Caetano Veloso

Álbum Branco (White Album) (1969) ...

Tropicalia ...Caetano Veloso's second solo album ... The real sound of Brazil ...Vocals and Gilberto Gil's acoustic guitars were recorded in Salvador, while Veloso was under house arrest.   The rest was recorded in Sao Paolo by the album producer ...

Irene ...

"By this time, Veloso was in trouble with the military - he fled the country soon after - and was essentially under house arrest in Salvador, so he recorded his vocals and Gilberto Gil's guitar there, and sent the tapes to São Paulo where producer Rogério Duprat oversaw the other tracks, including effective use of orchestra ("The Empty Boat"). Standard late 60s studio tricks abound, but they're used lightly: the opening light pop "Irene" breaks down in the middle with a spoken interlude and sped-up electric guitar, but Veloso gets back to business almost before you realize what happened. They do overuse fuzz guitar fumbling on otherwise acoustic tunes: after a while, it's not incongruous anymore, just distracting ("Marinheiro So"). However, apart from "Não Identificado" and the jaunty "Alfomega," the compositions themselves are often slight ("Carolina"; "Atras Do Trio Elétrico"), as Veloso was working out his medium rather than his message at this point. (DBW)" ... warr.org

"A masterpiece. His "white album" -- a simple, blank cover, with only his signature on the front. Beautiful, fluid arrangements on many tunes, including the exquisite flute-strings-guitar interplay on the lead track, "Irene," and the Portuguese fado stylings of "Os Argonautas." This is the high point of Veloso's most incandescent early years -- the sheer beauty of "Irene" marks Veloso's master status as a revolutionizer of Brazilian acoustic music, while the whispering-then-howling electric guitar on "Empty Boats" places him in the top ranks of '60s space rock. An essential album." ... slipcue.com ...