TODOS OS OLHOS

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.