Caetano Veloso (Remixed)
Caetano Veloso’s self-titled 1969 album is colloquially known as “Album Branco”, Portuguese for “The White Album”. Its all-white sleeve, featuring only Veloso’s signature, was directly inspired by the stark sleeve of the 1968 release from The Beatles. Veloso and regular collaborator Gilberto Gil recorded the album’s vocal and acoustic guitar parts while Veloso was banished from Rio de Janeiro by the Brazilian government as punishment for his outspoken political beliefs. Producer and arranger Rogério Duprat finished the songs around Veloso’s vocals and Gil’s acoustic guitar, creating iconic Tropicália tracks like “Não Identificado”. Veloso also performs a handful of songs in English, including the breezy, symphonic swoon of “Lost in the Paradise” and the brooding metaphor of “The Empty Boat”.