Day 0253 - Clube Da Esquina

Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges "Clube Da Esquina" (1972)

Another album that I had checked out when I first read the "1001 albums" book around 2009 or so.  The description of it as a "Brazilian Sgt Pepper" was just too good to pass up.

Milton, Lo, and their compatriots were members of the Tropicalia movement, and had come together to write, and to bond over their love of the Beatles.  That mutual creativity and collaboration leading to this collection of great melodies, unexpected changes, and lush arrangements.

The 60s may have been dead, but thankfully Brazil was still keeping it alive at this point.

Day 0129 - Caetano Veloso

Caetano Veloso "Caetano Veloso" (1968)

 
Groovy and quirky, Veloso was at the head of the 'Tropicalia' movement, playing highbrow art pop psychedelic bossa-nova.  He was hated by the dictatorship in Brazil and was forced out of the country to live in exile in the UK (which just made him seem cooler to the various anti-establishment types who were attracted to him at the time).  Veloso went on to become hugely popular with artists in the UK and US such as David Byrne and Beck.

Great album.

Day 0112 - Os Mutantes

Os Mutantes "Os Mutantes" (1968) - got it

The original Mutantes line-up centred around the three Baptista brothers, one of whom didn't really perform, but built a lot of the band's electronic instruments.

They took the popular Brazilian music forms such as bossa-nova and jammed it together with the mod and psychedelic music of the US and UK, and to be honest, kind of made something better than a lot of those bands were able to.

The Mutantes ended up being hated for a time in their homeland (along with much of the 'Tropicalia' movement) by conservatives for their outlandish, hippy appearance, and by bossa nova aficionados for their subversion of the genre.

As a complete aside, I saw the Mutantes live at a festival in 2008.  They were the last act that night, so were allowed to play for over 2 hours.  Nobody wanted them to stop, it was a brilliant and magical show!