Transa

AMG Review of Transa

Alvaro Neder
All Music Guide

Transa was the first LP recorded by Caetano Veloso upon his return from exile in London, England (1972). The sound of '70s electric ock predominates, fused with Brazilian rhythms and percussion, berimbau sounds, and his own violăo playing. Several lyrics in English, and also in Portuguese, carefully avoid direct reference to politics, which may be found disguised in all songs, especially in the melancholic and depressed images of the poem by Gregório de Mattos, "Triste Bahia," for which Veloso wrote the music. "It's a Long Way" also makes ciphered references to the political situation and was broadly played in the '70s. The broad use of pontos de capoeira (music used for accompaniment of capoeira, a martial art developed by Brazilian slaves as a resistance against the whites) can also be understood in that sense. The album also has "Mora na Filosofia," a classic and beautiful samba by Monsueto that scandalized people with its ock rendition.