JOGOS DE ARMAR (FAÇA VOCÊ MESMO)

In spite of having been left out of the tropicalist party, Tom Zé cleans the dust and makes a stylish comeback. The cult artist documents his pioneering deeds by reproducing clippings of varied articles written about him in the booklet of his latest disc – the first made for the Brazilian market since being ‘rescued’ by David Byrne ten years ago. The 1998 Rolling Stone piece where he is labeled as The Father of Invention (as opposed to Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention) and the 1999 New York Times piece Writing Songs (Sometimes Even for Real Instruments) are featured along Brazilian pieces that credit Zé for the creation of the sampler in 1978, also mentioning his use of electrical appliances on stage. Some of his "instromzéments", such as the polisherscope, the horner (in the opening of Jimi Renda-Se) and the hertzé, the sampler that built by the man himself, are in the CD. As if these were not enough, the composer also launches the chamegá style, present in the homonymous track and in others, with its dance steps printed in the booklet. His branched swing is more on the maxixe or afoxé side than the similar promoted by Luiz Gonzaga, whose song Xanduzinha is mentioned amidst swearing and curse words toward foreign influence: "Then the gringo comes along with a sequencer to lock/the Brazilian musician in a strait jacket". A more violent protest appears in O PIB da PIB, where he questions the Cheap Child Prostitution (Prostituição Infantil Barata) of the "poor little northeastern children" within the perverse scope of the national economy.

Even when performing covers of tired classics like Pisa na Fulô and specially Asa Branca. TZ has tricks to turn. He deconstructs and reconstructs, messes with the songs’ structures, giving them new status without damaging the original ideas. Passagem de Som, which also relies on the chamegá cadence, reminds us of Tim Maia’s furious outbreaks because of bad equipment during sound checks and concerts. And the closing track, the samba-enredo Sonhar (Sonho da Criança-Futuro-Bandido da Favela na Noite de Natal), goes more about the contradictions than about the traditions of the style. If all of these revolutions per minute work like teasers, there is a second disc in the pack, with only the instrumental bases, allowing the listener to interact with the music. Tom Zé proposes a feast of signs and innovations to balance the weak diet prescribed by the diluting market. So much for cultural appetite. (Tárik de Souza)