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Title: A laid-back mix of accordion, tabla and voice--soulful, cool
Review: Gilberto Gil has been making music since the mid '60s. I like to think of him as the Brazilian Paul McCartney: a master melodist, warm singer, and committed pop conceptualist. His influence over today's music has been subtle, but it's hard to imagine Arto Lindsay, Carlinhos Brown or Tortoise without Gil. His last album, "Quanta," was good but maybe a little too slick. "O Sol De Oslo" is his most natural-sounding, relaxed record in years. Texturally Trilok Gurtu's percussion adds that certain element of mysticism that has been present in Gil's work from the beginning. In fact Gil is one of the few pop artists who can combine that ineffable feeling of joy with a finely honed formal beauty. "O Sol" is immensely enjoyable; it's too bad earlier albums like "Realce" (1978) and "Refazenda" (1975) aren't more readily available in the United States, not to mention his groundbreaking "tropicalist" work from the swinging sixties.
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