Gal Costa

I purchased two cds by Tropicália veteran Gal Costa just before Christmas: Legal [1970] and Índia [1973] and it has taken me this long to wrap my head around these eclectic albums. The 70's was the time where no one would balk at an artist producing an LP where consistency of style would not be an overriding concern as opposed to today where pop productions are market focussed to sterility. The Tropicália were famous for this wild mix of styles, where the Brazilian musical traditions were blended with a dozen popular music trends, at times within a single song, or so it seems to me.

Legal kicks off with a high-energy loungecore number "Eu Sou Terrí­vel" with a big band plus fuzz guitar accompaniment. Another surprise is the old-timey "Love, Try and Die" which wouldn't sound out of place on Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers' Bongos Over Balham release. Now I know that seems like an odd comparison to make: Brazilian Pop Diva mentioned in the same breath as a British pub rock band, but that is the sort of unexpected associations I made while listening. I wasn't kidding when I said eclectic.

Legal's oddest track is the Caetano Veloso-penned "London, London" which features a chorus of "Looking for flying saucers in the sky". That alone should guarantee purchase.

Índia starts with a lushly orchestrated title track, and then into the conga driven "Milho Verde (folclore Português)" which is hands down my favourite tune on either cd (click on the link above for a video of Costa performing the piece on Brazilian TV). Índia has a considerably more unified sound as compared to Legal, but it's still a mighty fine listen on the old Hi-Fi.

Fantastic music all'round.