i first heard 60s/70s brazilian tropicalia-rock band os mutantes on morcheeba’s back to mine mix about a decade ago, and i was immediately drawn to find out more about them. to my surprise, they had been unbelievably influential, with a luminary fan base that included kurt cobain who attempted unsuccessfully to persuade them to reunite for a tour. but as it turned out, cobain’s wish was finally granted posthumously when they finally did come together two years ago for live tours. for me, the only substantial contact with their music came in the form of everything is possible!, a compilation by david byrne’s luaka bop label, a stunning document of the band’s creative foresight in blending tropicalia sounds with eccentric bursts of psychadelic rock. the song on the morcheeba mix, “baby”, originally penned by caetano veloso, was sung in english by the very cool rita lee, delivered in a smooth bossa style. one great thing about the luaka bop compilation, though, was the inclusion of an earlier portuguese version of “baby” done in 1968 with arnaldo baptista at the mic, and the differences are stark – it’s dirtier, rougher, and i dare say, better. like the beatles’ “revolution”, good things always come in pairs, clean and dirty, so as always, here are both for you to enjoy.
2 responses so far ↓
subservient experiment // September 12, 2008 at 3:49 am |
Anything with Kurt’s seal of approval on it just has to be good.
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wakingupto // September 13, 2008 at 3:00 am |
i’m not so sure i like shonen knife as much as he did though haha