Lula Cortes E Ze Ramalho Paebiru

Mr Bongo reissue “Paebiru", an obscure collaboration between Brazilian Tropicalia artists Lula Cortes and Zé Ramalho. A psychedelic concept album based on the four elements (earth, air, fire, water), the album was recorded and released in 1974. However, most copies were destroyed in a warehouse fire, making originals very hard to come by - and fetching up to $1500 when they come up for sale. The set is a wonderfully off-kilter record, full of fantastic hooky and strange tunes that range all over the place, from full-on freakouts to quiet and pastoral. The entire range of 1970s hippie Brazilian musician culture is displayed in this record. It’s a very atmospheric blend, with sung and chanted vocals no more or less important than any of the other elements, which include classical acoustic and fuzzy electric guitar, piano, organ, flute, sax and a range of percussion. It’s free and psychedelic, but just reigned in enough to keep it tense and exciting. The closest comparison might be to combine Amon Düül with Sunburned Hand Of The Man and perhaps Double Leopards, if they lived on a commune together in Brazil circa 1974 and recorded while indulging in mass quantities of narcotics.