I'm amazed there hasn't already been such a thread... so here goes:
I'm looking for English-language books about Brazilian music (German language also welcome). In particular something (readable) about Bossa Nova would be nice. I've already read the following:
Claus Schreiner - _Musica Brasileira_ --- fairly good, but a bit too unjudgemental. It's just matter of fact, straight forward. Gives a good background on varied styles, but doesn't help in navigating anything interesting (without extended effort).
Chris McGowan / Ricard Pessanha - _The Brazilian Sound_ --- again fairly academic. But useful.
Caetano Veloso - _Tropical Truth_ --- Quite nicely written, though severely lacking in a full-book approach. Still quite informative and a good read.
Ruy Castro - _Boss Nova_ --- This seems like it could be the most informative English-language book on Bossa Nova, yet it reads like it's written by Uncle Leo and is the worst fucking thing I've ever tried to slog through. At the moment I've only made it through a handful of chapters. It's just that annoying. Someone needs to edit it into something possible to read. I cringe at the thought of opening it again, and yet I really want to absorb the knowledge contained inside it.
― DanielGr, Saturday, 15 September 2012 03:47 (9 months ago) Permalink
If you like album covers:
― late adopter, Saturday, 15 September 2012 04:17 (9 months ago) Permalink
Those are the ones I know of. So you've gone through all the Brazilian threads here? Here are 2 of 'em:
bossa nova: S&D
Brazilian Music
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 15 September 2012 13:30 (9 months ago) Permalink
Christopher Dunn - Brutality Garden: Tropicalia and the Emergence of a Brazilian Counterculture
A bit dry, but loads of good information.
― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 15 September 2012 13:37 (9 months ago) Permalink
Is this Christopher Dunn book about music? I thought it was mostly about visual art?
I'm not interested in a coffee table book of album covers --- history. Well-told history that doesn't just skim the surface. The Ruy Castro book is incredibly detailed, it's just painful to read since it's so poorly written.
I've looked through all the Brazilian threads. I'm kinda surprised that the interest/knowledge of Brazilian music displayed here in the past is fairly superficial. Was there not a thread where people discussed how they didn't recognize more than a few names on the Brazilian Rolling Stone's top 100 Brazilian records? But again... I'm looking for books, not threads. I can't read a thread on my morning commute.
― DanielGr, Sunday, 16 September 2012 10:53 (9 months ago) Permalink
Sorry no one knowledgeable enough has posted here for you
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 16 September 2012 14:57 (9 months ago) Permalink
The Dunn book is about music, politics, art, etc. It talks about the conditions that spawned Tropicalia, it's brief flourish, and immediate aftermath.
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 16 September 2012 15:40 (9 months ago) Permalink
There are some decent reviews out there if you want more detail.
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 16 September 2012 15:42 (9 months ago) Permalink
Are you really that surprised Daniel? Is it really so strange?
― POLLed Turkey Has Got Me (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 16 September 2012 21:02 (9 months ago) Permalink
It's a little strange given the sheer amount of genres in Brazilian music, the large output, and that they are genres that are popular amongst record collectors as badges of coolness.
― DanielGr, Monday, 17 September 2012 03:41 (9 months ago) Permalink
This thesis is surprisingly informative: http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1497&context=etd_hon_theses
― You Can't Be Too RONG (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 21 September 2012 22:30 (8 months ago) Permalink
I totally dug the Ruy Castro book myself, don't get the "poorly written" complaint
― stop swearing and start windmilling (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 21 September 2012 23:00 (8 months ago) Permalink
I wonder if it improved on translation. Did you read it in Portuguese, Daniel?
― You Can't Be Too RONG (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 22 September 2012 16:40 (8 months ago) Permalink
Ha
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 22 September 2012 16:51 (8 months ago) Permalink
No... I figure it's probably OK in Portuguese. I'm reading it English. It gets a bit better towards the middle, but is still full of awful writing. "And who do you think walked through the door? Why, it was Joao Gilberto. And what do you think he was holding in his hand? A guitar! And he played it!"
― DanielGr, Sunday, 30 September 2012 16:18 (8 months ago) Permalink
A book that hasn't been mentioned yet on this thread is Hello, Hello Brazil: Popular Music in the Making of Modern Brazil, bu Bryan McCann, which I recently got. This actually is a little more academic in that it has a thesis to promote, an interesting one, about how Brazilian music, particularly samba is intimately connected with a sense of Brazilian identity, and how various parties, including intellectuals, the Brazilian state and of course the songwriters interacted to impose their idea of what samba and therefore "Brazilianness" meant. Along the way there are very detailed well-presented discussions of how various songs were written and became popular. Have only read about a third of it, but recommend it highly.
― Listicle Traces (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 February 2013 18:02 (4 months ago) Permalink