My recent obsession with Tropicalismo will soon be well-rewarded

I don't know exactly why, but I've been somewhat obsessed with modern Tropicalismo music lately. Tropalismo, FYI, was a music movement in the late 1960s that combined elements of Brazilian folk, samba and psychedelic rock.

I think it started when The Strokes released their last album. While, of course, The Strokes are not Tropicalismo music, one of the members, Brazilian Fabrizio Moretti, covered an album in that style with his band Little Joy, which involves Los Hermanos' Rodrigo Amarante and Binki Shapiro.

I had been listening a lot to the album over the past couple of days and decided to explore some of the other Tropicalismo-inspired music I have in my collection. I listened to The Bees' (or Band of Bees, depending on which country you're in) "Every Step's a Yes" and Devendra Banhart's "Smokey Runs Down Thunder Canyon."

Well, lucky me when I found out this great bit of news. In June, the Red Hot Organization will release Red Hot + Rio 2, the proceeds of which will go to benefit AIDS research. The album pays tribute to the Tropicalismo movement and features Beirut, Dirty Projectors, St. Vincent, Neon Indian, Beck and many more.


Beirut's cover of O Leãozinho, originally by Caetano Veloso

Os Mutantes, spearheads of the Tropicalismo movement