★Polysom
Secos & Molhados (1973) Lp
A Brazilian rock classic! The band had a very sophisticated sound that mixes nice vocal production with spare arrangements supported by guitar, piano, and bass. The sound is difficult to describe – but the record has some extremely compelling songwriting, and great vocal work that carries the strength of the tracks, whether or not you understand Portuguese. (Dustygroove)
Construcao
If you've ever been wondering which album to get by Chico Buarque – this is it! The record's a stunning batch of sophisticated sides, done in collaboration with Roberto Menescal, and with help from Jobim and MPB4! The album builds on the style of Buarque's excellent late 60s songwriting, and adds in some of the more complicated approaches to arrangement that were being developed in Brazil at the end of the 60s – in a way that pushes Chico's work to the next level, and which makes this record sit…
Zabumbe-Bum-A
A gem of an album from Hermeto Pascoal – right up there with 70s classics like A Musica Libre and Slaves Mass – and done with a similar sort of energy that goes way beyond jazz, way beyond conventional Brazilian music – into territory that can only be described as Hermeto-like! The set's got a mix of tight fusion jamming, off-beat reed work, and some of Hermeto's heavenly compositions – and although there's a good groove to much of the material, that doesn't stop it from being as experimental as…
Celia 1970
Wickedly cool work from this overlooked Brazilian singer – a record that's got a strong sense of soul in the grooves, and a great sense of imagination in the choice of songs! Celia sings early work by Joyce, Lo Borges, Nelson Angelo, and others – with these shifting arrangements from the likes of Arthur Verocai, Rogerio Duprant, and Jose Briamonte – all in a mish-mash of modes that sometimes echoes the funky styles on EMI/Odeon of the period, sometimes even hits at Tropicalia touches – especiall…
Sacundin Ben Samba
One of Jorge Ben's greatest albums – a groundbreaking blend of samba and soul that forever went onto transform the face of Brazilian music! The record works off the groove set down by Jorge's earlier hit "Mas Que Nada" (which appears on another LP), and takes the blend of bossa, samba, and jazz, and infuses it with a sense of folksy soul delivered by Jorge's raspy vocals and acoustic guitar work. The combination of styles works perfectly – and every track on the album sparkles with a sense of ex…
Ben É Samba Bom
A stunner of a record from the mighty Jorge Ben – and a record that catapulted the Brazilian singer to international fame at the time! This is his second legendary LP, a seminal killer and as usual features some of the best arrangers in the genre, first released in Brazil in 1964. While many of the performers during the heyday of Tropicalia and the rise of MPB (música popular brasileira) opted for a more radical stance in their challenge to Brazil’s political and cultural authorities, artists li…
Alucinacao
"A great early album from Belchior – much rootsier than some of his later work, with a groove that almost feels like samba soul at times! The arrangements provide quick-stepping samba elements on some of the best tracks, mixed with more modern funky styles in this really great way".(Dusty Groove)
Se O Caso É Chorar
"Wonderful 70s work from Tom Zé! The record's a bit more straightforward than some of his other records from the decade, and has a number of tracks with a samba sound at the base – but there's more than enough fantastic material to keep the record fresh, and Tom's writing is as great as ever. There's a vocal group that sings with Zé on many of the tracks on the record – but they also seem to sometimes act as a Greek chorus, in response to breakaway vocal passages that are dominated by Zé. The wh…
Negro É Lindo
Negro é Lindo is a worthy successor for the great album he had released in the previous year. Jorge Ben now takes his sound further toward a tropical Soul, a style that was his unique invention. But there are also still those hypnotic Samba grooves. Clearly, Negro é Lindo belongs to those master albums Jorge Ben bestowed to the world. With a good handful of records, Jorge Ben enriched Brazilian Pop and beyond, international Pop music. Negro é Lindo is one of them.
While many of the perform…
Lo Borges
An incredible album from Lo Borges - one of the best singer/songwriters on the Brazilian scene of the 70s! Borges first burst into the spotlight for his work on the Club Da Esquina album by Milton Nascimento - and his work as part of Milton's "corner club" really helped shape the style of the more famous singer. Yet Borges is almost an equally great talent on his own - with a soaring, soulful approach that's every bit as great as the best Nascimento material from the period - and recorded in a w…
Clube Da Esquina II
A second great statement from the "corner club" of Milton Nascimento – that special assemblage of musicians from his home territory of Minas Gerais, augmented here in slight ways that maybe make the album an even more ambitious record than the first! All the best artists from the previous set are in place here – including the sublime Lo Borges on vocals, Wagner Tiso on keyboards, Toninho Horta on bass and guitar – but the set also features contributions from other Brazilian talents – including C…
Clube Da Esquina
A landmark album from Milton Nascimento – not only a set that really marked his growth as a singer, songwriter, and overall musical visionary – but also a record that really showcased the collaborative spirit that would be a part of his music for years to come! The album features Milton with his "corner club" – an elite group of musicians and songwriters from the early days of his career – including greats like Lo Borges and Wagner Tiso – who'd already contributed to his music, but really get a …
Tim Maia 1973
A great step forward for the legendary Tim Maia – working here in a style that's even tighter and more sophisticated than before – yet still equally filled with funk and soul! The arrangements are a bit bigger than before, and the production a bit more professional – but that change only brings Tim into even more heavenly soul territory – with a mix of grooves and strings that lays somewhere between the best early 70s work on labels like Curtom or Motown! Tim's got a new sense of majesty on the …
Gal Costa
Reissue on 180gm vinyl! Originally released in 1969, Gal Costa's 2nd album is one of the finest releases to come out of Brazil's Tropicalia movement. Feat. songwriting & vocal help from 2 of the original Tropicalismos, Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil, she flows effortlessly between shredding psychedelia & smooth bossa nova. An essential record for anyone that appreciates the far reaches of Brazilian popular music. Incl. the classic trks "Baby" * "Não Identificado." Such a pleasant surpise to see t…
Revolver
A bit of an oddball record from Walter Franco, and one we've really come to love over the years! Franco's clearly going for an experimental rock sound here – and while the hard jamming kind of works at odds against that at times, at others, the whole thing gels together nicely in a blend of offbeat guitar work, choppy vocals, and percussion that's almost in the mode of late 70s Peter Gabriel or early 80s Adrian Belew. Judging from the lyrics on the inner sleeve, Franco's been influenced by some …
Jorge Ben 1969
A samba soul masterpiece from Jorge Ben – one of the most brilliant records to come out the fertile late 60s Brazilian scene – and an incredible album that works with the psychedelic flourishes of Ben's contemporaries and a deeper undercurrent of soul & funk! This is one of the most amazing early Jorge Ben LPs, recorded at the end of the 60s, when Jorge was singing with a stone-cold soul sound. The sharp, tight arrangements by Rogerio Duprat & Jose Briamonte made tracks like "Pais Tropical", "Ta…
Contrastes
A straighter album than some of the early experimental work of Jards Macale – but maybe a greater album as well – and one that really shows the singer coming into his own, and finding a way to nestle his fresh ideas within the best settings of 70s MPB! The shift's a bit like the maturation some of his contemporaries were going through at the time – like Caetano Veloso or Gal Costa – reaching for a new level of sophistication in his arrangements, which might tie him back to older historical modes…
Gal (1969)
This Brazilian classic finally gets a proper U.S. release -- one of the greatest psychedelic albums of the late '60s, and a key part of the Tropicalia movement as well! The record is easily the most tripped-out album ever from Gal Costa -- far more sinister than Gal's debut of a few months before. The session was still recorded with full arrangements by the legendary Rogerio Duprat (who'd worked previously with Costa, Os Mutantes, and others), but it also features a lot heavier guitar and a blaz…
Correio Da Estação Do Brás
2012 reissue, long out of print. A fluid, low-key effort, with less of the challenging, music box melodies of his earlier efforts. This is a record which eases its way past your ears (and I mean that in a good way!) It’s not sappy or unchallenging, but it is a lot smoother and less overtly avant than the stuff David Byrne loves so much.” – slipcue.com
Tom Zé began his career together with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Maria Bethânia. As a composer, he influenced Caetano and …
Estudando O Samba
This is one of Tom Ze's best albums ever – and it's monsterously hard to find. The record is a fantastic blend of post-Tropicalia styles – and it features some strange arrangements that perfectly illustrated Ze's insane approach to songwriting. As with much of Ze's music, the actual sound is incredibly hard to describe – and the album bristles with imagination and creative fire. Documenting Zé’s most fertile and creative period, this album documents his kaleidoscopic experiments in the be…