Caetano Veloso: Transa [VINYL LOVERS]

Why you'll love it

This Vinyl Lovers edition is remastered on 180g vinyl and includes a 12-inch lyric sheet. Rolling Stone Brazil has listed Transa among the 10 best Brazilian albums ever, and Pitchfork named "You Don't Know Me" among the best songs of the 1970s.

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Remastered
• Lyric sheet included

About the album

Caetano Veloso himself calls Transa one of his favourite records, and it's easy to see why. He made it in London, where he'd been living since 1969, then carried it home to Brazil in January 1972 when he returned for good.

Jards Macalé leads the band on electric and acoustic guitars and handles the arrangements, with Moacyr Albuquerque on bass, Tuti Moreno on drums and Áureo de Sousa on percussion, and Gal Costa joins on vocals for three songs. "You Don't Know Me" floats between English and Portuguese, "Nine Out of Ten" picks up a reggae lilt from his London days, and "Triste Bahia" sets an old poem to a long, rolling groove. His new take on the old samba "Mora na Filosofia" by Monsueto helped make the record a hit at home, and "Nostalgia (That's What Rock'n Roll Is All About)" closes on a wink.

Veloso felt he reached a level of musicianship here that he hadn't managed before, and the loose, live feel still sounds remarkably fresh. It's the rare album that's equally at home in Salvador, London or a Toronto living room on a grey Sunday.

Also at Kops: more Caetano Veloso on vinyl · browse World

Tracklist

Listen

On Vinyl Lovers (cat# 900082), a reissue of the 1972 album.