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Rating: Some time ago, while watching a report on the war in Iraq, I had confirmation of something I had always suspected. Among the many poor boys, often barely of age, sent there to kill and die, there were many who were having fun or at least had forced themselves to do so. In front of a merciless camera, soldiers of all ethnicities (Chicanos, Afro, WASP) declared with astonishing candor that, when shooting from the tank turrets, to increase the adrenaline, they played at deafening volumes the CDs of those extremely violent metal and hip hop groups often reviewed here on debaser. This should not be surprising, music has always been important, especially in war.
These "dances of the heirs of sacrifice" are also war songs, but since each of them celebrates the revolt of a minority against the conquerors (the 1673 rebellion of the Paiaiá Indians against the first colonizers, the 1835 rebellion of the Malê Muslim slaves in Bahia, the struggles of the Nagô of Maranhão), perhaps they should, unlike the American ones, be listened to and danced by all peoples subjugated by a foreign ruler. We might also need it, especially considering that Tom Zé decided to create them after learning from a market research study conducted by MTV that among Brazilian teenagers, now unaware heirs of the sacrifice, there is a strong tendency towards hedonism, consumerism, and social irresponsibility.
Devoid of lyrics and constructed only with onomatopoeic sounds (because to the "materialistic illusion" Tom Zé wanted to oppose "the spiritual reality"), these dances, numbered as 7, "hegelianamente" -the musician explains on his website- are 21, because each is divided into 3 perfectly distinguishable musical propositions that, "como prevê o Eclesiastes, perfazem os tempos de VIVER, SOFRER, REVOLTAR". Attempting to describe the songs as a whole is extremely difficult. Almost all are marchinhas disguised as samba and characterized by an almost "hard rock" use of electronics (which might remind us of certain works by Jim Thirlwell, aka Foetus), although, especially in the central parts, there is extensive use of electric and acoustic instruments (classical guitars, percussion, harps, accordions..). Some moments, despite the themes addressed (or perhaps precisely because of them), are incredibly playful (I think of the childlike joy of the raspberry melody within "Atchim" or the festive interlude for harp, accordion, and choir in "Cara-cuà"), others tenderly poignant ("Triù-trii"), but after several listens, one might even have the monstrous feeling that all possible emotions are practically represented in this album.
Spending a few words on the author seems obligatory. Active since the '60s, Tom Zé has perhaps been the most radical exponent of tropicalism. Often, because of the experimentation present in his work and especially for his provocative attitude (in 1973, during the military dictatorship, he made an album, "Todos los olhos," on whose cover what appeared to be a widem, spoiled eye was actually a glass marble inside a female orifice) he was unjustly defined as the Brazilian Frank Zappa. Certainly, along with our dearly beloved mustachioed one, he undoubtedly belongs to the category of lucid madmen, and compared to the grand music of the former, his is certainly no less complex and engaging. I recommend this beautiful album to everyone, but especially to those who want to destroy something with joy, either in the open or within themselves.
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