Customer Reviews

Gal Costa (Serie Colecionador)

5 star:		(3)
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It's been a long long time comming, but I finally managed to get my hands on this masterpiece of brazilian avante / pop / psyche. Along with Caetano Veloso and Os Mutantes, Gal was one of the prime movers and shakers of the legendary tropicalia movement in Brazil in the late 60's early 70's. Needless to say this is quite possibly one of the best of all the tropicalia records. Super smooth sultry vocals, ehcoed all over the place, tweaked out bizarre orchestrations, great songs, and some of the most hauntingly beautiful signing ever recorded. Her first record is a lot weirder, kind of like streisand on acid, this ones a lil easier on the ears, with a more sophisticated sound and less searing fuzz tones. After this she put out a couple more very hot records and then fell off into the jazz / pop blackhole but on this gloriously realised record she created her masterpiece, and one of the coolest pop records of the late 60's.

Needs a remaster and rerelease. This is a true gem of psychedelic tropical pop. You can find this album in a couple of different pressings. Just look for the order of songs noted above.

When it comes to Tropicália, I automatically think of three people as being the "big dogs" within the group of artists that are often associated with the movement during it's peak. Those three people are, of course, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Gal Costa. While the first two were the songwriting masterminds, I view gal as being their muse. Simply because she so effortlessly performed their material, sometimes even better than Veloso and Gil could ever dream of. "Gal" catches Costa at a very pivotal moment in time. The Tropicália movement was on the brink of death and by associating herself with something considered so dangerous at the time was a huge risk. This album is a bit softer than what her peers may have been doing at the time, though there are several moments where she heads into the avant garde and explores the psychedelic sound that was so popular in music at the time. Easily one of the best albums to be released in such a great year for music, and one any fan of music should listen to. A sweet, dreamy, yet melancholic record that has managed to stand the test of time.

Listen to: "Não Identificado", "Sebastiana", "Lost in the Paradise", "Baby", "A coisa mais linda que existe".