Caetano Veloso
Araca azul

There was a time in Italy when the annoying (to say the least) definition of "light music" was used to classify everything that was not comparable to so-called classical music. Almost as if to imply that, aside from the likes of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, up to the early days of dodecaphonic music, everything else was of secondary importance. And this, with all due respect to those who composed and performed in jazz, was simply idiotic and, in fact, Bennato was always wrong to sing a ditty (which was indeed light and foolish) titled "Sono solo canzonette". Music can be articulated into various genres, and certain classifications have always been irrelevant. What matters is the result that enriches the musical sensitivity of the listener.

In this regard, over the decades, countless examples can be found, but in this particular review of mine, I want to highlight a specific work within that authentic musical continent constituted by Brazil, by a prominent author like Caetano Veloso and his album titled "Araca azul" released at the end of 1972. For those who do not know or remember, Veloso was among the promoters, from the mid-60s onwards, of the tropicalist movement that burst into the Brazilian musical scene, which was fixated on samba rhythms, introducing those novel sounds deriving from the Anglo-American area (at least everything that occurred from the Beatles onwards, with a strong acid rock accent forged on the West Coast yankee). A real cultural earthquake and a source of concern for the then Brazilian military regime, which had targeted the tropicalist exponents to the point of arranging, at the end of 1968, the arrest of Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who were the two most emerging tropicalist musicians with songs too discomforting for the regime (especially with an already eloquent titled track like "Prohibido prohibir"). After a few months of detention, the two were sentenced to exile which they spent for two and a half years in England.

Subsequently returning to their homeland, the record production of Caetano Veloso (who had not given up composing while staying in London) continued, and he gifted us with even more mature albums like "Transa" and especially this "Araca azul". Of the latter, two particularities should be remembered. The first is its incredible commercial flop, to the point that many buyers, accustomed to melodic music even from Veloso, returned their purchased copy of the album to the record stores (a decidedly unusual fact).

The second peculiarity is consequent to the first: the compositional style of the album is completely devoid of any melodic intent (and precisely for this reason requires attentive listening, which a hasty music enthusiast would not be able to perform). But concentrated listening is still rewarded because it is impossible not to notice how Caetano Veloso proves himself a great experimental pop artist. The sonic flow of the album, articulated in 10 seamlessly flowing tracks, accentuates to the maximum Veloso's typical sound which, always in the spirit of tropicalism, perfectly blends echoes of samba, psychedelic rock, noise music, over a rhythmic carpet of African percussion (just to not forget that all twentieth-century music is strongly connected to the black continent) and sudden orchestral hints that refer to soundtracks from James Bond saga films. The overall effect is decidedly intriguing and sophisticated (fitting just in line with the style of the Brazilian concrete poetry movement) and the listener is quite taken aback and pleasantly surprised (knowing to lend themselves to this immersive experience) in many parts of the LP. Just to give an idea (and this is one of the many examples that could be made), the track "De conversa" presents neither music nor lyrics, rather offering a babel of voices and verses that vaguely suggests vague and uncertain melodic lines, while in the second part of the track, the call to the theme "Cravo e canela" by Milton Nascimento and Rolando Bastos comes into play.

Of course, this remains the most complex work in Caetano Veloso's musical journey, which will continue to this day with albums that are never banal and always noteworthy. In my opinion, however, the fact remains that "Araca azul" is still today a luminous demonstration of how it is possible to create experimental music without boring the listener already equipped with an adequate preparation to perceive curious and stimulating sounds (in the series: those who think they are just songs and cannot stomach the way of making music by authors like Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Miles Davis just to name three of the greatest, are invited to refrain from approaching an LP like "Araca azul"..).