This piece has just been published at Latineos, a history of Tropicália, one of the most joyful styles of music ever to emerge from this planet. Here’s the intro:

It would be near impossible to recreate the circumstances that resulted in tropicália. In 1967, Brazil’s repressive military government had been in charge for three years and Brazilian music was in status quo. The authorities were happy that samba was the favourite music of the nation – they saw it as the perfect marketing tool – and didn’t see the need for change. This was a climate in which João Gilberto’s beautiful hybridisation of samba into bossa nova drew stinging criticisms from those who thought it was un-Brazilian. Continue reading A History of Tropicália →