CAETANO VELOSO
A Foreign Sound (Nonesuch)
Reviewed by Sherman Wick

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Perspective is important to music, and that is the basis of A Foreign Sound, the latest from Caetano Veloso. Brazilian singer/songwriter Veloso tackles the foreign songbook of his neighbor to the north: the United States.

As one the world's greatest and most under-rated songwriters, Veloso creates some fine interpretations of classic American composers. He begins with a upbeat version of "Carioca," a tropical homage to Brazil written in America by Edward Eliscu, Gus Kahn and Vincent Youmans. Another highlight is Veloso's interpretation of the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana's "Come As You Are." Performing a Cobain song on such a compilation has become hackneyed, and now seems obligatory, but Veloso's version overcomes my low expectations. His reading is restrained as an atonal bending keyboard riff builds at the end of the song, thus subtly infusing the dissonant feel the song demands. There is also a strange shouted interpretation of DNA's "Detached," in part a tribute to the groups singer/guitarist Arto Lindsay, who produced several of Veloso's recordings in the '80s.

Veloso also interprets songs by songwriters as varied as Bob Dylan, Cole Porter, Elvis Presley, David Byrne and Paul Anka. The results of the interpretations are for the most part piquant. Though not one of Veloso's greatest records or a comprehensive survey of its subject, it serves as a fine overview of American songwriters from a Third World perspective.

© 2004 - Sherman Wick