Postmodern Platos is an EP by the Brazilian musician Tom Zé, released in 1999.[2][3] It contains remixes of tracks found on his album Com Defeito de Fabricação.[4] The album and the EP helped to increase Zé's popularity in the United States and Brazil.[5]
| Postmodern Platos | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1999 | |||
| Label | Luaka Bop[1] | |||
| Tom Zé chronology | ||||
| ||||
Zé supported the EP by touring North America (for the first time) with Tortoise; Zé sold the EP at his concerts and online.[6][7][8] The remix EP conforms to Zé's philosophy of arrastão, where art can be "stolen" and repurposed.[9]
Production
editThe tracks were remixed by the High Llamas, John McEntire, Sean Lennon, Amon Tobin, and Sasha-Frere Jones (as Gene to Gene).[10][11] Zé was surprised that his music was so appreciated by artists working in various genres; he also was pleased that some songs sped up his rhythms.[12][13] "Canudos" was a new song by Zé.[8]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |   [12] |
| Orange County Register | [14] |
| Pitchfork | 6.7/10[15] |
| Rolling Stone | [8] |
Pitchfork wrote: "When, four minutes into the almost seven- minute-long nebulaic journey, Tobin breaks out his trademark frenzied rhythmic assault, he casually casts off the best one-and-a-half minutes Postmodern Platos has to offer."[15] Spin determined that "rarely has weird alien funkaplinking been so relaxing."[16] The Star Tribune noted that the remixers "breathe their own musicality into Ze's songs."[17] The Orange County Register labeled the EP "little more than an appetizer for his full-length CD—but it's tasty nonetheless."[14]
The Los Angeles Times deemed the EP "a kind of '90s pop music echo of the eclectic, cut-and-paste avant-garde music of the '60s, an early influence on Ze during his student days."[18] The Village Voice concluded that "McEntire's 'Defect 2: Curiosidade' remix ... doesn't demonstrate particular insight."[19] Rolling Stone wrote that "the High Llamas dismantle [Zé's] song into free-floating radio transmissions that murmur above a plaintive, warbling synthesizer."[8]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Defect 2: Curiosidade (High Llamas Remix)" | |
| 2. | "Defect 2: Curiosidade (John McEntire Remix)" | |
| 3. | "Defect 5: O Olho Do Lago (Sean Lennon Remix)" | |
| 4. | "Defect 2: Curiosidade (Amon Tobin Remix)" | |
| 5. | "Defect 1: Gene (Gene to Gene Remix)" | |
| 6. | "Canudos" |
References
edit- ^ "1999 Rewind". The Wire.
- ^ "Tom Zé Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
- ^ Dunn, Christopher (January 1, 2014). Brutality Garden: Tropicália and the Emergence of a Brazilian Counterculture. UNC Press Books.
- ^ "Tom Zé: Postmodern Platos". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (16 May 1999). "Weaving a Counterpoint of Ideas". 2. The New York Times. p. 23.
- ^ "Tom Zé Recruits Tortoise for Inaugural U.S. Tour". MTV. Archived from the original on July 29, 2022.
- ^ Marzorati, Gerald (Apr 25, 1999). "Tropicalia, agora!". The New York Times. pp. 6, 48.
- ^ a b c d Chonin, Neva (Jun 10, 1999). "Postmodern Platos". Rolling Stone. No. 814. pp. 123–124.
- ^ Rollefson, J. Griffith (Jul 2007). "Tom Ze's Fabrication Defect and the 'Esthetics of Plagiarism': A Postmodern/Postcolonial "Cannibalist Manifesto"". Popular Music and Society. 30 (3): 305–327, 447.
- ^ Darling, Cary (April 23, 1999). "New world-beat sounds". Orange County Register. p. F45.
- ^ Athitakis, Mark. "New world disorder". Dallas Observer.
- ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 865.
- ^ Ouellette, Dan (May 23, 1999). "Still Crazy After All These Years – Brazil's eclectic Tropicalia founder embarks on first tour of United States". Sunday Datebook. San Francisco Chronicle. p. 45.
- ^ a b Darling, Cary (May 7, 1999). "Time for Brazil to bust out". Orange County Register. p. F52.
- ^ a b "Tom Zé: Postmodern Platos EP". Pitchfork.
- ^ Clover, Joshua (Aug 1999). "The Shredder". Spin. Vol. 15, no. 8. p. 157.
- ^ Gilmer, Vickie (21 May 1999). "Dada poet of Brazil music is a barrier-buster". Star Tribune. p. 1E.
- ^ Heckman, Don (23 May 1999). "Brazil's Rebel with a Cause". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 55.
- ^ Krasnow, David (1 June 1999). "Practical magic". The Village Voice. Vol. 44, no. 21. p. 74.