Noites Do Norte

Caetano Veloso | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000059LXU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,939 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #89 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Brazilian > Tropicália

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Nearly 35 years after the advent of tropicalia, the Brazilian movement that fused native music and visuals with Anglo/psychedelic flavors, singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso continues his deep, playful experimentation. Noites do Norte ("Northern Nights") is a striking art-pop fusion whose intellectualism is often bound up with the beauty of its layered tones. Concerns from the country's national identity and ongoing racial crises--a theme that fed Veloso's 2000 soundtrack to Orfeu, an update of the Black Orpheus story--to early memories, broken hearts, and the artist's adoration of filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni swim through a colorful aural canvas. But for all of Veloso's trademark verbal surprises (for one, the Antonioni tribute is sung in Italian), it's easy to believe his claim that initially "I did not think about the songs. I went to the studio looking for sounds." Whether juxtaposing a Milesian trumpet with lush reeds and strings ("Sou Seu Sabiá"), deploying screeching rock guitar ("Rock 'n' Raul," "Ia") and machine noises ("Cantiga de Boi") in the midst of acoustic sound, or contrasting a troupe of drummers with baroque strings over the discrete movements of the three-minute title track, Veloso fills the disc with so much music that it seems to suspend or expand the listener's sense of time: a rare trick from a rare trickster. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Caetano at his very best, October 27, 2002

By 

Christopher Carton (Bakersfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Noites Do Norte (Audio CD)

It just doesn't get better than this. Some Caetano CD's have a song or two that you feel you can pass up. This is not one of those CD's. He goes in many different directions, from the title track, a poem recital set to a beautiful chord arrangement, to "Rock 'n Raul," a straightforward rocker like nothing you've heard from Caetano before, to "Meu Rio," an acoustic number reminiscent of the Caetano we've come to know and love. But what all the songs have in common is that they build into your psyche, making you want to hear them all every time you play the CD.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Look no further for genius, May 27, 2001

By 

Charles Horton (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Noites Do Norte (Audio CD)

Surpassing brilliant. Superbly innovative, in both music & lyrics. My thought is why can't Veloso's contemporaries, Pop icons like Dylan, Simon, McCartney or John, release work on this level? None are even close to this guy. At 59, Veloso sounds 21 - passionate, sensual, humorous, risk taking, and thought provoking. Recorded in Rio de Janeiro, the production and overall sound is fantastic. This album is a rare glimpse into a mind of pure creativity. North Americans who don't know, should know about Caetano Veloso.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long live Caetano, December 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Noites Do Norte (Audio CD)

Has Caetano made a deal with the devil? How can he still get better? This is a hard record, I had to listen to it three or four times before I really liked it. But it was absolutely worth it. It is incredibly smart, sophisticated, clever, subtle, sad and ironic at the same time. Caetano faces the story of his own country, slavery and religion, but also music, love affairs, cinema, everything with great subtlety and poetry. The lyrics and the music are great, challenging, unexpected; his voice gets more and more intense with time. He is sure not to sleap on his laurels, like many of his colleagues do, whose laurels are not even at the same level as his. His courage and inspiration are not likely to fade soon and every new record of his is a great pleasure for music fans. Long live Caetano!