Fluxblog posts a fantastic cut by UK hip-hopper Ty. In the comments for that track, jeb identified the main organ sample from an Os Mutantes track. Suddenly, all I could think about was the Sao Paolo pop outfit (well, them and The Bees) - and hence today's mp3s. The songs I had planned (new Pedro the Lion, an old Eminem/Jazzy Jeff track) have been displaced into next week. Sincere apologies to those who intend to die over the weekend and had hoped to hear some more Dave Bazan before you passed on.
Os Mutantes - "A Minha Menina". Not only were Os Mutantes the definitive Brazilian psych-pop band, they were one of the world's very finest experimental pop acts. Blending electric pop with tropicalia, lofi fuzz and musique concrete, the group swung to prominence in 1968 with their self-titled debut, from which this track is culled. Os Mutantes borrow music and lyrics from many of the South American greats - Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and on this track, Jorge Ben. What we find on "A Minha Menina" is a rearing, big-hearted pop number, with doo-wop and vocal harmonies cheering above a rippling latin rhythm. For its opening few bars, the song sounds like a charming brazilian cliche - until a sopping wet guitar slides in from the rear of the soundstage, raspberrying like the favourite drunken pal. Then it dances like Bill Cosby in red suede, grooving till it falls asleep amidst the streamers.
The (Band of) Bees - "A Minha Menina". This pair from the Isle of Wight released one of the great unappreciated albums of 2002: Sunshine Hit Me is like Pet Sounds with dust in the speakers, Beck and Marvin Gaye working with The Zombies and, yes, Os Mutantes. While The Bees picked up a Mercury Prize nomination for their debut, it didn't make much of a splash. When they tried crossing the Atlantic as The Band of Bees, Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher met a similar ambivalence.
Regardless its Pazz & Jop rankings of 415 (2002) and 948 (2003), Sunshine Hit Me is pretty fantastic, and case in point is their cover of "A Minha Menina." The Bees don't quite reimagine the song, but nor do they simply rehash the Os Mutantes version. Instead, they inflate the original's giddiness, bind tighter the loose harmonic threads, and replace the sopping guitar with a fat-and-puff-cheeked electric cello. The song is beyond lovable - it's love itself - it tramps through fields, stands on fence-posts, and yells (sidekicks harmonizing from behind): "Tell everybody in the world that I love her-oh-ooh-ooh!"
Oh yes - I'm desperately trying to find the new Cee-Lo album. I loved his first one, but my sources for newly-leaked stuff are being frustratingly indie-rock-o-centric. If anyone's got some mp3s they want to point me to, my gratitude would know few bounds... (translation: pleeease, please please please!)