Os Mutantes---Fab Tropicalia and the World's Most Interesting Man

I did not have any clue about Brazilian music until David Byrne began putting out Brazilian compilations on his Luaka Bop label. The first in the series, Beleza Tropical (covering artists of the 60's and early 70's), was where I got the bug, but it took a while for the infection to spread. Brazilian music is different from what I was used to hearing--in a lot of this music there is a subtlety that I was unaccustomed to. Plus enjoying music performed in other languages seems to be an acquired taste. But you can't go wrong with a compilation with Jorge Ben, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and Chico Buarque, and I overcame my musical baggage and began to appreciate this great new musical world.

I could not help but love this music, and there is something very special about Portuguese. There is a real poetic languid beauty there that is not in many other languages. Someday I would like to get there as it seems to be an amazing and diverse culture, though I wish that there were some solution to the great economic inequities found in that society. I have a few terrific albums, I've seen the Simpsons episode in Rio and I've been to Rodizio restaurants, but that is about it.

I do have a friend who has made his way down to Rio as a cultural ambassador a few times, and while some people see him as an unassuming sort, those in the know are aware of his greatness. Every time I see the Dos Equis commercials starring "The World's Most Interesting Man". I know that there is a real person who is the

Stay Thirsty Smarty Jones

inspiration for this fictitious character--they "copied" him. Take away the beard, replace the head hair with a NY Yankee hat, and that's my friend. He's a guy who has travelled the four corners of the globe and has the photos to prove it. Skiing in the Alps, cruising the Amazon, on Safari in Africa, buying gourmet olive oil in Bari, rubbing shoulders with diplomats in St Petersburg. Watching the changing of the Scotch Guard in Edinburgh. And of course enjoying the high life in Rio, while being the world's biggest Yankee fan (an honorary Steinbrenner) and a reformed punk rocker who traded in his Doc Martens for a thong. And he really does like Dos Equis!!And if a man of his pedigree is a Brasileirophile, should I be anything less?

Os Mutantes were a band starting out at the same time as the groups from Beleza Tropical, and they were also formed part of the Tropicalia movement of the 1960's. There was political unrest and social change in Brazil at the time, as there was in the US and Europe. Tropicalismo, as it was also called, was also a movement that involved literature, poetry, and theatre.  And aside from  merely being an incorporation of rock and roll and psychedelia into Brazilian music, there was also a political component to the new movement, a reaction to the military coup d'etat in 1964, which set up a right wing reactionary government. In many cases dissent was not tolerated and artists suffered reprisals from the new regime.


O Bruxo Do Luxo

 I am flabbergasted that Os Mutantes were teenagers when they put out their first album. They were so musically talented and precocious. It is very easy to remark about their love of the Beatles. It is very clear that they were very influenced by the Beatles and seemingly the sort of rock and roll  seen in American teen films of the era. But they took those influences and mixed them with Brazilian traditions. And on top of that, the music is so eccentric, theatrical, sweet, wacky, and unpredictable. You really don't know what will happen next, but you can't wait to find out. And I'm not talking about so-bad-its-good kitsch. This album is without a doubt a desert island disc, and one of the best albums of the 60's.

Os Mutantes consisted of brothers Arnaldo and Sergio Baptista and Rita Lee. I'm not sure who played what, and there certainly many other musicians who contributed to this album. Panis et Circensis starts the record in predictably eccentric style. The song keeps changing forms like a case of attention deficit disorder. But the musicianship is excellent with nice "Penny Lane" horns and the harmonies are great. A Minha Menina is just a really classic song featuring a great fuzzy psychedelic guitar lick and gogo type harmonies. My personal favorite here. Like a lot of the songs O Relogio starts and ends as a sweet ballad featuring Rita Lee and morphs into a lysergic rave up in the middle. Throughout the record there are sound effects--crashes, laughter, bird calls, whistles. And there are xylophones, clarinets, trombones, flutes, organ, strings. It's nice to see music like this getting recorded, because I could really see a producer or engineer taking these guys aside and asking "why are you doing this? This is a bad idea".

Adeus Maria Fulo is a very percussive Brazilian tune, the sort of thing you might expect on a Brazilian album today, but maybe not the refined Bossa Nova style that they were known for then. The following song is another highlight, the playful sexy Baby. I actually saw Portastatic (Mac McCaughan of Superchunk solo really) sing that song at Maxwell's in Hoboken, and he did a nice job. Gal Costa also does a beautiful version of this. Senor F is cheeky musichall  cabaret, replete with New Orleans horns. It's like modern Western music in a microwave.

Probably the crowning song on this album is Bat Macumba in all its joyous strutting abandon. After this is the cool stoner madrigal Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour. Another highlight is Trem Fantasma, which is a mercurial pop song, changing from droniness to sleighbells to harmony filled chorus with horns. Tempo no Tempo is a cabaret type song, ending with church bells. The album closes with Ave Genghis Khan, another organ filled rave up. What a shame this didn't come out in the US sooner! A crazy and fun album to listen to. made a few  The second album Mutantes is also recommended. And before Rita Lee was out of the band they made a few more. They actually reunited recently and toured the US, though without Rita Lee, unfortunately. If you like 60's rock and psychedelia this album should be part of your life. And stay thirsty, amigos.