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TOM ZÉ

RIO/Avant-Prog • Brazil


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Tom Zé biography
Brazilian musician and composer TOM ZE (born Antônio José Santana Martins, in 1936) first gained prominence as a prime mover in the Tropicália movement in 1960s Brazil, an approach to art and music which combined elements of pop and the avant garde. Following an extended hiatus, TOM ZE re-emerged in the 1990s in response to renewed interest in his music by prominent Western artists such as David BYRNE. Since then, he has continued to make albums in his rather unique style, often using unorthodox instrumentation (e.g. typewriters) and with an avant garde sensibility often compared to Frank ZAPPA. In addition to his own recordings, he has contributed to numerous compilations, and has collaborated with several like-minded artists with eclectic results.

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TOM ZÉ discography


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TOM ZÉ top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.88 | 7 ratings
Grande Liquidação
1968
2.40 | 6 ratings
Tom Ze'
1970
3.06 | 7 ratings
Tom Ze
1972
4.00 | 17 ratings
Todos os Olhos
1973
3.44 | 9 ratings
Estudando o Samba
1976
3.50 | 4 ratings
Correio Da Estação Do Brás
1978
3.00 | 3 ratings
Nave Maria
1984
3.50 | 4 ratings
The Hips of Tradition
1992
3.67 | 6 ratings
Com defeito de fabricação
1998
3.33 | 3 ratings
Jogos de Armar
2003
4.00 | 1 ratings
Santagustin
2003
4.00 | 1 ratings
Parabelo
2003
3.25 | 4 ratings
Imprensa Cantada
2003
3.25 | 4 ratings
Estudando o Pagode
2005
3.00 | 3 ratings
Danç-Êh-Sá
2006
3.50 | 4 ratings
Estudando a Bossa
2008
3.33 | 3 ratings
Tropicália Lixo Lógico
2012
3.75 | 4 ratings
Vira Lata na Via Láctea
2014
4.00 | 1 ratings
Cançoes Eróticas De Ninar - Urgência Didatica
2016
3.50 | 2 ratings
Sem Você Nâo A
2017

TOM ZÉ Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.00 | 2 ratings
No Jardim da Política
1998

TOM ZÉ Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

TOM ZÉ Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.50 | 2 ratings
Dois momentos: Se o Caso é Chorar / Todos os Olhos
2000
3.00 | 3 ratings
Dois Momentos: Estudando O Samba / Correio Da Estação Do Brás
2000

TOM ZÉ Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

2.22 | 4 ratings
Tribunal do Feicebuqui
2013

TOM ZÉ Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Todos os Olhos by ZÉ, TOM album cover Studio Album, 1973
4.00 | 17 ratings

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Todos os Olhos
Tom Zé RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

4 stars What is it about these Brazilian bands like SECOS & MOLHADOS and this particular album by Tom Ze where they are pretty much all acoustic and simplistic, almost folky yet they have this incredible sense of melody and rhythm that sucks me in like a vacuum. Nylon-stringed guitars that are amazingly well played, such technique along with percussions and Tom's Portuguese vocals which are usually quite laid back but it all works so incredibly well. The word playful gets used a lot with Tom's music and while this is listed under Avant there's little of that to my ears unless the lyrics are way out there which I wouldn't know. Twelve songs over 36 minutes and this was released in 1973 the same year as SECOS & MOLHADOS' debut.

"Complexo De Epico" is the less than 1 1/2 minute intro which had me begging for more until I noticed the album ends with the same song but there it's almost 7 minutes in length. This is very repetitive with vocals and backing vocals along with percussions. So rhythmic and relaxed with those almost spoken vocals. So playful and catchy. "Cademar" has percussions, organ, nylon stringed guitars and reserved vocals for less than a minute. it works! "Todos Os Olhos" is so catchy with those percussions and vocals along with backing vocals. Just boppin' around to this one. Some weird vocals too. Great track!

"Dodo E Zeze" has multi-guitars that are strummed and picked along with vocals. Kind of folky. Multi-vocals before 2 1/2 minutes then the tempo picks up. Really good. "Quando Eh Era Sem Ninguem" sounds excellent with that opening guitar as the vocals come in being quite playful along with the sound as backing vocals, strummed guitars and percussion help out. It settles to percussion, laid back guitar and reserved vocals before kicking in again as contrasts continue.

"Brigitte Bradot" has a simple sounding guitar with percussion and spoken vocals. It picks up briefly before 2 minutes then settles right down again with some whistling then more vocals. "Augusta, Angelica E Consolasao" is catchy with percussion, vocals and guitar. It turns fuller with drums, still it's catchy and relaxed as backing vocals come and go. "Betaram Tanta Fumaca" has determined vocals that soon turn into a party mode with drums, guitar and backing vocals.

"O Riso E A Faca" has a guitar melody and more as relaxed vocals join in. Sounds like violin too. "Um Oh E Um Ah" is pretty funny the way the vocals are off-set singing the words in the title. I like this one as guitar and percussion helps out. It ends with the song it opened with that I've already talked about and yes almost 7 minutes still seems too short.

A pretty cool album that can be quite uplifting at times. I don't enjoy it as much as those first two albums from SECOS & MOLHADOS but this is well worth tracking down.

 Tribunal do Feicebuqui by ZÉ, TOM album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2013
2.22 | 4 ratings

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Tribunal do Feicebuqui
Tom Zé RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by memowakeman
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

2 stars Though Tom Zé is a long-time Brazilian musician which is well recognized in his country and latinamerica for his popular music, he has also made some avant garde works that some people may consider progressive rock, so for that, I am here reviewing his "Tribunal do Feicebuqui" release which is a free to download EP he made this 2013 and he offers through his official website. This EP consists of five short tracks that make a total time of 15 minutes.

It opens with the title track, which starts with a Windows sound like when you open your lap and start using your browser. Then little by little instruments appear along with the vocals, of course in Portuguese, and the music flows with a delicious rhythm, very Latin, very Brazilian. I like a lot the backing female vocals, they put sympathy to the already sympathetic music. The style is not truly progressive, not even rock, but it has some jazzy and avant hints.

"Ze a zero" has an old school style, reminding me a bit of Os Incríveis, just to put an example. The sound is cool, but definitely not really for a progressive rock fan, I think you need to be fan of latin and Brazilian music to truly enjoy it, and sing "fazendo propaganda do Tom Zé". Now it comes "Papa Francisco perdoa Tom Ze", in which soft electric guitar can be heard along with nice rhythmical bass lines and some funeral-like drums. The vocals are nice, very ad hoc with the old Brazilian school.

The next track is "Tai" which has a voice making some repetitive noises, while a trumpet illuminates the sound and female vocals greatly complete the track. This is a very nice composition, short as well, but cool. This EP finishes with "Irala Irala" which starts with something that sounds like a harmonica, but I'm not sure if it is one, this time it has an argentinian touch, but later the song changes a bit. Again, female vocals stand out, I love them, but they are nicely accompanied by winds and bass. Nice.

Well, this is not really a memorable EP, and in my opinion it is far from the progressive rock realm, however, I had a nice time and enjoy it when I listen to it. My final grade will be 2 stars, anyway?

? enjoy it!

 Todos os Olhos by ZÉ, TOM album cover Studio Album, 1973
4.00 | 17 ratings

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Todos os Olhos
Tom Zé RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by GKR

5 stars "If I could make the rice and beans (i.e. brazilian for "the basic"), I wouldnt make such a weird music".

Tom Zé is more than a free spirit: Its the roots of everything that would be Avant-gard in Brazil from the 1970's onward. He participated of the Tropicalia movement (mainly in his first album and in the Tropicalia Manifesto, Panes et Circenses) just to see that others musical paths were opened to him... and then "Todos os Olhos" were born.

The highlights of the album for me are various, but iniciating with "Complexo de Épico" (Epic Complex) and finishing with the same song... he attack one of the characteristic of the music he criticizes (academic, full of great intentions) while doing it! Its a great parody, he himself has putted in a humoristic fashion: "its a album that eat itslef, like a sanke". While the music shows a great negligence, with repetitive sounds and the lyrics going "there he goes completly serious / all brazilian composers are full of complexes / be serious like this / in hell" (in portuguese is more aligned, of course). Its a great track (in two parts) representing everything from him in this new phase. Even when you think the sound is going to be like this forever, with "Todos os olhos" without a proper ending and "Dodo e Zeze" playing with a musical narrative, the beautiful track "Brigite Bardot" comes with a poetry, accesible and full of meaning, maily the passage of time and our finitude.

Mixture of avant-gard, samba and poetry: The seeds of brazilian avant-garde were planted since the first guy tapped a box of matches in a bar to make samba - Tom Zé is just the logical conclusion of this history.

 Todos os Olhos by ZÉ, TOM album cover Studio Album, 1973
4.00 | 17 ratings

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Todos os Olhos
Tom Zé RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by VOTOMS

4 stars "Walter Smetak, who was born in Zurich, taught Zé violin, cello and the building of his own instruments, which were sometimes transformed from typewriters, blenders and water conduits. It was these peculiar, experimental instruments which would later become the trademark of Tom Zé's music" - PETER FIGLESTAHLER

Todos os Olhos (1973) is the fourth effort by the brazilian composer and musician Tom Zé, where his avant-psychedelic-samba back to live. His orchestration includes from polisher machines to keyboards. You can notice the strangeness of his music from Cademar (the opening track) to the strange Complexo de Épico (ending track), without lose the Tropicalia vein. A nice experiment for open minded listeners and avant-garde music fans.

 Tom Ze by ZÉ, TOM album cover Studio Album, 1972
3.06 | 7 ratings

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Tom Ze
Tom Zé RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by VOTOMS

3 stars Tom Zé - Se o Caso é Chorar (1972)

The third album from the avant-garde doctor, Tom Zé. This album is not a self-titled as the previous one. Well... this album is a boring listening. Really. Sounds a non-creative samba/mpb with some touch of the early material. But after years I had read an interview with Tom Zé, where he explained the meaning of the album and the ideas. This guy is a genius.

First of all, this was made for hit the commercial radio stations, BUT with an objective, an inner joke. The hit of the album, Se O Caso É Chorar, it's a full plagiarism. He wrote the lyrics planning the plagiarism and asked the plagiarized artist about the song release, telling him about his plans. The guitar sequence was Chopin, and he said it was already copied in another rhythm by Tom Jobim. Well, the song hit the crowd and radio stations, and nobody knows anything about the plagiarism until today.

Purposely boring plagiarism, so... it's boring. But the intelligence behind this album deserves 3 stars.

 Tom Ze' by ZÉ, TOM album cover Studio Album, 1970
2.40 | 6 ratings

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Tom Ze'
Tom Zé RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by VOTOMS

2 stars In the 70s self-titled album, the brazilian musician Tom Zé used his same old formula present at the first album, but less focus on avant-garde and more into pure Tropicalia psychedelia and boring side of mpb, trying to do a commercial effort. And it works, since Jeitinho Dela was his first "greatest hit". This album is more avant-garde in vocalization, and includes crazy stuff too, like random variations. The results are a second album non-so- inspired as Grande Liquidação (1968), his debut. Also, the jokes at the lyrics aren't so fine as the previous album. Actually, it's a boring album at all.
 Grande Liquidação by ZÉ, TOM album cover Studio Album, 1968
3.88 | 7 ratings

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Grande Liquidação
Tom Zé RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by VOTOMS

4 stars Tom Zé is an experimental composer from the Tropicalia scene, together with Os Mutantes and Caetano Veloso. He was forgotten, falling into obsurity until the 90's, when Davy Byrne (Talking Heads) found an early Tom Zé album.

Grande Liquidação is a classic, the typic critical lyrics from Tropicalia scene, avant-garde music and psychedelic rock mixed with mpb, jazz and more. Very ecletic and strange. The intelligent, humouristic lyrics are the most interesting part of this debut album, sometimes following a parody way. Highlights of the album: "Catecismo, Creme Dental E Eu", "Curso Intensivo de Boas Maneriras", "Gloria".

Thanks to HolyMoly for the artist addition. and to NotAProghead for the last updates

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