Music To Turn The Repeat On

Even though none of the songs from this album will be performed on Saturday's concert, the prospect of seeing Caetano Veloso again - this time in his "man at work" mode - gave me a whole nostalgia about this man. Good because my Justin Timberlake/Björk full mode obsession was starting to tire me out, so I got hooked again in an album that touched me deeply when I reunited with it a couple years ago.

In his 1994's work Caetano goes Spanish recording classic songs from alternate Latin American countries [there are songs from Argentina, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Cuba etc]. However the man does something that is itself enough to get me curious: he reinvents the songs, giving them new and sometimes surprising arrangements. My longtime favorite and adored Pecado, from an Argentinean tango goes to a heartfelt and gloomy bolero; another more-than-exciting moment is the Peruvian title track Fina Estampa filled with a genius string section making you feel all-over-the-placely happy. The Paraguayan Recuerdos de Ypacaraí has a mysterious and dramatic basslined aura, sounding like a perfect soundtrack for an Almodóvar moment. [Caetano, as most of you must know, performed Cucurrucucú Paloma on Almodóvar's 2002 masterpiece Hable Con Ella.] He transforms the overplayed, mostly corny and sometimes assassinated Contigo En La Distancia into a lovely understated and bossa nova-esque rendition. He simply takes these classic songs and make them his own, filling them with classical erudite arrangements and mood that sound enourmous but as frequently cozy.

Another favorite thing about this album is that despite the showy [in a good sense] arrangement, it's Caetano's voice that outshines here. His performances are perfect pitched sounding times gleeful [Rumba Azul, Capullito de Alelí, Mi Cocodrilo Verde] and times melancholic [the aforementioned Pecado and Recuerdo de Ypacaraí], emotionally introspective [Lamento Borincano] and excitingly romantic [Vete De Mí and Un Vestido Y Un Amor - the latter's lyrics are pure poetry in service of "future filmmaking"]. It is a Music City's user comment that best describes Caetano's voice in this work: "With his high, pure voice, which has a lovely, subtle vibrato, Caetano sings like a smooth caress, in a style that is at once sophisticated and sweet."

Below, you can see his performance on Almodóvar's movie.

And here a bad pic, but still proof, that I met the man and played the silly fan.[Song: Pecado - Caetano Veloso]