviewer likened him to an accessable Captain Beefheart- an apt analogy.

Fans of Tropicalia or Brazilian music likely know who Ze is. If you are at all curious about out-there music or have had your musical appetite whetted by these reviews, this cd is a fabulous place to begin your journey into the world of Tom Ze. And its an amazing place.

At once completely alien and yet with the instant appeal of someone like Hank Williams. Sr. (Although it sounds about as close to ol' Hank as the blenders Sr. Ze uses in one of his songs). There are samba rhythms that weave in and our of bizarre acoustic and electronic soundscapes while some of the most incidious hooks you've ever heard infiltrate your consciousness. the Captain Beefheart comparisons are appropriate, but not totally informative.

Even if you're familiar with other Tropicalisima artists, you may not be fully prepared for Tom Ze. Os Mutantes are briulliant, yet their music is steeped in the psychadelic tradition and, thus dates itself. the same could be said for Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil (althrough through the ages).

Absolutely nothing on here sounds dated. It could have just as easily been made today as in 1960 or 2025. The one constant is the sense of melody and playfulness that prevails over the whole CD. Just freakin' great. Really.

Every person I've played it for, no matter what their taste is (trad jazz, drum 'n' bass, punk or bluegrass and beyond) has loved it. The wonderful polyrythms, beautiful melodies and musical humour have universal appeal, despite their idiosyncracies, and garner highest recommendation possible.

I purchased this CD to introduce me to the Brazilian Tropicalia sound. I was pleasantly suprised! Tom Ze comes across to me as a sort of Brazlian Captain Beefheart, yet far more accessible. He often shrouds his songs in bizarre arrangements, sometimes using objects like blenders and vacuum cleaners to fill out his sound. The songs themselves on this CD are all super-catchy, so even if you aren't well-versed in Portugese it shouldn't matter. The result of his experimentation and everything else is both incredibly original and irresistable. If you're interested in something a little out of the ordinary, I highly recomend this top-notch CD!

Tom Ze is like no other creature in the land of music. He creates a sound that is completely his. His beautiful imagination creates intriguing lyrics. His voice isn't anything amazing, but he plays with it to make it into a completely new instrument. Ze explores numerous genres, and inverts them into a addictive sour stew of sound. He is sensitive and precious while rough around the edges. Tom Ze is a cute, sparkling gem shining in his own chaotic world. I urge curious listeners to take a bit of time to explore this charming world of Ze.

The brilliant Tom Ze, who began recording in the 1960s, is here lovingly and thoroughly documented by ex-Talking Head David Byrne, the compiler of the uniformly excellent "Brazil Classics" series (whose Vol. I is a miscellany, Vol. II a collection of forro, and Vol. III a collection of samba tunes).

Ze's music is impossible to categorise. Taking elements of funk, pop, samba, forro, concrete poetry, Dadaism and a whole lot of humour, Ze's songs range from the cryptic and elliptical (Cade Mar) to gorgeous, melancholy ballads (So-- Soledao) about the old Portuguese pain, "saudade," a word loosely meaning "melancholy" or "gentle despair," but, like Ze's music, impossible to accurately render in English. At other times, Ze's music bleats erriely and insistently like nightmare. The album opener, "Nave Maria" (its title an allusion to Columbus' ship and the European discovery of the new world) starts as a gentle samba ryhthm, and exfoliates into modal wailing while the narrator mumbles about babies metaphorical and real being born. At other times, Ze's music is hilarious and seemingly childlike. One song has spoken syllables coming to life and arguing with each other.

Like all great avante-garde music, Ze gets you to hum along while he rearranges his musical heritage and your mind. Ze has described his work as "a mix of Jackson do Pandeira, Beethoven, and the Beatles." He is an acknowledged influence on artists as varied as the Talking Heads, DJ Shadow, and Beck, and his work-- most of what is on this disc is 1960s-1980s-- anticipates hip-hop collage turntablism and the arty underground of '90s bands like Pavement and Sebadoh.

As both an introduction to Ze's enormous ouevre and as a superbly coherent record in its own right, "Brazil Classics IV: The Best of Tom Ze," like the other records in Byrne's series, is outstanding. You will find yourself whistling this stuff in the shower and pondering it on your way to work-- thanks, David Byrne, for bringing this music to those who don't live in Brazil.

This compilation is a masterpiece. It is the perfect introduction to this most amazing of Brazillian recording artists. Great viriety of his earlier work. If you like brazillian music that is deeply rooted in it's traditions yet is given a quirky, brilliantly playful, original twist, this will quickly become your new favorite! It is mine!