Various Artists – Beleza Tropical 2: Novo! Mais! Melhor! - Brazil Classics 6 (Compiled By David Byrne) [2xLP COLOR VINYL] - New LP

It’s the 25th anniversary of this criminally under-appreciated compilation of Brazilian pop music (New! More! Better!), so we’re putting it on vinyl for the first time. Here’s what the guy behind the compilation had to say about it when we put it out:

“Brazilians are the original masters of mixology, blend and hybridization. We're just catching up to what they've been doing for years, decades even.

It’s been 10 years since we at Luaka Bop released our first compilation of Brazilian music. Beleza Tropical. It sold extremely well, 350,000 and still going strong, but a lot has happened since then.

That first record reflected the coming of age, the maturity, of the tropicalismo generation–the late 60s revolutionary movement in the arts that advocated cultural cannibalism: absorbing, “eating” and appropriating anything and everything from anywhere. This new collection reflects the impact and energy of a new generation who rather than seeking to overturn or discredit the work of its predecessors, wants to build on it, add to it, and continue absorbing greater and more contemporary influences.

"Rap, sampling, psychedelia, new and no-wave, funk and punk are routinely swallowed up and mixed with a myriad of Brazilian styles—the swing of samba, the pounding massed drums of Bloco Afro, the dance grooves of axé. The result is so transcendent, so full of life, that it counters the negativity of all the shit that’s going down, to paraphrase the Isleys. The music fights the power.” - David Byrne
1 Gilberto Gil– Madalena (Entra Em Beco Sai Em Beco) Written-By – Isidoro 3:58 2 Lenine– Hoje Eu Quero Sair Só Written-By – Caxa Aragão, Lenine, Mú Chebabi 5:37 3 Os Paralamas Do Sucesso– Não Me Estrague O Dia Written-By – Bi Ribeiro, Herbert Vianna 2:18 4 Margareth Menezes– Ifã, Um Canto Pra Subir Written-By – Vevé Calazans, Walter Queiroz 4:02 5 Chico Science & Nação Zumbi– Rios, Pontes & Overdrives Written-By – Chico Science, Fred Zero Quatro 4:03 6 Caetano Veloso– O Estrangeiro Written-By – Caetano Veloso 6:14 7 Gonzaguinha– Tanacara Written-By – Gonzaguinha 3:57 8 Tom Zé– Curiosidade Written-By – Gilberto Assis, Tom Zé 4:13 9 Marisa Monte– Balança Pema Written-By – Jorge Ben 3:05 10 Daniela Mercury– Batuque Written-By – Genivaldo Evangelista, Rey Zulu 3:23 11 Carlos Careqa– Acho Written-By – Carlos Careqa 3:26 12 Sérgio Mendes– What Is This? Written-By – Carmen Alice 3:32 13 Arnaldo Antunes– Imagem Written-By – Arnaldo Antunes, Péricles Cavalcanti 0:31 14 Moleque De Rua– Pregões Do Rio Written-By – Moleque De Rua 4:22 15 Arnaldo Antunes– O Seu Olhar Written-By – Arnaldo Antunes, Paulo Tatit 3:43

"I’m a singer and a composer. Samba is the mainstay of my career — my main success. But I’ve only done five out of 20 albums exclusively of samba. Samba is for dancing and listening to — for getting across a message — but all in a very relaxed way.
Samba, like all popular music, including almost all American and Brazilian music, has African origins. It began with the slaves to lighten the hard labor. In Brazil, it’s always been more relaxed, to liberate energy. The samba emerged through drums and dancing. It evolved in Bahia and Rio de Janeiro and then spread.
I’ve been to New York several times. I like it very much. I’ve sung in Washington and San Francisco. The first time, people thought Brazilian music was only bossa nova, which wasn’t Samba for them, but it is. But samba of the samba schools with mulatto girls and tambourines — the more visual side — is one of the most powerful of feelings. You write a song and it’s sung “dressed up,” with fantasy and fancy dress. It’s a moving theatre with thousands of people. A samba school has about 3,000 members. The great orchestra of 300 or so drummers. An enormous audience of thousands. It’s fantastic…
I don’t analyze the things I do, I just do them. Analysis is something else. But, things always evolve. As you advance, you get experience and put more things in. You know more music. You enrich musically. You meet great musicians. You write sambas with richer melodies. It’s like that — the same motivation as writing a letter.
Samba is fundamental. In other rhythms you only do one kind of dance. But not in samba. It’s much freer. You can dance samba your own way." - M. da Vila