Gal Costa "Índia" 1973*****

20-something years ago, I discovered Tropicália through a Luaka Bop compilation of songs by Os Mutantes. It was something of a revelation, since I've always been a fan of psychedelic 60's music but had never imagined a possible hybrid of psychedelia, jazz, folk, and exotic Latin rhythms. In the course of the years I collected some tropicalia-related CD's and LP's, and this is one of my favorites. Gal Costa had been one of the movement's figureheads and made some experimental LP's in that vein, but by 1973 she had left that mostly behind. It still is a very inventive album, combining jazz, folk, pop, bossa nova, and psychedelia - just softer and more mainstream than the challenging psychedelic LP's that preceded it. Which didn't stop it from getting in trouble with the Brazilian dictators who had previously imprisoned tropicalia leaders Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. This time the sensors took exception with the album cover: it presents a close up of Gal's bikini front, while on the back the singer is pictured half naked, wearing only a grass skirt and jewelry made from beads and feathers. IMO it wasn't the nakedness that offended them but the use of indigenous dress (after all, to the military regime, the Amazonian tribes were savages, rather than true Brazilians) and Gal's pose, which was insolent rather than seductive. The cover was then replaced with a simple blue one, until recent reissues like this reproduced the original in all its exotic glory. Musically, the album impresses from the beginning: the eponymous first track features gorgeous orchestral arrangements and nostalgic vocals which remind me of Portugese fados as much as they do of bossa nova. This is followed by "Milho Verde" a traditional Portugese folk song combining Afro Latin percussion with layers of vocals reminiscent of medieval European music - an innovative arrangement by Gilberto Gill who also plays guitar throughout this record. "Volta" is a melancholic early 20th Century composition with sparse piano backing, while side 2 opens with "Relance" a song with Argentinean bandoneon and a funky beat, and one of two contributions made by Caetano Veloso to this album. "Pontos De Luz"'s funky bass and horns riffs offer another detour from the so-called MPB (Brazilian Mainstream Pop) style dominating the rest of the LP, which closes with a great version of Tom Jobim's much-covered bossa nova classic "Desafinado". A perfect listening for warm summer nights, combining soft exotic vibes with those weird Tropicália touches. Gal Costa would go on to ever greater mainstream pop success to become a national idol while remaining a constant irritant to the country's extreme right; she alienated many of her compatriots with her ceaseless denunciation of former president Jair Bolsonaro, and lived just long enough to see him get ousted from office, as she died last November at the age of 77.

***** for Índia, Desafinado 

**** for Milho Verde, Presente Cotidiano, Volta, Relance, Da Maior Importância, Passarinho, Pontos De Luz