Customer Reviews

Cinema Transcentental

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This record is one of the greatest records Caetano Veloso has ever made. But it is near-impossible to find. After this 1979 record, Caetano's style became markedly more avant-garde and more top-40 oriented in the 1980s. But this record is pure Brazilian Tropicalia music at its best. The photo on the cover is also a perfect piece of art, capturing exactly the mood and spirit of this record: This is music for sitting on the beach and letting your hair out. No dancing, no samba, no heavy african drums, just Caetano's soothing voice, some soft acoustic bossa-heavy guitar licks, and some wonderful, yet subtle and restrained back-up rhythm and percussion work. If you understand Portuguese, you will also find Caetano at his poetic best here, especially on "Oracao ao tempo." "Cajuina" is a frenetic forro beat slowed down to a grindingly slow tempo, with some fascinatingly soothing results. "Menino do Rio" is, as the title suggests, Caetano's 1970's hippie-ish homage to the spirit of youth, sun and fun that is so present in beach-oriented Brazilian culture. And "Beleza Pura" is a fascinating example of how restrained yet intense the african element of Brazilian music can be made when a master like Caetano is composing the song. Just hearing this makes me hallucinate that I am on a beach somewhere in Brazil in 1979. This is a perfect masterpiece of time and place.

If you're new to Caetano, buy this and Cores Nomes first. Every track is beautiful. The arrangements are simple withhout ever losing its lush sensuality. If I had to pick some favorite tracks, I'd say Oracao ao Tempo, Vampiro, Cajuina, and Trilhos Urbanos, which is now a Brazilian standard.

This is THE place to start if you've got a forming interest in Brasilian music... it's got tropicalia-influenced pop, some samba, and even a couple of tunes done in the style familiar to the Northeastern part of the country. A fabulous (and classic!) realease.

From the reviews, and given how long I have been waiting for a re-release of this CD, looks like we are going on about a decade that this CD has been unavailable except on the used market. It was released on CD in the early 1990s, and now, all you can do is buy used copies of that original early 1990s release. Dealers know that demand exceeds supply, and so those used copies will set you back a penny or two also.

For the life of me I cannot imagine what the obstacle is in getting this disc released again. Legal snafus, no doubt, that only a handful of people in the world know about.

If you can get this disc, good for you. It, like most of caetano's 1970s work, is quite good. For me it is better than good. I went through a phase of my life for about 3 years when I heard this record played every week. So to me, these are the songs I think of when I think of Caetano Veloso. But my love for this record may just be a bit of nostalgia... I know others feel the same about "Bicho" and some of the other discs.