21/02/2007

Os Mutantes - Everything Is Possible (1999)

A wonderful introduction to the contagious and hilarious madness of Rita Lee and brothers Sérgio and Arnaldo Baptista, better known as Os Mutantes, one of Brazil’s finest groups from the 60s and, arguably, one the best and funniest psychedelic bands in the world...

«The late 60’s in Brazil produced an explosion of creativity that is still reverberating throughout the world… and Os Mutantes (The Mutants) were the most outrageous band of that period. Their creative cannibalism produced psychedelic gems unlike anything else, and they sound as relevant today as anything happening anywhere. They were exactly what their name implies – a mutant genetic recombination of elements of John Cage, The Beatles, and bossa nova. A creature that was too strange and beautiful to live for very long, but too strong to ever fade away. It lives again. Be prepared.» (David Byrne, liner notes to Everything Is Possible).

«While recording the first album, Os Mutantes, in the early part of 1968, producer Manoel Barenbein became extremely curious when he saw Rita walk into the studio holding a can of bug spray (the popular «Flit» brand) and place it among the band’s instruments. Craziness? No, just simply brilliant: The idea was to substitute it for the hi-hat cymbals on the recording of Le premier bonheur du jour. As unthinkable as it may seen, it worked very well. This was just the first in a series of strange inventions that the band developed in the studio amid giggles and big guffaws.» (From the extensive notes by Carlos Calado in the 20-page booklet)

Link in comments


7 comments:

DJ Radu said...

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=04I7PTWJ

Anonymous said...

Radu - YEAH, this Luaka Bop compilation also gave me the fix - the fix to searching for the original albums. it's great to see you posting this - and you really seem to love this, don't you? ;)

all their albums are available at some of those amazing brasilian blogs. at a quick glance i just stumbled upon 2 of them, but i'm sure all 'os mutantes' (and the later 'mutantes') are there - though i'd recommend the first 3 records as essential!

debut (1968) @ oh comely.
http://tinyurl.com/3886sj

10 (!) of their records @ arquivossonoros (though in low bitrates, prob. 128kbs)
http://tinyurl.com/2ssnz5

cheers, lucky

Anonymous said...

Really nice album,thanks a lot

DJ Radu said...

Hi, Lucky - you're right, I really love Os Mutantes, I don't manage to be too objective about them, I guess... :)
In a few days, I'll post their Tecnicolour album too (the 1970 album intended for the international market) and I'm gonna point out your links for everybody to see. Thanx a lot, have a nice day.

Radu

Anonymous said...

i´m a fan of "Os Mutantes" and i never heard about this realese. Thank you for the gift.

Mighty Meadow said...

I had never heard Os Mutantes until recently so thanks to you and another blog where I came across the music I now have a new favourite band to add to my shopping list as well as searching for some Brazilian music complations. Thank you :)

www.muebles-en-alcala-de-henares.com said...

It won't work in actual fact, that is what I suppose.