World Psychedelic Classics 1: Brazil: The Best Of Os Mutantes: Everything Is Possible! CD

To listen to this collection is to know that in the '60s, ground zero for "pure pop genius" was not only located in England or the U.S., but in turbulent, bubbling Brazil. This collection presents the very cream of the crazy cream of Os Mutantes, with 14 tracks hand-picked by Beco Dranoff and David Byrne. While these brilliant, psychedelic recordings are best appreciated in the context of the three albums from which they are mostly culled, the music found here offers a wonderful glimpse of the dynamic pop magic that was Os Mutantes.

There's the purple-hazed crawl of "Dia 36," with Baptista-brand wobbled vocals and bizarre, inverted wah-wah acoustic guitar. There are two versions of the lovely gem "Baby," the 1968 version lulling along to the sound of reverb-vibrato guitar and toy organ while that of 1971 softens a bit, with Jobim-esque nylon-string guitar and piano rolling out a bossa nova rhythm for Rita Lee's English cooing. Fuzz-guitar joyride "A Minha Menina" is simply the definition of "groovy." "Ave, Lucifer" is a shadowy little ode to the devil, with a dire melody and fanfares of horns and strings. This is genius pop that straddles the fence between sincerity and irony with relish.

Includes liner notes by Carlos Calado.

Os Mutantes: Sergio Dias, Arnaldo Baptista, Rita Lee Jones.

Personnel: Rapheal Vilardi, Jorge Ben (vocals, guitar); Liminha (guitar); Ronaldo Leme, Dirceu (drums); Nana Asconcelos (percussion); Manoel Barenbein (programming).

Photographers: Jean Solari; Cynira Arruda.

Translators: Roberto "Beco" Dranoff; Alex Ladd; Sara Sproles.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Sergio Dias; Rita Lee.

Arranger: Rogerio Duprat.

Os Mutantes: Arnaldo Baptista, Rita Lee Jones, Sergio Dias.

Compilation producers: David Byrne, Beco Dranoff.

CMJ (1/10/00, p.25) - Included in CMJ's "New World '99 Top 5" - "...a rediscovered master stroke that catapulted the radical buzz-band from the '60s and '70s into the '90s hip-stream."