“They wanted the kids to be afraid. But they weren’t afraid,” begins the liner notes from New York record store owner Joel Stones, who exhaustively compiled this obscenely rare collection of psychedelic Tropicalia tunes. He’s talking about rebellious music that was born from deep within a military dictatorship, where dissent came less from the lyrics, and more from the unique structures, booming drums and abrasive fuzz guitars. “You can just imagine the scene,” he continues, “a DJ hears something he likes and plays it on air, he quickly realises he messed up big time. The music though powerful is just too deep for his listeners.” It’s an urgent political statement, a funk call to arms, unity in the face of adversity. None of these artists went on to any great acclaim. In fact the majority of the tunes collected here were released as promo 45’s between 1967 and 1976 and if the band got some traction an album might’ve followed. Highlights include the opener Tema De Batman a loose cover of the Batman theme, featuring a way out psychedelic Brazilian Batman going to Mars to rescue Robin. It’s from Celio Balona who went on to become a film composer, but this is totally off it’s chops. A freak oddity. Then there’s Serguei, known as the Brazilian Iggy Pop who’s garage rock tune Ourico features him rasping about becoming a hedgehog.
Bob Baker Fish
