The Mutinies

Overall Album Score: 9.7 out of 10

YES!!! This Brazilian psychedelic group is absolutely brilliant. They're also so unique that people who fancy themselves as explorers in the world of rock 'n' roll must take some time to chart these waters. Trust me, anyone who enjoys music for the art of it will find much to love about this group. The group sings mainly in Portugese, so that might put off some listeners. But it shouldn't. Musically, these guys are innovative, experimental and usually quite delightful. There's so much, musically, in this album, that I find it difficult to know what to start talking about.

So, let's start talking about the history of the group. This is a band that has obviously done a lot of listening to the Beatles. They're also Brazillian, so the influence of bossa nova and samba shows in their music. But describing Os Mutantes as a mere cross between British psychedelia and bossa nova doesn't do it justice. They also inject their own, custom-made brand of crazy weirdness in the mix!!! And I love this crazy weirdness!!!! I can't even describe this crazy weirdness 90 percent of the time. If I did, my track reviews would be 20 pages long. That's how brilliant this all is.

Also, an important point, they're also not being weird just to be weird (which is often a complaint I have of Frank Zappa). Their weird music is tasteful. It's even accessible as long as you're listening to it with the proper ears. Naturally, any mainstream audience (i.e., people who waste their music-listening life to a certain genre of music) won't get this music, but that's their loss. If you love music that dares to strive beyond complacency (music as it's supposed to be), then you'll love Os Mutantes. If you want to know more about how this music sounds like, then please read my track reviews!!!

Overall Abum Score: 9.7 out of 10 (Here's an enjoyable, unique and instantly memorable '60s album. If you've never heard it, then remedy that immediately.)

Average Song Score: 9.5 (Yay!!!!!!)

Album Tilt: 9.5 (This has got to be one of the most interesting albums I've ever heard.)

Artist Rating: 10 (I don't think they were very influential outside of Brazil, but they probably should have been.)

Track Reviews

Panet Et Circenses 10/10

Os Mutantes don't make any excuses! They begin their album with what's among the weirdest, craziest things on the album. And I've heard nothing like it before. The song begins with a bit of a fanfare with a trumpet. But then, in a cut-and-paste method, they go right into a psychedelic ballad. The melody is starkly simple but the arrangements, predominantly featuring an off-kilter trumpet in the background. They add other little treats in here such as a violin at the end of a stanza and some variety in their drums. Toward the end, they stop everything (as if they turned off the record player) and then they gradually turn up the meter!!!!! The song ends in an absolute FRENZY, and then they insert a sound effect of a breaking glass. The coda of the song shows a faint Strauss record as a person apparently sweeps up the broken glass. It's so bizarre but it absolutely works. They're tasteful and innovative! How can I not fall in love with this?

A Minha Menina 9.5/10

This is the song that shows their combination with bossa nova and psychedelic pop. It's also decidedly more normal than the previous song, but what isn't? More of a straight ahead song with an extremely distorted guitar accenting every line of lyric. The melody might be simple, but it's catchy and that's enough. This is an exciting song with a smashing attitude. It's difficult not to let this song take your spirits high! I LOVE IT!

O Relógio 9/10

A compelling, atmospheric and psychedelic ballad is what follows. This starts out with Rita Lee with a lot of reverb singing an excellent, dreamy ballad. You'd almost think this song was normal by the way it starts (apart from the occasional "tinkle" noise ... it sounds like someone was playing around with a glass bottle). But no. They rock out in the middle, and continue to be weird. They reprise the atmospheric ballad at the end.

Adeus Maria Fulô 9.5/10

Oh the sound effects! This track begins with bird noises, odd clicking noises, and wind noises. The group sings faintly in the background. Then, a tropicana groove pipes up. And this ain't no Barry Manilow Tropicana groove, either! It's weird!!! The xylophone plays a disjointed groove along with some well utilized bongo drums. The group sings a pretty fun melody along with it, though not particularly catchy. You've got to appreciate the sheer weirdness of it, especially the quasi-Pee Wee Herman singing at the end!!!

Baby 9.5/10

Here is a psychedelic ballad, and it's incredibly disjointed. They start the song with a weird organ. The melody is very catchy but chances are you're not paying attention to the melody. Why? The instrumentation is so odd! AGAIN! The extremely distorted guitar often plays in the forefront in a way I'm sure you never heard before (but it works). The organ continues to do weird stuff. They also sing this song partly in English. ("Baby, I love you!")

Senhor F 10/10

Hey, The Beatles were writing throwbacks to old '20s and '30s jazz pop tunes in their albums. Well, count this as their take on that. They even sing in a funnel like they did in the old days for part of this. This is perhaps the poppiest song of the whole album, which might seem strange to you, because this continues to be very odd! Their trumpets in the background take a jazzier tune, naturally, but they're still doing their own unique things most of the time. They take the opportunity to rock out at the end of the song whilst playing around with the volume controls. Ha!!!

Bat Macumba 10/10

This is probably the most famous song of the album although I doubt most people have ever heard it. (I rented Nacho Libre recently, and they did play a small clip of this song to my surprise. Never mind the movie had nothing to do with Brazil.) ... Talking Heads front man David Byrne said Os Mutantes was one of his main inspirations, and you can see that especially in this song. They have a tight groove playing, and a very repetitive bass-line that could be mistaken for a Talking Heads bass. Meanwhile, the bongo drums are pounding away like there's no tomorrow! Anyway, I love this song. They basically spend this entire song repeating "Bat Macumba ê ê, Bat macumba oba" the whole time, but they manage to say it differently. An electric guitar that sounds like they were playing it in front of a fan slowly begins to take over. At the instrumental interlude toward the end of the song, the electric guitar almost sounds like a synthesizer!!! Do you need any more proof that this was an innovative group?

Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour 9.5/10

It's almost normal! (And it's sung in French... duh) The melody is sung by Rita Lee again with a lot of reverb (making this sort of a spiritual relative to "O Relógio"). They add in some sound effects that sound a little like a cash register opening (I think they probably created this noise with a simple tambourine and sucking in air). It isn't until the final minute when they really get weird. They speed up the meter again, and then they create an utterly creepy atmosphere that I've never quite heard before. So strange and effective!

Trem Fantasma 9.5/10

This is another song where Os Mutantes drops everything and rocks out. Naturally, there's a lot about this song that's utterly disjointed. The song begins with a huge accent of rockingness (if that makes sense). Then they slow things down as if it were another ballad, but they slowly go back to rocking! ... This group knows rock 'n' roll. They're also incredibly creative. And they know how to write melodies. Oh my! A triple threat! They threaten to turn into Frank Zappa by the end. Extremely interesting!

Tempo No Tempo 9/10

Here is another go at '20s and '30s pop music. Although they start the song off like a church hymn. (The fact that they would go back and forth between such styles should intrigue you to say the least.) The horn section is a little subtle here, but they're jazzy! The melody the guys sing is very catchy. The last of the song turns out to be someone playing church bells. Odd but good!!

Ave Gengis Khan 9.5/10

Anybody who was secretly wishing this band to start playing riff-rock would get their wish finally. It doesn't sound as solid as a Rolling Stones riff ... it's probably more like an Animals riff. And an electric organ plays some very usual rock lines. Anyway, the song might start off sounding like a relatively normal rock song, but the middle of the song is FRIGHTFULLY odd. It's a psychedelic hodgepodge featuring someone singing in a goofy operatic voice while noises and a guitar plays seemingly randomly. They end the song with the rock song again. They get strange again at the end by changing the rhythm and having the organ go nuts. I've never heard the organ played like this ever, either, but it's very fun to hear. This whole song is FUN. ... Wow...

Send your Os Mutantes comments here!