Our culture must be at an all time high. Gone are the days when we ventured to purchase an album by a favorite band. Favorite bands are rare. Then the ubiquitous soundtrack took over, allowing us to have a little taste of several overrated bands who most likely will not have their contracts renewed. Now it’s all come down to 45 seconds. It seems these days that I could feasibly buy music based solely on the commercials I see on TV. It’s effective, as certainly good music (insert your own definition of what that means here) wins over stupid jingles. But on the other hand, I end up just wanting to get the song, and don’t really give shit about the wares being hawked on the telly. While Crystal Method, Dimitri from Paris, and Louis Prima's albums are welcomed on my play list, I doubt I will ever purchase a pair of Gap khakis. And I while I think the Banana Republic commercials are cool, I don’t really want their khakis either. (It’s implausible to me that all of this creative marketing goes for a pair of beige pants!!!!!!!!!!!). Madonna’s Ray of Light sample on the AT&T commercial sounds good, but their telemarketers are so aggressive that it will be a cold day in hell before I subscribe to their service. Now that the music of commercials has become the soundtrack of our lives, we can even detect a sub-genre within that category. We can now personally thank Banana Republic and Intel for bringing us the sounds of Brazil. "The Waters of March" is Banana’s new anthem, while that silly sock monkey from the 50’s prances along to Umbabarauma by Jorge Ben (which incidentally is a song about soccer, but hey, it’s not like we speak Portuguese in the States). It’s just a matter of time before we start hearing more Samba and Bossa Nova classics. American ears have taken a shine to world music sounds as of late and in combination with nostalgia for the 50’s and 60’s soon the "The Girl From Ipanema" will be the theme song for some car (although it must be said that car commercials have been the front runners in incorporating electronic and world music to create a mood and image for their products) Of course, this is not really a bad thing. It means we’re starting to import music as well as export it. Whether it’s French techno or Argentine ska we can find more and more at our local Tower records. Expect a movie sometime in the future about space age Mexican maestro Esquivel (the godfather of 60’s lounge music), while his modern gringo counterpart, Beck, has a new album entitled Mutations. Interestingly enough, it features a song entitled "Tropicalia" that obviously finds its inspiration in Caetano Velosos’ influential Tropicalia album from the 1970’s. So if you find yourself hankering for a piece of Brazil, do not fear. There is no lack of Brazilian music to be found in the States. Why, even in Nashville, TN you can go see Brazil Billy at Robert’s Western Wear on Lower Broadway most Saturday nights. And if that’s not indicative of a trend, I don’t know what is. As for a few suggestions, rent Black Orpheus and pick up a copy of David Byrne’s Beleza Tropical compilation for starters. You’re on your own from there.

  Anji Milanovic