Luis Vagner - see artist discography

Alceu Valenca - see artist discography

Vanusa - see artist discography

Moreno Veloso +2 "Maquina De Escever/Music Typewriter" (Natasha/Hannibal, 2001)
First things first: Moreno Veloso does bear a striking vocal and stylistic likeness to his father, the patron saint of tropicalia. Playing ping-pong balls and toy pianos on some tracks, Moreno shows a playful, adventurous streak that is also very similar, although the younger Veloso brings a subtle modernism to bear on these recordings, using electronica production with perhaps greater panache than his well-known dad. In this regard he's closer in creative temprament to art-rocker Arto Lindsay than to Caetano, who in the past has let the glitziness of new technology get the better of him. Accompanied on a few tracks by bossa progeny Daniel Jobim, and on others by his pals Kassin and Domenico ("+2"), Moreno casts his net softly, recalling his father's calmest albums from the mid-1970s. With production assist by Chico Neves, one of the most prominent alternative rockers in Brazil, Veloso creates the kind of "world music" that isn't meant to be pumped out of the speakers at the local Starbuck's -- instead, it should be savored slowly at home. (See also: Domenico +2.)

Moreno Veloso +2/Various Artists "Maquina De Escever: Musica Remix" (Natasha, 2001)
The original Typewriter album was so perfectly sculpted and richly rewarding, and already incorporated so many of the tonal concepts of modern electronica that a remix album seems on the face of it to be a rather superfluous and dubious venture. Then again, you never know. Well, the first couple of tracks are clearly disappointing -- simplistic, note-by-note, stuttering chop-ups of "Enquanto Isso" and "Sertao," tracks that seems like mere masturbatory technical exercises (at least to my untrained ears...) Yeah, sure, you can do that in a studio, but what's the point? Sometimes song deconstructions can take on a life of their own and offer radical, eye-opening reinterpretations of the original music; I really don't think this was one of those great events. However, on the second half of the disc some subtlety slips in, several later tracks have a honied, sensual appeal to them, and a couple even sound completely unlike the source material. No one needs to frantically rush out and track down this album -- I think the +2ers really said all that needed to be said on the original record, and they said it quite well -- but there are some nice moments and a few pleasant surprises, and those of an ambient-electronic inclination will probably enjoy this disc just fine.

Flavio Venturini "Meus Momentos" (EMI, 1994)
Simply awful, synthesizer-drenched sorta-rock, framing the whiny vocals of former Bis 14 bandeader Flavio Venturini. He may have been a key player in Brazil's early New Wave scene, but this best-of collection did not leave me looking for more of his music... It's similar in some ways to the spacy ramblings of Lo Borges, but with less oddball appeal. It's just plain bad.

Os Vips "Os Vips" (Continental, 1966)

Os Vips "Os Vips" (Continental, 1967)

Ronnie Von "Grandes Sucessos" (BMG, 2000)
Yeesh. Rocker Ronnie Von cut a moderate swath into the "joven guarda" teenie-bopper pop scene of the 1960s, but this disc is a tepid set of his florid soft-pop recordings from 1977-78, full of overripe string arrangements, muskrat-loveish keyboards and ill-advised saxophone fills... Oh, and of course, some declarative, romantic, cheesoid vocals, too. It's pretty torturous and yucky. You can skip this and not miss much.

Ronnie Von "Ronnie Von" (Polydor, 1966)

Ronnie Von "Ronnie Von" (Polydor, 1967)

Ronnie Von "Ronnie Von, No. 3" (Polydor, 1967)

Ronnie Von "Ronnie Von" (Polydor/Discos Mariposas, 1969/2006)
A goofy set of jovem guarda rock, gone sorta-psychedelic... There are those who will try and convince you that this is a lost acid-rock gem, really it's more like Herman's Hermits or Sonny Bono trying to keep up with the Beatles. Von worked with powerhouse backing bands, including Os Mutantes, folks who could play really wild electric freakout riffs, and this disc is peppered with psychedelic motifs, ranging from fuzzy guitars, spoken word interludes and plucked piano strings run through an echo chamber... But it's all completely derivative and without any internal, inherent creative spark, just a different kind of teensploitation album from his earlier albums. Indeed, the most fun stuff on the 2006 CD reissue is the handful of a half-dozen bonus tracks from '67, where he's still doing Portuguese-language covers of pop songs such as "Winchester Cathedral" and "If I Were A Carpenter..." The contrast with the would-be freakbeat stuff is interesting, and the songs are actually kinda fun. This is worth checking out, but only as a historical curio, not as a tropicalia Holy Grail.

Ronnie Von "A Misteriosa Luta Do Reino De Parassempre Contra O Imperio De Nuncamais" (Polydor, 1969)

Ronnie Von "Minha Maquina Voadora" (Polydor, 1970)

Ronnie Von "Grandes Sucessos" (BMG, 2000)
Yeesh. Rocker and TV personality Ronnie Von cut a moderate swath into the "jovem guarda" teenie-bopper pop scene of the 1960s, but this disc is a tepid set of his florid soft-pop recordings from 1977-78, full of overripe string arrangements, muskrat-loveish keyboards and ill-advised saxophone fills... Oh, and of course, some declarative, romantic, cheesoid vocals, too. It's pretty torturous and yucky. You can skip this and not miss much.