An essential introduction to the work of this legendary group – an important American issue of some of their best material – all of which never came out in our market back in the day! If you don't know Os Mutantes, prepare to be blown away – as they were a key part of the Tropicalia movement, alongside bigger names Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and Gilberto Gil – creating music that was years ahead of its time, but which has gone on to become legendary over the years! There's so many different elements going on here, it's impossible to pin down – avant and psychedelic modes, Brazilian styles and postmodern ones, all put together with sublime production that's also way ahead of the pack! This Luaka Bop presentation was put together by David Byrne – and it features a total of 14 cuts in all – including an English and Portuguese reading of the famous "Baby", plus the tunes "Ave Lucifer", "Desculpe, Babe", "Adeus Maria Fulo", "Panis Et Circensis", "Bat Macumba", "Dia 36", and "Fuga No II". (Brazil, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

An essential introduction to the work of this legendary group – an important American issue of some of their best material – all of which never came out in our market back in the day! If you don't know Os Mutantes, prepare to be blown away – as they were a key part of the Tropicalia movement, alongside bigger names Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and Gilberto Gil – creating music that was years ahead of its time, but which has gone on to become legendary over the years! There's so many different elements going on here, it's impossible to pin down – avant and psychedelic modes, Brazilian styles and postmodern ones, all put together with sublime production that's also way ahead of the pack! This Luaka Bop presentation was put together by David Byrne – and it features a total of 14 cuts in all – including an English and Portuguese reading of the famous "Baby", plus the tunes "Ave Lucifer", "Desculpe, Babe", "Adeus Maria Fulo", "Panis Et Circensis", "Bat Macumba", "Dia 36", and "Fuga No II". (Brazil, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

The long awaited return of Brazilian iconoclasts Os Mutantes – featuring original Mutante Sergio Dias and a great new band – plus songwriting contributions from Tom Ze and Jorge Ben – a forward looking endeavor, not at all a nostalgia trip! It's been around 30 years since the previous Os Mutantes album, and the never predictable Dias sounds as fresh and energized as we hoped he'd be – with bright, catchy-as-hell melodies, wildly playful carnivalesque sounds as well as more rootsy acoustic bits, on songs that fearlessly blend genres and influences. It's hard to imagine that we'll ever love records from Mutantes, or anyone else in any genre, as much as we love the late 60s stuff – but this is excellent, and among the better Mutantes records since the Rita Lee era. Dias sings and plays electric & acoustic guitars, Egyptian oud, organ, percussion, harmonica and handles the string arrangements, and fellow Mutantes this time out include percussion, drums & vocals by Dinho Leme and Bia Mendes, vocals, piano & keys by Henrique Peters and Fabio Recco, percussion & sound design by Simone Sou, bass, flute, strings and string arrangements and more by Citor Trida. Titles include "Hymns Of The World (Intro)", "Querida Qierida", "Teclar", "2000 E Agarrum", "Baghdad Blues", "O Careca", "O Mensageiro", "Anagrama" featuring Tom Ze, "Aamba Do Fidel", "Nada Mudou", "Gopala Krishna Om", "Hymns Of The World (Final)" and more. (Brazil, Rock) CD

The second set of madness from the legendary Os Mutantes – and like the first, an album done in close collaboration with arranger/producer Rogerio Duprat, whose talents add a new level of genius to the record! The album's got a compelling mix of styles that strikes out on the very first tune – a playful pastiche that's partly postmodern, partly psychedelic, and still tremendously powerful decades later – even if you can't understand most of the lyrics! Styles are just about impossible to pin down, but that's what makes the record so unique and essential – and if you ever needed one album to convince you of the mindblowing energy taking place during the Tropicalia years, this one may well be it! A few tracks are written by Tom Ze, and titles include "Dom Quixote", "Dia 36", "Magica", "Rita Lee", "Algo Mais", "Qualquer Bobagem", and "Fuga No II". (Brazil, Rock) CD

The first solo album by Rita Lee – cut back when she was a member of the groundbreaking Tropicalia trio, Os Mutantes! The album's got a very different feel than her work with that group – and has Rita stepping out as a sophisticated pop singer, almost in the way that Nico did on the Chelsea Girl album, after leaving the Velvet Underground. Arrangements have a weird twisted edge – as Rita makes her way through a set of originals and a few covers, in an almost deadpan, ice-blond mode that reminds us of some of Jane Birkin's early work. Arrangements are by the great Rogerio Duprat, and titles include "Sucesso, Aqui Vou Eu", "Prisioneira Do Amor", "Hulla Hulla", "Tempo Nublado", "Precisamos De Irmaos", and "Calma" – plus a nice cover of "And I Love Her". (Brazil, Rock) CD

Believe it or not, the title's a pretty good way to describe this modern Brazilian rock release – as the music's a mish mash of newer beats and grooves, grounded in a hip hop/dance tradition, mixed with samples of older Brazilian rock influences – including stuff by Os Mutantes, Gilberto Gil, and Caetano Veloso. We like this one a lot better than we expected, and we hardly mind the modern elements, when we can get an occasional treat like a sample of "Bat Macumba", or a remake of "Maracatu Atomico". The latter track is included here in 4 different mixes, and other tracks include "Sangue De Bairro", "Mateus Enter", "O Cidado Do Mundo", "Maco", "Um Passeio No Mundo Livre", and "Baiao Ambiental". (Brazil, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible early album by this legendary Brazilian band with a strong late 60s/early 70s progressive flair! While not as countercultural as Os Mutantes or other Tropicalia artists, Som Imaginario shared with them a sense of pure musical inventiveness, and a love of psychedelic flourishes – and they had a lasting impact upon MPB through their backup work for Milton Nascimento on some of his best albums. This rare first album is a killer – and features fantastic organ and piano riffs, heavy guitars, and stunning songwriting, with lots of jazzy touches – all very much in the best mode of the Minas Geras scene that also birthed Nascimento and Lo Borges. Wagner Tiso is on keyboards, but the whole band's great – and the vocals are produced to a very cool effect – and titles include "Hey Man", "Poison", "Nepal", "Pantera", "Super God", and "Morse". (Brazil, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the building blocks of the late 60s Tropicalia scene in Brazil – and a standout solo debut from the young Caetano Veloso! The album's got an approach that's as dynamic and trippy as its cover image might imply – the same amazing blend of sounds and styles you'd hear on contemporaneous records by Gal Costa or Os Mutantes – served up with similar wit, wisdom, and charm! Caetano's vocals are amazing throughout – filled with raspy power that goes beyond the barriers of language – and the production has loads of surprising elements tripping through the mix – some rootsy, some slightly orchestrated – but with a softer approach that resonates strongly with more psychedelic use of organ and guitar. The album's as powerful today as it was decades ago – an essential recording that holds up beautifully year after year! The kickoff track is "Tropicalia" (surprisingly enough!), and the album is a non-stop ride through gems like "Alegria, Alegria", "Onde Andaras", "Paisagem Util", "Ave Maria", and the groovy "Soy Loco Por Ti America", written by Gilberto Gil. (Brazil, Rock) CD

One of the building blocks of the late 60s Tropicalia scene in Brazil – and a standout solo debut from the young Caetano Veloso! The album's got an approach that's as dynamic and trippy as its cover image might imply – the same amazing blend of sounds and styles you'd hear on contemporaneous records by Gal Costa or Os Mutantes – served up with similar wit, wisdom, and charm! Caetano's vocals are amazing throughout – filled with raspy power that goes beyond the barriers of language – and the production has loads of surprising elements tripping through the mix – some rootsy, some slightly orchestrated – but with a softer approach that resonates strongly with more psychedelic use of organ and guitar. The album's as powerful today as it was decades ago – an essential recording that holds up beautifully year after year! The kickoff track is "Tropicalia" (surprisingly enough!), and the album is a non-stop ride through gems like "Alegria, Alegria", "Onde Andaras", "Paisagem Util", "Ave Maria", and the groovy "Soy Loco Por Ti America", written by Gilberto Gil. (Brazil, Rock) CD

One of the building blocks of the late 60s Tropicalia scene in Brazil – and a standout solo debut from the young Caetano Veloso! The album's got an approach that's as dynamic and trippy as its cover image might imply – the same amazing blend of sounds and styles you'd hear on contemporaneous records by Gal Costa or Os Mutantes – served up with similar wit, wisdom, and charm! Caetano's vocals are amazing throughout – filled with raspy power that goes beyond the barriers of language – and the production has loads of surprising elements tripping through the mix – some rootsy, some slightly orchestrated – but with a softer approach that resonates strongly with more psychedelic use of organ and guitar. The album's as powerful today as it was decades ago – an essential recording that holds up beautifully year after year! The kickoff track is "Tropicalia" (surprisingly enough!), and the album is a non-stop ride through gems like "Alegria, Alegria", "Onde Andaras", "Paisagem Util", "Ave Maria", and the groovy "Soy Loco Por Ti America", written by Gilberto Gil. (Brazil, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Kick-ass early work from the great Tom Ze – recorded in the beginning of the Tropicalia years, but with a style that shows Ze sitting on the fence between rock/pop and some of his madder later work! The style's still pretty hard to describe, and listening to the music, you can hear how much of an influence Ze must have had on the styles of Caetano Veloso and Os Mutantes – whose work from 1969 is echoed in many of the songs on the album. There's lots of weird organ, arranged in kind of a swirling psychedelic way that reminds us of songs from the early Mutantes album, or from the Tropicalia Ou Panis et Circensis album from 1968. Ze wrote all the tracks, and titles include "Sabor De Burrice", "Camelo", "Gloria", "Curso Intesivo De Boas Maneiras", "Parque Industrial", and "Profissao De Ladrao". A great cover, and a rare rare relic! (Brazil, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album – not just in Brazilian music, but in all modern music in general! The set's a legendary manifesto for the Tropicalia movement in Brazil – and features key works by all the leading musical luminaries in the movement – including a few later stars who are heard here at their most edgey! The work is as groundbreaking today as it was at the end of the 60s – a brilliant testament to the power of artists to really break down boundaries in art and music, and find a way to mix the political with the popular at the same time. Titles include a fantastic version of Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso singing "Baby", the "Tres Caravelas" duet between Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, Gil's great reading of "Bat Macumba" with Costa and Veloso, Nara Leao singing "Lindoneia", Os Mutantes performing "Panis Et Circenses", Gilberto on "Geleia Geral, Caetano doing "Coracao Materno, and Rita Lee, Gal Costa, and Caetano Veloso singing "Enquanto Seu Lobo Nao Vem". (Brazil, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album