Brutality Garden: Tropicália and the Emergence of a Brazilian Counterculture Christopher Dunn 276 pp., 12 color and 18 b&w illus. $70.00 cl $25.00 pb |
In the late 1960s, Brazilian artists forged a watershed cultural movement known as Tropicália. Although elements of Tropicália appear in film, theater, visual arts, and literature, the most striking manifestation of this movement is in popular music. Tropicália artists such as Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, and Gilberto Gil are currently enjoying considerable attention at home and abroad. In Brutality Garden, Christopher Dunn explores the connection between this music and the circumstances surrounding its creation, the most violent and repressive days of the military regime that governed Brazil from 1964 to 1985. These music clips exemplify the spirit of the Tropicalista movement that Dunn calls an "archaeological dig into national consciousness." Except for "Geléia Geral," all of these songs are contained on the indispendible CD compilation, Tropicália Essentials (Hip-O, 1999), which features original lyrics, excellent English translations, and insightful liner notes. Credits and captions. Join e-mail list
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