Maria Bethania "Maricotinha Ao Vivo (DVD)" (Biscoito Fino, 2002)
It's a delight to see Bethania performing live, stringing songs and sentiments together like tapestry beads. Well into her ripe and magesterial middle age, Bethania is a commanding dramatic presence, impassioned and playful in her presentation of the rich ironic eroticism of Brazilian popular song. This lavish performance features a sweeping array of material by songwriters as diverse as MPB standardbearers Gilberto Gil, Edu Lobo, Chico Buarque and Djavan to old-fashioned samba and bossa songsmiths including Dorival Caymmi, Ze Keti and Carlos Lyra. Younger artists like rockers Chico Cesar, Lenine and Adriana Calcanhoto are also represented, along with numerous lesser-known composers and poets. Bethania's longtime guitarist Jaime Alem leads the band and helps sculpt the sound, which is at times laid on a bit thick, but easier to handle in a visual format than on record. The DVD includes subtitles in English, French and Spanish, as well as song tablatures for any musicians out there capable of following chord progressions such as F#m7(b5) / B7(#9) / E7(sus4)... etc. I sure wish they'd been making MPB videos like this since the old days -- it'd be great to see the group from Bahia back in their youth as well. Yet even in her fifties, Maria Bethania is still in her prime!
"Roberto Carlos Em Ritmo De Aventura" (1967)
This frivolous, goofy teenybopper film is a little bit dull, but fun to watch anyway, if nothing else, for the fab '60s clothing, the Pop Art design, swinging bachelor pad decor, and also, of course, for a glimpse at Roberto Carlos during the height of his Jovem Guarda fame. The plot is pretty thin, a palpable pastiche of Hard Day's Night, Help! and the Monkees' similarly goofy TV show, with a bit of surrealist absurdism ala Luigi Pirandello thrown in for good measure. Roberto is repeatedly kidnapped, shot at and chased across Brazil's urban landscape; he even gets flown to New York, and returns via a NASA space launch... But the winsome pop idol takes it all in his stride, smiling and walking through each scenario with a good-natured grin. The music is great, if a bit repetitive... The opening track, "Eu Sou Terrivel," has a fun R&B beat, propelled by a punchy horn section and strong, catchy rhythm. (Apparently at the time, jazz trumpeter Raul Da Souza was in the RC-7, adding his punchy melodic senisbility to the mix.) Compared to other jovem guarda discs, this one has a really high hit ratio, including another funky, upbeat number, "E Tempo De Amar," written by Renato Barros of Renato e Seus Blue Caps. Best of all, though, are the shots of mid-1960s Rio and Sao Paulo, and of the screaming teenage audiences, as well as Roberto's inner cadre of go-go dancer-ish fans, a priceless glimpse at the pre-tropicalia rock scene. I'm sure there must also be video reels of old Jovem Guarda shows, but this fluffy escapist flick has got to be pretty similar in tone and style. The only weird note is how Establishment the film is, with the gratuitous inclusion of various arms of the Brazilian military (notably, the Army and Air Force...) in numerous "action" sequences. I'm sure that the sight of Roberto Carlos exclaiming, "that's groovy!" as he watches paratroopers floating to earth did little to endear him to the left-leaning militants of the anti-rock'n'roll bossa nova scene, who were at that time grappling with the fierce censorship of the newly-installed military regime. Still... that was then, this is now, and really, this is just a gloriously dumb pop culture toss-off... Hardly something to be taken too seriously, one way or the other. Roberto sure was cute, though!
Gilberto Gil "MTV Acustico" (WEA/MTV Brasil, 2001)
The video version of his career-reviving 1994 Acustico live album. Gil seems a bit reserved and overly professional, the music a bit sugary and stylistically static, but it's a really nice chance to hear (and see!) him performing live, in a stripped down setting. It's funny to say this, but I think I actually prefer listening to the audio CD than watching the video, but both are a real treat for fans.
Jimi Hendrix "Blue Wild Angel: Live At The Isle of Wight" (2002)
Like many people in the early '70s, I grew up with Jimi Hendrix as part of the cultural aether around me. (This was well before the days of "classic rock" radio programs that have overexposed Hendrix's work and made it seem so tiresome...) Anyway, it wasn't until I snuck into the moviehouse at the college student union near where I grew up and saw a screening of the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock documentaries that Jimi Hendrix really blew my mind. Although the feedback and distortion techniques he pioneered have become commonplace in the rock bands of today, no one has ever topped the stunningly intimate physicality with which Hendrix approached playing the electric guitar... His approach was as much percussive as it was melodic, with him pushing and nudging and humping the tones out more than he actually strummed the strings. This performance is not as artistically dazzling or as charismatic as those earlier shows, but the cinema verite style of this stark documentary is an invaluable glimpse of a musical genius in his final, reclusive days. As other reviewers point out, the logistical conditions at the Isle of Wight festival were chaotic and challenging, but it's clear from the pre-show and on-stage footage that Hendrix was not the hopeless basket case that many made him out to be, based on this single shambolic concert. The film producers could have done a better job explaining the significance of this show (one of Hendrix's last, before his tragic London overdose), and the conditions he faced before he stepped on stage. Still, it's a valuable document, and the optional split-sceen, multi-vantage point presentation on several tracks is a nice use of DVD technology to show us the full coverage that the film crews shot. Definitely worth checking out if you're a devoted Hendrix fan.
Marisa Monte "Memorias, Cronicas E Declaracaoes De Amor (DVD)" (Phonomotor/EMI, 2002)
Monte and her band performing live with a great light show, beautiful sound, and all her radiant charisma on full display. In some ways this plays out like any old modern rock concert, full of love songs and flashy lights, although the songs gain intensity, and the audience a sense of awe as the show goes on. Arnaldo Antunes is a guest perfromer (albeit in pre-recorded, disembodied electronic form, as is New York avant-artnik, Laurie Anderson). Many of the songs are beautifully presented, including oldies by Paulinho Da Viola and Ivon Cury, as well as several strikingly gentle songs written by the trio of Monte, Antunes and Brown, scintillating precursors of their Tribalistas project. This concert video isn't as transcendant as the Tribalistas film, but it's still a nice look at Monte's warm, radiant persona, and her consistently life-affirming world view, and a cool glimpse into the world of Brazilian indie-pop and contemporary middle-class youth culture. A very nice film.
Marisa Monte/Arnaldo Antunes/Carlinhos Brown "Tribalistas (DVD)" (Phonomotor/EMI, 2002)
Wow... what a great video! An amazing portrait of these three super-hip, modern Brazilians working together on a truly beautiful project. This gorgeously shot, skillfully edited film documents the year-long process that led to the completion of the densely-layered, gently melodic, supremely life-affirming Tribalistas album, featuring in-studio performances of the taping of all the songs, each prefaced by a brief glimpse of the collaborative process that went into its conception and perfection. The friendly creative interplay and cheerfulness of the musicians comes through brilliantly -- I already was a fan all three artists before seeing this video, but now I feel immense affection for them, and a much greater appreciation for them and their muse. The delicate attention to detail and to the texture of their performances is impressive, as is the playful, positive message of their music. Optional English subtitles are a boon for all us dumb Yankees, and additional behind-the-scenes features amplify the insights into their creative bond. The album itself is great, but the DVD is indispensible for fans who want to get delve deeper into the mystique of these fab neo-tropicalistas. HIGHLY recommended!
Various Artists "Turn-On...Tune-In...Lookout! The Lookout! Video Compilation" (Lookout!, 1998/2003)
Old-school pop-punkers such as The Mr. T Experience, The Smugglers and The Queers join several generations of their musical acolytes in this fun set of sassy, goofy, low-budget videos. Also of note are three videos by the still-indie version of The Donnas (same "ooh-baby, we're so bad, we're so hot, yeah right-you wish!" come-on schtick, but a less slick image and more endearing amatuerism), scruffy popsters The Hi-Fives, and newer powerhouse bands such as the Pattern, The Oranges Band, and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. Lookout! fans should enjoy this collection a lot -- my personal faves are the MTX "Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba" video and "Punk Rock Girls" by the Queers, both directed by local (Berkeley) filmmaker Jennifer Kaufman, each shot on real film (not video) and in black & white... The Queers video, which features a montage of fan portraits taken at a Queers show in '96, interspersed with shots of the band playing live, has a classy, arty feel to it, and gives us a great glimpse not only at the band, but of their fans (...us!!) as well. The MTX video is a perfect, hilarious encapsulation of the Mr. T's nebbish image... the band setting up to play in a suburban house, and the video ending before they even start. All of these clips reflect the buoyant saucy perkiness of the Lookout! scene. Some videos are super-low budget, low-concept, while others are more ambitious and visually arresting... But they're all a welcome contrast to the slick, corporate videos that are beamed to us via MTV, etc. These clips are more low-key and more personal -- just you, the band, and a few minutes of fun. (Note: the DVD version is newer, and has some extra material, from the original VHS, which came out in 1998.)
