Noites Do Norte : Caetano Veloso : Review : Rolling Stone

Caetano Veloso is happiest when spilling the shadowy secrets of the Brazilian soul, and on the ornate Noites do Norte he devotes himself to themes that define modern life in his country: The legacy of slavery and the inescapable influence of American pop culture.

It's the stuff of policy journals and think tanks. But Veloso, the Brazilian singer-songwriter who is a master of allegory, breathes the romance of the streets into his subject matter, telling of lives suspended by slavery and the crusaders who rebelled against it ("Zumbi"), celebrating the human urge to party ("Zera a Reza"), articulating the sadness of dislocation that has been handed down for generations ("13 de Maio"). As on 1999's Grammy-winning Livro, Veloso avoids distinct emotional polarities - his lyrics describe a bittersweet mixture of darkness and light, and the dizzyingly eclectic music enhances that tone, suggesting an idealized zone where hip-hop beats support gorgeously braided vocal harmonies, samba guitar provides an anchor for lilting symphonic strings, and melodies freighted with centuries of hurt are rendered with breezy, impetuous, butterfly grace. (RS 868 -- May 10, 2001)

TOM MOON