GIL, GILBERTO Expresso 2222 (Water) cd 15.98
Originally released in 1972, Expresso 2222 was Gilberto Gil's first recording after his two year exile in London. The record opens with a truly riveting, playful, and festive flute and drum instrumental, that harkens to the ceremonial flute music of the Andes. Sadly, it's the last stylistic foray on the record into the spiritual heights of the high mountain tops, but for those uninitiated, let it be the delectable hors d'oeuvre that sends you on your hunt for more. Luckily what is to come is by far one of the greatest statements in popular Brazilian music of the '60s and '70s. When the second track rolls in, we're thrust back, deep into the midst of a more archetypical Tropicalia sound, though the movement itself was considered to be properly dead at that point. It is clear Gil is looking to Africa for inspiration more than classic American '60s rock and roll and pop, a hallmark of the Tropicalia movement. In all cases however, Gil continuously mines funky indigenous rhythms and melodies, and reinvigorates them with a contemporary urgency. Gil's vocal delivery is always vividly commanding, with plenty of flare and pomp alongside a general purity of form and intention. Gil's frantic guitar playing is a true feat to behold and always rich in craft. Anyone who hasn't spent a little time watching Gil shred in his prime on YouTube should do themselves a favor, it is a real pleasure, and frankly a gift. Gil's supporting cast is in fine form as well on this outing with Tutty Moreno providing crisp, inventive drumming and Lanny Gordin delivering a great chugging and supple bass performance. The production is not as wild or intensely psychedelic as Gil's most immediately previous records at that point in his career, generally emphasizing clarity and separation ahead of the sometimes schizophrenically boisterous psychedelia he also dabbled in. Perhaps the record's most luminous moment occurs on "Cada Macaco No Seu Galho," wherein Gil and sometime collaborator Caetano Veloso launch into a frenetic and roiling duet over one of the most gorgeously sturdy yet lyrical Latin guitar riffs ever recorded. Seriously, go there.
MPEG Stream: "Pipoca Moderna"
MPEG Stream: "Expresso 2222"
MPEG Stream: "Cada Macaco No Seu Galho"

GIL, GILBERTO Gil Luminoso (DRG) cd 16.98
Brazil's beloved Gilberto Gil, as one of the originators of the Tropicalia sound, has written and recorded some of the most beautiful and politically-minded music ever made. We are huge fans of his first three records, especially Cerebro Electronico from 1969, but like a lot of the older Brazilian artists, including Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso and Milton Nascimento, Gil has been releasing a series of increasingly bland world-beat and jazz-fusion records for quite a while now.
It seems though, that his recent appointment as Brazil's Minister of Culture, has left him little time to record and rehearse with a full band, and so he has thankfully returned to recording and touring with just his voice and acoustic guitar. If you haven't seen him perform recently, you HAVE to, he's truly a magical presence, and hearing the Brazilian members in the audience sing along to every song is a more rewarding experience than you would expect. There's just so much love. Gil Luminoso is a nice return to form with a few visits back to his older catalog (including "Cerebro Electronico"), but containing mostly new songs. At an hour's length, with just voice and guitar, it runs a bit long, but for the most part, it's quite a beautiful record. So put down that Seu Jorge record and get a dose of the real thing! Viva Gil!
MPEG Stream: "Cerebro Electronico"
MPEG Stream: "Raca Humana"
MPEG Stream: "O Compositor Me Disse"

GIL, GILBERTO s/t (1971) (Water) cd 15.98
Don't let the English-sung lyrics deter you from getting one of Gilberto Gil's finest Tropicalia recordings. Recently reissued in a more affordable version by the Water label, here Gil revisits some of his most popular songs such as "Volkswagen Blues" and "Nega", as well as one some great cover versions of Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home" and The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band". Full of the exuberant singing and fuzz electric guitar as showcased on his previous record, Cerebro Electronico, this record is pretty damn Great!
MPEG Stream: "Nega (Photograph Blues)"
MPEG Stream: "Can't Find My Way Home"
MPEG Stream: "Volkswagen Blues"

GIL, GILBERTO s/t (Cerebro Eletronico) (Water) cd 15.98
Finally available domestically, Cerebro Electronico (Also known as s/t (1969)), is Gilberto Gil's most wild and exciting Tropicalia outing. Mutantes fans hungering for more should not skip this gem. If Gal Costa's 1969 psych-fuzz groove album floated your boat, get ready for this. Another raucous and wild slab of political subversion that later caused his and Caetano Velosos house arrest and subsequent political exile for many years. Featuring some of the most psychedelic guitarwork the world has ever known, studio wiz Rogerio Duprat outdoes himself on the almost-Dockstadteresque 'Objeto Semi-Identificado'. There's even a Mutantes cover ('2001' or 'Dois Mil e Uno') which out-freaks the original! And some fucking awesome whistling on "Volks Volkswagon Blue." Those unsure of where to start on Gilberto Gil's long musical career should begin right here! Highly Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Aquele Abraco"
MPEG Stream: "Vitrines"
MPEG Stream: "2001"

GIL, GILBERTO s/t (Frevo Rasgado) (Water) cd 15.98
Gilberto Gil's Frevo Rasgado is as true an archetypal expression of Tropicalia as one is going to find. As is always more or less the case with defining a genre, some portion of the mental gymnastics hinges on construction and projection. As humans trying to categorize things we like, we often blur the edges and collapse differences in service of our desire to be able to declare unequivocally: "I like Alternative!" Or Shitgaze, or Go-Go, or whatever crackpot concoction you've got brewing. So, all that said, this record does an incredibly good job of presenting a thorough and accessible example of a genre that is surprisingly elusive, now 40 years past its zenith. And perhaps what makes it elusive is the breadth of influence it incorporates, mixing bossa nova, rock and roll, Bahian folk music, myriad African forms, and even a brand of Portuguese blues called fado. The pastiche is so rich in fact that it's pretty easy to lose track of the ingredients in the blend. A good pair of headphones will certainly help you tease the detail out of the auxiliary percussion tucked under the horn section, or pull a thread of whistling out of a dense flute section. For those inclined towards this kind of sonic excavation, this record is a true pleasure.
But enough hemming and hawing about genre, because this record is much more. It's a gorgeous collision between two of Brazil's greatest auteurs. Gil, the once exiled pop star with more than 20 records under his belt, and the current Minister of Culture in Brazil, head to head with Rogario Duprat, something of a Tropicalian Phil Spector, and undeniablyÉ a fucking wizard. And both are in fine form, confident in their skills, expansive in their vision, technically inventive, and generally charming. Many of the melodies and the phrasings will be familiar to anyone whose spent time with the rest of the Rogario Duprat catalogue, especially A Banda Tropicalista Do Duprat, another classic from '68. However, Frevo Rasgado shows Gil also exploring a moodier and more atmospheric terrain. In particular the tracks "Ele Falava Nisso Todo Dia" and "Luzia Luluza" balance Gil's typically boisterous and winning vocal approach with a pensive, rainy-day production and arrangement aesthetic resulting in a sweet and sour treat you don't find often. Their sentimental gravitas is absolutely the stuff of soundtracks. Grab it before Wes Anderson does so you can have the pleasure of imagining or living the magic, before its potential is fixed in celluloid. Frevo Rasgodo is less of a guitar record than some of Gil's other records. Instead the many and varied horns, flutes, strings, and percussive ephemera drape the song structures in counterpoint, drawing your attention to the far reaches of what each song's core could imply. It's in this distance perhaps that the magic lies. Between whatever spare version of a song Gil first cooked up, and the spacious context and gallant style Duprat places it in. Anyone whose imagination has been piqued in regards to '60s and '70s Brazilian music by the likes of Animal Collective or Devendra Banhart should spend time with this record and uncover the origins. It's a full spectrum gift that keeps on giving.
MPEG Stream: "Ele Falava Nisso Todo Dia"
MPEG Stream: "Luzia Luluza"

GIL, GILBERTO s/t (Frevo Rasgado) (Universal Brazil) cd 19.98
1968's Frevo Rasgado is a truly archetypal expression of the finest the tropicalia movement had to offer. Gil's confidently expansive and inventive songwriting paired with Rogario Duprat wizardly approach to arrangements and the studio place it firmly in the canon. Many of the melodies and the phrasings will be familiar to anyone whose spent time with the rest of the Rogario Duprat catalogue, especially A Banda Tropicalista do Duprat, another classic from '68. However, Frevo Rasgado shows Gil also exploring a moodier and more atmospheric terrain. In particular the tracks Ele Falava Nisso Todo Dia and Luzia Luluza balance Gil's typically boisterous and winning vocal approach with a pensive, rainy-day production and arrangement aesthetic resulting in a sweet and sour treat you don't find often. Their sentimental gravitas is absolutely the stuff of soundtracks. Grab it before Wes Anderson does so you can have the pleasure of imagining or living the magic, before its fixed in celluloid. Frevo Rasgodo is also less of a guitar record than some of gils other records. In instead the many and varied horns, flutes, strings, and percussive ephemera drape the song structures in counterpoint, drawing your attention to the breadth of the mix in full-spectrum glory.
MPEG Stream: "Ele Falava Nisso Todo Dia"
MPEG Stream: "Luzia Luluza"

GILBERTO, BEBEL Momento (Six Degrees) cd 15.98
Yes, we've been a little out of seasonal sorts what with the extra early daylight savings time this year, but we truly know that spring is in full bloom by the arrival of the bright and breezy third album from Bebel Gilberto. It's a definite charmer for fans old and new. A particularly hot one-two punch comes at the album's midpoint when Gilberto turns on a dime from the groovy thumpin' finish of "Cacada" to the gentle wispy beauty of "Night And Day". Effortlessy captivating.
MPEG Stream: "Cacada"
MPEG Stream: "Night And Day"

GILBERTO, BEBEL s/t (Six Degrees) cd 15.98
From the speed with which her new cd is flying out the door, Ms Gilberto clearly needs no introduction.
Her admirers are sure to be happy campers once they hit 'play' on their cd players 'cause her self-titled sophomore effort is another heart-melter! Overall, it takes a slower tempo than her debut Tanto Tempo, but is no less bountiful in the grace and elegance department. Definitely for those looking for something 'soft 'n' romantic'. Her lovely, breathy vocals draws you near as her splendid backing band swings along effortlessly holding the world at bay. Crikey, did I really write that?! Shows you the effect of Ms Bebel. Os Mutantes alert: Ms Gilberto opens the album with a dreamy cover of their song "Baby"!
MPEG Stream: "Baby "
MPEG Stream: "River Song"

GILBERTO, BEBEL Sem Contencao Remixes (Six Degrees) cd ep 7.98
Alas, Bebel Gilberto's lovely voice gets completely buried beneath a mass of heavy, choppy beats not once but twice, and then as if to make up for that, there's an acapella remix version with Bebel going ba-da-ba endlessly. Very unnecessary (unless you're looking for some vocals to sample). Better to stick with her "Tanto Tempo" album.

GILBERTO, BEBEL Tanto Tempo (Ziriguiboom/Crammed/Six Degrees) cd 14.98
Joao Gilberto's daughter releases an album of bossa nova originals and well chosen covers including tracks by Chico Buarque, Baden Powell, and the classic "So Nice (Summer Samba)" by Marcos Valle. Bebel's helped out along the way by Mario C (Beastie Boys), Thievery Corporation, and Amon Tobin, but their more techno influences are kept to a minimum on this simple, exceedingly pleasing album. If you want sunny day mellow mood music, this is it. If you want something more complex and unpredictable, try Caetano Veloso or Joyce.

GILBERTO, BEBEL Tanto Tempo Remixes (Six Degrees) cd 16.98
Ms Gilberto's popular album "Tanto Tempo" gets a proper remixing by such notables as Peter Kruder (minus Dorfmeister), King Britt, and 4Hero. So much more satisfying than the less than thrilling "Sem Contencao" remix ep that came out shortly after the album.

HIDDEN Alexisstar Morphalite (Baphomet) cd 11.98
We love our metal here at aQ. A LOT. But there a two distinct strains that tend to drive us wild. There is of course the ultra precise, super heavy, complex and punishing perfectly crafted metal. Be it black, or thrash, stoner or doom. But then there's its bastard offspring, its deformed sibling, the one kept locked in the cellar, the damaged, demented, completely bizarre, totally unhinged and utterly and beautifully impossibly fucked metal. Total outsider metal. It may be doom or sludge or black metal, but composed and played and recorded with total disregard for anything but the personal vison, no matter how skewed or off kilter. In the past we have worshipped before the likes of Benighted Leams, Urfaust, Striborg, Wold, Rehtaf Ruo, Spektr, Necrofrost, Furze and all of a similarly demented nature. And now we have Hidden. A sort of doom / thrash hybrid, pre-occupied with some impossibly ridiculous science (fiction), the record is called Aleisstar Morphalite, some of the song titles: "Hydrodynamic Physics", "Interplanetary Space Physics And Climatology", "Planets Of Metal", "The Search For Where Life May Have Existed", you get the drift. And their sound is equally as scientifically and musically obtuse. Buzzing downtuned thrash metal, lighting fast riffs buried WAY down in the mix, the gutteral inhuman vocals way UP in the mix, spitting out impossibly complicated lyrics, you can catch a word here and there, 'radiation' gets mentioned a lot, as does the 'universe', 'carbon dioxide' does too, each line containing just a few too many words to fit in the designated space, so it comes out all gargled and jumbled together, a bit like old Slayer actually at least in terms of cadence, the sound though is like nothing you've ever heard, a sort of deathmetalized alien shriek. Then there's the songs, the riffs and the song structures are super convoluted, lots of stops and starts, pauses where there will be no sound but a weird wheezing synthesizer, or some random droning rumble, creepy synths and almost Cradle Of Filth keyboards surface all over the record, sometimes in a thick sheet draped over everything, there are some weird trashcan sounding electronic cymbals that hover in weird spaces when the music sort of hiccups and skips a beat, sometimes just a haunting background, occasionally a black thrash attack will slowly peter out and turn into a strangley gorgeous melancholic doom dirge, but still peppered with haunting piano and all sorts of random sound effects and sonic weirdness, and of course the vocals slithering and shrieking out some strange alien scientific propaganda over the top. But weird and bizzare and damaged and demented are not enough (well, almost), there has to be songs, you know actually songs, riffs and hooks and parts that stick in your head. And well, as impossible as it may seem, this record is full of 'em. Completely and impossibly catchy parts. The first song in fact, "Interferometer", has to be the catchiest damaged-alien-doom-black-thrash-sci-fi song EVER! Even the weird double kick / warbly space synth battle part way through gets stuck in our heads. Holy crap! This record is so completely nuts, but so completely heavy and kick ass. These guys should totally have a crazy metal science show on PBS, where kids learn about gravity and time travel and wormholes, but each lecture is delivered as a sludgy buzzing convoluted blast of demented space metal! In our dreams!
MPEG Stream: "Interferometer"
MPEG Stream: "Hydrodynamic Physics"

HOJAS Mis Suenos Piden (Lion Productions) cd 15.98

HOLYDRUG COUPLE, THE The Ancient Land (Sacred Bones) 12" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of two new modern Chilean psychedelic outfits on this week's list, both on Sacred Bones, and both sharing a member, The Holydrug couple is a duo who traffic in spaced out, hazy, druggy, cosmic jams, laid back and lysergic, a little bit stonery and sun baked, the sound lush and layered, a definite raga vibe, totally cosmic and pretty heavy, and definitely heady, minimal vocals, the crux of these tracks filled up with hypnotic, krautpsych JAMS, the drums solid and propulsive, the guitars swirling and swooping, soaring and wailing, plenty of effects, the whole of side A, a single extended jam that pulses and jangles, chimes and crunches, like Los Natas meets Pink Floyd maybe, gradually growing more and more spaced out mellow, before finally, slipping into a swirl of shimmery droned out ambience.
The B side is two shorter tracks, the first a crunchy chunk of garage-y groove, even more stonery than the flipside, all Hawkwind, Monster Magnet, Kyuss, Earthless psych space jam bliss, the second half a total heart of the sun blowout. The second track (and the shortest of all three), is also the mellowest and dreamiest, all washed out jangle, melodic shimmer, shuffling drums and hazy sweetly sung vox, the perfect psychedelic wind down / chill out coda...
MPEG Stream: "Ancient Land"

JORGE, SEU Carolina (Mr Bongo) cd 16.98
Full length recording from the man responsible for those gorgeous Portuguese Bowie covers on the Life Aquatic soundtrack!

JORGE, SEU AND ALMAZ s/t (Now-Again) cd 16.98
This is the best Seu Jorge record we've heard since we were first turned on to his stripped down bossa interpretations of David Bowie songs for The Life Aquatic Soundtrack. And it's not just because all the songs featured here are covers. Backing him up this time around is a trio of Brazilian rock musicians (Almaz) who originally joined the singer to record one song for a soundtrack and the chemistry was so right that they ended up doing a full record and are currently touring together. We were never too keen on Jorge's previous records of original songs, because they carried too much of a global fusion vibe that held little of the magic of his pared-down reinterpretations. But Almaz hit the musical tone just right, keeping the grooves sleek and prominent with a tight focus on rich atmosphere with psych and dub flourishes and economic arrangements. The covers are mostly of classic and obscure Brazilian songs by Tim Maia, Jorge Ben, Noriel Vilela and Nelson Cavaquinho but Jorge also throws in English-sung covers by Michael Jackson ("Rock With You"), Kraftwerk ("The Model") and Roy Ayers ("Everybody Loves The Sunshine"). The Ayers track works best, adding a layer of sultry coolness with Jorge's rich deep voice, but keeping the rare groove of the original completely in tact. All in all, a direction we're happy to see the Brazilian singer headed towards and hope future releases are just as promising.
MPEG Stream: "Cristina"
MPEG Stream: "Everyone Loves The Sunshine"
MPEG Stream: "The Model"
MPEG Stream: "Tempo De Amor"

JORGE, SEU AND ALMAZ s/t (Now-Again) 2lp 21.00
This is the best Seu Jorge record we've heard since we were first turned on to his stripped down bossa interpretations of David Bowie songs for The Life Aquatic Soundtrack. And it's not just because all the songs featured here are covers. Backing him up this time around is a trio of Brazilian rock musicians (Almaz) who originally joined the singer to record one song for a soundtrack and the chemistry was so right that they ended up doing a full record and are currently touring together. We were never too keen on Jorge's previous records of original songs, because they carried too much of a global fusion vibe that held little of the magic of his pared-down reinterpretations. But Almaz hit the musical tone just right, keeping the grooves sleek and prominent with a tight focus on rich atmosphere with psych and dub flourishes and economic arrangements. The covers are mostly of classic and obscure Brazilian songs by Tim Maia, Jorge Ben, Noriel Vilela and Nelson Cavaquinho but Jorge also throws in English-sung covers by Michael Jackson ("Rock With You"), Kraftwerk ("The Model") and Roy Ayers ("Everybody Loves The Sunshine"). The Ayers track works best, adding a layer of sultry coolness with Jorge's rich deep voice, but keeping the rare groove of the original completely in tact. All in all, a direction we're happy to see the Brazilian singer headed towards and hope future releases are just as promising.
MPEG Stream: "Cristina"
MPEG Stream: "Everyone Loves The Sunshine"
MPEG Stream: "The Model"
MPEG Stream: "Tempo De Amor"

JOYCE Passarinho Urbano (Warner Music Brazil) cd 19.98
Since the late '60s Joyce has been a major force in Brazilian music. She has recorded over twenty solo records and has collaborated with Antonio Carlos Jobim as well as making some amazing music with Nelson Angelo. Passarinho Urbano originally came out in 1977 and finds Joyce at her most breezy and heart melting. Summery songs with sparse yet very seductive instrumentation. She reminds us of the more subtle and casual moments of early Gal Costa. Passarinho Urbano is one of those perfect early morning records... So open the windows, let the fresh air hit you and soak in the refreshing warmth of Passarinho Urbano.
MPEG Stream: "Chora Doutor"
MPEG Stream: "O Trem Atrasou"
MPEG Stream: "A Historia Do Samba"

JOYCE s/t (Universal Japan) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Brazilian singer Joyce's debut album from 1968. It's very lovely, her voice is bell clear but has a husky quality that will please fans of Gal Costa. The pretty, yet pretty standard, bossa nova backup instrumentation is not the reason to buy this cd, her voice is! Pricey Japanese reissue, with original liner notes in Portugese and Japanese.
RealAudio clip: "Nao Muda, Nao"

JOYCE The Essential Joyce 1970-1996 (Mr. Bongo) cd 15.98
In the last edition of the Wire, while listening to records for the Invisible Jukebox, Stereolab mistook Joyce for AQ-favorites Os Mutantes. Like Os Mutantes, this brazillian songstress fuses american psychadelia with traditional Brazillian folk music and ends up sounding like a folkier, more soothing Os Mutantes.

JOYCE The Essential Joyce 1970-1996 (Mr. Bongo) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In the last edition of the Wire, while listening to records for the Invisible Jukebox, Stereolab mistook Joyce for AQ-favorites Os Mutantes. Like Os Mutantes, this brazillian songstress fuses american psychedelia with traditional Brazillian folk music and ends up sounding like a folkier, more soothing Os Mutantes.

JOYCE WITH NANA VASCONCELOS & MAURICIO MAESTRO Visions Of Dawn (Far Out) cd 16.98
Recorded in Paris in 1976, legendary Brazilian songstress Joyce teamed up with percussionist Nana Vasconcelos (he has worked with everyone from Milton Nascimento to Don Cherry) and multi-instrumentalist/producer Mauricio Maestro to create this truly stunning record of textured psychedelia, laced with the colorful flourishes of samba and Tropicalia, the immediacy of acid folk and a wonderful mystical haze that seems to permeate the entire album.
For some reason, Visions Of Dawn was never actually released, at least until now, which is shocking as this really is one of the best, if not THE BEST Joyce records we have ever heard. You can hear here the sounds that would influence generations of performers, even decades later, like Juana Molina and Samara Lubelski, both of whom would largely base their sound and style on the magical music of Joyce. From start to finish this is an unbelievable album, it starts with more of a samba-pop vibe, but as the record progresses the rich mood and atmosphere of the instrumentation along with the breathtaking vocals begin to swirl in the air, floating through the clouds and refracting the sunlight. This record really belongs in the pantheon of the best discs by folks like Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Milton Nascimento. Visions of Dawn is truly a lost classic!
NB: we're told by our supplier that this is going out of print, so the copies we've got may be our last, sad to say!
MPEG Stream: "Banana"
MPEG Stream: "Nacional Kid"
MPEG Stream: "Jardim Dos Deuses"

KALEIDOSCOPE s/t (Shadoks) cd 17.98
Record Of The Week honorees Los Dug Dugs aren't the only vintage psych band from south of the border that we dig, of course. Here's another, recently reissued rarity as well. The Mexican Kaleidoscope, not to be confused with the UK Kaleidoscope (a huge AQ favorite) or the USA Kaleidoscope either. Actually this Kaleidoscope was only sorta from Mexico - while record was originally released there, the band had begun in Puerto Rico, and then later moved in on the Mexican scene, via a stopover in the Dominican Republic, where this album was recorded, in 1967. Interestingly, on the back cover of the cd booklet, there's a show poster for 'em (billed as The Kaleidoscopes) that says they're from here in San Francisco, psychedelic central at the time, a promoter's claim made probably just to help sell tickets. But they did sound like they *could* have been from 'Frisco all right.
Swirling organ and guitar fuzz dominate the uptempo numbers, like garagey, groovy opener "Hang Out", and there's plenty of organ and fuzz to be heard on the more melodic, moody likes of "Once Upon A Time There Was A World", a somber eight minute opus that one. Definitely killer psychedelic pop stuff for all you "Nuggets" fans, Kaleidoscope for sure fitting in with such acts as The Electric Prunes, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Question Mark & The Mysterians, The Lollipop Shoppe, and others of the era. They seemed to specialize in the wild and unhinged, there's even a song called "I'm Crazy".
The urgent and intense "Colours", with its stinging fuzz, burbling electronics, sudden horn-honks, and desperate vocals, is especially tripped-out. Crucial lines from the lyrics: "acid colors burn my brain / I'm just insane"! Also something about the singer's delivery on that track reminds us of Mexican-American punks The Plugz (of Repo Man soundtrack fame)... That's probably the number one nugget here, a classic, but all the tracks are pretty good. One song here, with the great title of "I'm Here, He's Gone, She's Cryin'", was written by their Venezuelan pals Ladies WC, the others all originals.
This is a nicely done, totally legit reissue (they even tracked down the original cover artist), with extensive liner notes, vintage photos, and cool full color artwork in the cd booklet. It also includes 3 bonus tracks: 2 bluesy ones from a Kaleidoscope offshoot (which may or many not date from the '60s, we wonder) and a live recording of Kaleidoscope in 1969, doing Donovan's "Season Of The Witch". Shadoks pronounce themselves pleased to put this out, and they should be.
MPEG Stream: "Hang Out"
MPEG Stream: "A Hole In My Life"
MPEG Stream: "Colours"

KOPERNIK s/t (Eastern Development) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This record is so goddamn beautiful. Hard to know how to describe it. It reminds me of the sonic equivalent of those time lapse films where you watch the seasons pass in a matter of minutes, sunrise, sunset, plants slowly unfurling and blossoming, before wilting and falling to the ground, snow and then rain and then sun, everything moving at an accelerated pace, but blending and merging into a completely mesmeric and hypnotic fugue. Sort of like that. The tag on the cd mentions Godspeed and the Rachel's, and while those are the easiest comparisons (Godspeed because it's so epic, and the Rachel's because it's sort of chamber music) they don't at all hint at the complexity and depth of this Kopernik record. Thick and throbbing, undulating bass is the foundation, cellos, and upright basses, double basses, bowed and plucked, create a viscous and dense bed of rumbling, pulsing low end over which delicate, glistening melodies are sprinkled. This is ambient music, but so rich with layer after layer of delicate sound, that form an impossibly complex and challenging and beautiful listen. While rooted in this bass heavy, epic classical ambience, these songs do stretch in all sorts of improbable directions. Gorgeously lush chamber music, with digital glitches and hiccups, reminscent of Oval's Diskont, but instead of sounding underwater it sounds like it's floating in midair. A medieval court music, sort of grand and pompous, but also a bit forboding, like a much more GRIM Penguin Cafe Orchestra with burbling bass and loping melodies. Dark and cinematic, suspenseful and harrowing noirscapes with thick walls of lower register thrum with heavily affected backward vocals. Lonely and desolate, but so sincere and emotional. A perfect late night record of soothing dreaminess and nocturnal mesmer, but unlike many similar records, it can stand up to serious listening, offering even more when time is taken to explore its rich mysteries.
MPEG Stream: "Ondoyany Et Divers"
MPEG Stream: "Theme For Grace"
MPEG Stream: "Man, Myth, And Magic"

LA IRA DE DIOS Cosmos Kaos Destruccion (World In Sound) cd 23.00
In our recent highlight review of No More Invention by the frantic French acid guitar punk band Gunslingers, we kinda bagged on all other modern day signings by the World In Sound label (as opposed to their rather better selection of reissues, of which we generally enthusiastically approve). Then we realized, that wasn't quite fair, 'cause besides the excellent Gunslingers, WIS has also put out good stuff by at least a couple other contemporary bands, both of 'em from South America, Peru to be precise. There's El Cuy (which we'll review when we can get more in, our supplier was out) and this one, La Ira De Dios.
We've actually stocked several earlier discs by this Peruvian power trio (sans reviews, sorry), so we knew we liked 'em. They rock it and roll it in a fat, fuzzed out "desert rock" style not unlike an Andean version of Kyuss, or Monster Magnet... Each track swirls dizzily with spaced out Hawkwindy electronic FX, while the band keeps on keepin' on, riffin' hard, hair and sweat a-flyin'. With their gravelly Spanish language vocals and command of psychedelic/Satanic drug things we also wouldn't understand, they also of course remind us of AQ faves Los Natas from Argentina. But while Los Natas sometimes get all gentle and proggy, these guys stick with the blown out, balls out rockin'. Pretty badass! The final track, a 13 minute trip called "Jamas Morire", is a category 5 stoner rock storm that definitely demonstrates that this album was not mis-titled.
MPEG Stream: "Velocidad"
MPEG Stream: "El Pacto"

LA REVOLUCION DE EMILIANO ZAPATA s/t (Dynamic) cd 21.00
Here's a nice digipak reissue of something that's reputed to be one of the best ever psych albums from south of the border, right up there with Los Dug Dugs (who'd be our personal pick). And oh yeah, it's from 1971! If you've got the "Love, Peace and Poetry: Mexican Psychedelic Music" comp then you've already heard some La Revolucion De Emiliano Zapata, though their track on that comes from their second album, Hoy, not this their debut.
First off, there's plenty of stinging acid rock guitar awesomeness here, big time FUZZ action. But there's also mellower, more melodic side to them as well. Basically they cover all the bases of badass rockin' and rollin' California sixties psych influenced garage freakdom here. And they sing in English, whereas on Hoy they switched, mainly, to Spanish, which was a radical move as the conservative Mexican government/society of the '70s apparently would tolerate a lot of things sung in English but not in Spanish. Considering that two of the song titles here are "Nasty Sex" and "Shit City" maybe that's understandable...
Hopefully Dynamic will be reissuing Hoy as well someday, it's also a good one!
MPEG Stream: "Si Tu Lo Quieres"
MPEG Stream: "Todavia Nada (Still Don't - Not Yet)"

LADIES W.C. s/t (Shadoks Music) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Compact disc reissue of super rare 1970 psych LP from Venezuela! We had a previous edition of this a while back, but now it's been reissued by Shadoks, with better packaging and a more legit "look". It now includes liner notes from two of the band members, reminiscing about their days in the band. And the sound quality is much better than before, not so crackly.
Remember this band's great song "People" from the Love, Peace & Poetry: Latin Amercian Psychedelia compilation? Well, that's the first track on here, followed by more bluesy jungle psych rock made by wandering Yankee hippy Stephen Scott (bass/vocals) and a group of fellow freak musicians he met in Venezuela. Although mostly full of fuzz geeetar, pounding garage-rawk energy, and wild harp blowing, there are also some moments of melancholic folk-rock gentleness -- which contrast nicely with the musique concrete elements that of course include the sound of a flushing toilet as the first thing you hear!
MPEG Stream: "People"
MPEG Stream: "And Everywhere I See The Shadow Of That Life"

LAS MALAS AMISTADES Jardin Interior (Psych-o-path) cd 13.98
Wow! To be able to make music that is both charming and soulful is a feat few can meet. This collective from Bogota, Columbia have done just that. Crafting really colorful minimalist pop that totally hits its mark. Eighteen short 4-track recorded songs that all feel like tiny treasures you want to keep in your pocket for good luck. Their ability to keep intact the most satisfying elements of primitive song writing while allowing themselves to explore all kinds of different sounds and styles. Think tropicalia meets The Residents meets Young Marble Giants meets a Smithsonian Folkways record of the future. Excellent!
MPEG Stream: "Malo"
MPEG Stream: "Soy Feliz"

LAS MALAS AMISTADES Jardin Interior ( Honest Jon's) 3 x 7" 23.00
This great album now available on vinyl, a triple 7" set to be exact! Here's our review from when we listed the cd version:
Wow! To be able to make music that is both charming and soulful is a feat few can meet. This collective from Bogota, Columbia have done just that. Crafting really colorful minimalist pop that totally hits its mark. Eighteen short 4-track recorded songs that all feel like tiny treasures you want to keep in your pocket for good luck. Their ability to keep intact the most satisfying elements of primitive song writing while allowing themselves to explore all kinds of different sounds and styles. Think tropicalia meets The Residents meets Young Marble Giants meets a Smithsonian Folkways record of the future. Excellent!
MPEG Stream: "Malo"
MPEG Stream: "Soy Feliz"

LAS MALAS AMISTADES Patio Bonito (Honest Jons) cd 17.98
We listed this last year at an expensive import price ($25) but said it was well worth splurging on, because of its great music and beautiful packaging. Well thankfully Honest Jons has now got a better US distribution deal, and the price has come down a bit, so we're listing it again, in case you didn't actually splurge before, but were tempted.
A couple years ago we were swept off our feet by Jardin Interior, the debut full length by a collective of artists and musicians from Bogota, Columbia known as Las Malas Amistades. We've been hungry for more of their colorful DIY pop, which reminded many of us of some strange blend of Young Marble Giants and a great lost Smithsonian Folkways record. Their follow up does not disappoint one bit. While it's a little less eclectic and quirky than Jardin Interior it's still brimming with a unique charm that is all their own. This time the sounds had us thinking of early Devendra Banhart playing Congregation covers in a friend's bedroom. Channeling the best South American psych-pop of the past with a crafty and playful disposition and a great timeless quality, you could totally imagine this coming out in 1982 as easy as today, the sounds are classic and timeless.
MPEG Stream: "Dime Lo Que Suenas"
MPEG Stream: "Desinfiado"
MPEG Stream: "U"

LEAO, NARA (Phillips Brazil) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More folksy Tropicalia for fans of Os Mutantes, Gilberto Gil, etc. First released in 1968, this is a rare Japanese import reissue, so don't sleep on it!

LEAO, NARA Nara '67 (El / Cherry Red) cd 16.98

LEE, RITA Build Up (Cherry Red) cd 17.98

LEE, RITA Build Up (Cherry Red) lp 15.98

LIVERPOOL Por Favor Sucesso (Shadoks Music) cd 17.98
We pretty much thought the well had run dry as far as great lost tropicalia gems goes. A few years back there was an explosion of amazing finds from this fertile era in Brazilian music history, with records by folks like Som Imaginario, Ronnie Von, Paulo Bagunca and Alceu Valenca & Gerardo Azevedo.
While there has been totally essential reissues of many of the biggest names of tropicalia (Jorge Ben, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, etc.) it was looking like we were going to have to concede that there might not be anymore totally obscure gems left. Of course time after time we're always blown away by unearthed discoveries that just sound way too damn good to have remained obscure and unheard for so long. Such is the case for Liverpool, who released this record in 1969 and of course by their name you know they were influenced by some of the paisley sounds coming out of the UK, and they incorporated that influence into their own take on breezy and driving tropicalia. With a vocal delivery and arrangements that would sound right at home on some of Caetano Veloso's best outings, Liverpool were just as potent mellow and sun baked as they were rocking and psychedelic. We're so happy this has been unearthed for us to finally appreciate, an absolute classic!
MPEG Stream: "Por Favor Sucesso"
MPEG Stream: "Paz & Amor"
MPEG Stream: "Planador"

LOS NATAS Nuevo Orden De La Libertad (Small Stone) cd 14.98
Flailing long hair, jamming guitar solos, and gruff vocals (in Spanish). Weirdly looming desert cacti with electric instruments. Astral drug trips to the tops of holy mountains. Thick clouds of marijuana smoke forming into the shapes of totemic birds and animals. Campfire acoustic ceremony. And utter, utter HEAVINESS. Oh yeah, these guys from way down south in Argentina are one of our favorite "stoner rock" bands ever. We sound stoned just talking about 'em.
We've been fans of Los Natas for around ten years now, ever since we heard their 2nd album, Ciudad De Brahman, released in 1999 by thee primo purveyors of stoner rock, Man's Ruin, now defunct. In a world of approximately 1,257,523 Kyuss clones (about half of 'em from Sweden, according to the most recent data we have available), Los Natas stood out as particularly excellent example of the Kyuss style desert rock thing, fat guitar tone and all. And then, they took that sound and went all wonderfully weird with it, releasing a couple "Toba-Trance" discs of folk-flecked, pot-headed, spaced-out '70s sounding progginess on the Finnish label Ektro, run by another AQ fave band, Circle. And yet they also managed to get even heavier and more aggressively metallic elsewhere on other albums, like Corsario Negro and Le Hombre Montana. It's been three long years since we last heard from 'em, and wow, this new one could be their best yet!
As displayed by the fierce urgency of the storming, spiraling, and very metal instrumental "David Y Goliath" to then the hushed and lovely contemplative string-pluck of "Bienvenidos" that immediately follows it, El Nuevo Orden De La Libertad provides everything we want from these South American fuzzfreaks. It's loud, pounding and grinding, sooo heavy and rockin', yet with many memorable, melodic moments. And their interest in sprawling spaced out krautrocky improvs hasn't exactly abated, with detours into a nod-zone of blissful piano/acoustic guitar interplay (on final track "Dos Horses" ferinstance, that reminds us of Circle's Miljard) and stuff like that, as Los Natas wander about a mystic desertscape, dreaming and destroying with drug-fueled fervor.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again. As much as we love Japan's Boris, there's no reason that this equally heavy and psychedelic band shouldn't be as adulated.
MPEG Stream: "El Nuevo Orden De La Libertad"
MPEG Stream: "Hombre De Metal"
MPEG Stream: "Dos Horses"

LOS NUEVOS SHAIN'S Singles 1969-1970 (Repsychled) cd 15.98
Along with the Tarkus album highlighted on this week's list, we've got more vintage Peruvian psych rock for you here -- a disc featuring rare and unreleased singles tracks circa 1969-1970 from Los Nuevos Shain's, the band formed by Enrique "Pico" Ego Aguirre, who had been the guitarist from garage rock legends Los Shain's (natch). Getting into the heavier sounds comin' out contemporaneously from England and California, Los Nuevos Shain's put their own stamp on covers of songs by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, the Jefferson Airplane, Spirit, Strawberry Alarm Clock, and even Black Sabbath -- for us, it's their version of Sabbath's "Wicked World" that makes this a must have! Had to buy it just for that, to add to our collection of early daze Sabbath covers. (This puts 'em in the company of South Africa's Suck and Japan's Flower Travellin' Band to achieve the distinction of having recorded a Sabbath song way back when.)
Not to give you the idea that this is all that hard rockin' or heavy (for that, look to Pico's subsequent band Pax, reviewed elsewhere on our site). Sure, he does give the ol' fuzz and wah-wah pedals a bit of a stomp, though. Heck they do "Purple Haze". But this also has lots of dreamy poppiness on it too, and we're also quite taken by the boppy loopiness of the track "Guau Guau A Go Go", which features barking dogs in the mix! Basically, a trip to a paisley-painted Peruvian garage, some 37 years ago, to hear an enthusiastic band do a fun run-through of some familiar and not-so-familiar sixties tunes plus a few originals. And by the way, the music on this cd was taken from the master tapes (you know it, 'cause the booklet in this digipack features color photos of the original reels and tape boxes with handwritten labels!). Cool.
MPEG Stream: "Guau Guau A Go Go"
MPEG Stream: "Wicked World"

LOS SALVAJES Sus Singles Y EPs En La Voz De Su Amo (1965-1969) (Rama Lama) 2cd 28.00

MADLIB Speto Da Rua: Dirty Brasilian Crates Vol. 1 (Mochilla) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're often a little wary when hip-hop producers and DJs make mixes that seem all about showing off what an awesome record collection they have.
But on the other hand, we've always been fans of Madlib's many productions and we are of course rabid fans of Brazilian music in all forms, so there's plenty to love about this latest mix. Collected during the same trip to Recife documented on the dvd Brasilintime: Batucada Com Discos we reviewed a while back, this is the first in a series of six mixes of the most obscure corners of Musica Popular Brasileira: Folkloric Chants, Samba, Bossa, and Tropicalia. There are only a couple of songs we recognize, but we've been playing this non-stop since we got it as it's a mind-melting hour long trip that unveils one solid gem after another.
MPEG Stream: "Speto Da Rua 1"
MPEG Stream: "Speto Da Rua 2"
MPEG Stream: "Speto Da Rua 3"

MAIA, TIM s/t (Sam Livre) cd 19.98
Early seventies singer from Brazil.

MANOLO Y RAMON El Duo Din‡mico en Londres : El Album De 1970 (Rama Lama ) cd 24.00

MANTECA Ritmo Y Sabor (EM) lp 24.00
Our hands down favorite reissue label for far-flung exotica, Japan's EM Records, not only has a new amazing release, but has also finally made the big leap to vinyl!! (Actually, they'd done a few lps before, but this release is vinyl ONLY). And what better choice for a vinyl reissue than this rare mid-'70s slab of Afro-Cuban percussive funk madness by Cuban master "bongosero", Lazaro Pla, or as he was better known to the world, Manteca! Eight relentlessly heavy bass-driven grooves featuring Manteca's organic percussive excursions that range from almost modernist compositions of repetitively shifting layers of driving rhythms to deep salsa jams and afro-cuban FUNK. Imagine Tussle with a Cuban rhythm section or Konono No. 1 with a limber funky bass player, or even one of the best Beastie Boys instrumentals from back in the day. Having performed with many legendary Cuban combos including Ernesto Lecuona's Cuban Boys, Manteca's recorded output as leader and featured soloist have been quite rare. Beautiful and dazzling with a no-frills production that acknowledges the traditional roots of Cuban music but with a forward thinking progressive edge. So Awesome! And DJs, get on it, you've got your new secret weapon right here.
MPEG Stream: "Afro Funky"
MPEG Stream: "Abacua"
MPEG Stream: "Gozando El Timbal"

MATEO, EDUARDO Mateo Solo Bien Se Lame (Lion Productions) cd 21.00
Eduardo Mateo is one of the most enigmatic figures in Latin American music. Often regarded as the John Lennon of Uruguay, the mystique and confusion that surrounds him is as compelling and stunning as the beautiful music he left behind. With a tender voice that cuts right to the core, his music was like a beautiful cross between Joao Gilberto and Caetano Veloso. A romantic, as well as being heavily into mysticism, Mateo was often written off as being crazy. And sadly he did spend much of the 1970's either on the streets, in jail or in mental institutions. His poetic style, mixing of influences and creation of a world of his own were often misunderstood. His music though was filled with such beautiful longing. Folks like Milton Nascimento and Jorge Drexler have gushed about how important Mateo was to them, knowing the genius of his songs, arrangements and voice. And you can here his influence on a new generation of unique singer songwriters like Juana Molina and Lhasa. While we're not sure if they've heard him or not we're pretty sure folks like Vetiver, Eddie Marcon, Savath & Savalas and Jose Gonzalez would fall in love with his songs as well. Along with the informative liner notes comes an even more extensive and fascinating 44 page booklet which tells the complex and confusing story of one of the best kept secrets of South American music of the last quarter century. So good!
MPEG Stream: "Quien Te Viera"
MPEG Stream: "Esa Tristeza"
MPEG Stream: "De Nosotros Dos"

MODULO 1000 Nao Fale Com Paredes (World In Sound) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
All right! It's about time this legendary slice of South American psych got a not-inordinately-expensive cd reissue we could stock. We've been into this band/album ever since a REALLY expensive but beautiful (and now long-gone) vinyl reissue came out on Shadoks some years ago. Now World In Sound makes it available on cd in a fancy thick triple-fold sleeve that preserves the great psychedelic gatefold art from the original LP -- art that Acid Mothers Temple would die for! There's a 14-page booklet with notes and photos as well. This is definitely one for all you '70s heavy psych freaks! Super fuzz wah guitar and organ jamming stoner psych-prog from Brazil, circa 1970. Nine tracks packed with sinewy jams, trippy fx, weighty grooves... definitely appealing to the same head-space as contemporaries like Iron Butterfly, Dug Dug's, Captain Beyond, Speed Glue & Shinki, Hendrix, Flower Travellin' Band, etc. And we're pretty certain that current South American stoner rock faves Los Natas must be into this album too... Also, you may in fact have heard one track from this before, on the ever-recommended Love, Peace & Poetry: Latin American Psychedelic Music comp also on Shadoks, but that track only hints at how cool this album is. (They also have a track on the LP&P Brazilian volume too.)
Here's a quote from one of the band members, the organist, that ought to give some flavor of what they were all about: "The music of Modulo 1000 had its own appeal to an audience that wanted a heavy, raw, experimental, psychedelic sound. Our kind of music did not make it to the radio stations. It was too wild. The distribution of the record was done in a very limited way. The record label directors, which probably didn't understand or even didn't like our music, did zero promotion for the LP." Thus, one darn heavy, weird, and utterly rare record!
This reish also includes seven bonus tracks (from where/when is left unexplained) some of which are freaky enough to fit with the actual record itelf, but just aren't as heavy -- more Latin groovy.
MPEG Stream: "Nao Fale Com Paredes"
MPEG Stream: "Salve-Se Quem Pudea"

MODULO 1000 Nao Fale Com Paredes (Cherry Red Phonograph) lp 28.00
All right! The cd reissue of this legendary slice of South American psych has been out of print for some time, and while it's also been reissued on vinyl before, that was long ago and much more expensive, so we're happy to have this back, reissued once again on wax.
This is definitely one for all you '70s heavy psych freaks! Super fuzz wah guitar and organ jamming stoner psych-prog from Brazil, circa 1970. Nine tracks packed with sinewy jams, trippy fx, weighty grooves... definitely appealing to the same head-space as contemporaries like Iron Butterfly, Dug Dug's, Captain Beyond, Speed Glue & Shinki, Hendrix, Flower Travellin' Band, etc. And we're pretty certain that current South American stoner rock faves Los Natas must be into this album too... Also, you may in fact have heard one track from this before, on Shadok's ever-recommended Love, Peace & Poetry: Latin American Psychedelic Music comp, but that track only hints at how cool this album is. (They also have a track on the LP&P Brazilian volume too.)
Here's a quote from one of the band members, the organist, that ought to give some flavor of what they were all about: "The music of Modulo 1000 had its own appeal to an audience that wanted a heavy, raw, experimental, psychedelic sound. Our kind of music did not make it to the radio stations. It was too wild. The distribution of the record was done in a very limited way. The record label directors, which probably didn't understand or even didn't like our music, did zero promotion for the LP." Thus, one darn heavy, weird, and utterly rare record!
MPEG Stream: "Nao Fale Com Paredes"
MPEG Stream: "Salve-Se Quem Pudea"

MUTANTES Live - Barbican Theater, London, 2006 (Luaka Bop) 2cd 21.00
Live document of recent reunion tour. It may not have Rita Lee, but it's awesome nonetheless.

MUTANTES, OS Dois Mil E Nove (including Os Mutantes #1, Os Mutantes #2, & A Divina Comedia) (Lilith) 3lp 66.00
Three of the best, and our favorite, Tropicalia releases EVER, now available on vinyl again, in this super deluxe box set.
Their 1968 debut (self titled Os Mutantes, not to be confused, though it's easy, with their also self titled 2nd album Mutantes) is one of the most important and influential records of the last quarter century. Seriously. Here was a band from Sao Paulo, Brazil creating sounds with so many layers and styles intertwined, dense and dizzying, lush and lilting, elaborately arranged but so simple and catchy, who have gone on to help inspire some of the best and most beloved musical outfits in recent times. Their blending of breezy psychedelia, fuzzy delicious pop, and drops of musique concrete was the perfect infusion of experimental elements into challenging and rewarding pop that STILL sounds so amazingly enchanting, weird and irresistible. We could go on listing forever some of the bands and artists who have been inspired by so much of the Muntantes' spirit, sound and aesthetic: Stereolab, Broadcast, the whole Elephant Six scene, Beck, The Flaming Lips, Tower Recordings, Tater Totz, the list is endless. Today we even just noticed how Sonic Youth totally took the guitar melody of "O Relogio" for their classic "Little Trouble Girl". The scope and breadth of Os Mutantes influence is immeasurable. At one point, Kurt Kobain was desperately trying to convince Os Mutantes to tour with Nirvana! And while best-of collections and a few songs on comps here and there are nice, this is the kind of band whose records need to be heard in their entirety. We can't say it loud enough but just imagine us singing to you in glorious sun dappled Technicolor as we tell you that THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL! And not just 'cause it's the one that features perhaps their best-known hits, "Baby" and "Bat Macumba". Heck we could even do without those songs at this point, the rest of this is so great. An absolute all time Aquarius favorite and quite possibly one of the best pop records EVER! You might as well just give in, you absolutely need ALL of their first three albums. Never has there been a more perfectly unique and effortless blend of bossa nova and fuzzed out psych rock as on this trio of perfect discs! In addition to this their absolutely perfect debut, there's also Mutantes (album #2, 1969) with its amazing green alien band photo on the back cover. And of course A Divina Comedia (album #3, 1970) with its slightly proggier sound and striking graveyard scene on the cover. Their "Sgt. Pepper meets Astrud Gilberto mix" holds up brilliantly across all three original Mutantes records. It's the sort of thing where we're kinda envious of anyone who hasn't heard 'em already and now has the chance to buy these for the first time!
MPEG Stream: "A Minha Menina"
MPEG Stream: "O Relogio"
MPEG Stream: "Panis Et Circensis"
MPEG Stream: "Nao Va Se Perder Por Ai"
MPEG Stream: "Caminhante Noturno"
MPEG Stream: "Desculpe, Babe"
MPEG Stream: "Oh! Mulher Infiel"

MUTANTES, OS E Seus Cometas No Pais Do Baurets (Universal) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL! Cool. We've never had this fifth Mutantes platter on vinyl before, but it's just been reissued, and the cd is AWOL, so here's what we said about that version, a few years back:
One more time, welcome to the mixed-up Technicolor tropicalia psych-pop pleasuredome that is the music of Brazil's one and only Os Mutantes! This, their fifth album, from 1972, was their last with original vocalist Rita Lee before the band headed off into way proggier '70sness on later efforts of that decade, and it's one splashy send-off all right. We've said before that Mutantes discs #1 (Os Mutantes) and #2 (Mutantes) are the absolute must-have essentials, with #3 (A Divina Comedia Ou) running a close third... but #4 (Jardim Eletrico), and this fifth one too are also full of great Mutantes moments that fans should certainly hear! (And it should be added that if you dig Yes, tracking down some of those subsequent Mutantes efforts might be worth it as well...)
It should come as no surprise to Mutantes aficionados that as a collection of songs, Mutantes E Seus Cometas No Pais Do Baurets is all over the place, from the McCartneyesque, Moog sizzling "Balada Do Louco" to the groovy, wacked-out prog-funk of the nearly 10-minute long title track. You'll hear peppy '50s rockabilly pastiche ("Posso Perder Minha Mulher, Minha Mae, Desde Que Tenha O Rock And Roll"), Zep-heavy fuzz rockers ("A Hora E A Vez Do Cabelo Nascer"), lovely folkiness ("Vida de Cachorro"), and a honky tonk piano beerhall singalong ("Todo Mundo Pastou II"). And one of Allan's (but not necessarily everybody else here's) favorite tracks has got to be the ultra kitschy, goofy "Dune Buggy"... there's certainly lots of humor and bizarre bits woven in and out of pretty much all these tunes, again as per Mutantes' usual modus operandi (as is the Beatles influence felt throughout). Definitely a fun listen!
MPEG Stream: "A Hora E A Vez Do Cabelo Nascer"
MPEG Stream: "Vida de Cachorro"
MPEG Stream: "Dune Buggy"

MUTANTES, OS Tudo Foi Feito Pelo Sol (Som Lvre) cd 19.98
An often overlooked title in the Os Mutantes catalog, Tudo Foi Feito Pelo Sol was recorded in 1974 and released a year later. With only sole original member, Sergio Dias, taking the helm, their sound takes another direction into the pastoral rock / post-Tropicalia territory of bands like O Terco and O Bando. It's a pretty solid album thankfully without a lot of the proggy wackiness that we have seen on much of their later output.

NASCIMENTO, MILTON Clube Da Esquina (World Pacific) cd 16.98
This is the one! If you've ever heard someone playing Milton Nascimento, some sweet soothing sounds dazzling your ears, chances are it was this record. As many of us can attest to, just picking out any Milton Nascimento record can be a bit risky as his entire back catalog is quite varied and there are some not so hot moments, but all sins are forgiven with this record, an album that we dare say ranks as one of our favorite albums of all time!
Clube Da Esquina is a stunning disc of psychedelic pop that manage to be as dreamy and pastoral as it is tropical and full of life. Bursting with warmth and rich color this is a record we will never get sick of. It's not psychedelic in an obvious look-how-weird-I-can-be way, but instead it's about a slow melting lull, soft swirls and subtle shifts in sounds. One moment it's the dreamiest most lovely song you've ever heard and the next the warm sun is shining and all you want to be doing is running and twirling in the sand. As lush, gorgeous and dynamic as anything Caetano Veloso has created. We can't praise this record enough! Lo Borges is the big unsung hero of this album, not even 20 years old when it was made he helped with many of the arrangements, sang and wrote many of the songs...
Truly a perfect album from start to finish, an hour long trip filled with sunshine and surprise, melody and sophisticated glory. It's no surprise that songs on this record have been covered by the likes of Savath & Savalas and Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy. As these are songs that will always sound so alive and of the moment. Undoubtedly it's a record that's had a huge impact on everyone from Devendra Banhart, The Shins, Eden Express, Beck, Brightblack, Vetiver, Jose Gonzales, etc. And a must have for anyone who loves folks like Veloso, Gerard Manset, Eduardo Mateo, Congregacion, Alceu Valenca, Serge Gainsbourg, The Beatles, Melting Glass Box, Magical Power Mako, etc. No matter how obscure or mainstream your tastes tend to be, this is one of those records whose beauty and genius just can't be denied. We know we're always telling you about so many amazing records that you really just can't live without, but this time (again!) we really mean it!
MPEG Stream: "Sa’das E Bandeiras N¼ 2"
MPEG Stream: "Cravo E Canela"
MPEG Stream: "Lilia"
MPEG Stream: "O Trem Azul"