Grande Liquidação

Released

Tom Zé hailed from the small town of Irará in Brazil, where the arrival of running water and electricity during his childhood was a transformative event. His debut might scan as “country kid gets overwhelmed by the big city,” but Zé’s musical exuberance and keen eye for detail was already in effect. Grande Liquidação bustles with zigzagging melodies and jumpy arrangements, full of wry observations that include equating consumerism with the country’s bedrock Catholicism on “Catecismo, Creme Dental e Eu.” In the deceptively joyous musical theater stylings of “São São Paolo,” he sees the underlying solitude of its approximately eight million inhabitants. More tightly-wound, haywire albums (some made with homemade instruments) would follow, but Zé was an idiosyncratic force from the jump.

Andy Beta

Suggestions
Y Volvere cover

Y Volvere

Los Ángeles Negros
Jorge Ben cover

Jorge Ben

Jorge Ben
Feels cover

Feels

Animal Collective
S.F. Sorrow cover

S.F. Sorrow

The Pretty Things
Tomorrow cover

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Keith West
Chico Mello / Helinho Brandão cover

Chico Mello / Helinho Brandão

Chico Mello, Helinho Brandão
Quarteto Novo cover

Quarteto Novo

Quarteto Novo
Bee Thousand cover

Bee Thousand

Guided by Voices
Build Up cover

Build Up

Rita Lee
Revólver cover

Revólver

Walter Franco