''Araçá Azul'' (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for "blue Cattley guava") is the fifth studio album by

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...

, released in November 1972 by

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in A ...

. The album was recorded shortly after Veloso returned from his exile in London. ''Araçá Azul'' is Veloso's most experimental album to date, influenced in part by the poetics of invention of the Brazilian

concrete poetry Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct mea ...

movement and the experiences in popular music by

Walter Franco Walter Franco (6 January 1945 – 24 October 2019) was a Brazilian singer and composer. In 1998 he contributed to the Rosa Passos album '' Especial Tom Jobim''. His 1975 album ''Revolver'' was No. 50 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of the Top 100 Bra ...

. It was negatively received by the market upon its release, and is Veloso's lowest-selling album despite receiving critical acclaim.

Background

After an exile of 2 years in London, Veloso recorded ''Araçá Azul'' in São Paulo over a single week at Eldorado Studio, the only studio in Brazil equipped with 8-channel recording technology at that time. Veloso reports that he made the record alone, with help from a technician and his assistant, under permission of then president of PolyGram, André Midani. He used experimental techniques to record the album, recording "Épico" in an avenue in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Music

The album is characterized as

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

and

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

. It also draws influences from

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

and

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

. It is influenced by

Artwork

The cover art is a photograph of Veloso, taken by photographer and director Ivan Cardoso, and produced by Luciano Figueiredo and Oscar Ramos.

Release and reception

As registered in the first print of the LP, and confirmed by the artist himself and the record company, the album was released in November 1972 and broadly commercialized after January 1973. It was badly received by the general public, adding a mark as the most returned LP from that period.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Araçá Azul'' was acclaimed by critics. Antônio do Amaral Rocha of '' Rolling Stone Brazil'' placed the album at number 97 in the list of the 100 best Brazilian albums. John Bohannon of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

compared the album to

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

's film '' Breathless'', stating that both "were made at critical turning points in the histories of their mediums, and both stand as testaments to the innovative approaches of their creators." Philip Jandovský of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave it a less positive review, as he felt the album was too experimental and relying too much on sound effects, but said it was a good record "for a fan of experimental music or for someone in the right mood".

Track listing

Notes

Adapted from

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

. * "De Conversa/Cravo e Canela" is listed as "Cravo e Canela" in the inner sleeve. * "Gilberto Misterioso" is listed as "Gil Misterioso" in the inner sleeve. * "De Cara/Quero Essa Mulher" is listed as "Quero Essa Mulher Assim Mesmo" in the inner sleeve. * "Araçá Azul" is listed as "Araçá Blue" in the inner sleeve.

Personnel

Adapted from Discogs. * Antonio Perna — piano * Caetano Veloso — producing * Edith de Oliveira — vocals * Ivan Cardoso — photograph * Lanny — guitar * Luciano Oliveira —

pandeiro The pandeiro () is a type of hand frame drum popular in Brazil. The pandeiro is used in a number of Brazilian music forms, such as samba, choro, coco, and capoeira music. The drumhead is tunable, and the rim holds metal jingles (''platinelas'') ...

* Luciano Figueiredo — artwork * Marcus Vinicius — technician * Moacyr Albuquerque — bass *

Milton Nascimento Milton Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has toured across the world. Nascimento has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music Album for his alb ...

— cowriting * Oscar Ramos — artwork * Ronaldo Bastos — cowriting *

Rogério Duprat Rogério Duprat (7 February 1932 – 26 October 2006) was a Brazilian composer and musician. Biography Born in Rio de Janeiro, Duprat spent much of his life in São Paulo, where he died. It was there in the early 1960s that he developed an intere ...

— arranging * Tusé de Abreu — flute * Tuti Moreno — percussion, drums, vibraphone

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Araca Azul 1972 albums Caetano Veloso albums Portuguese-language albums PolyGram albums Philips Records albums Albums produced by Caetano Veloso Experimental music albums by Brazilian artists