Love, Peace & Poetry: Brazilian Psychedelic Music CD - Import

The sixth volume in QDK Media's series of psychedelic rock compilation CDs points the spotlight on the rich -- although very underground -- Brazilian music scene. As Stan Denski explains in the liner notes, the mid- to late '60s were the days of General Humberto Castelo's dictatorship, which made any musical activity a political act. Those were also the days of the Tropicalia movement, and if the artists on this collection never had the exposure or appeal of people like Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, they don't escape their influence. Then again, "psychedelic" means a lot of British and American pop entered the ears of these young Brazilian musicians. The results range from entertaining exotic clones of the Jefferson Airplane (O Têrço's "I Need You") and the Rolling Stones (Paulo Bagunça's "Mensageiro") to genuinely original forms of rock music. Imagine Tropicalia percussion, flute, and Portuguese lyrics backed by loud fuzz guitars and hard-rocking rhythm sections. Highlights include O Bando's opening "É Assim Falava Mefistófeles," Liverpool's "Voando," Spectrum's "Trilha Antiga" (from the album Geraçao Bendita), Os Lobos' dreamy "Miragem" (strong Byrds influence here), and the stunning, irrevocably stoned, and exploratory "Marácas de Fogo" by Lula Côrtes and Zé Ramalho. The sound quality on some tracks, especially those coming from albums not yet reissued on CD, leaves a lot to the imagination, but that's the kind of thing you expect from a specialist's collection of obscure releases. Nevertheless, with its 19 cuts from as many artists, this collection delivers more than a mouthful. ~ François Couture

Recorded between 1969 & 1978.

This is part of QDK's Psychedelic music series.

0 Bando/Os Brazoes/A Brotha/ Liverpool/Bango/Buttons/Assim