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Though rarely heard outside their
Brazilian homeland (especially during their brief career),
Os Mutantes were one of the most dynamic, talented,
radical bands of the psychedelic era — quite an accomplishment during
a period when most every rock band spent quality time
exploring the outer limits of pop music. A trio of brash
musical experimentalists, the group fiddled with distortion,
feedback, musique concrète, and studio tricks
of all kinds to create a lighthearted, playful version
of extreme Brazilian pop.
The band was formed by the two Baptista brothers, Arnaldo
(bass, keyboards) and Sérgio (guitar). In 1964,
the pair (sons of a celebrated São Paulo concert
pianist) formed a teenage band named the Wooden Faces.
After they met Rita Lee, the three played together in
the Six Sided Rockers before graduation broke up the
band. Yet another name change (to O Conjunto) preceded
the formation of Os Mutantes in 1965, the name coming
from the science fiction novel O Planeta Dos Mutantes.
With a third Baptista brother (Cláudio) helping
out on electronics, the group played each week on a Brazilian
TV show (O Pequeno Mundo de Ronnie Von) and became involved
with the burgeoning tropicalia movement. Mutantes backed
tropicalista hero Gilberto Gil at the third annual Festival
of Brazilian Music in 1967, then appeared on the watershed
1968 LP Tropicalia: Ou Panis et Circenses, a compilation
of songs from the movement's major figures: Gil, Caetano
Veloso, Gal Costa, Tom Zé, and Nara Leão.
By the end of 1968, Os Mutantes delivered their self-titled
debut, a raucous, entertaining mess of a record featuring
long passages of environmental sounds, tape music, and
tortured guitar lines no self-respecting engineer would've
allowed in the mix (especially at such a high volume).
After time spent backing Veloso and recording a second
LP of similarly crazed psychedelic pop, the band ventured
to France and Europe for a few music conference shows.
Returning to Brazil, they set up their own multimedia
extravaganza — complete with film, actors, dancing,
and audience participation. Despite distractions of all
kinds, the group also managed to record LPs in 1970 (Divina
Comedia Ou Ando Meio Desligado) and 1971 (Jardim Eletrico),
both of which charted the band's shifting interests from
psychedelic to blues and hard rock.
After 1972's E Seus Cometas No Pais Do Baurets, Rita
Lee departed or was fired from the band (accounts vary),
and resumed a solo career that ran concurrently with
Os Mutantes (her debut, 1970s Build Up, had been co-produced
by the Baptistas). Later Mutantes LPs displayed influences
from prog rock, and after Arnaldo Baptista left the fold
as well, the band's LPs included a succession of bandmembers — later-to-be-legendary
producer Liminha, keyboard player Túlio, and drummer
Rui Motta. Except for a 1976 live record, 1974's Tudo
Foi Feito Pelo Sol was the band's final LP. Sérgio
later moved to America, where he played with Phil Manzanera,
among others. After recording a 1974 solo album, Arnaldo
played with a new band (Space Patrol) during the late
'70s and spent time in a psychiatric hospital before
emerging for his second solo work, 1982's Singin' Alone.
Meanwhile, though Rita Lee's solo career began sputtering
near the end of the '80s, the band turned down a request
for a 1993 reunion show by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. Six
years later, the Omplatten label reissued the first three
Mutantes records, and David Byrne assembled the Everything
Is Possible compilation through Luaka Bop. In 2006, the
band reunited for a performance in London. A year later,
they collaborated with DJ JD Twitch for Trocabrahma,
a cultural exchange program. |
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