Luis Vagner "Luis Vagner" (Copacabana, 1976)
Well look, I know on an intellectual level that this is pretty bad music... As the album opens, guitarist Luis Vagner, known for his studio work with various artists, zonks his way through a sometimes-slick, sometimes-spaced out set of goopy, loosey-goosey soft rock, adding some of the most generic, unmoving electric guitar licks you'll ever hear... There's also a slight sheen of the disco production sound of the day, making this album sound something like the lost lovechild of Barry Manilow and Stevie Vai. It's very dorky, but somehow very heartfelt and sincere. Vagner seems so earnest about what he's doing, it's hard not to find yourself rooting for him on some level. Then, a little deeper into the album, something clicks into place and the disc gains some substance. On "Corcoveia," the fourth track, some Brazilian-ness asserts itself, and the album loosens up and gets kinda funky. The good vibes aren't sustained long, but this disc does have its moments. I guess I'd have to classify this as (ulp!) a sort of a guilty pleasure.
Alceu Valenca - see artist discography
Marcos Valle - see artist discography
Geraldo Vandre "Encyclopedia Musical Brasileira" (Warner, 2000)
A frequent participant in the mid-'60s Brazilian song festivals, political activist Vandre's style was a mix of mainstream pop and earnest folkie troubadour tendencies -- the Gateway Singers meet Joao Bosco. On first listen, I didn't really care that much for this album -- it seemed a bit mainstream and bland -- but after a while it grew on me. Vandre's vocals aren't amazing, but there is something appealing and intimate about them, and while he doesn't have a groovy psychedelic band behind him, there's a restrained experimentalism to his arrangements. This disc, which covers his work from 1965-'68, is an interesting glimpse at the other kinds of music which were out there when the tropicalia movement was coming to fruition, as well as a clear precursor to the later, more mainstream approach of the '70s MPB scene. It's also almost all original material -- he wrote or co-wrote all but two of these songs. Apparently Vandre was one of the more prominent artists suppressed early on by the Brazilian dictatorship which took power in the 1960s, and spent several years in European exile.
(For more information on Vandre, check out Jose Roberto Miccoli's MPB page or Clique Music. Both sites in Portuguese.)
Geraldo Vandre "Perolas" (Som Livre, 2002)
An equally appealing album, and possibly better programmed than the Warner collection listed above. Vandre's passionate conviction comes across loud and clear (as well as hints of his more humorless, dreary tendencies...) A highlight of this disc is a live recording from one of the many song festivals that Vandre competed in, where his spoken introduction to "Para Nao Dizer Que Nao Falei Das Flores" incites the highly-charged crowd to split along political lines, half the audience fervently applauding him, the other half howling with derision and outrage; when the song begins, his supporters take it up with the moblike passion of a soccer crowd. It gives us a whiff of what the political passions of Brazil in the 1960s were like, as does the rest of this fine album... Apparently, Vandre was arrested immediately after performing the song, leading to a lengthy period of exile in the late '60s and early '70s.
Vanusa "20 Super Sucessos" (Sony, 1999)
Negligible latter-day re-recordings of old jovem guarda teen-rock hits from the 1960s. These versions are musically solid and professional sounding, but what's the point, really? The appeal of the originals was Vanusa's youth and perkiness, as well as the inherent dorkiness of the ie-ie-ie scene; hearing a more mature woman sing them, with modernized pop-rock arrangements, kind of defeats the purpose. Look for the originals, instead.
Renato Vargas "O Som Do Barzinho" (Philips, 1998)
I'm sure Vargas is a bit of a lesser light in the novo bossa nova scene, but this live acoustic album, where he leads a singalong chorus through some of the best-beloved tunes in the Brazilian canon, is pretty darn nice. Not innovative, but beautiful. Here's his website.
Renato Vargas "O Som Do Barzinho, v.2" (Universal/Deck Disc, 1998)
Renato Vargas "O Som Do Barzinho, v.3" (Universal/Deck Disc, 1998)
Renato Vargas "O Som Do Barzinho, v.4" (Universal/Deck Disc, 2000)
(Produced by Joao Augusto & Pepe)
Another nice, thoroughly enjoyable volume in this curious series of singalong MPB albums. Vargas sings classics by Joao Bosco, Chico Buarque, Paulinho Da Viola, Tom Jobim and others, and the audience cheerfully sings along. Brazilian karaoke is, apparently, a participatory live event... Be kinda fun to go to one of these shows!
Renato Vargas "O Som Do Barzinho, v.5" (Universal/Deck Disc, 2000)
(Produced by Joao Augusto & Pepe)
I'm starting to really like these records... they're kinda silly, but they're fun!
Nana Vasconcelos - see artist discography
Veiga & Salazar "Original" (ST2/Trama, 2000)
Poppy, bouncy hip-hop from Sao Paulo, featuring sharp turntabulism, decent beats and live, funky saxophone. These guys have flow, although I admit I found my attention wandering midway through the album... Andres Salazar's sax work is a little weak in places; not bad, just not as soulful as it might have been, although his Spanish-language rapping easily matches Gustavo Veiga's Portuguese tounge-twisting toasting talents. Keep in mind, these kids are pretty young, and this is a pretty strong debut. Worth checking out if you're into the whole global hip-hop trip.
Jorge Veiga "O Caricaturista Do Samba" (RCA/BMG, 1971)
Old-school samba with a topical/comical bent. Although this was recorded at the height of the tropicalia era, the style is a throwback to the perky samba-cancao of 1930s stars such as Cyro Monteiro and Moreira da Silva. Nice stuff, although not dazzlingly unique. Includes the '60s anthem, "Brigite Bardot," written in honor of the great French sex symbol.
Velha Guarda Da Portela "Homanagem Ao Paulo Da Portela" (Nikita Music, 1989/2000)
The old-timers of the Portela samba school, circa 1989, band together for a tribute to songwriter Paulo Benjamin De Oliveira, who was one of the key samba cancao composers of the 1920s and '30s. This set is pleasant enough, though perhaps a bit perfunctory -- cavaquinho, percussion, a buoyant vocal chorus, all the hallmarks of the acoustic samba style, though performed with a little less magic and mystery than, say, the Tudo Azul album, listed below. It's still pretty swell, though: Monarco, Argemiro and Henrique Cazes are among the musicians featured here.
Velha Guarda Da Portela "Tudo Azul" (Phonomotor, 2000)
An absolutely gorgeous acoustic samba album. Relaxed, lyrical, affectionate takes on old samba cancao themes, featuring various members of the Portela samba school, including several influental old-timers. This disc was bankrolled by Marisa Monte, whose dad was an escola member in the '60s and who is now one of the escola's younger members... A beautiful album, frequently and deservedly compared to the Cuban Buena Vista Social Club... HIGHLY recommended!
Caetano Veloso - see artist discography
Moreno Veloso +2 "Maquina De Escever/Music Typewriter" (Natasha/Hannibal, 2001)
First things first: Moreno Veloso does bear a striking vocal and stylistic likeness to his father, the patron saint of tropicalia. Playing ping-pong balls and toy pianos on some tracks, Moreno shows a playful, adventurous streak that is also very similar, although the younger Veloso brings a subtle modernism to bear on these recordings, using electronica production with perhaps greater panache than his well-known dad. In this regard he's closer in creative temprament to art-rocker Arto Lindsay than to Caetano, who in the past has let the glitziness of new technology get the better of him. Accompanied on a few tracks by bossa progeny Daniel Jobim, and on others by his pals Kassin and Domenico ("+2"), Moreno casts his net softly, recalling his father's calmest albums from the mid-1970s. With production assist by Chico Neves, one of the most prominent alternative rockers in Brazil, Veloso creates the kind of "world music" that isn't meant to be pumped out of the speakers at the local Starbuck's -- instead, it should be savored slowly at home. (See also: Domenico +2.)
Moreno Veloso +2/Various Artists "Maquina De Escever: Musica Remix" (Natasha, 2001)
The original Typewriter album was so perfectly sculpted and richly rewarding, and already incorporated so many of the tonal concepts of modern electronica that a remix album seems on the face of it to be a rather superfluous and dubious venture. Then again, you never know. Well, the first couple of tracks are clearly disappointing -- simplistic, note-by-note, stuttering chop-ups of "Enquanto Isso" and "Sertao," tracks that seems like mere masturbatory technical exercises (at least to my untrained ears...) Yeah, sure, you can do that in a studio, but what's the point? Sometimes song deconstructions can take on a life of their own and offer radical, eye-opening reinterpretations of the original music; I really don't think this was one of those great events. However, on the second half of the disc some subtlety slips in, several later tracks have a honied, sensual appeal to them, and a couple even sound completely unlike the source material. No one needs to frantically rush out and track down this album -- I think the +2ers really said all that needed to be said on the original record, and they said it quite well -- but there are some nice moments and a few pleasant surprises, and those of an ambient-electronic inclination will probably enjoy this disc just fine.
Flavio Venturini "Meus Momentos" (EMI, 1994)
Simply awful, synthesizer-drenched sorta-rock, framing the whiny vocals of former Bis 14 bandeader Flavio Venturini. He may have been a key player in Brazil's early New Wave scene, but this best-of collection did not leave me looking for more of his music... It's similar in some ways to the spacy ramblings of Lo Borges, but with less oddball appeal. It's just plain bad.
Marcelo Vianna "Teu Nome, Pixinguinha" (Biscoito Fino, 2002)
An unusual update on the music of choro pioneer Pixinguinha... The old master's spritely instrumental tunes are given new lyrics, written by the likes of Gastao Vianna, Paulo Cesar Pinheiro and Vinicius De Moraes; some of the lyrics are of an earlier vintage, collaborations between Pixinguinha and contemporaries like Joao de Barro and Cicero de Almeida. Youthful vocalist Vianna approaches collection of tunes through the filter of slick, modern MPB, turning the old bouncy choroes into ornate pop ballads. Some tracks retain the upbeat feel of the originals, but others are much slower and more reflective. Definitely a different take on this old material, but fans along both sides of the spectrum will probably be won over by this disc.
Claudia Villela & Ricardo Peixoto "Inverse Universe" (Adventure Music, 2003)
Vocalist Claudia Villela scats and croons her way through a fine set of glossy, '70s-fusion tinged tunes, very reminiscent of Flora Purim's work with Airto Moreira and their modern jazz clique. Multi-instrumentalist Ricardo Peixoto guides an able, retro-oriented band. Jazz elder Toots Thielemans plays his harmonica on a couple of tunes, lending an air of utter authenticity to the proceedings. This style isn't for everyone (I'm not fond of it), although the musicianship is of a high calibre; Villela is most striking on more focused, conventional melodies, although her uptempo scatting produces several dazzling passages, with lightning-fast phrasing that puts her at the top of the game. Several tunes are a bit meandering and tinny, but others have real lyrical depth. Fans of old-school fusion will be dazzled to hear the music alive and well in the new century; other listeners may want to tread more lightly. (For more information on these San Francisco-based Brazilian expatriates, check out their websites,
www.claudiavillela.com and www.ricardopeixoto.com.)
Claudia Villela & Kenny Werner "Dreamtales" (Adventure Music, 2004)
A strong set of rather challenging jazz vocal-piano duets, suffused with varying degrees of Brazilian-ness. It's a remarkably uncommercial set, with Brazilian expatriate going through some wide-ranging, wildly dynamic vocal explorations... It's certainly not for everyone, but for those who like their jazz hard, I imagine this is a set worth checking out.
Vinicius (de Moraes) - see artist discography
Vitto "Ritual Carioca" (Erato Detour, 2000)
Vitto Meirelles' homage to Brazilian classical composer Heitor Villa-Lobos features sleek modern pop, modeled after the styles of Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil... A little cluttered and manic, but not icky. Worth checking out.
Ronnie Von "Ronnie Von" (Polydor/Discos Mariposas, 1969/2006)
A goofy set of jovem guarda rock, gone sorta-psychedelic... There are those who will try and convince you that this is a lost acid-rock gem, really it's more like Herman's Hermits or Sonny Bono trying to keep up with the Beatles. Von worked with powerhouse backing bands, including Os Mutantes, folks who could play really wild electric freakout riffs, and this disc is peppered with psychedelic motifs, ranging from fuzzy guitars, spoken word interludes and plucked piano strings run through an echo chamber... But it's all completely derivative and without any internal, inherent creative spark, just a different kind of teensploitation album from his earlier albums. Indeed, the most fun stuff on the 2006 CD reissue is the handful of a half-dozen bonus tracks from '67, where he's still doing Portuguese-language covers of pop songs such as "Winchester Cathedral" and "If I Were A Carpenter..." The contrast with the would-be freakbeat stuff is interesting, and the songs are actually kinda fun. This is worth checking out, but only as a historical curio, not as a tropicalia Holy Grail.
Ronnie Von "Grandes Sucessos" (BMG, 2000)
Yeesh. Rocker and TV personality Ronnie Von cut a moderate swath into the "jovem guarda" teenie-bopper pop scene of the 1960s, but this disc is a tepid set of his florid soft-pop recordings from 1977-78, full of overripe string arrangements, muskrat-loveish keyboards and ill-advised saxophone fills... Oh, and of course, some declarative, romantic, cheesoid vocals, too. It's pretty torturous and yucky. You can skip this and not miss much.
Vox Populi "Vox Populi" (Musidisc, 1969)
Cool stuff! Swinging samba-pop, very much in the same mode as Sergio Mendes and his various bands. And the connection isn't just stylistic: Vox Populi's female singer Gracinho Leporace, who used to be in Grupo Manifesto, later married Mendes, and lived with him in the States. This is bouncy, giddy, goofy, and pretty enjoyable pop, with big, bright vocal choruses and sweeping, lush melodies. Loungecore and MPB fans alike should enjoy this album. [Reissued on the Whatmusic label.]
