Poptones.co.uk's Compilation of the Week

Wanna know all there is too know about Tropicalia but were afraid to
ask?  No need…

Because London’s Soul Jazz Records has put together the definitive
compilation to Tropicalia for all of you out there who have heard of
the new Brazilian Revolution in sound but had know idea where to start
... much like Poptones.co.uk.

The compilation covers all the main protagnonists of the Tropicalia
revolution—from Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Jorge Ben,
Os Mutantes and Tom Ze.  These musicians formed the beginnings of a
musical revolution in dictorial Brazil.  But how did a group of
musicians set out to try and change governmental policies in Brazil? 
When the music known as ‘Bossa Nova’ put Brazil on the international
culture map, its rise was directly in contrast with the decline of the
quality of life under military control.  When the theme tune ‘Girl from
Ipanema’, sung by Astrud Gilberto, became an international hit, it was
during one of the bloodiest military coupe’s in Brazil’s history. 
Factions appeared within the Bossa Nova contigent and split became to
happen as the musicians started to become politicised.

In 1968, the Tropicalia movement became organised.  With the release
of ‘Tropicalia’ which featured al the main players posed on the record
cover in a parody of the Brazilian family portrait demonstrated the
height of surreality that the players were playing with ...  the record
demonstrated the themes that would reoccur throughout—American trash
culture, Brazilian religion, pop-art, surrealism, avante-garde music ..
they used television programs to become wildly popular, they
participated in demonstrations against the government and promoted
outlandish ideas.  During their television they flew banners of French
Situationist slogans - ‘Prohibition is prohibited’ and ‘Be a criminal,
be a hero’... but the revolution in Brazil was not too last.  The
government put a law into effect that banned all protest against the
government.  It was under that law that Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso
were arrested and eventually deported from Brazil—though neither
were involved in the eventual terrorist and guerilla activities that
were happening during the governmental crackdown on legitimate protest
instead prefer the tricksterism of situationism to make the people
think ... eventually heralded the end of the Tropicalia movement within
Brazil.

But one of the strongest legacies of this movement is the music—the
music being so strong that each of the players in the main movement has
influenced popular culture more than thirty years after their
appearance on the musical scene.  From Kurt Cobain trying to reunite Os
Mutantes to open up for Nirvana, David Byrne archiving and re-issuing
the main albums, Stereolab declaring their love on their sleeve,
through to Andy Votel, Cherrystones and David Holmes bring it back on
the dance floor and Devendra Banhart recreating the original Tropicalia
album sleeve and spirit for his latest album ‘Cripple Crow’.

And indeed one of the main reasons for this is the strength of the
music—from the bossa nova rhythms, the trash culture, fuzz guitars,
the LSD-playfulness, indian jazz and sepia tinged music that doesn’t
tie itself to the North American Psychedelic Culture of the time but
instead becomes its own culture which is definitely the better.  This
is a seriously wonderful compilation that captures the madness, the
despair, the psychedelia and the fun of Brazil whilst they went through
one of the most severe military dictatorships known ....

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