Love, Peace & Poetry
Brazilian Psychedelic Music
Normal
Gilberto, Gil, Nasciemento, Mendes: these are some of the names we normally associate with Brazilian music. The Girl from Ipanema. That cool, tropical breeze of samba and that overly sappy MPB. All smooth and creamy like gourmet ice cream. But, apparently, during the ’60s and ’70s, Brazilian music went through a brief and radical period to which the rest of us were not privy. Funk and rock made inroads into Brazil and slapped the smooth out of them. From the little bit that has reached us some 30 years later, it must have been an exciting time in the country’s music.
While Strut has concentrated on the funk with Black Rio and Six Degrees on the soul with Samba Soul 70s (they do overlap just a little), German label Normal Records has compiled a collection of rare Brazilian rock. Now, as any dedicated crate digger will tell you, “rare” oftentimes means the opposite of “good.” Yes, there are some clunkers on this disc (Sound Factory’s “Let’s Go” is so bad it’s hysterical). But, overall, Normal has pieced together an impressive collection. Novelty dictates that you will like some of the songs, but, after that wears off, there’s still a lot of good music: Módulo 1000’s “Animalia” is a fantastic piece for you Hendrix fans; Lula Cortes e Zi Ramah’s “Maracas de Fogo” is an amazing groove that screams for future sampling; O Bando’s “E Assim Falava Mefistofeles” is a Dick-Dale-gone-mad surfer rock masterpiece.
Compilations like this and Black Rio give us a glimpse into the true depths of Brazilian music and all the talent that country sports. I personally look forward to many more such collections because these first three I’ve happened upon (if there are more, please tell me) have been a lot of fun.
Normal Records: http://www.normal-records.com/
