eMusic Review 0
In 1969, Gilberto Gil, along with his cultural comrade Caetano Veloso, was kicked out of the country by Brazil's military dictatorship. No charges were ever specified, but Gil has said that the duo represented "something new, something that can't quite be understood, something that doesn't fit into any of the clear compartments of existing cultural practices." As co-founder of the Tropicália movement with Veloso, Gil had been challenging Brazil's past with brilliantly syncretic new forms of music since. Melodic, relaxed and triumphant, Expresso 2222 marks Gil's return from London. His homecoming begins with a flute-and-percussion folk tune before slamming into "Back in Bahia," an autobiographical rocker lamenting England's lack of "warmth, color, salt." The eclectic tropicalist esthetic runs through Expresso 2222, albeit subtly. "I put bebop in my samba" he sings in "Chiclete Com Banana" (Chewing Gum and Banana), a jazzy tune about American influence on Brazil, and vice versa. Gil is a stylistic sponge who's never more confident than when accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, as in "Oriente (East). Veloso joins his friend on the album's closer, "Cada Macaco no Seu Galho" (Each Monkey His Own Branch), a sly dig at their government adversaries.
