Caetano Veloso has been a force in Brazilian pop music since the '60s, a singer-songwriter who combines gentle sonorities and pointed political messages with Bahia roots and light pop textures. Along with Gilberto Gil and Gal Costa, Veloso fueled the tropicalia movement that resulted, for a time, in exile to London, where he began to reach an international audience and provided a spark to the World Music movement. This 1987 compilation touches on many of Veloso's moods, from the delicately wistful "Chuvas de Verao" to the cynical "Sampa" and the frothy animation of Gilberto Gil's "Soy Loco por Ti, America." His performance of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar" seems to restore the bossa nova to its folk roots, while "Podres Poderes" propels its message with an odd mix of off beats and distorted guitar. --Stuart Broomer