Tropicália 2

1	Haiti / Gilberto Gil 4:19
2	Cinema Novo / Gilberto Gil 4:14
3	Tradicão / Gilberto Gil 5:54
4	As Coisas / Gilberto Gil 2:39
5	Aboio / Gilberto Gil 1:32
6	Dada / Gilberto Gil 3:00
7	Cada Macaco No Seu Galho (Chô, Chuá) / Gilberto Gil 3:21
8	Baiao Atemporal / Gilberto Gil 3:40
9	Nossa Gente (Avisa Lá) / Gilberto Gil 2:53
10	Rap Popcreto / Gilberto Gil 1:58
11	Wait Until Tomorrow / Gilberto Gil 3:25
12	Desde Que O Samba É Samba / Gilberto Gil 5:11

Barnes & Noble

Longtime stars Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso are as beloved in Brazil as Lennon and McCartney are in the English-speaking world. Though solo performers, Gil and Veloso have been linked since they both rose up as leaders of the tropicalia movement in Brazil in the late 1960s. This 1997 reunion album shows why they are considered consummate pop songwriters and performers. The delectable tunes here are varied and inventive, thoughtful and playful. The album opens with the rueful, politically charged "Haiti," then goes through soft sambas, bossa tunes, and Brazilian-flavored rock. Highlights include the rollicking "Cada Macaco No Seu Galho" (Every Monkey on His Branch), an acoustic, swinging version of Jimi Hendrix's "Wait Until Tomorrow," and the heartbreakingly beautiful anthem (and instant classic) "Desde Que O Samba E Samba" (Ever Since Samba Has Been Samba). As if to show they haven't lost their tropicalismo edge, the pair includes the "Revolution 9"-like "Rap Popcreto," which consists solely of a series of samples of various singers singing the word "quem," which means "who." Even if Veloso and Gil hadn't been making similarly wonderful music for 30 years, TROPICALIA 2 would still be a remarkable demonstration of their talent. Marty Lipp

All Music Guide

Between harsh criticism (due to the retro opportunistic use of Tropicália), and sectarian defense, Tropicália 2 yielded a Caetano Veloso/Gilberto Gil tour through E.U.A. and Europe one year after this release. The reference to Tropicália was used as a safe-conduct for the duo's incursions in electronics, axé music (the contemporary and pragmatic sound of Bahia) and other commercial exploitation -- since under Tropicália everything goes (or used to go, some 30 years ago). The album opens with "Haiti," a dry percussive electronic pattern over which Caetano and Gil speak verses dealing with racism; "Cinema Novo" is a beautiful samba, whose lyrics "explain" and greet the Brazilian cinema movement which gained the world. "Nossa Gente" brings the percussive sounds of axé music together with funk brass attacks. "Rap Popconcreto" is a musical concrete poem which echoes as a synthesis of the old concept of Tropicália -- utilizing samplers in an improbable atmosphere, piling several old recordings from various artists singing the word "Quem?" ("Who?"). The Jimi Hendrix song "Wait Until Tomorrow" receives a Brazilian percussion treatment, and "Cada Macaco No Seu Galho" is a Novos Baianos hit which received an old baião groove treatment in the drum-machine programming, mixed with modern Bahian percussion. "Baião Atemporal" is a beautiful baião with a very modern and haunting melody and arrangement. The album, in philosophical terms, expresses fragile concepts. Poetically and musically, represents good entertainment, and, in its best moments, good Art. Alvaro Neder